Know Thyself
Little Man is in a whirlwind of discovery. Each day lately has brought something new -- a word, a song, something that makes him laugh. We have delighted in this stage with him. While it does come with big feelings and the frustration that comes with learning to communicate and to be understood, it also comes with a self-awareness that is both incredible and startling. At bedtime we always say good night to a picture of his birth mother. For now we call her by her first name, since we've never really had the chance to discuss otherwise. When we first started the tradition he would simply look at the picture; sometimes he would quietly wave. However, recently he has started to call her picture "mama", which causes all sorts of feelings. I am glad he is starting to build an association with her, and whenever he says it I agree with him and tell him that yes, she is his birth mother. Granted, he has seen books with mothers in them and will sometimes say "mama" to t...