Things Taken For Granted...

I know you're not supposed to compare your children, and I realized that pretty quickly on after having Juliana.  Juliana and Noah are very different.  Noah was an easy baby.  He loved to eat, was fairly easy going, content, and once he learned to talk it was "word vomit".  Juliana has been one trial after another, and I wouldn't trade her for anything.  She has taught us perserverance and she has most definitely strengthened my daily prayer life.

There are days at work when I grow tired of hearing, "Mrs. Mahlberg...", "Hey, Mahlberg...", "Mrs. M...", etc.  Some days I even say, "she's not here right now, but if you leave a message after the beep, she'll be happy to get back to you. Beep."  My students look at me like I'm crazy, but most of them leave me a message after the beep.  There have even been times when I have gotten tired of Noah saying, "Mom" or "Hey Mom".  Let me clarify that one and say that it's when it's the whiney "mom" days.

Last week while I was reading through Juliana's EI paperwork, I started thinking of the different words that she says (she has about 12 words in her arsenal).  The two words that she uses the most right now are "up" and "doggie".  Then I got to thinking, when was the last time she called me Momma?  I can't remember.  It has to be well over a month ago.  When was the last time she called Ryan, Daddy?  I can't remember that either. 

There's nothing I would love more than to hear the word Momma come out of my daughter's mouth.  For the rest of the week and weekend, I kept asking her to say Momma.  If you know Juliana, though, you know that that's not how she operates.  She did give Ryan a Daddy on Sunday for the first time in weeks though, and I think I heard a Momma today in the van, or at least that's what I'm telling myself I heard. 

Take a lesson from me, don't take it for granted when your kiddos call you Momma or Daddy.  You never know when you will get to hear it again.