That smile.

A good day.

Have to mark this day.

barely any tantrums.
quite a bit of talking.
silliness.
a nap after playing in our blanket cave.
talks and dances about snow.
3 different stores on our errands trip and no meltdowns.

a good day.

Our Happy Place

On my darker days, I need to keep this image on a loop in my head. Just a perfect moment on an ordinary night with my extraordinary family.

Happy Awesome Day!

Today is my two-year anniversary of my ASD Diagnosis and the future's so bright I gotta wear shades :)

My Mission is Clear

My mission is clear and I am feeling calm when I think of the future. This is a big deal. I really felt I needed to document this moment. I hope that I will remember to read this entry the next time I am consumed with existential anxiety.

My daughter is happy. She is healthy. She was built to be naturally incapable of "people pleasing" ( admittedly an oversimplification of ASD). She struggles with spoken language because she will take in more visual information than I can ever dream of.

We have not been told by anyone "she will never..." We HAVE been told we have quite a bit of work with a few developmental areas BUT never told "never."

She is free to be...

Good Day

There is an embarrassment of riches around me and I only hope that on my darkest day I am not too blind to see them. Spent an amazing day with my crazy little family. There was our little wildcard running screaming, throwing tantrums, throwing bigger tantrums, screaming so loud that quite a few people turned around to see who was being tortured-and it was an amazing day because all that stress really just warrants a small footnote on a great day. Being a "special needs" family is helping me turn down the volume on a lot of things and I am a worrier that generally keeps the volume up to 11. I'm not saying tomorrow I won't collapse into a puddle of tears but days like this really make me grateful for this crazy journey we are on.

Having lived a rather charmed life I have never really experienced something with as much weight as Sofie's diagnosis. Parenthood was kicking my butt by itself. Adding "autism" to the parenting equation left me feeling beyond inadequate. But days like today really have me curious about the future and not scared of it. Working with a teammate like my husband, that shares in my vision for Sofie and helps hold me up on my weak days and makes me laugh on the days in between (and really annoys me sometimes too-we are human).

Favorite moments from today:
*Sofie informing us the fiberglass dinosaurs at the museum are "Shy" and "no no talk" (unlike her beloved Dinosaur cartoon)

* Trying to explain to Sofie that she is not doing herself any favors by having a Jerry Springer Guest-level freak out in the butterfly house when you are trying to convince the volunteer you are calm enough to hold a butterfly.

*Sofie defending her insistence that we go into the museum snack bar to make sure there were no animals to see. As we left she said "it poppable (possible)" We agreed that it was possible for animals to be in the snack bar.

*Sofie having another Springer Meltdown in the gift shop when the cashier wants to see the little dinosaur she wants to take home.

*On the way to the car, Sofie joyfully repeating "Terrasaur, Terrasaur..." Which is accurate-it was a Pteranodon

Good Day.

Oh and as a little postscript to this entry...Sofie LOVES her new school. But that is worthy of its own entry.

Life is Good.