Girlfriend?

Apparently, T is a heart-throb at his school! The divine Brett, one of the therapists that work with T every day, came out to my car one recent morning with a big smile on his face. He always shares great stories with me about cool things T does at school. He's a dad of special needs kiddos himself, so he knows how important it is to hear these fun stories! (We hear so much about what they can't do, how they tantrumed/screamed/stimmed too much, etc…) Anyway, he reported that one of the girls at the school has taken quite a liking to T. So much so that she took him by both sides of his face and kissed him on either cheek over and over again! What makes it even more fun: apparently, he was eating it up – laughing and squirming and smiling through it all!

This warms my heart so much. A little girl has a crush on my boy! I remember having my little crushes in elementary school, too. And now, my little boy is the object of another little girl's affection!

One Swell Poop

It has happened. The day for which I have waited for years, the one that I dreamed would come and thought never would. T has pooped in the toilet – the whole job, beginning to end!!! One flushable Cottonelle Wipe, and we were done. Not only did he poop in the toilet today, but Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, too. 4 DAYS IN A ROW!!! Okay, I still have to catch him Assuming The Position, but he knows what to do now, and tonight after dinner he TOLD me he had to go. Yes, he had already peed in his tighty whities, but he promptly pooped in the toilet for the second time today!!!

Ah.

I think back to all those hours I have spent sitting on the bathroom floor – of our house in Small College Town and here. Back to the days when I couldn't even get him to step foot into the bathroom because he knew I was going to try to get him to sit on the toilet, and the mere thought of that was too aversive for him. How long it took for him to be willing to sit on the toilet, even for a few seconds. Then the endless stream of days, weeks, months and even years (yes, YEARS) that I would catch him about to poop, take him to the bathroom, sit him on the toilet, watch DVDs, sing, talk, read books about potty training…and nothing would come…until after I had given up and he pooped in his Pull Up 10 minutes later when I wasn't watching. I have felt so incredibly defeated and hopeless…until now. All the hard work has FINALLY paid off.

Dare I say it? I think he's got it.

And you know what? If he can learn to poop on the toilet, then he can learn to ride a bike. He could learn how to write his name. He could learn how to have a conversation. He could learn to read. To have a friend. To watch a TV show with a plot & follow the story. To use a computer. To have a job. It may be in his own time, and it may take the sweat & tears of his parents & countless teachers & therapists, but he'll do it, by God. He'll do it.

All this from poop. But I'm feeling really good today.

A Great State Fair

Rob & I took T to the State Fair today. It's a Saturday, so it promised to be a crowded day - but the weather promised to be seasonably cool – only 80 degrees – and with family in town, we decided to give it a whirl. And what a great day we had! The biggest news was that he actually rode some carnival rides today, and had a terrific time! I think I've found my roller coaster buddy. He rode the carousel, smiling all the way, then a kiddie roller coaster, LAUGHING all the way! He rode the roller coaster twice – once with me, once with Rob. On to little cars that go around in a circle under a huge colorful umbrella, and lastly down a mega slide on a burlap bag. Okay, there was a little screaming when I put him on my lap to go down this huge thing, but the shrieks of protest immediately turned to laughter when sliding down. Once we were down, he even stopped at the entrance to the slide, looked back at me with that "I want this" look…and I had to say no because we were out of tickets. But even then, there was just a little yelp in protest, but we were off again. He was in a good mood all day, despite the crowds and stimulation. And we had another really, really nice moment: at the duck pond game (where everyone wins) I approached the worker without T, said that I had an autistic kiddo with me and just wanted to know how it worked and what we needed to do to win a big ball. Just two small plastic ducks would earn the coveted ball. So a few minutes later, I brought him over and he pulled two ducks out, earning him the ball, but the worker said "Two smalls allow him to choose a ball, but he gets to choose a large prize." My heart just melted with thanks. There really are these wonderful moments when perfect strangers show an unexpected act of kindness – they just take my breath away. Rob & I thanked her profusely, but T really did just want the ball, and that's what he chose. We walked away from there so thankful and touched. We happily played with the new ball while waiting for cousins to finish their rides.

On a completely different note: we have now tried a deep fried Snickers bar. It tastes like, well, a Snickers bar in a doughnut. Ugh. Complete decadence – I'm glad I can say I've tried it, and I don't need to have one again!