i just called to say i love you

{this post written by the mommy}

Yesterday, we discovered just how much we rely on our cell phones when AT&T experienced a day-long outage.  We do not have a land line in the house, but we do have a fax line.  Once I realized that I'd have no connection to the outside world, I dug around in some boxes in the attic to find a phone with a cord.  I (literally) blew the dust off of it and plugged it in into the fax line.  The dude was watching my every move, as always, and stared down the phone.  I could just see him thinking "what is that thing-a-ma-bobber?"  The dude knows how to use my Blackberry, even down to the scroll ball, but he didn't know what to do with a regular phone!  Knowing that naa-naad [granddad] was home, I showed the dude how to dial a number (I'm impressed that I remembered the number without speed dial) and held the receiver up to his ear.  He looked at me as if I'd put a monster near his head.  Then, naa-naad answered the phone and started talking to the dude and he realized that the thing-a-ma-bobber was pretty neat!  After a conversation with naa-naad, we hung up and I kinda forgot all about the phone after we got cell service back.  Until this morning, when I walked in to find this.....

I have no idea how many numbers he pushed or if he called anyone.  I guess we'll find out when we get the bill!

The dude has had a long-standing "issue" with eating.  After spending so long in the NICU and suffering from severe reflux, he lost the skills to eat.  He had an NG tube for the first year of life and has been going to therapy several times a week for almost two years for feeding therapy.  

This is the dude "eating" - we used a pump to administer formula through the tube in his nose, down into his stomach.

A close up of the tube

I don't even know how to describe just how difficult it has been to teach him that eating is fun and that it doesn't hurt (no thanks to the reflux and puking).  We've spent many hours, thrown our own tantrums, and traveled thousands of miles to see different specialists, all to help the dude.  It's still a constant battle with him, but it is getting so much better.  We are just getting to the point where we can all sit down at the table and eat.  And it's truly amazing.  So, when I'm able to capture a picture like this, it's something to celebrate!  

Super Dude's favorite thing to do with a cup and straw ~ bubbles!!!

[if you can't hear the video, make sure the video isn't muted]