Guess who said "Mama" today?

22 months, 9 days.

That's how long I've waited for this momentous milestone.



No, it's not climbing up the slide.. which is cool all by itself.

Or showing me how proud he is of himself once he gets to the top.

Or the fact that he can stand and "drive the car" while his hair stands tall with static.

Or that he can slide down all by himself without help.

These are great things.

But today, during John Michael's private music therapy session, he verbalized many new sounds, such as puh, nuh, and muh.

Yes, muh. And then with some encouragement and some patience on our part, it happened.

He said "Mama". Over and over again.

Not just once, but a couple times.

He was sitting on my lap and I started crying. I didn't cheer him on because I didn't want him to notice that if he says "Mama", I'm going to cry. So Carly, his MT, cheered for me, for her, for him. It was awesome.

It's always exciting to hear "Mama" for the first time, but with a child with Down syndrome, I've had to be extra patient.

Today is my day and I'm going to bask in this feeling for a long, long time.