And then one Friday morning, we made a quick decision to pick kids up from school and drive to Nebraska. We drove from one afternoon to the next with a few short stops for meals and bathroom breaks. The trip was almost a perfect 24 hours.
And Caleb didn't scream or cry at all.
My eyes are welling up just writing this. That, friends, is when I could see how our son had grown in 1 year and 2 months.
We had actually been really concerned/dreading our first road trip with Caleb. He was registered for a therapy family camp at the end of July so that was inevitably growing closer.
And this impromptu trip gave no time for us to worry about how Caleb would handle it.
But never, never, would I have believed he could do 24 hours in a car without any crying. His previous limit had been about an hour.
Our son has grown in patience.
And then, at the end of June, I received my first hug from him. Sitting with him on my lap, I felt, for the first time, his little arm around my side. In fact, just today when he got home from school and I gave him a hug, his arm around the back of my neck pulled me close.
In July, he began to consistently say "eat". A few other words have popped out from time to time, but language is clearly hard for him. But this is a 9 year old speaking for the first time!
We can also tell that he is understanding more of what we say.
He is feeding himself much better with a spoon. He is handing things back to me a percentage of the time instead of just dropping or throwing it.
He still loves new experiences. He still loves being a part of things.
He is growing and maturing and we are very proud of him.
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| Rolling a truck for the first time, instead of just throwing it. |
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| He doesn't love this chair, but it is an exciting sensory experience for him. |
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| Happy to feed himself! |
