my kids were really good to me this week.

The other day I made Vivienne laugh for the first time.  Her tiny giggle was so cute, and I can't wait to hear it again. She is a funny little bunny and I'm so glad she's in my life and with our family.

But Theo really took the cake this week.  I was busy doing some chore in the house and I could hear Theo jibber-jabbering like normal, but I wasn't exactly listening to him.  But then I heard it.

"Mom."



I don't know how long he had been saying it, it could have been for a long time.  But the reason I didn't hear it is because I've never heard it before.  This week marks the first where Theo has called me "mom" without any prompting from me first, and I can barely get enough.  Last night I purposefully kept walking out of the room he was in so that as soon I was out of his sight he'd yell "MOM!!"

To be honest, it never really bothered me that much that I never heard Theo call me "mom" for all that time.  His speech delay hasn't been as significant a source of worry as it might be for other parents who experience the same thing.  Theo is happy and healthy and I'm thankful every day for that.  Communication troubles aside, I think he's a stellar kid and is doing just fine.

I've been shocked this week in how amazing it feels to hear my kid call me by name and verbalize my relationship to him.  I'm glad that I didn't know what I was missing all that time because it would have been pretty depressing.  But damn!  I really didn't know what I was missing.

I sure love being these a mom to these kids.