"Sick, Ill"

February has not been a good month for our family's health. Jonny caught the first bug and endured a week of exams+cold and flu symptoms. The only upside was that he spent more time studying at home. Aaron had a hard time leaving the door to our bedroom closed. When I explained that Jonny was sick and we had to leave him alone in bed, Aaron said, "Dad's sick, he's ill." (Ill is one of the flashcard words we practice). Smart boy. Then it was my turn. Aaron and Jonny went to church while I stayed in bed. And, it was sweet to see how excited he was to see me when they got home. He approached me pouncing with his tickling fingers (much like Jonny does to him) and "tickled" me until I laughed. Then Jonny came in and tickled him until he said laughing, "Stop, Jonny, stop!" Funny boy. He's picked up on the other names we call each other. The other night after Jonny casually called him buddy he paused and said, "I buddy."

Now poor Aaron has been coughing and had a fever of 104 last night. Even though he's sick he's still rather sweet. He loves cuddling with me (won't go to sleep without me by his side), and he's learning how to cover his mouth while he coughs. After coughing and successfully covering his mouth he said, "Thank you, hand." Sweet.

His sickness brought us another sweet moment today when I put him down for his nap. He heard me sing him to sleep for the first time. Aaron has been transitioning to his big boy bed and he's developed a newfound sense of maturity...or something like that. He requests to keep his cochlears on while he's sleeping and when he wakes up I hear him fidgeting at the foot of our bed to pull his batteries and cochlears out of his dry box. So, when I put him down for his nap today he wanted to keep them on. I snuggled up to him he heard and identified the sound of a helicopter flying over our apartment buildings. I teared up and started singing primary songs to him. It reminded me of when he was an infant, having a difficult time falling asleep. I would retrieve his hearing aids, put them on him and sing him while I rocked him to sleep--hoping that he could hear at least the tones of my voice. He must have, because the same songs lulled him to sleep this afternoon. Good to know he likes my lullabies. :)