Monday, April 27, 2015

Big Moments for Our Littlest Girl

Last week Patch was playing with letter tiles at the dining room table.  Mae kept slipping over from her therapy session in the other room and stealing tiles away, one at a time or sometimes by the handful.  

After a few minutes we realized that she had swiped all of the letter I tiles off of the table.  

Then she put them in a neat little stack, of about six tiles a couple of inches tall, and she held the tiles between two fingers and said "ice cream" and then pretended that she was eating an ice cream cone.  

Because "I is for Ice Cream" is something they would say during therapy when she'd put together her ABC puzzle (and the I has a picture of ice cream on it).  

I love her imagination.

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She wore jeans today.  For the first time in a long, long time.  In fact I'm pretty sure that the last time she wore jeans was when she was James' age.  And they were white:


Ever since she's had an opinion about clothes (so just about always) she's had strong opinions about what she's wanted to wear.  And what she's wanted to wear has been rather particular.  For a while it was her Superman costume and red boots.  Then it became princess dresses, followed by mermaid costumes and lately, tutus. 

 If I wanted her in long pants then I needed to make sure they couldn't be taken off (thus the backwards sleeper was introduced), otherwise they'd be on the floor in a few seconds flat.  

Last Thursday we had hysterics because I told her she needed to wear pants when it was below freezing outside and we had to walk to the hospital.  

Today I went downstairs and picked out a long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans in her size.  Then I brought them up and put them on the table and pretended like I didn't really care if she put them on.  I walked away and watched out of the corner of my eye as she rushed over to look at them.

She quickly brought the shirt over so that I could help her put it on and I picked up the pants and held them up and she put them on too.  Then she picked out shoes and I practically held my breath as I waited for her to decide she hated the outfit.  

But she didn't.

She looked at them for a long time and then wore them for the rest of the day.  And when she wanted to wear them to bed I let her because You Guys!  She's wearing jeans!  


5 comments:

  1. Yeah!! I know this is a big deal for your bunny, so glad it went well!

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    1. Thank you! And I can't believe it but she's still wearing them now!

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  2. Oh Cam! I've mentioned this before, but I've been reading since right before the move to Florida. I appreciate what you share here about Mae so very much. If I can share something kind of personal & I hope you take it in the thankful spirit it is intended: I've always wanted a career where I help people. You name it, I've considered it - social worker, teacher, shelters, etc. But, I would always say that I didn't think I could ever work with people "on the spectrum". It was a shameful thing for me to admit, but I've always felt uncomfortable with what I couldn't understand & I was raised with this - we don't look or ask questions attitude from my family. You sharing your journey has directly changed my life in that regard. I'm not saying I would be good at working with kids like Mae or that it's where God would lead me. But, autism is no longer that "elephant in the room" thing that I don't know how to interact with anymore. I'm not saying I know what it's like or that all parents would want me to ask questions. I'm sure would prefer I don't because everyone is different. And I know Mae is just one case and she is unique as a person. But, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not afraid to ask questions anymore and I do my best to try and be somewhat informed all from seeing what you share and feeling invested in Mae and her accomplishments because of that. Whenever you share something she has done I truly am just so excited for her and you & Paul. I guess your impact could be summed up like this: a few of my friends are against vaccines (I'm not trying to start a debate about that) & they always mention autism rates. And as a mom, having read your blog for so long and grown so much from your words, I just always think - well what if they did "cause" autism? Would I care? I'm not saying that learning one of my children was on the spectrum wouldn't be life changing, it would be. And I don't know what it's like to walk in your shoes. But, for some parents it seems like autism is this ultimate fear, almost worse than cancer, etc. And I just think, it's not a monster. My life wouldn't be over.

    I don't know if I've worded things as respectfully as I mean them so if anything is offensive I'm so sorry. I don't mean it that way at all. I just don't know all the right words to use.

    So anyway, thank you for sharing your life and Mae's life. And I am so excited that she wore jeans. :)

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment Lynn, and I think I know exactly what you mean! Before I had Mae and new anything about autism it absolutely terrified me and I did think it was pretty much the worse (at least of the developmental disabilities) thing that could happen. The stereotypes are so strong and so scary and I think that's one of the reasons that I never considered it to be a possibility because she wasn't scary so that couldn't be her. Anyways, reading your comment makes me want to hug you, so thank you for being brave enough to share your thoughts and feelings here!

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  3. Ha! She's a smart little cookie, but Mom's still smarter (for the time being!). I think even teenagers fall for this sometimes. Just imply you're not forcing something on them, and even that you have something they want but maybe won't give it to them, and lo and behold, they show interest.
    The challenge of parenthood: staying just one step ahead of your kids!
    I hope you can pull this more often - maybe a "special clothes" drawer (with all the stuff you WANT her to wear) where you "let" her pick something out to wear.
    Anyway, this made me smile.
    God bless. ~ Bonnie

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I love comments and I read every single comment that comes in (and I try to respond when the little ones aren't distracting me to the point that it's impossible!). Please show kindness to each other and our family in the comment box. After all, we're all real people on the other side of the screen!