CHRISTMAS happened. It's my favorite time of the year, and it's already GONE. We all had a lot of fun, we were able to bless and be blessed beyond measure, and more importantly we remembered and rejoiced in the birth of our Savior. We were able to go to church regularly with the kids, and even took them to the Christmas Eve service (seriously, it's been YEARS).
TJ, my mom, my brother Ryan and I were all able to watch Caleb's preschool Christmas performance, where they sang Jingle Bells, Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer, and I'm A Little Snowman. It was so adorable and I can't even begin to explain how happy I was to see it.
There was a house down the street that was crazy decorated with lights, set to music, and had its own radio station. We went almost 10 times to watch it; Caleb called it the Christmas Coat-rackt" (which is a line from a book we read every night). We brought along treats and an occasional coconut slush from Sonic for CC.
Christmas Day is always interesting with Caleb. We never know exactly how it's going to go, how he's going to behave, what's going to trigger a meltdown, etc. so we basically TRY to have no expectations and just enjoy the day. We were really hopeful because for the first time he was truly excited for Christmas. He understood that there were presents under the tree, and that he had to wait to open them. Every night we read The Night Before Christmas and The Story of Christmas (which explains Jesus' birthday). Christmas morning came and we had to wake him up, bring him out to the living room, and show him that there were presents to open (which is another subject altogether; you really can't anticipate how receptive a child with autism is going to be to certain toys...he got a bike, a wooden maze, some puzzles, new maps, and all he wanted was the marble-kerplunk-thingamajig). Lilly got plenty of princess things, Hello Kitty stuff, markers, an Ariel doll, and all she wanted was Caleb's new bike helmet; OY! I'm pretty sure at one point in the morning I was wearing a crown, with Ariel in one hand, and princess shoes in the other...to no avail, as LC was standing in front of the mirror with the bike helmet.
Next came a quick morning trip to my parents' house, where Caleb had a huge meltdown over the fact that Lilly touched a play doh container that he was using to stack into a tower. I mean kicking, screaming, crying...etc. Nothing that a nice little walk outside with dad couldn't fix (TJ really is the sweetest). And my parents are so unconditional in their love for Caleb..."you just do whatever you need to; whatever happens is just fine" my dad says to me every time. Truly blessed, I tell you.
Then back home for naps, followed by dinner at Tj's mom's with aunts and uncles. Caleb and Lilly love it over there, and everyone is so warm and welcoming. Lilly wore the Christmas dress that my Momo made for me many years ago. Caleb had a hoot being coy with Grandma Betty, and impressed the men by naming the US Presidents (I guess I need to get that on video). We had a lot of fun but let me say, we were exhausted by the end of the night; exhausted and blessed.
Speaking of blessed, as a Christmas present to us, TJ's mom (with the help of her friend's timeshare) gave us two nights in VEGAS. We stayed off the strip in a small resort, and it was fantastic. We shopped, we ate, we drank...and were probably the only two people on the strip with coffees in hand at 10pm on a Saturday night. I was incredibly anxious to leave the kids for TWO WHOLE DAYS, but let me tell you, they were in very good hands with their Grandma; Tj's mom is so sweet, and they love her so much; she's so gentle and patient with them, I couldn't ask for anyone better to stay with them.
New Years came, and I have to say I was pretty anxious. 2013 is not a year that I'm very excited about...TJ is leaving in April for deployment, and I won't have him for the majority of the year. And that's all I can see in front of me at this moment. Next subject.
Caleb started a new class on Monday!! He was doing do well in his class of all special Ed students that his teacher felt he needed to be more challenged. He's now in a class of 15 preschoolers, around 5 of which have IEPs (the other 10 being what you would call "typical peers"; children without disabilities). The class is designed to create social interaction, specifically for children with autism like Caleb, who need that extra shove. He's progressing on all of his goals, and he's academically incredible, so we're really excited about this new schedule for him (he's also at school for 5 hours instead of 3 hours, yay for mom ; ). We're also increasing his OT to two times/week; insurance covers it, so we might as well use it all up as much as we can.
Oh boy, sorry this post was so long! I guess I needed to recap a lot. More specific posts to come soon...more videos have been requested (KATHERINE...who I misssssssss).
Thanks for reading!
I just noticed in these photos how he TOTALLY has TJ's chin. especially in the ones of them together!
ReplyDeleteI know!! Seriously morphing into him more and more every year.
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