This is a bunch of crap.

At this current moment in time, all I hope for Waylon is that he is able to have his own home someday, so I can go to his house, drop my pants, and lay a pile of crap on his carpet.

That is all I needed to say right now, thanks for letting me vent.
I need to go find the Lysol.

the naive one

Once upon a time, there was a couple with an amazingly cute, charming, well-behaved three-year-old, and a growing, losing-the-baby-look, busy, giggling one-year-old, and they said "Parenting is easy. Let's have another!"
And God smiled.
So they were blessed with the naive one.

The naive one does not know what autism is. She has a brother who is sometimes annoying, but she loves him so much. She gets in his face. She drags him around. She is bossy, and rude, and gives sloppy kisses. He is crazy and wild and splashes water in her face. She steals his cars, just to hear him scream. He screams, she stomps her feet, and they have an argument... without words.

And so he grows up in a neurotypical sandwich, worth more than all the therapy in the world.

The naive one has far passed him developmentally, but she doesn't know it yet. She think she's his mother, but then again, she thinks she is all of ours' mother. She has high expectations for him. He is her big brother, after all.

So yesterday, the naive one yells "I love you Mom!" twice. I say, "You just said that, silly girl." And she says, "I know, the second one was from Waylon. He's shy."

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. This is stuff you can't dream. And all year long, but especially this week, I am ever so grateful to the One who concocted this life of mine. God is so good.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of your families, from ours.

Among other things...Nutella is not to be eaten from the jar.

 

 

Shortly after the last post, which was a weekend of insomniac nutella fests and smashing light bulbs with mardi gras beads, I had the soul-cleansing pleasure of taking a mini roadtrip across southern Missouri on probably the most beautiful weekend of fall.

And it was just what the doctor ordered.

 

 

We took a wrong turn and wound up on a twisty, winding southern Missouri road with low water bridges and beautful views. I don't think it was a mistake. I definitely needed this refresher of God's wonders.

 

I think Waylon did too.

 

We turned a sharp curve and found this cute little nook in the middle of nowhere. Just cute as all get out, it was screaming at me to pull over and come in for a peek. But alas, I saw the invisible sign on the door that said, "No kids with autism allowed." So it will have to wait for a grown-ups only road trip someday.

 

 

A couple of weeks later, Travis and I were entranced by the words of a woman with autism who was unable to speak until she was four years old. Meeting Temple Grandin was amazing, and we came home with lots of new ideas to try, books to read, and most of all, hope.

PS- If you haven't seen the movie Temple Grandin, do it. Now.

 

 

Then it was Halloween, quite possibly Waylon's least favorite holiday. He hates costumes, only getting one piece out of a huge bowl of candy, and not getting to go in to explore every single house we stop at. Other than that, we had a great time.

 

And as always, Trav and I went on our monthly date. Because I don't care who you are, or if your kids are angels, you'll be a better parent if you find time in your busy schedule for yourself, and each other. Even if you watch one half of the worst NFL team in history sucking big monkey chunks, it's worth it.

 

 

 And among all these happenings this month, we're still working on understanding that although Nutella is delicious, it is not to be eaten straight from the jar. =(