A Day of Many Affirmations

The ship is now ported in Greece.  Zack received overnight liberty and was able to stay at an amazing hotel...and I am completely jealous!  I know he deserves the rest and relaxation...but so does this momma!  We were able to video chat using Yahoo Messenger for right around two hours and it was amazing!  Noah saw and heard him and said dada and waved to him.  It brought tears to my eyes to see my two men finally interacting with each other.  This was an affirmation to us that Noah watching him read a story every night before bedtime has had a real impact on Noah.  I tease Zack that when he's on the ship and calls he is "sailor" Zackary.  He always sounds so stiff and not like himself.  So, I look forward to the phone calls when he is off the ship because then he is "my" Zackary...and sounds like the Zackary I know and love.  It was amazing to see his smile, handsome face, and just those mannerisms that make him Zack.  And it helped ease my anxiety of us remelting together as a couple because talking to him was exactly how it always had been.  I love that man and that time talking together reminded me just how much I miss him.  That numb feeling I've grown to have in order to function while he's been gone is slowly going away as Homecoming is approaching rapidly.  And it's also reminding me just how much I miss him and increasing that feeling of excitement.  Noah had a big first today...his first sign.  We-basically meaning me because Zack was not home very much!...started doing the signing with him when he was about two months old...in hopes that this will be a wonderful option for him until he acquires the verbal skills to communicate.  We do...mom, dad, eat, all done, thank you, bath, diaper, and book right now.  At bible study on Tuesdays, Noah is taught a biblical lesson, is sung hymns, and the ladies do signing with him as well.  He had put up his hands in attempts to sign mom and dad...but today he actually held up his hand to his forehead for dad and at his chin for mom.  I also noticed today that when I was feeding him his baby food and signed eat...he put his hand up to his mouth and instead of making the wawawa sound he just kept tapping his fist against his mouth...perhaps signing eat?  I don't think I've ever seen him move his fist like that without making the wawawa sound.  And now that I know it's "sinking" in we are adding duck(his bath toy), stop, sit, come and drink this week.  When we started signing...Zack had said that he would do it as well...and this was a big condition for me.  Today he said that he has forgotten the signs and will have to relearn them when he returns.  I hope that when he returns he will also do signing with Noah...I really want our family to have this skill.