My Inspritations

      Just the other day at school, Alex was finishing his snack with his Special Ed Teacher Liz across the room from the other children. They were in large group getting ready to sing and perform a song called "Shake your sillies out". The music started playing and Alex could hear it, and on his own and independently he began to do the motions of the song himself. He was able to shake his hands, he brought his hands together for a clap and the final motion was to yawn - which he did. Liz just sat back (in awe of him) and let him go. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to get a note like this sent home, and then to have her tell me the story. It makes me cry tears of joy every time.

He also has been doing very well with "choices". He has a communication book at school with individual pictures of things he likes or commands such as "more", "all done" etc. I am also about to develop my own book here at home so he can stay on the same page throughout the weekend and it becomes a way of communication for him both at home and at school. I am hoping that it will eventually bring verbal communication out in him as well.

He has sounds, both consonant and vowels so I truly believe the potential is there, it just may take him awhile. (I hope I am not just telling myself what I want to hear)

I don't think I have ever believed in someone more in my life than I do Alex. He is such an amazing inspiration to me. I know many of my posts probably sound like I am just the most positive person on earth. Well, I am not. I get frustrated, I cry and I have many down moments. But it's the moments like the one above that pick me back up when I feel like I have lost faith. It is what keeps me going as his mother, to never give up hope, to never give up on him and to keep on fighting. I guess those amazing moments are God's way of telling me that everything will be ok.

If one amazing inspiration wasn't enough, God blessed me with another. Evan. Oh, this boy keeps me on my toes, but he blows me away with his brains and his ability to build and create things. He is doing really well in preschool. He has had a few rough days with not listening and not sharing with his peers, but for the most part he does very well. He loves books, movies, and building roads and trains. He can go go go and I wish I had just a portion of the energy he has. He is also artistic and loves to paint. Watching him explore and use his imagination is so cool! This weekend he was drawing maps with paths to the "beach". When he paints, he shows me the trees and water. He is full of wonder and lots of questions. I know he is going to go far and do wonderful things.

I am a very lucky lady. I know a lot of people look at me and may feel sorry for me at times because of the struggles I have to endure. I am not going to lie, it is not easy but these two boys are my world. They are my inspirations and I wouldn't trade either of them for anything.