For anyone who knows and loves a kid with autism you know there are certain key words, phrases that they love to use in most every conversation or in situations familiar to them. Brenden, for example, has two that stick in my brain....Whenever he talks on the phone he almost always says "It's me, Brenden." It doesn't matter who he is talking to...me, Dad, Grandpa, etc. He always has to say "It's me, Brenden." He has always done this and I can easily imagine my 
adult son with kids of his own still identifying himself as "It's me, Brenden" on the phone when he gets older.
Another of his favorite phrases is 'well, actually'. If he is one one of his machine tangents, telling you about what he is going to be building, inventing, etc. he always says 'well, actually' after you comment on his idea. It's almost as though
sometimes he is trying to gently tell you you're wrong and here's the truth of the matter.
Anyway, where is this going....there is currently a large box sitting on the hearth for Perry for Father's Day. It came yesterday and I quickly wrapped it in some plain paper and put it there for the kids to color all over. Emma sat down this morning to add to the coloring and when her little pink color wouldn't work she said "achuwee 
it's not out now" meaning the color wasn't rolled out (they are the twist out colors). I find it utterly charming half the things she says but when I heard the "ackchuwee" come from her sweet little mouth I realized something seriously good has happened to this mommy over the last several months...I'm no longer scared to death about her having the same issues that Brenden has. Sure, she still lines up the shoes by the back door, she also flaps her arms when she is excited, she is very, very smart and has a
large vocabulary for 2 BUT there's a huge difference in her and that difference is made up of incredibly small little things that we have to really think back to 9 or 10 years ago with Brenden to realize weren't there with him....Here are a few....She loves to play with others. She really cares when she is in trouble. She loves to snuggle and hug us. She is very caring and mommy-like, shows affection.
Mmm, not only is my baby growing but her mommy is maturing past worries and fears that has consumed her in the past. Can I have a little Whoo-hooo here? Come on...you can do it....Swing them hips a bit to the right and then to the left and repeat. Nice, good job.
What's on tap this week?
Em's party invites
Search for more homeless babies to put on Ebay (pictures are of the current listings).
