I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends. It's been a busy few weeks at our household. Cole has been off of school since December 18th, so it's been harder for me to blog. I do have something that is well worth the wait!
On Cole's last day of school, he had a holiday concert. I went down with my parents to see Cole perform. I wasn't sure what to expect. He has been transitioning into the 2nd grade classroom from a resource room. Transitions and change are very difficult on Cole. In addition, he only had a few days to learn his song. Fraser Academy did an amazing job. Nearly all of the students at this school have Autism or other special need. Pulling off a holiday concert is quite the task. It was nice to see the gym so full of parents and other family members. It was a full house.
I saw Cole walk in with his homemade reindeer hat on. He sat nicely and waited while the other classes performed. Soon it was time for his class to go. They got the children up on stage. Cole saw the microphone and got so excited. He did a great job at keeping his body calm and using his patience. The first song was a holiday rap. The kids each took turns either dancing or singing at the mic. Cole got up right away and slowly swayed to the beat. He then make a funny sound into the mic and laughed and laughed. After the rap was over, the teacher announced it was time for 2nd grade to sing "Over the River and Through the Woods". Cole was standing close to the mic. Before the music started to play, we could tell he saw Grandpa Denny. He focused his attention to Grandpa and gave him a wave. Then the music started. To my amazement, Cole grabbed the microphone and proceeded to sing the entire song!!!
I wish I could put into words just how incredibly proud I was of Cole at that moment. I could barely hold the camera still as I recorded. Tears were flowing on my cheeks. I wasn't the only one. I looked around and Cole's teachers, paras and therapists were also in tears. Seldom have I felt an emotion so intensely in my life. I could literally feel my heart jumping. If I could have cut into national television, interrupted every program on air and shown the world the video of Cole's performance, I would have. Cole gave me the best present of my life that morning.
I think back to his first speech therapy session about four years ago. The therapist literally spent a half hour just trying to get Cole to stay in the room and sit on a chair. I remember she gave him an m&m if he sat for even a few seconds. Working on his language wasn't even the goal at that point. I compare that to the performance Cole gave and it makes me realize just how far he's come. Cole has worked incredibly hard these past four to five years. He is in school and therapy for 40+ hours/week, all year around. It's paying off... big time. He's gone from a boy who took six months to learn how to say, "I want", to a boy who I just overheard saying to his brother, "Connor, do you want to snuggle on the couch?" and "Do you want to listen to If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands". WOW- what an improvement!
Connor also gives us wonderful gifts. He is truly an amazing brother to Cole. He has taken on such a nurturing role with Cole. He looks out for his best interest and works just as hard as we do to get Cole to speak, interact and socialize. Connor loves his brother and always says he wants to be just like him. I'll never forget the time we were in the car together and Connor said to me, "I love that my brother has Autism. Cole likes to wrestle, he likes to sing songs and snuggle." Connor loves Cole unconditionally, for who he is and the way he is. Connor never complains and doesn't try to change Cole. He's pretty amazing for a five year old.
I hope you all had a nice holiday season. We were blessed beyond belief with many precious gifts. Our favorite ones did not come in packages or from any store. Our boys bless us each day with the most priceless and special gifts we could ever ask for.
I've attached a video from Cole's performance and a few pictures from Christmas. Cole did awesome. He loved opening presents and for the first time in seven years, he grasped that he was getting more than one present. It was so fun to see him tear open gifts and get so excited about what he received.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.
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