Progress!

Holy holy holy. What a couple of weeks! I love Advent. I love preparing for Christmas. I love Christmas shopping. I love the lights. The trees. The decorations. LOVE it. And it's not even my favourite. Just wait until after Christmas! :)

Crackle. My sweet son. He's filling me with wonder and awe so often now. He's been so here. So with it. He's said Mama a few times this week. I told him to come back to the table. He said, "Nah". I jumped up and applauded. He SAID it. He said "Nah"! That's so awesome. And he's been playing games. He's been attending to me. He's been happy. He's even looking at books and turning pages on them (at the right time, no less!)

This. Is. Huge. Do you see how amazing this is? My son, my 6 year old son, who doesn't talk, doesn't play, doesn't doesn't doesn't... IS!

And Pop. Oh my goodness, Pop. Last Christmas, I put him and Crackle on Santa's lap and told Santa that neither of them could talk, that they both have autism. This year? Pop made a list. He wants new everything. New toys, books, puzzles, trains, dolls, shoes, new socks for his brother, new toys for the dog, a new microwave and kitchen for Mom (YAY!). Basically, he thinks new everything would be awesome. He talks in complete sentences. He has huge conversations. He introduces himself to people. He introduces new people who come to the house to his brother. He starts conversations about things he's interested in. It's truly magnificent.

And Snap has applied for college. She's looking at doing 2 years at Camosun and then switching to UVic. Her current plan is Women's Studies. Or graphic art. I am so proud of her.

Oh sure, they all drive me nuts some days. Like when Snap is calling me a bitch because I want her to go to bed at midnight on a school night, or Crackle is doing his screaming thing, or Pop is crying because I won't let him watch the Thomas movie for the 4th time today, or Buddy (the dog) is peeing on the floor because he has bladder damage. But there's wine for all that. :)