Peyton's big day

Monday was a big day for Peyton.  It wasn't a great day all around--I woke up with something seriously wrong with my neck, and any movement at all caused intense pain.  Very intense.  The last time I was in that much pain I was in labor and at a hospital.  It totally sucked.  Daniel had gone to work at 5am and ridden in a carpool so he couldn't come home to help since he didn't have a car.  I couldn't go to the doctor because I couldn't drive, couldn't even fathom wrestling both kids at the drs office, or take them to a sitter, because didn't I mention, they were both sick with colds?  Sam missed school, which makes her cranky, as if we didn't have enough reasons to be cranky already.
So, you know, super fun day.

But despite the all around suckfest, Peyton was having a good day.  He spent a lot of it snorting like a chainsaw while playing on the floor, since picking him up was very painful for me and I tried to avoid it when possible.  Then, in the late afternoon, when my pain had gone from a 9 to about a 6 (yea! a six!), he learned to clap!  I was very excited to see this new trick, and he looked so proud!
That would have been a fun day for him anyway, but it was only a few hours later that he was in his exersaucer in the kitchen and I turned my back on him.  He yelled "Mama! Mama!" until I turned around, and then he grinned like he had just put two and two together.  He said his first "real" word!
Anytime I walked out of his sight for the rest of the day, he'd yell "mama!" for me.  When I picked him up, he'd stop.  It was so stinking cute.  He did it on the phone for all the grandparents, and he is very proud of his new-found ability to talk to me.  When Daniel came home, he asked him to say "Dada" and Peyton laughed out loud like "yeah, right, dad."

Then I was miraculously healed, the clouds lifted, a rainbow dropped Skittles on us, and our money tree burst into bloom.  Okay, that's not true, I was still in pain and the evening was rough going, but Peyton's skills were a very bright spot in an otherwise dismal day.  I am so proud of that little guy!  It is so cute to hear him in his crib calling "mama, mama!" instead of, you know, screaming like a banshee.


I guess the strangest thing of all, is that one of my worst days in a long time, was actually one of the best.  Life is funny that way.