Wow, it's May already. Although the weather we've been having makes it feel like it's May, in reality, it just doesn't seem possible. Connor told me this week he only has five weeks left of school. There is no way my baby can be almost done with 1st grade. I saw an old friend this week and he asked if Pat still had his job selling highway advertising signs. I can barely remember when he worked there. It was nearly ten years ago when I was pregnant with Cole... that makes me realize just how fast time is passing by. In a few short months, it will be six years since Cole's Autism diagnosis. So much in our lives has happened, so much has changed, goals are becoming reality, visions of the future are suddenly the present.
I always wanted to be a mom. I knew I would love it. And it is by far the most rewarding, enjoyable and important job I've ever had. Connor made my day this week when he told my Mom that I do such a good job because I've had "lots of mommy training classes". It will be fun when Connor realizes years from now that children don't come with any kind of handbook. His comment got me thinking about how and why I parent the way I do. It was easy. I've had an incredible "mommy trainer". My mom did an outstanding job raising her children. She worked outside the home, always had dinner for us (even if she wasn't going to be home), our home was clean, she seldom missed any of our sporting events and even though she was crazy busy, it felt to me like she was a stay at home mom. She was full of good advice and loved each of us four kids unconditionally. Even now, I can count on her no matter what. Most of the time, she offers her help before the words come out of my mouth. She understands and praises the hard work I'm doing as a mom and tells me I'm doing a good job. I feel like she loves my children as they were her own and she's always listens to the countless "proud mommy stories" I share with her. I'm so fortunate to have such a wonderful mother and "mommy trainer".
Cheers and Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful moms out there, who wake up each day and give all they have to make the lives of their children as pleasant and love-filled as they possibly can.
Now for an update on one of my scariest mommy moments. As many of you know, Connor broke his arm in two places on Easter morning. He had surgery on it almost two weeks ago. The doctor made an incision and placed two pins to hold the bone in place. Connor got his permanent cast on Monday and the xray showed everything is healing well. We go back a week from Monday to possibly get the cast off and pins removed. Connor has been wonderful throughout the ordeal and hasn't complained one bit. He's very excited to get back to gymnastics and join his baseball team. As you can imagine, Connor has managed to have a lot of fun regardless. There isn't much that slows him down.
We had friends in town last weekend from Sioux Falls, SD. Our friends came to visit with their two children. We prepared Cole as well as we could, but we just didn't know what to expect. The last time they were here (about 3-4 years ago), Cole got so worked up we had to call my parents and bring him there for the remainder of the weekend. This time, we did have a back up plan in case things didn't go well, but we didn't need it! Cole loved having our friends here. He talked with all of them and played with the kids throughout the weekend. The kids even put on a mini-Prom in the basement. Cole loved watching Pat and I dance in the basement and had a blast playing Rock Band with everyone afterward. Everything went so smooth and Cole was happy the entire time. You'll see the pictures I posted and how happy Cole was. The best part came when Jim said goodbye to Cole. Cole looked at him and said (without prompting), "You can come back any time". We were so proud of him. Cole has been talking about the Rysavy's every day. He wanted them to come back this weekend. It's a good thing they are coming in July so he has that to look forward to!
Cole has been doing a lot of testing with our school district. He is being evaluated by a team of specialists to determine where the best fit is for him. The past three testing sessions have gone so well. All evaluators said he worked very hard and stayed on task. In talking with them, it seems Cole cooperated very well and they were able to get the information they needed. The only glitch we had was last Thursday. I was about to take Cole up to McKinley for testing, when Cole heard the garbage truck. He LOVES the garbage truck and seldom gets to see it. I tried to get Cole to leave, but I just couldn't make him get in the truck. He was so excited to see the garbage man and I wasn't going to burst his bubble. I called the school to let them know we would be late and we waited for a half hour until the garbage man made it through the entire neighborhood and finally arrived at our house. Cole jumped up and down and waved in excitement. It was well worth it.
He is making progress every day. His speech is blossoming and his behavior is very manageable. Pat was in Toronto last week for work and I can honestly say it did not give me one ounce of stress. It has taken A LOT of time and hard work to get to this point, but we are here and it feels wonderful. What a wonderful mommy moment. Then again, I have many wonderful mommy moments. And I look forward to countless more.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!
