I’m tired and it hurts. Don’t wanna dwell on those two facts but I feel they are worth mentioning. Briefly. I have a thoracic strain and I’ve had houseguests for the last 10 days. I love them very much, they were very helpful. I’m tired.

And I keep looking at my new tattoo…which I love but today I’m questioning where I positioned it. Maybe I should have moved it over a little. Oh well. Not a lot I can do about that now.

Jakob has had an exciting couple weeks. His Grandma was here and he sure does dig her. He was counting down the days until she got here. I have to say, I was very impressed. Without prompting or helping with the numbers, he kept a countdown going for when Grandma would arrive. He woke up one morning and announced “Grandma is coming in 2 days”. He said that before he ordered me to turn on the bathroom lights so I knew he was serious.

He’s so funny with her. He insists on sleeping at “Grandma’s house” which is the guest bedroom. Poor Grandma doesn’t get too much rest when she’s here. He sleeps through the night but he digs his toes into her thighs and he sleeps sideways. No big deal in a king-size bed. She’s dealing with a queen…different story.

I have to laugh at the little changes in his bedtime routine dialogue when she’s here. When he sleeps with me, we do the nightly affirmation, “I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, harmonious, loving and happy”. I say “I love you” and he says, “I love you more”. Then I say, “see you tomorrow” and he always responds very impatiently, “no see you tomorrow, see you NOW”. I always smile and say, “ok, see you now”. It’s just so amusing how emphatic he is about seeing me NOW.

It’s a different story when Grandma is here. I say, “see you tomorrow” and he says, “see you tomorrow,” and he kicks me out of the room. Game over.

It tickles me on so many levels. I worried so long and so hard that he’s never connect with anyone, that he wouldn’t form relationships. I’m here every day and I had to really work at it. Grandma comes to town every 3-8 weeks and he can’t wait. He misses her, he wants her around, he gets excited to see her, he gets sad when she leaves. Not only is that just awesome, but it’s also proof that he can do it. He’s capable of connecting. Relationships with other people are possible for him. He’s just picky about who he hangs with. He has good taste, I have to admit.

The morning he woke up and Grandma was gone, he said with a sad voice, “no bye-bye Grandma”. I took him to the calendar and we counted how many days it would be until Grandma comes back. He’s done beautifully with this countdown as well. As of today, “Grandma is coming in 20 days”. So flipping cute.