Smelling the roses

One of my favorite pictures of the boys!

















That is the only word to describe today! It was hot. 94 to be exact. I am almost wishing for the 50's and rain to return; but I know those days will be here before too much longer and then I will long for the warmer weather. We stayed indoors today and just relaxed after our day yesterday. Nick was in a better mood, and we only left the house to go for a romp in the neighbor's plastic pool! I might get one of those next weekend, Nick and Michael really liked it. I am also in a better mood today. Mike is usually able to cheer me up when I get down, and yesterday was no exception. He is now able to speak of autism in a more free manner, and it is not so "horrible" anymore. A few months ago he would not even say the word "autism", but now he will explain to people when Nick acts in a funky way (like screaming like a banshee because of a rotating fan) that he is autistic. He will mention in a movie or tv show if a character seemed a little "odd" that they could be autistic like Nick. In fact, one of his all time favorite shows is MONK....a show about a police detective who has major sensory issues on top of an uncanny ability to notice the smallest details. We have laughed ourselves silly over this show. We somehow find ourselves able to relate to these sorts of characters and see the humor in it. Nick teaches us in many ways, he does communicate...we just have to pay attention. He is not able to verbalize that he missed daddy this weekend, but he SHOWED that he did by following daddy around when he got home and "Hugging" him while he was on the couch. Mike was so touched that he called me over to see...Nick had placed his little head on his dad's chest and was just beaming. Mike was beaming as well. Nick had never "hugged" him before. A few minutes later Nick wanted to be tickled by daddy so Nick took his hand and placed it near him while he would curl up on the floor. Daddy tickled, Nick repeated. Yes, it is primitive, but it is communication at its most basic level, we just have to open our eyes. In some ways, Nick has taught us to take life slower...to stop and notice the patterns on the floor, the feel of wet grass on your barefeet(he walks funny with his legs near straight up in the air with each step), to "smell the roses". There is a scene in the movie "Little Man Tate" where Fred is riding a horse (again, Fred is a character with autistic traits) and he looks up and you see the world through his eyes. What he sees is a wonderful light show with the sunlight in the trees. That is how Nicholas will look at the sky...with the same face and expression as Fred. Just for one day I would love to get inside his head and *see* things differently.