Daddy sang bass

A week that seemed to start so slowly has finished so quickly. But the boy continues to amaze.

Big news of the week is that at age 2 years 11 months the boy has said "Dada" out loud for the first time since his diagnosis. When diagnosed he had three words: Mama, No and Dada. He lost the latter following his operation in March 05. He learned to mouth it after his trachy was fitted. But never out loud. Until now. I was quite overcome last night.

He has developed a mixture of signs, mouthed words and vocalised words. He has quite a wide vocabulary, in so far as I can judge. Since his trachy cuff (inflated to protect him from water etc going into his lungs) has been more than usually deflated as he has been off chemo, more and more of his words have been vocalised. They may not be perfect but that he can speak at all is a minor miracle that we don't want to lose. He is a real chatterbox. Always wanting to tell you about something. Very confident chatting to adults.

Other big news is that he drank water from a beaker. May not seem much but he's been nil by mouth since his first op. And had what they call "oral sensitivity" - he wouldn't put anything in his mouth or even open it. The wife spent over six months trying to persuade him to get water on his hands. Then water on his lips. Then trying to get him to part his lips to have a toothbrush on his front teeth. A long and often fruitless process. But, gradually, he has become more confident. Until today when he was taking big swigs from his beaker and (the important bit) swallowing without it going into his lungs. Fabulous.

And yet. Friday already. Only five days until the next operation. It could all change. All progress could be lost. Irretrievably. But try not to think about it until if and when it happens.