Shaynan, Princesses, and Sneetches

This week has been a pretty wild one for our Alexzander. As per most of the posts that I write about his wild weeks, I will start at the beginning, and when I get to the end... I will stop. :) On Tuesday evening, Tony bought tickets for him and I to go and see Rob Zombie in La Crosse, so my friend Shaynan (we have been friends since high school) said she would come and spend the evening being entertained by Alex while we went out and had an evening to ourselves. Apparently, Alex took me telling him to "Be good" very literally, because he was a great kid for Shaynan that evening. He did everything he was told, went to bed easy (which, he hardly ever does for Tony and I) and the next morning he woke up a very happy kid, ready to take on the full day at school he had, so he could experience Kindergarten for the first time. When we were waiting for the bus Wednesday morning, I asked him if he had a good time, and he said yes. That day, he went to visit a farm and see all of the farm animals, and he even rode a miniature pony. He was quite sun burnt when we picked him up from school. He wasn't happy that he didn't get to go on the bus to Grandpa's house that day, but we bought him juice and some sour gummy worms, so he seemed to be better with the idea that he had to come home with us. Even with the changed schedule, it was reported that he did a great job, and that even though he didn't eat lunch, he did the rest of what was asked of him with little trouble. I am so glad that he enjoyed Kindergarten, because in 3 short months, that is where he will be! Thursday was a more normal day for him, where he went to school for his normal time and was able to ride the bus to Grandpa's house. He was able to tell Grandpa and Grandma all about the wonders of Kindergarten, and how unfair it was that he had to spend all day at school only to go home with the evil dictators, Mom and Dad. At least, that is what my father said that they talked about. Friday was a great Mommy and Son day. We started out the day by going to my school to run some errands, and when I parked on campus I parked in front of the beautiful chapel that is called "Mary of the Angels Chapel". It is where the Franciscan Sisters are. Alex got out of the car and looked up at it, and followed along behind me, every once in a while stealing a look at it. We got to the Murphy building entrance, and he said, "Princesses in the castle." I really didn't think anything of it, and I said, "Yeah, there are princesses in castles." When I got done with my errands and we went back to the car, he pointed up at the chapel, and he said "Princesses in the castle!" I looked at the church and it dawned on me, he thought it was a castle with princesses inside. I told him no, that it was a church and there were nuns inside. He asked if he could go see the princesses in the castle, and I laughed. I told him maybe next time we went to my school, he could go inside and see the princesses in the castle. After that, we went to get some lunch, and we stopped by the Cheese Corner to say hello to our cheesy people and eat. He chowed down almost his whole lunch, so I told him maybe later we could go get some ice cream. We went from there to the book store, where Alex's eyes lit up. He picked out two books, "Sneetches", and "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie". We went up to the counter and Alex handed his books to the man behind the counter, and said "Here you go", then proceeded to watch him very carefully. Those were HIS books, after all. The man put the books in a bag, and made sure Alex could see where his books went. I paid for them, he handed Alex his bag, and Alex smiled, LOOKED AT HIM, and said, "Thank you!" The guy smiled back, and said, "That is possibly the most polite little boy I have seen in here in a while." Talk about a proud moment! We went and got some groceries after that, and Alex was mauled by Aunt Bethanie right in the middle of Sam's Club. Hugs and kisses all over his face. He took it like a champ though, and just let her give him kisses until she was done. As we rode home, he read me "Sneetches" at least a dozen times, and declined my invitation for ice cream. After all, he can't read his new books and eat ice cream at the same time! His books might get dirty! When we got home, he began showing his way of thanking me for having such a good day. He told me I was pretty, and he even said that I was "gorgeous... girl..." So silly. Yesterday he had another fun day at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Today, we are going to the park again, and tomorrow he has my niece/goddaughter's first birthday party to go to. We are making a veggie tray, complete with some epic dill dip, and a fruit salad. I have to face facts that my little man is growing up fast, and if I don't take the time I will miss it. There are a lot of times where I feel like half of a mom because I don't have the "soccer mom" look to me, I want to play with blood for a career, and most of the music I listen to is usually really loud. But then I also think about all of the other things that I think I am half of. I feel like I am half a student. Half a teacher. Half a worker. Half of a pretty epic parenting duo. Which reminds me. Yesterday was Tony and I's three year anniversary, which is also the day that two years ago, we found out Alexzander was Autistic. We have gone on a pretty epic adventure the last two years, and I cannot wait to see what this next year brings us!