Seven Things for Sunday

I'm going to say seven things that are true, this week, about Anthony.

• Never ending toilet training is going very, very well at school but he's had some bad days there recently and he's had at least one day a weekend here that has straight up stunk.  And I do mean stunk, this morning Mike was at church and Maria came down and said I was in my room and something smelled and there is POOP on the FLOOR!  When I look at the big picture, I know how great it is that he's doing so well but it's daunting.  
• We have to start putting Anthony in his braces again, after a break because he had a growth spurt and couldn't wear his old ones and then we had to wait a while to have his new ones made.  It is just infuriating to get them - they cost $497 and our deductible for devices is $500 (ha ha boo hoo what a coincidence) and it's like TEN CENTS of material and in fact, the straps broke not once but twice the first two days he tried them and Mike had to go back and get them fixed twice.  Annoying!
• He needs a haircut and I am dreading it.  
• He and Felicity have been playing together a lot - not because they choose to but because they have common interest and also, she kind of leaves him alone and he likes that.  Here's a picture of them in the bounce house today.  
  
• He has been sleeping well but it's spotty - he sometimes is super tired, like if he goes to a pool or splash park with school, and then he falls asleep early and wakes up early and he's very loud and obnoxious and we have to go get him.  But overall, things are fine in that department.  
• He's so big and tall lately, it makes me think of him being a teenager.  I'm so scared.  I can't believe how I always want everyone to get grown up except him.  I want him to stay little and controllable.  But that's not fair, I suppose, to him, so I am trying to get over it.  
• He's doing very well with his new OT, I like her a lot.  This week I had to get my exercise in and I asked her if I could go out while she was working with him and she said SURE, she said, she has another mom who always goes and exercises and sometimes she does yoga in another room if the weather is bad.  So I just walked a loop for 30 minutes and it was nice.  I don't mind at all listening to him, or rather not listening to him because he is usually very quiet and happy with her, but it was nice to have a break from it too and get something accomplished.  

Onward to this week!  Wish us luck and I am still asking for prayers that we get his dog sooner rather than later.  

What it's Like to Have an Autistic Brother

This video!  My friend Eileen, my friend from high school, sent me this on Facebook and I just love it.  I love this kid and his voice.  The brother reminds me of Anthony, he has similar mannerisms.  I hope and pray so many things for Anthony - I hope he survives his childhood, I hope he doesn't learn to climb the damn fence and drop six feet, I hope he gets to be 100% toilet trained, I hope he learns to communicate and alleviate some frustration from his life.  I hope he can learn a little bit more so that he can someday write and type and express himself.

But I also hope that Maria and Anthony could have this kind of relationship, or Anthony and Veronica or maybe even far apart Anthony and Felicity.  I know those girls love him so much, and I know he loves and is intrigued by them but eventually the girls are going to want more, right?  I don't know, I never had a brother like Anthony, I don't know what's going to happen.  But I know that there is a reason that Anthony has three sisters and I hope that reason is because they are going to love him and care for him.

Anyway, this video is so nice and SO much better than certain Ted Talks with certain spoiled selfish siblings talking about how horrible their life was with their autistic brother.  It's really beautiful and it fills me with hope.  I look at that kid sitting with his brother at Dunkin Donuts, standing on the beach, not climbing on tables, not running into the surf, and I think maybe.  Maybe some day Anthony will slow the hell down and not always be climbing on tables, running away from us, maybe.  I know I am hanging a lot of hope on this dog working out but I am going to continue to hope that that is a thing that happens for us.  I have been on the lookout for so long I am starting (?) to get sort of weird.  I would love to relax a little, I'd love for him to relax a little bit.  I am asking for prayers and hope that we get a dog for Anthony sooner rather than later.  I am wracked with guilt that I didn't do the application sooner.

My wrapping it up skills are wanting, I know, so I'll post a link to the great video again.  Here!  Go watch it!  Bring tissues!

Something

 Isn't he something?  I'm just going through this CD of pictures that they sent him from his camp and I found this one.  He looks like the girls here, and I think it's because he's making a face, he looks like ... I don't want to say normal but he looks normal to me.  Maybe he looks like the Anthony of my Dreams or something.  That's weird and wrong, because he already is the Anthony of my Dreams but I mean, he looks like a regular little kid, maybe feeling a little self conscious because he's wearing a helmut?  He's so cute.