Dolphins

Our little guy had to stay home from school today because of a fever, and he was not happy about it.  In fact, Tes and I walked out the door to the sound of him wailing “I wanna go to school too!”  I dropped Tes off at school, drove home, sent Nick of to work with a kiss, and checked on my sick boy.  He seemed remarkably better, probably on account of the Ibuprofen, and was working with his physical therapist in his room.  They were looking at flash cards of animals, and Christian was reaching with alternating hands to grab them, and place them on a pile on the bed.  He was doing all of this while sitting super straight and tall, and without using his hands for support.  It was pretty remarkable. 

When Christian saw me watching he called out “Mamma!” with a big smile on his face.  Then, as if he had just remembered something, he started digging through the pile of cards on the bed, looking for something.  When we asked what he was looking for he replied “Tes and Bubbi.”  Luckily his therapist knew which one he wanted, and helped him produce a card with two dolphins, jumping side by side.  “Look!  Tes and Bubbi!” he said with pride, holding the card up for me to see. 

I was so blown away, on several levels, that at first I didn’t say anything.  Then I smiled, and asked if he thought the dolphins looked like brother and sister.  He said yes, and went back to playing his game.  He continued to sit, for almost an hour total, and only fell once.  I was so unbelievably proud of this accomplishment, but I was even more moved by his devotion to his sister.  He kept the dolphin card in his lap, and continued to refer to it during the rest of his session.  Even when working as hard as he was, he was thinking of his sister the whole time, how beautiful.