Ah-Da…

I enjoy leaving work every day; mostly because when I get home from work I am greeted by two dogs, Sara, and Jackson.  We are fortunate to have a two car garage and as soon as it starts to open Jackson is at the window jumping up and down. It has taken a long time for him learn how to jump and down, and he doesn’t have the best balance when he does this, but man it is so much fun to watch. When I open the door and come into the house, Jackson will run up to me, grab my laptop backpack, pull it off of me and then take off running. Sometimes he uses his upset voice when he does this, I am not sure if he equates the backpack as me leaving like I do in the morning.  He runs a few feet away and then takes off running toward me all excited.  I scoop him up and he gives me kisses, and then right away he wants down.  Lately he tries to throw himself backwards when I pick him up so he can hang upside down, a neat trick he learned from his Aunt Tricia. I make him give me a kiss before I let him go upside down. He just laughs so hard when we do this; it is a highly contagious laugh.  One thing for certain is you have to be very prepared for him to throw himself backward because it is sudden and he is strong.  A few times I have come home and he is in the middle of one of his therapy sessions, his therapists are tickled when they see this interaction. 

Once I am home, changed, and settled we all go for a walk, or sometimes Jackson and I will play catch on the stairs.  I have been tossing a ball at Jackson since he was in his jumpy contraption, so he can catch several different types of balls in various sizes.  I have tried to put a ball glove on his hand, but no luck with that just yet. Jackson has a few of those large bounce balls that are sold in cages at any store.  Our house is a raised a ranch and the stairs are split in two levels.  Jackson will stand or sit in the middle while I stand at the bottom to toss the ball up to him; he catches it most of the time. He likes to roll the ball down the railing, which isn’t easy because the ball is so big and railing is so skinny, but sometimes he gets it just right. He has also mastered a new skill which is balancing the ball on the railing, rolling it backwards, and getting it stuck between the entry way ceiling and the rail.  Since the first time he did this, I gave him a huge reaction with my arms up in the air while shouting “Ta-da”.  Jackson will then laugh and punch the ball out from being stuck. I am not kidding when I say we play this game every day.  Before I throw the ball up, I make him tell me ball. He will use sign language and now verbally say “Ball”.   Sure most people fight over when and what their child’s first word was “Mama” or “Dada” and I have seen some hard core arguments and fights over it and I will always think that is the most ridiculous debate.  One of my son’s first words was “Ball” and I couldn’t be more proud. How awesome is that!  Oh…and now he is trying to say “Ta-da”, it is more like “Ah-da” and it is high pitched which sends the dogs running, but you will never see me cover my ears.