Christmas comes early and other updates

Lil' B opens his first gift of the season. Read on for more!

I know I’ve been a bit lax in getting new posts up here, but I have some pretty good reasons for the lapse in information. It’s been a very busy couple of weeks in the Russell household, and not just with Lil’ B. and his progress (which has had me smiling a lot.)  There’s been a lot going on across the board.  Let’s recap a bit, shall we?

Firstly, about three days after my last update, my wife came home with news.  We have orders, we’re leaving Texas and Sheppard AFB.  The Plus side; my wife gets to go back to doing the work she loves.  The down side; she’ll be doing that work in Turkey and Lil’ B. and myself will be in California for the 15 months she’ll be gone.

For those who think this is an earth shattering issue in our relationship, it’s not. It’s just part of the life of a Military family.  I’ll be close to my sister,  step dad and my boys, so for me the time will fly by.  I also have some unfinished business to take care of in California and this is the perfect opportunity to get that taken care of.

As for my wife, she’ll get to enjoy some of the most wonderful food in the world and she tells me that there are a lot of things that we can get for nest to nothing, so her time will be filled with pursuits of furniture, Persian rugs and saffron, which we are told can be gotten very inexpensively there. (can you say eBay!?!)

On other fronts, lil’ B. has been progressing well in terms of keeping eye contact, which is a huge issue for him.  He’s made “yay” a permanent part of his vocabulary, and has begun asking for food by name, rather than just haling Dad to the fridge.  All of these things are wonderful and I cherish each moment, but there’s one thing he’s done over the past few weeks that shines far above all others:

He told his mother he loved her!

I was not fortunate enough to hear this, but I know it’s true.  The tears running down my wife’s face were more than proof enough.  Lil’ B. was apparently pleased enough with himself over the accomplishment that he simply walked to his room and went directly to sleep and has not seen the need to revisit the occasion, but we’re waiting.

As for the photo at the top of the post, we apparently missed a Christmas party held by the center that provides Lil’ B. with his therapy sessions, so Miss Sandra was kind enough to bring his gift by with her on their last appointment of the year.  It was actually a duplicate of a toy he already has, and as such will be returned to the BigScaryMegaMart where it was purchased for an exchange but we learned something from the experience:

Lil’ B. does not like to unwrap presents!

Let's open your present Lil' B.

This was confirmed right after the above photo was taken.  Miss Sandra pulled the first piece of wrapping paper loose and Lil’ B. Let out a very emphatic “No!” and walked away.

NO! Don't tear the paper!

While this bodes well for the gifts I’m about to place under the tree, it also means that wrapping his gifts may just be an exercise in futility.  We’re thinking gift bags may be the way to go if we would like to see him play with his new toys, rather than simply taking the packages into his room and staring at them.

In all other aspects, both good and bad, things seem to be falling into place. and Lil’ B. learns more with every visit.  We’re spending time mimicking their activities on the days they don’t come, but he seems to pay closer attention to his therapists than he does to his parents. (totally normal for a two year old, I know!)

That’s all I’ve got for the moment, and our little hero is awake, so I’m off to do that dad thing.

Peace, I’m out.

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