Accomplishments Only An Autism Parent Could Love.....

Us Autism parents develop crackhead senses of humor, it's just necessity.  The "new normal" is not just a catch phrase, it is truly a way of life, and let me tell you, as an autism parent, if you don't find your way to this place, you're gonna be pretty miserable.  Normal developmental milestones just don't apply, so you kind of create your own.  We have had a few lately that have been particularly ridiculous so I thought I would share here...
Here are some things that John and I are proud of that may make you shake your head...

1.  Jack is obsessed with hunting and guns right now.  The gun thing drives us both crazy- and he doesn't even own any!  However he turns sticks, golf clubs, mechanical robot arms, and large bubble wands into guns- he also made me build a robot gun out of his gears set this past weekend- this is amazing pretend play, so whoohoo!!!

2.  Nathan is developing a very jealous/possessive streak when it comes to mama.  Jack cannot sit on the opposite end of the couch from me without Nathan screaming because he doesn't want him that close to me.  He walks over and smacks him.  On the plus side- they are interacting!!!!! AND- Nate is communicating!

3.  I mentioned the potty training debacle with Nathan the other night, the fact that he umm, pooped on the floor.  John was downstairs while this was going on and all he heard was cheering.  He knew we were trying the potty and he came running upstairs to celebrate the success, so you can imagine his surprise when he walked into a poop filled room.  He looked at me like, umm, WHAT are you cheering about???  The answer- some pee got in the potty AND he didn't smear the poop!

4.  John and I were outside the other night when John looked up and saw Nathan in our bedroom window.  Which is over our bed.  And this was after bedtime.  He was standing there pouring water from my water glass onto my pillow.  We were tickled pink.  Hey, he opened the door all by himself!  We love ALL developmental milestones around here!

5.  Jack came home from being out with a family member who gave him contraband ice cream the other night (he is still dairy free).  He puked in the bathtub- thank God; because after he got rid of the dairy we avoided the usual resulting hyperactivity and he slept through the night.

6. I am secretly thrilled every time Nathan throws a temper tantrum- he knows what he wants, and he is passionate enough about it to make his feelings really well known.  We are ecstatic with any and all communication attempts, even if they involve him screaming hysterically, throwing himself on the ground and yelling "bad, bad, bad" for good measure

And now some visual accomplishments:

7.  They are sitting near each other- and Jack isn't trying to sit on him; and Nate isn't hitting Jack! All parents can appreciate this to some extent, however, in my boys' case, this has happened maybe 4 times- like, ever

8.  Jack saw this crab on his school field trip.  He was able to walk away from it without having a meltdown.  He told every single person he saw for the rest of the day ALL about it, but he did not have a meltdown.  I cannot state more emphatically how huge this was for Jack.  Score!

9.  This one serves a double duty- he let me cut his hair.  AND he's looking at the camera!!!!  Huge accomplishment for a kiddo with autism on both counts.

10.  Nate uses an app called "choice board" on the IPAD.  He is now choosing several items correctly when he wants them (he touches them, they enlarge on the screen, he touches them again and my voice says the word- that's his way of asking for something- and food is the main motivator for him)

Is it all complete and utter CRAP??? Absofreakinglutely!  Do I care?  If he asks appropriately for these things?  Nope.  That's right, I will let my kid eaten gluten and dairy free JUNK if he communicates with me.  Hearing my own voice say "chip" is music to my ears. 

The funniest part of all of this to me is that these sound like perfectly normal things to be proud of now.  The first time Jack smeared poop when he was a little over 2 years old I thought I would DIE.  Now if Nate does it, I sigh, grab the lysol wipes and investigate just how far he got in the process without missing a beat.  John's job is to toss him in the shower and squirt soap in his general vicinity.  Hey, it's teamwork.