Our 4th year. . . an update

The craziest thought I've had since my last blog post . ."I'm finally going to have time to write more!" Ha! Bless my little heart I couldn't have been more wrong! It's been almost two months since I became a full time mom and "time to write" has been placed even further back on my list of things to do. I'm thinking I'm going to have to work time for this into our busy schedule in the future! I thought today would be a great day to get back at it seeing as how April 2 is Autism Awareness Day! This is our fourth Autism Awareness Day since Nolan was diagnosed in 2016 and so much as changed since then.

On April 2, 2016 we had just had our suspicions confirmed that Nolan had autism. Even though we suspected and noticed a few signs here and there, the official diagnosis was one of the hardest things to wrap our minds around. We had a little boy that didn't answer to his name, didn't respond to emotions of others, couldn't say a single world, barely made eye contact, ate around 3 foods, barely slept, and had meltdowns on a weekly basis for reasons we had no clue about. We had no idea how to treat this autism thing or where to start. But there were a few things we were sure of: this child brought us as much joy as he did confusion, exhaustion, and stress. His smile lit up a room and every now and then we could see a spark in him that we wanted to fuel! We decided on that drive home from Jackson that we would do anything and everything we could to help him become the best version of himself and have the happiest life he could have.

Fast forward four years to today on April 2, 2019 and our world couldn't be more different. We have a village, a large one, that shows us more love and support than we ever thought possible. We have learned more about autism, sensory processing disorder, ABA therapy, speech therapy, play therapy, and still learning every day. We have a child who answers to his name, makes eye contact, follows directions, is learning to self regulate, can read emotions, and has found a new found love for bacon. He loves books, Mickey Mouse, Toy Story, farm animals, and numbers. He sleeps like a champ (most nights) and loves playing with his sister and his cousins too! He uses an AAC device and sign language to talk and has recently started saying words!! Yes! You heard me right . . . we have words!!!

Go - Stuck - A Pig - A Duck - Oh No - Cup - are just a few that he says every day and says them appropriately! I cannot express to you how special it is to hear his say these words and see his face light up when he realizes he is communicating! It is such a blessing to witness!

I wish everyone could witness how hard he works to do the things in life we take for granted. We really couldn't be more proud of him!