Patience..Transmission

We've started doing a little therapy in the park...

this is so great, since they have swings as a reinforcer...

i just brought our picnic blanket..a couple books...and we read, asked questions..swung/swang/swinged :)

this kid loves it outside.. there was a time when switching from the swing to ANY other activity would not have been a smooth option... he was literally addicted..and we were his dealer..

Sometimes, i think, as parents, we don't want our kids to be unhappy..well, actually, when do we ever want them to be sad...??? I have learned so much about waiting it out a little longer...

wait....wait...wait...(doing the sign for "wait" as i say it...(this sign is two hands, palms up, in front of you, gently wiggling your fingers at the same time..as if to say, "Come on"...but your NOT..you're saying WAIT!!!!)

Anyway..waiting...
hmmmmmm.

patience?

(which really means LONG SUFFERING):)

yes, patience, always seems like such a pleasant word to be asking for...either for ourselves, or for our loved ones...however...i cringe everytime i hear someone say the word...

because, quite frankly...i'm sometimes DONE with the waiting..

DONE with progressing slower than i thought we might...

DONE with being a good example of the whole waiting process...

yet still...

we wait!

and swing.

and slowly...we are getting better..

we are growing.

we are blooming.

All of a sudden i had a memory of driving a stick shift for the first (several) time(s)

I was AWEFUL at it... and then one day, it worked...well, i did it right..

and i felt like i could drive for hours...

ofcourse, once you get going you are okay...it's the stopping and starting that throws all sense of practicality completely out the window...

just when you think the road ahead is free from all sorts of crazy jerking...and stalling...and pretty much engine failure all together...you have to use that gear shift..and the clutch..and..

come to a complete stop...and then start the madness all over again!!

WHAT!!(sound of breaks screeching...or was that the engine falling out??)

(okay, this whole last part about the car, was not what i had planned on saying...but clearly, or maybe not so much, it had to be said...)

Are you having trouble with your transmissions/ transitions too...

i would LOVE to hear...

From My Heart!

2 cute-2 be-4 gotten

Guess who turned 4 today??

What in the world?

My baby..

had a little breakfast party at his school...
complete with gluten free pan"cakes"
(he doesn't eat cake..or cupcakes...just doesn't want to...but the boy can put away some pancakes)
a little yogurt and orange slices...and juice boxes...for all of our friends...
and Sammy blew out the #4 candle all by himself!!
Really!


He is all about his shapes now...will say them...even octagon...but OVAL is his favorite...
so i made him this little birthday shirt...with a big 4...and 4 ovals...
he is just so yummy..
I am in awe of his little life...
so much already...packed into just a few short years..
sigh.
(heavily)
WE Love you so Sammy...
You are 2 "everything wonderful"
2 EVER be
4 gotten.
I Love You , my, more than 3 1/2 year old baby...
YOU are 4!!
You are PERFECT!!

Welcome.....to Holland

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
byEmily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Welcome, from the bottom of my heart, to this very dear piece of my heart..Autism Blooms!
The Lord has placed it on my heart to move forward with this vision of mine...or perhaps, HIS. I hope, truely, that you are encouraged as i have been...that Autism is not the end..it is the very beginning of hope, and a deep understanding of somebody that seems so far away...an adventure of sorts...an amazing journey...a blessing...a gift...a LIFE less ordinary...Thankyou for sharing any of your journey as i share ours... i will be back often with updates and fun ideas...

From my heart..