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Hug-iversary

My phone beeped early this morning. I picked it up and smiled. There on the screen was a reminder that today was the 1st anniversary of the day The Lodger hugged back. 

Since that day, I must have received a hug every waking hour. The Lodger wakes and hugs you, he hugs with all his strength, he hugs when he's really happy, when he's sad, before he goes to bed, to say goodbye,  he hugs you and means it. 

The Lodger has severely low muscle tone and as a result, his milestones are delayed. Physiotherapy plays big role in his daily activity. He's almost two and a half years old and unfortunately he hasn't started growth hormone therapy yet, so every milestone reached is through his own determination. 

The Lodger has been hugged everyday since day one. I often think how unbeknownst to us, while we were focusing on crawling and teaching him jigsaws, somewhere inside him, he was working towards hugging Mum and Dad back. 

His latest skill is cruising the furniture. One day, he just went for it. It takes every bit of strength and concentration that he has. It amazes me. The Lodger is an expert at crawling, he's fast and agile. He can get everywhere he wants to. Yet, he decided to start cruising. It's snail paced, it's challenging and it takes all his muscle strength but he's doing it and is so proud of himself! 

We attended a conference, just before The Lodger turned one were an expert said that people with Prader-Willi Syndrome hug a lot but don't mean it. At the time, I had no concrete evidence to agree or disagree, as he was only very young at the time but now, I do. 

The Lodger hugs and he means it.   Today we celebrate the 1st Hug-iversary! 

Happy Hug-iversary! x




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