I am writing today, right now, to try to bring some joy to this day. And honestly, what parent can say that talking about how awesome their child is does not bring them pleasure? This whole last week, Alex had off from school for Spring Break, and I think he had a rather great time! He got to spend Monday and Tuesday with Grandpa, Wednesday and Friday with Tony, and Thursday with me. He decided that my running shoes are called "Thing One and Thing Two", and puts them back in the shoe box and shuts the lid, then carries them around the living room. He is a bit obsessed with Dr. Seuss, I must say. But its adorable.
Sunday was Easter, and with that, a family get together at my parent's house. Alex was able to go outside and hunt for eggs, which he did fantastically! He found over 25 (with just a little help), and would run to grab the egg and put it in his basket happily. I was carrying the basket for the first little while, but when he saw the girls were all (for the most part, except the babies) carrying their own basket, he wanted too also. However, by that time, his Easter Turtle Basket was so full of eggs, when he would run, some would drop out. So he had to be careful so he could keep all of his treasure in the basket.
We also cut his hair last night, and he did an absolutely amazing job (see picture)! He tilted his head when asked, he held down his ears when I needed to go behind them, and the only time he had problems was when I was getting down close to his neck, only because it tickled so much! I accidentally nicked him a couple of times, once on the ear and once when he jumped as I was trying to get the hair by his neck. But otherwise, he was happy once he was all done and got to take a bath, even had to rub his own head because he was so proud!
I got a copy of his Student Progress report on the goals he has for this year. The best thing to read on this sheet of paper is that he "shows even more awareness of people, objects and activities in the classroom environment, and has been much more interactive with teachers, therapists and peers." Go Alex! He is doing an amazing job using meaningful language, and will ask his teachers and peers for things like an object, or if they want to play.
I think that one thing that everyone must realize is something that I guess I have kind of taken for granted his whole life. Alex doesn't need a lot to be happy. He doesn't need people to make him happy, he doesn't need a lot of toys or adventures. He is totally happy with his iPad, a book, or just being in an environment he feels comfortable in. Even though this makes it hard for me to take him to new places, see new people, or even experience new things, it is all worth it when he is at home, his feet kicked up in the reclining part of the sofa, and playing his matching game. Even though it is hard, a lot, for people to understand that I really don't care about what I have to give up so that he can be happy, I will gladly miss outings with friends, late night movies, and parties so that my child can giggle because he found the number zero, or even practice spelling words and learning how to read them. I missed out on being an early 20-something, and now that I have gracefully fallen into being considered a late-20's individual, I really don't care what I missed. It makes people think that I have just crawled out from under a rock, but I still don't care. Both Tony and I have an amazing relationship with Alex that will last the rest of his life because of these sacrifices, and he trusts us and loves us enough to be one of only about 20 people he will talk to. As he expands his world, slowly but surely, he will hopefully remember that no matter what, he can come back to us and feel comfortable. No amount of stuff that I missed out on could ever replace the feeling that I have a lifelong bond with my child.
No comments:
Post a Comment