Getting to Know You...
I decided to give this post it's own special page, and a few updates, so that those of you just joining us don't have to go digging to figure out who's who. As many of you already know,but for those who are new, I don't use my children's or hubby's real names on here, I have given them all pseudonyms for privacy. Welcome to our crazy little corner of the world. I hope you like it enough to visit regularly and even let us get to know you by way of your comments. We LOVE comments! And THANK YOU for reading! Please share!
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This- is Zak. He's eleven. Our big, bright, lightning bolt! You always know when he enters a room! Or exits it for that matter. :) Life for him is not lived as a passenger, no sir. Of course, he's not always driving either. Sometimes he has a brick on the pedal, strings attached to the wheel and he's on the hood with the air in his hair and bugs in his teeth. Why? Because life's more fun that way. He rarely does anything the traditional way.
Our great inquisitor has a heart of gold though. He is kind to everyone and loves trying to make us laugh. He loves to laugh, and his laugh is so much fun to hear. The best belly laugh I've ever heard. Always busy in mind or body, he rarely slows down till he's asleep.
Hungry for life, he's smart, and curious, and bursting with good ideas. Everything a little boy should be and so much more. Sometimes sassy, always sweet, he's the best big brother I've ever known. Not that he doesn't annoy his sisters, he does. After all he's a boy. My boy, the one I always wanted, my dream come true. His daddy's too.
Zak was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in March of 2013, and this was updated to Autism Spectrum Disorder in November 2013. His brain hasn't changed, just the medical diagnostic criteria.
It is my great pleasure to introduce you to Grace, a BIG personality wrapped up in a little package. At seven going on twenty-seven, she is our little fashionista, carefully crafting her outfit each day and often leaving behind a trail of rejects. She is classy, clever, and a little bit coy. As comedic as her brother, but in her own completely unique way she keeps us rolling in the isles. Her way of saying the most grown up things at the perfect time makes life with her always unexpected. The best part is how innocently she says things, she doesn't know how charming she is.
She is our snuggle bug. She is very girly, but in a rough and tumble way. An amazing artist, I love getting glimpses of how she sees the world. How she colors it in her own special way. She can be as easy going as a Sunday afternoon or as stubborn as a mule. Precise and determined, this one refuses to be left behind, and often is the one forging ahead. She is bound for big things and big places I believe.
Grace has not officially been diagnosed on the spectrum and perhaps never will, however, she both struggles with some similar issues as her siblings as well as some unique challenges of her own. But just like the others, she has also been endowed with an amazing mind and some beautiful gifts.
When Grace arrived, we felt so spoiled. We had one of each in the exact order we had hoped. They were spaced a perfect three-and-a-half years a part. According to my hubby, life was pretty much perfect. He was done, I hoped someday he might change his mind, but I was happy. We moved into the big kid stage and I finally came to terms with being "done". I boxed up my absolute favorites and we gave away all the rest of our baby things. Then, not even two months later... SURPRISE!!
Say hello to Kit! This one is best described as rock-n-roll. She is our "Wild Thing" and "Bad to the Bone"! No, not bad, really, but soooooo mischievous! Curious, curious, curious!! She just has to climb everything, touch everything, take everything apart, taste (and very often swallow!) everything. And DANCE! Oh, how she LOVES to dance, it is contagious.
At too-fast 2, she has us constantly on our toes. Her smile is a flood of sunshine. Her tears, heartbreaking! Her determination, unstoppable! Everything she does, she does with PASSION! She definitely can hold her own with the other two. But the adoration goes both ways, they dote on her, and she is smitten right back.
When Grace arrived, we felt so spoiled. We had one of each in the exact order we had hoped. They were spaced a perfect three-and-a-half years a part. According to my hubby, life was pretty much perfect. He was done, I hoped someday he might change his mind, but I was happy. We moved into the big kid stage and I finally came to terms with being "done". I boxed up my absolute favorites and we gave away all the rest of our baby things. Then, not even two months later... SURPRISE!!
Say hello to Kit! This one is best described as rock-n-roll. She is our "Wild Thing" and "Bad to the Bone"! No, not bad, really, but soooooo mischievous! Curious, curious, curious!! She just has to climb everything, touch everything, take everything apart, taste (and very often swallow!) everything. And DANCE! Oh, how she LOVES to dance, it is contagious.
At too-fast 2, she has us constantly on our toes. Her smile is a flood of sunshine. Her tears, heartbreaking! Her determination, unstoppable! Everything she does, she does with PASSION! She definitely can hold her own with the other two. But the adoration goes both ways, they dote on her, and she is smitten right back.
Kit received a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in August of 2013. It was a very challenging road to establish a diagnosis as her many gifts and talents often obscure her challenges. In fact all three of the kids are not solidly fixed in either "world" they sort of float between the two. To many outside the family, their challenges and deficits are invisible. But so is the wind, and one doesn't need a tornado to touch down before one attests to it's power. Autism is a fact of life here. A core element of our world. Some days are calm, gentle, refreshing. But many others...a tornado often feels an apt illustration.
How to introduce my Victor... I am seriously stuck on this guy! Boy, do we have history! We have loved each other basically forever. And despite the fact that I "dumped" him in high school (I was fourteen and didn't even know we were 'going out') and broke his poor, lovesick, sixteen year old heart, I loved him nonetheless, and tried to make amends by marrying him a lean three months after graduation, barely nine months after we started dating. He still cries about his scarred heart, but he looks pretty happy to me! Thirteen years, eleven moves, and three kids later- our love is deeper, more refined and better than ever!
He is my center, my anchor, but also the one to remind me not to take myself so seriously. He is hilarious, and makes me laugh even when I'm grumpy and don't want to. He is smart and savvy. He likes things like economics. And know hundreds of factoids (like the names of almost every WW2 tank). Or can calculate someone's salary in his head (weekly earnings x 4 wks. minus X% for taxes and with-holdings = net take home pay) and then proceed to break down their budgetary needs also in his head. I believe he thinks I undervalue these talents. I disagree, I just think we should be eclectic, so I developed different ones, like being able to tell time without a clock and always knowing where everybody's shoes/snugglies/Bok Choy Boys are. (We are freakishly gifted, I know.) He can, however, fix pretty much anything, though he wants me to read the instructions and keep him company while he works. It works out most of the time though, as we make a great team.
We usually have the same destination in mind, even though we often take very different routes to get there. This proves advantageous as often as frustrating when it comes to parenting together. I think our kids have a pretty well rounded parenting team. We balance each other out. He's laid back, I do the worrying, and then, randomly, we'll switch off. He can step back and take in this broad view of things and then make a plan to make it work. I help with the technical adjustments and we all seem to arrive in one piece. Not always on time, not always as cheery as we might like, but mostly prepared and together!
We laugh. We mess up. We fight. We cry. We snuggle. We laugh. We are a family and...I love it here...