Spontaneous Smiles (and Laughs...)

Gideon is doing really well these past couple of days. He doesn't even need chasers after he takes his chemo anymore. He just swallows them like it's second nature. Gideon has also learned how to read his own body. He'll say, "I need to just lay down, please. I need to rest," and then he goes to lay in his bed for thirty minutes all on his own. Or he'll tell me how his tummy is crazy and wants to cuddle. I'm all about that. I'm so proud of this boy.

Speaking of proud... I slept in until 8:45 this morning! I panicked and leapt out of bed. Gideon was not in his room, and he always wakes me up! Thankfully, I heard soft giggles coming from Brody's room. I stealthily sneaked in to spy. Spying on my kids has got to be one of my greatest joys in life. Nowadays it's to catch them being sweet and heartmeltingly adorable. (I'm sure later my spy tactics won't be as jubilant...more I-demand-to-be-in-the-KNOW.) What I saw started the day out more right than I can express. Brody was sitting on the teacher chair in his room and reading Caps for Sale to Gideon, complete with inflection and character voices. Gideon sat criss-cross-applesauce underneath him, staring up, transfixed by his big brother. I sat and listened, out of earshot and line of vision. The way the two of them interacted and the sweet way Brody patiently listened to his brothers questions made me decide coffee could wait. Let that soak in: coffee could wait. Yes, it was that glorious.

It is this feeling that has driven me to become a humungous fan of Ruth Kaiser's Spontaneous Smiley Project. I first read about her and saw her gorgeous photography through a friend a couple of years ago. Her whole philosophy is to "be porous, not Teflon." She sees smiley faces in everyday objects and takes pictures of them. It has become a nationwide pastime for many of us, since. Needless to say, I completely reached out to her so that I could gush about the beauty and awareness she promotes in everyday living. I thought it would end with a post, but Ruth posted back, and then I posted back...and, I think I kind of found a soul sister in Ruth. She sent a gorgeous A-B-C banner that had a smiley-face object for each letter of the alphabet as soon as she heard Gideon was diagnosed. Get this, for the letter "I" she made the picture to be the "I.V." smiley Gideon found on his arm while in the hospital. I told you she's gorgeous.


(Gideon's SMILEY from his IV)

Anyway, Ruth is making a LAUGHING/GIGGLING video and needs all of you positive people to help out. She needs you to send her your laughing children (or adults) to her email: ruth@SpontaneousSmiley.com. I sent her mine, below. Spread the laughter, all.

Also, please remember to CHEER for Grand Marais, MI. You thought I'd forget, but I didn't! Only eleven days left! I need to give a super loud shout-out to my Facebook friends who voted last night when I put out my 495,000 vote challenge...and then I whined about it until people voted. You people are FABULOUS!

Let's pray these giggles continue!