Brother-Sister Cuteness

My son recently has been saying “happy!” trying to ensure my daughter and I are happy…all the time, in the cutest way! If he thinks either of us are sad, he simply says “Happy”. If we don’t tell him that we are happy, or look happy after that, he says “Happy please.” If that doesn’t work, he’ll say “Mommy happy please” and give me a huge smile. His smile just lights up the room!

Yesterday my daughter was home from school because she wasn’t feeling well. In the evening, she was looking very unhappy because the tylenol I had given her had run out. Poor thing. My son noticed, went over and told her “Happy”. She couldn’t even fake it. So he said “Happy please” and then leaned over and gave her a kiss to help her feel better. I also gave her the next dose of tylenol.

Shortly thereafter, my daughter mentioned that she was starting to feel a bit better. I told her that was good, and that the tylenol must have started working. She said it was getting a kiss from her brother.

So much cuteness!!

How Things Have Changed in 6 Months (#Autism)

A year ago, my son was considered to be “non-verbal”. Six months ago (around our move from Big City, Ontario to Small Town, Ontario, and especially him starting IBI), he started using words on a more regular basis, but it was only about 20 words, and it was still intermittent. Fast forward to two nights ago…

He regularly wakes up for 2 – 4 hours overnight for what I call his “Autism party” where he plays constantly for that time period. Since I’ve taken everything out of his room except for his bed, bedding, and his one stuffed animal (Mikey Mouse) that he takes everywhere, it amazes me that he can spend so long playing. In the morning, I am encountered by all the bedding taken off his bed and his mattress will be folded in half, or leaning up against a wall, in whatever shape he has decided to create. At first, I was amazed that he could do this, now it’s just “normal”.

Two nights ago, his “Autism party” consisted of him talking NON-STOP.  His favourite thing to say right now is “Oops. Almost. Try Again”, which is a statement from his favourite game on TVOKids.com.  After an hour or so of him saying this (and laughing his head off each time he said it), while moving everything around in his room, and me telling him to lie down and go back to sleep, I finally lost it and told him “stop talking, be quiet and go to sleep!”. Of course this didn’t work, but I chuckled a few minutes later when I realized the irony that I’ve gone from desperately WANTING to hear him talk, and now I was telling him to stop talking in such a short time period.

For the record, I want my little man to keep talking, more and more every day so I can learn from him…BUT, I would really appreciate if he would NOT do it during the wee hours of the morning.

 

Definition of Panic

The most panicked I’ve ever been in my life was when my son took off in a grocery store.  He was sitting in the top tier of the cart, as per usual.  I turned away from my son to put a grocery item on the conveyor belt, turned back around to get another item from the cart and my son was gone. 

My immediate panic went to him running outside, where the store was surrounded by 3 major artery streets in town, and a major highway.  A very quick second thought was realizing how much of a safety issue it was that he was non-verbal.  My third thought was “Crap, I have to call my ex and get him here” and to top off that thought, we had been fighting via email all morning. 

The cashier asked my daughter to be her “helper” while staff started asking me what my son looked like, what he was wearing, and after answering the questions, I just kept repeating “He has Autism, doesn’t talk, and can be violent” over and over again, especially since he was going through one of his headbutting stages.  The grocery store was “locked down”, meaning staff was posted at each entrance and exit immediately and no child was allowed to exit without confirming a grown up was with them.  I ran outside to circle around the parking lot trying to find him.

Thankfully, they found a little boy within the store, found me in the parking lot and I ran inside to confirm that it was him.  The little bugger was sitting on the floor, eating candy right out of the bulk bins (which he’s never done before) and we were all back at the check-out by the time their dad made it across town. 

My son’s whereabouts were unknown for less than 10mins but the gravity of having a child who isn’t verbal and who doesn’t respond to his name was very real.  So, if I’m a bit protective of where he is at all times, there’s a very valid reason.

 

PS – Want to share YOUR Autism story? Email me at imamomtoo.meghan@gmail.com or tweet me at @ImAMomToo.