A Year of Progress

Today of course is Easter, a special holiday for all Christians.  It is a very special day for our family, especially this year, for other reasons as well.  Last year on this day my husband and I recommitted to each other.  So this is a huge milestone for us.  And one I am very proud to reach.

 While I'm talking about milestones, we saw several today for the boys.  We had a few issues throughout the day, but over all it went pretty well.  I was even brave enough to ATTEMPT mass with Jack this morning.  Let's just say that as we left the very crowded auditorium (we were at the "family" mass) before the service was over, several people patted my back and whispered "peace be with you".  Ha.  Still, last year, I went alone, would not have dreamed of taking Jack.  So, even though it didn't go, ahem, well, it's still progress.  I have made the decision to start taking Jack more regularly, but honestly, I think we need to go every Sunday except the holidays.  It's just too crazy, and way too much stimulation for him.  I was so angry with him for misbehaving, but truth be told, even I was overwhelmed by how crowded and noisy it was, and I don't have sensory issues.

The real "star" of the morning was Mr. Natey.  Last year, when we tried to get him to look at his Easter basket, he screamed and wanted nothing to do with it.  Never looked at any of it, in fact, I found his stuffed bunny in the china cabinet today.  This year- oh my God.  It was soooooo awesome.  He looked at almost everything and played with most of it, read books with me- actually walked over and gave me an excited hug.  I can't even explain how amazing this was.  John and I were grinning at each other like a couple of fools.  Now, the Easter bunny is much more savvy this year, we had a sensory Easter basket that contained things that he really loves, but I don't really think it would have made a difference last year.  We honestly didn't know what he liked at this time last year.  He was just that disconnected.

So I made a decision about future gifts for Nate too.  I'm not wrapping them anymore.  Gonna take them out of the boxes and set them up and make them as accessible as possible.  That's how HE likes it.



After our lovely church experience (read: fiasco), we headed over to Grammy and Granddad's house.  My cousin and his family were visiting from Oregon, and my little sister and her boyfriend came as well.  It was a great, boisterous, accepting crowd and we all had a great time.  My sister did an egg hunt for the kids, and Jack was really into it this year, and was really scanning for eggs.  More importantly, he was really interacting with my cousin's children, really enjoying playing with them.  And they in turn tolerated him calling peeps, umm, some other kind of bird, the name of which NONE of us could understand, and constantly talking about his parakeet, Dexter, who currently resides on his right shoulder.  Seriously, when we walked through parking lots all weekend, he refused to hold my hand with his right hand, as he did not want to disturb Dexter.  We did have one small incident where Jack had an issue- one of the other kids mentioned a being bitten by a deer fly one time and Jack became extremely paranoid that there was in fact a bug in the house and it was after him. Hands over ears, running around, and when I caught him, he was literally shaking.  Eventually I convinced him that even though I knew there were no bugs in the house, if there were, I had no doubt that Dexter would gobble them up, so there was nothing to worry about.  He bought it, sort of.

Nate had lots of fun too.  Grammy got him a new barrel of monkeys (green!) and there were so many of them that he literally couldn't reach to hook all of them together.  He ran around and was happy and pretty verbal, then fell asleep and slept through dinner.  I got a few good pictures of him looking at the camera during the egg hunt.  In one the lighting is really bad, but I just don't care because he is looking and smiling!

Things I am incredibly thankful for today:

-Reuniting with a cousin I hadn't seen in a long time and spending time with his amazing wife and kids

-My thoughtful sister who put together an egg hunt that all of the kids loved

-The fact that my sis and mom put together several "special" eggs for Nate that had sensory toys in them- he really loved that

-My mommy- who as always had an array of gluten free foods available for the boys- she consistently does this, but I do not take it for granted.  We are so incredibly blessed to have such considerate family members. 

-Nathan had an amazing day.  He was trying to tell me things all day, and at one point walked over with his new "Duck and Goose" easter book, handed it to me, and climbed into my lap. 

-Jack loved hanging out with the big kids and was playing appropriately with them and loving every second of it.  At one point I heard him tell them "I love you, you can't leave".  Sometimes that whole concept of children lacking a filter can be the cutest thing ever.

Happy Easter, hope everyone had a great day!