Christmas Gifts

Oh wow......what a difference a year makes.....a year of therapy, a year of hard work, a year of filling my head with all I can about autism, a year of praying harder than I have ever prayed in my life, a year of extreme highs & lows........a year since one of the hardest Christmas seasons I have experienced. Not being able to see Santa, not being able to participate in Christmas parties, not being able to put up all my Christmas decorations, not being able to enjoy watching Ethan in his Christmas program.....all because it was too hard on Ethan....which broke my heart. One of the greatest times of the year, and we couldn't participate in most of the activities......and I wondered if we ever would be able to............

BUT....WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Christmas season has been the BEST! I knew that this time was going to be different when we brought out our first decoration.....Ethan's little Christmas tree. He was SOOOOO excited! He LOVED the lights on it....he kept turning off the lights in the living room, and saying, "Oooooo! Look at the beautiful lights!" Then, he would turn the lights back on and energetically inform us that it was now sunny! LOL! I then pulled out a bunch of plastic candy canes, and I showed him how to hang them on his tree. He thought that was so much fun....and he hung the rest of the candy canes all by himself....and then the rest of our ornaments. That night, my hope was restored.....maybe we could do a little more this Christmas than we did last year? So, because of last year's difficult Christmas season, we have gone a little over-the-top this year...and we are ALL enjoying every minute of it!!!! These are some of my favorite things that we have been able to do this Christmas season....Ethan's Christmas gifts to me.....

Building with Daddy

1. Being able to participate in group Christmas activities - I have already talked about Breakfast at the Manger as well as Ethan's church Christmas program. However, his AMAZING school held 2 different events that the parents were able to attend with their child....and I was privileged to attend both of them! One Friday, the entire school participated in a Winter-Themed Activity Day. It was AWESOME, and so well planned out...which of course I love. We started out in the gym & participated in different stations at our leisure. Ethan first started by wanting to play with the big building blocks. This was my first GIFT from Ethan. When we went to Easter Seals, one of the questions they asked us....and we had been asked many times before by other professionals....was "How many blocks can he stack?" A developmental milestone....to which my response was.......I don't know. He would NEVER want to stack/play blocks with me. So, when he said, "Mommy to play blocks with you"......I really had to fight back tears. It was the perfect gift.

Ethan & I doing a cake walk...standing right next to the music!

Ethan getting the hang of the parachute game

After awhile, though, I wanted to see what else Ethan would enjoy, so we moved on to the other stations. GUESS WHAT!!!???? He participated in a cake walk! We did a cake walk at my niece's birthday party in October of this year, and that caused him great anxiety....which led to us needing to leave the party early. However, he did the cake walk at school like it was no big deal! LESS THAN 2 MONTHS LATER!!!!! I was over the moon! Soooo happy for him!!!!!!!!! Another GIFT! We did several other stations, but the best for Ethan was the parachute station. The brightly colored parachute made Ethan a little nervous....he liked it laying on the floor but when the kids picked it up & made it go up&down....his anxiety started to rise, and he backed away. So I went over to help him & show him how to play with the parachute with the other kids.......and he loved it! He kept wanting to go play with it!


2. Visiting Santa - Next, we left the gym & moved into the classrooms.....where we did a craft, had a snack, and saw Santa Claus. Did you catch that?! We saw SANTA!!!!!! And Ethan was sooo excited....he kept giggling. In fact, he didn't wait for Santa to call him up to see him....Ethan just went right on up! Santa's belt buckle said "SANTA", so of course Ethan loved that....since he can READ!....amazing. He also like the big basket of candy canes that Santa had.....he even tried to sneak an extra one! LOVE!!!!! Another GIFT!!!!!!!

