27 Months

My little Bear is 27 months old. And he finally, FINALLY, started calling me Mama.

It's not that he didn't pronounce the syllables before, but they were always nonsense sounds, buried in a string of other nonsense sounds. Usually when he was angry, or hurt or tired.

That it took so for this simple thing that so many take for granted drives home for me that I really do have a special needs child. But I cling to the fact that his needs are manageable, and if I do my job his challenges can be mitigated.

Finally hearing my baby call me Mama makes everything else - the special concessions for his neurological triggers, the 4 times a week therapy appointments, the fears about the problems he could encounter at school, the daily struggle to fill the bottomless pit of his therapeutic needs - EVERYTHING. Just a little bit easier.

Now, when I come home, the first thing I hear when I open the door is his precious little voice yelling "MAMA!!! YAAAAY!!"

That's worth everything.