Rainy Day

I have an obscene amount of things that I need to get done for school, but I think that writing this week's entry on this rainy day will possibly help me find the motivation I need to accomplish at least some of the tasks I have set for myself today. There are not as many pictures this week, because we had a rather busy week. On Wednesday, Alex went to the dentist an it was a little rough on him, but the dentist was able to look at his teeth and saw they are just as perfect as they were last time, so he is good for the next six months.

Thursday was sort of a rough day for Alex. Its not often anymore that he has bad days at school, so I think he really just uses them as a way to communicate with us. I think Thursday was rough on him because we disrupted his natural order on Wednesday by taking him to the dentist, where he did not have the best time ever. But he bounced back on Friday, and had another good day, because the Veterans came and he got a flag.

On Tuesday, since it was Election day, they did something at school that I thought was so completely adorable: They voted for their favorite snack.

Then, after voting at school, Alex went with me to vote. He sat there while I was doing my thing, and he read Sneetches to the little old ladies who were sitting behind the desk. They thought he was so cute. I promised that he could have my sticker that says, "I VOTED", but our voting place didn't have any. So I took him to get some chocolate milk instead.

I think that, even though he is only 6 years old, it is important to explain to him why I do the things I do, and keep an open line of communication with him. I explained to him about voting for who I would like to see be the President, who I wanted our community officials to be, and even if he doesn't understand how big of a thing this is now, he will later when he is more grown up.

One of the best things he did at school this week is take part in Musical Chairs. There is a great picture that his teacher took of him sitting in a chair with two friends on his lap, and he has a HUGE smile on his face. He didn't want to take part right away, he had to watch at first to figure out what they were doing. But once he got it, he really enjoyed it! This, of course, is how he tackles almost every new thing that comes his way. Do I think that is a set back for him? Not really. He doesn't dive head first into things, he prefers to watch to see how it is done before doing things. Shows that he is somewhat cautious when it comes to interacting, which means he is thinking about it a lot.

The weather will be getting colder this week, and Dad and I went out to get him new snow pants (since he grew out of the ones last year) and new snow boots (same problem). He loves his new boots because they are green, his favorite color. Today he is just happy looking out the window at the rain falling, and eating his favorite snack: Cheese Crackers.

I am going through all of the information that I have collected from the last two and a half years, and compiling them into a research paper to show my understanding of Language Acquisition in Autistics. I found that last night, while the house was quiet and I was typing away, I would tear up a little bit thinking about everything that we have been through as a family. Alex would not be who he is today without awesome peers, amazing staff at his school, and his family. Whether people see it or not, encouragement goes a long way with him.  We have had our rough stuff, but we do our best. I am putting together the power point presentation that I will present to my class at the end of the semester, and I am wondering if I will start crying in the middle of it. Not because I am sad, but because I am so proud. Once I get it all together, I will put highlights up on here, and share what my conclusions I have after 2 1/2 years of being an Autistic's Mommy.