“Ethan, let’s go find Buffy!” I exclaim every morning as we leave the guest room bathroom where I get ready in the morning. Ethan toddles out of the room and first checks our bedroom, and if she’s already headed downstairs, he will quickly flip onto his stomach and slide feet first down the stairs.
It’s amazing how fast he can make it down the stairs.
Whether she’s under the piano bench or in a corner by the closet, Ethan will find her, with a huge smile on his face, excited to say good morning. Sometimes he will sit down next to her and poke her in the face as he does with me to wake me up. Other times he will stand next to her and try to pet her, flapping his arm up and down. This sometime is a full out slap onto Buffy’s side. However, as he is getting older, he has managed with our encouragement to make this huge motion gentler.
Buffy sits there in the morning, still waking up herself and patiently letting Ethan poke at her face and attempt to pet her. I often try to get him to stop and I do pull him away if he’s being too aggressive. However, Buffy, who almost always has the space to get up and move away more often than not will sit there and let Ethan greet her in his own special way.
As soon as I have Ethan up into his high chair for breakfast, Buffy is there as well. There are times when Ethan ignores her. Other times he feels Buffy lick his bare toes and he giggles as she licks up scraps and crumbs that he drops. When Ethan is eating, he will sometimes look down to check if Buffy there. If he doesn’t see her on his right side, he’ll check the left side, and only after ensuring her presence he will continue his meal. Sometimes Ethan drops food directly to feed her. Sometimes Ethan throws food in frustration and it falls on Buffy’s face, and sometimes Buffy gets hit in the head with a flying sippy cup or utensil as Ethan flails about during a mid-meal tantrum.
During play time Buffy is more often than not in the same room that Ethan is in. Most of the time he ignores her. Other times he will try to get her to walk around so that he can chase her. This game of his to play with her seems opposite since Buffy is the one that is the herding dog, but she seems to play along as he laughs loudly during the chase.
Our of the all the cute endearing things Buffy does for Ethan, the one that gets to me the most is how she helps out with his therapy. Ethan has hearing and speech therapy due to his unilateral hearing loss. These wonderful therapists come to our house to do this work with Ethan. Buffy is not only in the room during these sessions, she is attentive and sometimes actively involved in the therapy. The therapist don’t mind her presence at all as she watches them work with Ethan. The therapist are amazing to watch as an educator. I learn things about pedagogy every time I’m able to be there for a session. It’s also really emotional thing for me to watch as a parent. Seeing someone work so hard to help your child is a beautiful thing to witness.
I joke that maybe Buffy thinks that these people are here for her, but I don’t think so. She gets that they are there for Ethan and in the way she checks in with the therapist, sits closely paces around the room, it’s clear that she’s not nervous but wants to be supportive. Buffy helps Ethan in therapy stay calm and focused, as she does for all of us in our family.
I'm so glad that Ethan has Buffy in his life and I'm so proud of how great Buffy is with Ethan. In immeasurable ways Buffy continues to enrich Ethan's life, and I hope that Buffy feel purpose and fulfillment watching over this little one.
Mornings aren't always easy to a one-year-old in the house, but I always look forward Ethan joy in finding his Buffy.
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