One year

It is amazing the difference a year can make in our lives.

One year ago we didn't have an autistic son.

In the last year we have come so far, we got the autism diagnosis, endured blood tests, EEGs, ruled out various health issues and discover others.

We've seen huge progress in Mr N's social abilities, speech, sensory needs and his eating. As a mother, I have learned so much, I have hurt so much, I have rejoiced and loved more deeply than I thought possible. The more Mr N progresses through our efforts, the more confident I am in my parenting. Today, my little superstar counted to ten (with some prompting).

I started this post a couple of weeks ago then ran out of words. The last few days have proved insightful. Friday afternoon we had someone over who had been to our house in August to clean our carpets, he is a friend in our congregation and we see him a couple of times a week. When he arrived on Friday, Mr N greeted him at the door and was very chatty. Our friend was quite impressed, within about 5 minutes he was expressing astonishment at Mr N's progress. He went on and on about how much progress Mr N has made just since August, he commented that you wouldn't even know it was the same child.

Mr N got his ball and invited our friend to play catch with him, he said quite a few words while they were here, and we discussed Mr N's progress. He has a nephew with Autism, so he does have some experience with it. His nephew is very high functioning, drives a car, has a job, etc. So hearing from him that he thinks Mr N has made tremendous progress was great.

On Sunday Daddy accompanied us to meeting, and Mr N sat quietly on his lap for about the first 45 minutes, which is a pretty lengthy period of time for him. After meeting Mr N greeted several people, gave out high fives, fist bumps, and hand shakes. He also went up to several people, got their attention, then pointed to Daddy and said "daddy". He was quite proud to show off his Daddy.

Sunday evening we went over for dinner at the house of the friend mentioned above, most of the congregation was there. The kids and I were at their house before for a clothing swap, so they were familiar with it. They both had a lot of fun and were quite friendly with people. At one point, I came out from visiting with a friend in the kitchen and didn't see Daddy and the kids so I went searching but couldn't find them. On my second swing through the living room I noticed E cuddled up in a chair with a couple. She told me where daddy and Mr N were, so I went and checked on them. Mr N had discovered a trampoline in another part of the house and was getting his jump on.

After Daddy and Mr N returned to the living room Mr N joined E in cuddling with the couple on the couch. I was pretty blown away, while he has been better about people touching him, cuddling with others just isn't something we've seen before.

We headed home around 9 and discussed Mr N's progress on the way home. A year ago we attended a similar event at another house, with about the same number of people. Only last year Mr N hid in a bedroom for most of the evening and keeping him from losing it was a daunting task. He eventually came out from hiding and ran around a little bit, but didn't interact with anyone. Looking at the difference in behavior from a year ago, his progress is astounding. Last night he let people pick him up and play with him, let people tickle him, gave high fives, fist bumps, hand shakes, he ate pumpkin bread, cuddled with people, was more than an inch from mommy and daddy, and was not freaking out all night. It was such a beautiful sight.

He also had the opportunity to play with a couple of puppies, I was observing from across the room, but ready to intervene if Mr N got rough, I totally expected him to hit the puppy or push it, I expected inappropriate behavior with regards to the puppy. But that I did not see. He petted it gently and when puppy was ready to go to bed for the night, he kissed it gently on the head and said nigh nigh. However, Mr N wasn't done with the dogs and convinced someone to let him play with them more.

Last week we went to Irvine again with Daddy for a meeting he had for work, Mr N remembered the hotel and tried to first go to the same room we had last time. I took the kids to the beach while Daddy was at work, it was only 65 degrees so the kids were not allowed to go in the water, but of course they still got their feet and pants wet. Mr N absolutely loves the ocean, watching the waves come in, running away as they get close, he had a great time.