Fall and Trip Days

So I just wrote this rambling post that had me wringing my hands with worry over Sam's lack of social skills, my lack of social skills (in dealing with a parent or two), and the utter certainty of future failures because my awesome boy (Sam, who I haven't written about lately, but who is doing really well except for those pesky social skills) is having a hard time navigating what are (I guess?) typical snubs perpetrated by six-year-olds.

Since the bigger problem is that I don't know how to navigate the snubs, other than to rail against them on my blog, I am scrapping the post. For now. At least until I get a handle on what's crazy, what's not, what's typical, what's not — which seems to be never since hey — my world is so not typical that I have no idea which is which. Suffice it to say that writing about it for the last few hours and deciding not to hit Publish has made me feel so much better. Consider yourselves lucky!

Instead, I offer a few lovely images from our weekend:

At the pumpkin patch

Ernie and Elmo anyone? (duh, John's pumpkins)

Beautiful hand-picked zinnias

Happy Days

You guys! John is singing! He comes home every day, a skip in his step, his legs in full gallop as soon as he steps off the bus. Well, let's be honest, he is always in motion — there is just an extra-special exuberance lately. Once inside, he goes immediately for the itouch or computer and requests a smorgasbord of songs: the Days of the Week Song, Five Little Pumpkins, Wheels on the Bus, and of course, If You're Happy and You Know It.

He sings, his voice small yet earnest and adamant:

If you're pappy and you know it, cap your hands!

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!

If you're pappy and you know it, and you meeno meeno show it,

If you're happy and you know it, and you really want to show it,

If you're pappy and you know it, cap your hands!

…stomp feet! (stomp your feet!)

…shout HOORAY! (Hooray!)

One of his favorite dvds right now is Baby Einstein's Baby's First Moves. I know it's meant for babies 3 months of age and older. I don't think the makers intended it to be appreciated as much as it is by my autistic six-year-old. But here's the thing: I never thought I'd see the day that he would come up to me, take my hands and place them over my eyes, open them and say "Peekaboo!" Or that he would climb into my lap and say "Touch your nose!" He has memorized the sequences in the dvd and he rattles them off to me expecting my compliance: "Twist! Shake! Spin! Touch your nose! Wave!" pause…big smile while grabbing my hands… "Peekaboo!"

This morning as he put me through his paces again,  I stopped him and said "Wait. John do it."

"Twist!" I said, ready to help him move but he moved his hips all on his own. "Shake!" I said, and he shook his hands and little body. "Spin!" I said, and slowly he turned twice, looking at me over his shoulder the whole time. "Touch your nose, John!" and he brought his finger to his nose. "Wave?" I said, holding my breath. John has never been able to wave. Or point. But as I watched, he brought up his hand, palm facing inward, and he "waved" to himself. Oh the cuteness! The milestones! The interaction and eye contact! Yes, he's six, but he has come so, so far.

These are things to celebrate.

School is still a big question mark. In a few weeks, I am scheduled to go in to observe — maybe then I will get some more answers. But if the progress he's made and his happy nature is any indication, first grade is going swimmingly.

Finding the Perfect Gifts

The day is crisp with fall and I am alone. You'd think my thoughts would spill fast and furious — it's been awhile after all. But my words will not come; instead my head feels like it could explode from the effort (a sure sign that I should be writing). So instead, for warm-up, I thought I'd share a couple of things we recently discovered for John.

First, the most awesome Animal Hands. They really should be called John Hands since this is the position he holds his in all the time (the better to flick them, perhaps?). Nothing beats stumbling across the perfect gift for John since he is the hardest person to impress. Unless it's a new Sesame Street plush that he doesn't already own (and you know he owns them all).

Second, we stumbled across these colorful Sesame Street evirosax in a tiny independent toy store. Luckily you can find them online. We spent most of the summer trying to find a suitable container for all the friends John insists on lugging everywhere. Talk about a rockin' new monster bag! Love them, they're so cute.