No sense in going backwards

I could try catching you up, telling you all that has been happening here, but it seems pointless really. Not that I view the last almost 8 weeks of near perfect silence unworthy of telling, but because it is the “trying to jot everything down” thing that has been causing the writer’s block.

Where to start, organizing my thoughts, not writing 2000 words, losing half of you after only 750, I just couldn’t make it happen.

So the next best thing is to simply think back a few days, look at today and a bit into the future. Much less overwhelming, wouldn’t you say?

Although it has been a bit uneven temperature wise, Spring has been treating us amazingly well. We are outside almost everyday, rain or shine, cold or warm, and nothing has been more healing on our bodies, mind and spirits. Our feathered friends have been coming back in droves, bringing with them joy and song. Our yard has been filled with chickadees (pictured above), goldfinches (pictured above), savannah sparrows, chipping sparrows, blue jays, white-breatsed nuthatches, robins, cedar waxwings, house finches (about 100 of them in line of sight as I type this) common redpolls (pictured above) and mourning doves. The cats have been having a fit watching them fly around the yard, chirping menacingly through the windows.

We’ve been rediscovering some of our favorite haunts and soaking up every moment of sun we can get. Our greatest thrill has been the return of our days on the beach. The St-Lawrence River has gone from completely covered with ice to free and clear in a little over one week and our water’s edge exploration has begun. The icebergs are spectacular this year and the kids can’t get enough of them. It’s been so amazing to get out and dirty without fear of freezing in place. We even found an howl nest (last picture)! How cool is that?

Maple Fox Pattern here

I’ve been spending more time in my craft room lately and it has felt amazing. Easter presents for the kids stayed simple (mushroom peg family for Little Miss and rice tossing bags and rope bowl for Little Man) and a nice comfy paper pieced pillow was made for my niece’s 10th birthday. And as I have mentioned in one of my previous posts, crafting, like reading, truly is like riding a bike. The more you create, the more you want to create and I’ve been loving every moment of it.

We couldn’t be happier with the way our Little Man has been doing in therapy. We’ve seen such progress in his everyday way of being. We’ve been focusing on life skills and he’s been enjoying helping around the house and feeling useful. He has started to undress himself when prompted and will clear his place setting when meals are done. He helps undo the groceries and love putting the heavy stuff away. He puts on his boots when asked and will eat more runny foods (like applesauce or yogurt) with a spoon now. We’ve been practicing washing ourselves in the bath tub and combing our hair.

Another big thing we’ve been working on is his behavioral quirks. Much of his impulse control issues are being addressed in therapy and we’ve seen such improvement in his patience and the intensity of his tantrums. He’s also trying to speak more and more. The sounds aren’t quite words yet, but they sound like words and we are just on the edge of our seats, waiting for them to overflow from that smiling little face.

Last, but not least, we are in the midst of the emergence of imaginative play. For those who don’t know, many kids with autism have a lot of issues with imagination. It was actually one of the big red flags we had mentioned to the psychologist conducting his initial assessment. Not anymore though : He will put his peg dolls on the back of his dinosaurs and have them take a ride. He will take his baby in the tub with him and wash him. He loves putting costumes on for role playing and having imaginary “conversations” on the phone. His favorite thing these days is taking the toy guitars and having us play together while dancing.

He makes us so proud everyday, I can’t even find the words.

And I truly believe that all of his amazing developing social skills are mainly because of this little lady. What a big sister he has.

So there you go. We are here again : Happy, healthy, connected and blessed.

Wishing you an amazing week-end! xo