Yesterday was the first Christmas we spent with my husband's side of the family since Goob was born. I was really worried about how he would take to all the new people, being in a house that had more people than it could realistically hold, new sights and sounds and foods. And well, some things were good, others not so much. So, all in all, better than expected.
He woke up at 7:30AM. He's been getting up earlier than normal with the melatonin finally getting him back on a night time sleep schedule. We changed into his Elmo PJs, and had breakfast before going upstairs to wrap presents. It took us a while to get his attention to the presents, at one point he started to tantrum because he wanted to get the dog's tennis ball out of the drawer in the entertainment center. He's allowed to have the ball, so the tantrum was resolved before it became much more than whining and little crying. But I was proud of my boy, because when we did get him to focus on the presents, he stayed focused on the presents until all but one was opened, and Dada had to help him on that.
We went downstairs and started assembling. He pretty much let us, although he wanted to play with his cars and train playhouse now, he informed us and we weren't putting it together fast enough. I was impressed with how engaged he was with the toys since they were new. Usually new toys get a couple minutes of play time and then are forgotten for awhile. But he's still playing with his new toys this morning!
We go over to his great grandmas. And I'm not proud of this, but he got high chaired. She has a lot of little, breakable figurines, and Goob wanted to play with them all and wasn't listening to 'no.' He's gotten a lot better about listening, but he still sometimes has trouble areas, and we were afraid with the people there he'd push his boundaries more and end up hurting himself, someone/something else, and/or having a meltdown. So, the high hair with Nick Jr and Legos it was. He did great with the people there. He didn't engage anyone, but he would be social when someone tried to engage him. Part of the time, which is a huge improvement! He let others play with him, and laughed even if he didn't actively engage in play with them also.
Foodwise, he didn't do so hot. He threw his ham, and his pineapple casserole ended up in my lap. All we got him to eat was green beans and corn. Could be worse, right? We came home and played and went to bed early because it was an early morning followed by a long, napless day. All in all, it was a good day.
Not everyone in our family knows Goob has autism. I'm not sure why it's a big deal, but I trust my husband's judgement when he says that we shouldn't tell certain people. It's not that I am ashamed of Goob, not at all, but there are situations when I can understand not being open about the diagnosis. It kind of stung a little when people would start talking about college funds, because our boy may never go to college. Or how they assumed he was shy because he didn't talk to them, no he didn't talk to you because he's non-verbal. He's good at repeating what others say (which he did yesterday!) but he won't say it without prompting most of the time. It hurt, but I kept reminding myself that they didn't know, so they had no way to know how much something that simple stung. They weren't trying to be hurtful. It's something you learn to expect when you take him around people though, especially when they don't know that our son has classical autism. They're thinking of his future, dreaming of college, you're dreaming of him being able to talk, or to stop peeing in his hand and wiping it over your face, or to actually eat something. It would be different if they knew, but since they don't you have to smile, nod, and try to not to take it personally. Sometimes, that is really hard.
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