Claire's school did a singing program for the parents. We were set up in the gym and each grade took a turn on stage singing their prepared song. Claire's song was Rudoff the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Claire had been practicing and was super excited. Mark, Luke and I were able to be in the audience to watch her.
Sean's little school had prepared a 20 minute program with several songs they had been learning. Sean was a little rock star. He sat nicely in his seat, held up his visual aids, did most of the actions and even sang a few songs. I cried through the entire program. I couldn't help but think about how far he has come. A year ago at this time Sean was just barely putting two words together. He had high levels of anxiety, wasn't sleeping much at night and might have been overwhelmed and over stimulated by this kind of activity. Watching my little guy manage himself so well and enjoy himself was overwhelming for me. I have a really hard time having him be gone so long during the day but he is thriving in the structured school environment. All the other autism mommies told me that he would and I felt like I just had to trust them as I put Sean on a but day after day. Sean is growing in ways that Mark and I didn't know were possible for him. He loves playing with friends. I taught him how to knock on the neighbor's door across the street and ask, "can friends play?" He is able to manage playing and is getting much better at sharing and being kind. My favorite part of this Christmas season has been Sean's constant chattering. He is constantly talking about Christmas and Santa and lights and trees. This is the first year that he really understood what was going on. We had so much fun watching Sean experience his first Christmas.
Sean sitting with his teacher Miss Janeen.
Getting hugs after Mommy cried for a half a hour. I'm so proud of him!
The Utah County Annual Commissioners Cup selected Giant Steps to be the recipient of their Charity Golf Tournament. They presented Kyle with a check for $10,000.
Sean got a kick out of Santa!
Claire took this conversation very seriously. Mark and I were pleased when Santa showed up as it saved us a trip to the mall.
No comments:
Post a Comment