Tik-a-tika- ti...CAR!

We just visited with Uncle Jesse last weekend in Manhattan, and Xaye was beside himself with joy - at every turn, a car. A car driving. A car parked. A truck, also known as a car. A fire engine, aka, car. They were EVERYWHERE. Buses, also commonly found in Manhattan, but might as well call it a car, too.

We visited the parks - a lot, and met new friends. Jesse took the group down to Rockefeller center and we walked and looked at the windows and a beautiful church near Rockefeller.

Jesse prepared christmas eve dinner - gnocchi - from scratch - and invited our friend Nikki to join us for dinner. Nikki was visiting her dad - she flew in from Detroit. It was good to have so many important people together for one meal - and to enjoy Jess' fretting in the kitchen and preparing the meal - solo!

Xaye enjoys dialogue - and often he reminds us just how much he understands - and we are blown away every time. Recently Xaye got a box of books from Bubbe and Fof - he was SO excited - pacing, chanting, drumming his fingers - as I peeled off the tape. He was anxious to go through every book - and instantly noticed a book with trucks. He read that one over and over. "CAR!" he proclaimed, with every turn of the page.

I remember Jesse's friend saying - "I don't remember ever being that happy" as he watched Xaye play. He noted, there was such a 'blissful way' about him - and we have all had that bliss. The beauty is, once we can recognize we are having that experience, it somehow just vanishes in it's recognition. So, we are fortunate enough to enjoy his LACK of recognition - and look forward to many more days of reveling in his reckless abandonment....finding his shadow, talking on the phone, having the cat approach him for attention, it goes on and on.

Joy.