Delight

Naomi really likes to play in her bed.  Her bed is basically a double bed sized crib with a drop down side that is made for disabled children.  It has mattress with head and food articulation and the mattress can be raised or lowered to facilitate getting her in and out of it.  She does not need these features now, but she will eventually as her disease progresses.  For now, it is a gigantic play space.  And sleeping place, but only after the playing is done.  On Wednesday she seemed a little restless so I decided to take her up to her room and put her in her bed for some aerobic activity.  All little girls like to play in their rooms sometimes.  When she is in her bed and not sleeping she is kicking, rolling, spinning on her back and generally acting like a wild animal.  I opened all the blinds and drapes in her room, and as it was one of those rare, but glorious, bright sunny Central Pennsylvania fall afternoons, the room was so pleasant.  Naomi played for an hour, laughing and squealing and generally carrying on, in a good way, the whole time.  Pretty much the only place Naomi will roll to her belly and push up on her hands is in her bed.  Every time she does this, in order to encourage her to do it more, I make a big fuss, talking excitedly, etc.  So when she did this on Wednesday I started saying to her "Oh, you're a Bear on her belly!  Bear on a belly!  So cute!  Mommy loves a Bear on a belly!"  She thought this was great and then really started showing off, pushing up, and then burying her face in the mattress, and then pushing up again all the while deep belly laughing and so proud of herself, big, bright, shining eyes, big, wide opened  mouthed smile, face lit up with joy and happiness.  When she finally rolled onto her back after several minutes I told her "Mommy wants you to be Bear-On-A-Belly again!" and after maybe a minute, she was back on her belly, doing the same routine.  We repeated this sequence one more time, and the whole time she was just laughing and laughing, showing off, and really playing with me.  It was delightful.  While I kind of wish I had it on video, I would not want to have been distracted from enjoying the interaction and play, and anyway, it is deeply imprinted in my memory.  It's just too bad I can't share it with anyone else.
Here is a picture of her I took earlier on Wednesday.  This was her 'look' while playing in her bed.

By the way, she is supposed to be napping while I write this post and is instead up there having a grand time in her bed.  So rather than hearing the sound of silence coming from her room, I am hearing laughing, kicking, and squealing.  So ridiculous.