Ethan eating a gingerbread cookie

3. Typical behavior - This past Tuesday, Ethan & I were able to sneak away from our toilet training zone in order to attend his preschool's class Christmas party. It was a gingerbread theme.....and the cutest thing I have ever seen!!! As a teacher, I was soaking up all the things in the classroom & thanking God that Ethan was blessed to be in this particular room....a general education room with amazing teachers who are so creative, talented, and loving. But as Ethan's mom, I was overwhelmed with joy as I looked around the room at the other students, teachers, and parents. As I watched Ethan listen to the story & participate in the party activities, I realized that he doesn't stand out in ways that he used to....spinning, screaming, meltdowns, etc. He was sitting VERY well on the carpet....without any support aids. He needed help with directions, but so did the other kiddos....and so did the kids that I taught & they were older! In fact, I want to say that if you didn't know that Ethan had autism, you wouldn't have known it during this Christmas party. Such a huge difference from last year's Christmas party. This was a BIG GIFT to his mommy!!!!!

4. Crafts - As part of our 25 Days of Christmas, we made our gift bags this year. I love crafting, and one of my favorite things to do with Ethan is make a craft using his little hand. I have done several hand print gifts over the last couple of years, but this year we painted his hand green & place it upside down on the natural colored gift bag. When it dried, we added a star on top (I glued & Ethan placed the star), and we colored a brown base....making it into a Christmas tree. What was this gift? Every time I do a hand print craft with Ethan, he has a difficult time. He didn't like the "messiness" of it....and he gets that from me. He would also keep his hands closed, so we could only do a few at a time....a little bit each day. THIS TIME!? I did hand-over-hand with him on the first one, then he pulled his hand away from me & said, "Ethan do it?".....WHAT!? I was sooooooooooo excited! And he did a GREAT job! All I did was put the gift bag in front of him, but he did the rest! YEA!!!!!!!! GIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brown Sugar Vanilla Body Scrub

 5. Cooking - Awhile back, I talked about how Ethan will not cook with me after a loud blender episode. However, since that post, my husband has taken this almost as a personal challenge....to get Ethan to help in the kitchen. My husband & I share the cooking responsibility but he is DEFINITELY the cook in the family. I do not enjoy it in the slightest....unless it's somehow creative or crafty....like cutting shapes out of cookie dough or something. So, I'm happy to announce, that Ethan & Corey have been cooking in the kitchen together! The secret???? Have Ethan read the recipe card! It still amazes me that he can read as well as he can, but we will use this super-power to help him with his other sensitivities. However, Ethan still won't cook with me.....LOL! So, when it came time to making our teacher's their Christmas gifts (a homemade body scrub), I wasn't sure how much Ethan would want to help....because it involved using the Kitchen Aid mixer.....a "loud" appliance. He was happy to measure & dump ingredients into the bowl....and I was overjoyed with just that! My boy was helping me in the kitchen! YEA!!!! Then, similar to the vacuum & hair dryer, I warned him that the noise was coming. He left the kitchen, covered his ears, and counted to three.....all on his own.....great coping skills, Ethan!!!! So, I turned it on, but on the lowest setting. Long story short, by the end of the day, he was staying in the kitchen AND turning the mixer on/off....even up to the #4 setting! YEA!!!! Yet another AMAZING Christmas GIFT!!!!!!

Ethan's room & his Christmas decorations

6. General - Overall, this Christmas season is so different from last year in a great way. I was able to put out ALL of my Christmas decorations, and it hasn't overwhelmed him. We were able to do all of the 25 Days of Christmas, and he has really enjoyed doing all of the activities. He wrote his name on the gift tags, LOVED putting them on the presents, has enjoyed shopping for gifts for others (as long as he goes  home with a little toy too), is singing Christmas songs, reads the incoming Christmas cards, and really has loved giving gifts to others.

Over the last couple of months, I have really noticed big changes in Ethan. He is present. And he is present this Christmas. He is becoming aware of others, and not only himself. He is learning about Christmas & our beliefs/traditions, and not just playing with toys all alone. He is looking outside the window at the Christmas lights, singing Christmas songs, and participating in activities. And my heart is so full of joy. Ethan is doing so well, and that is the best gift for this proud mama.