Max's three new things

First new thing:

The other morning, as I took a shower, Max sat on my bed and cruised YouTube. I came out and heard the most amazing sound: Max singing along to the Thomas the Tank theme song. Now, I have heard him singing on and off over the years, especially during music therapy. Like this:

But I have never, ever heard him singing to himself, for the pure joy of singing.

Second new thing:

Max is turning into quite the comedian (not that Sabrina and her knock knock joke phase weren't memorable and all). Sunday night, at bathtime, Max informed us that he didn't want to take a bath in the bathtub. Then he ran around the house, showing us all the other places he'd prefer to take a bath. Like in the sink. Or in the piano. Or in the fridge. Or on the front porch. He's made jokes before, but this was a veritable comedy routine. He was cracking up the entire time, and so were we.

Third new thing:

Jumping is not yet in Max's repertoire of movements...or so I thought. Last night we were in town enjoying a feast of, wait for it, spaghetti followed by chocolate ice-cream. After, we took a walk around town, and Max started doing this thing on every corner. He'd crouch, then he'd stretch his body up high, then he'd lurch onto the street. At first, I didn't realize what was going on. Duh! "Max, are you jumping?" I asked.

"ESSSSSSSS!" he said, gleefully.

And he kept right on jumping off curbs. His kind of jumping.

Three new things. Three seemingly small things. And yet, every one of them seemed significant—and really, really wonderful.