Big and Small Steps

This last week I was talking to my sister in law about how sometimes all the little small steps that we take, even when they are hard, can add up to really big milestones in our lives. 

When I think retrospectively about this last year our family has faced, particularly in regards to Campbell, I realize that we have come a very long way since he turned four, and it has really been a sequence of all those little small steps being taken day after day in many ways. 

Campbell at the Dr for his yearly check up at four years and this past week at five. 

Homeschooling Bug has been hard but I have been so encouraged by people like Sarah Denley Herrington who are not afraid to put it all out there, good and bad days, when it comes to their journey with homeschooling. It is so great to see other moms I truly respect who are trudging through day by day with me. I am proud of the progress he has made both on an academic level and in terms of learning to sit still and listen, to follow directions and to begin to be a good student. 

We are so thankful for our new home and the more quiet setting for Bug to learn, play and grow! 

One of the things that has really helped him in the last year with these things is his gymnastics class that he has taken since September. We wanted to get him into a class like this because he is so active and always climbing on everything. We wanted to channel the energy so to speak, but also we knew that an organized class like this would be good for him socially. 

We are so thankful for good coaches who took the time to teach our wild little monkey to use his energy in a productive way. This past month he was able to move up to the next level class. He is no longer part of the Tiny Tots class but he is instead in the Boys Bronze Class. This may seem like a given since he just turned five, but when he first began in the 3's and 4's class last fall there was a time there when I was not sure if he would make it. I am so thankful for Coach Candace sticking with him and teaching him not only his gymnastics moves but also simple things like walking in a line, how to sit in circle time, and most importantly, for him to have confidence in himself. This picture of him ringing the bell will always be one of my favorite treasured memories because it represents such a moment of accomplishment in his little life. 

We have watched our little man grow up this year in gymnastics.

As I thought a bit about this blog post on milestones and what I wanted to share I tried to think of all the big and small things that we have accomplished with him this year. Some of the other smaller things include finally sleeping consistently in his own bed every night for the entire night, letting the doctor weigh and measure him at this yearly check up (even if he did not let them check his hearing, letting them do these things this time is a step in the right direction), learning to speak in more complete, less broken sentences, learning to say he is sorry (even if it is in a whisper), learning to say hello and shake hands, letting us drop him off places like Sunday School and the Y childcare class without putting up a fuss but instead walking in like a big boy and beginning to learn how to calm himself down when he is feeling anxious. 

As I thought about these things I thought about another person besides Coach Candace who helped him in big ways with these things. There is a young man who I only know as Lucas who was the Sunday School teacher at the first church we went to here in Houston and I wish I knew his last name to be able to look him up and thank him. He took the time to calm Campbell's anxiety. He let him play with the little yellow school bus a bit longer even if it was past time to put toys away because he recognized that it calmed Bug to hold it. He held Bug in his lap when the music was a tad loud and spoke softly to him. This was all before we had a name for what was going on with Campbell and before I could totally articulate to anyone what I was seeing, but Lucas took the time to do just that, to take time. Despite the hustle and bustle of  a class full of about twenty preschoolers, Lucas took the time to make Bug comfortable at church and for that I am eternally grateful. 

Our journey with Bug continues and we are learning new ways to help him. One of the things that we have begun to really try to work on is our routine. We made a daily check off chart for both morning and night. On it are simple things like wake up, go potty, and eat breakfast, and other more complex things that he is learning to do better like make his bed, tidy up his room, and brush his teeth. For every check he gets to pull a marble from the gumball machine that my parents got him for Christmas and he puts them into a mason jar. He can also earn marbles throughout the day for good behaviors or lose marbles for not so good ones. At the end of the day before bed we count the marbles and if he has enough he gets to put a sticker on the chart we made. He earns stickers for toys he wants or this time for experiences, something I would much rather spend money on, like getting to go to Monkey Joe's Bouncy Castle World. 

We have also begun to implement Screen Time Tickets that he must earn for doing things like completing schoolwork, playing outside, reading or independent, non-screen time play. I believe in allowing him some time on his devices and I am amazed at some of what he has learned from the apps and educational videos he watches, but I also know that limiting this time is important to teach to my little millennial. 

Our quirky, silly, Bug is truly the joy of our life. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment that took place this year was for me to accept his autism diagnosis and to not be timid about telling people about it so that they can help him learn and grow best in this world. I have come to understand that is really all his diagnosis means. He sees and feels the world differently and helping him to navigate it in the best possible way is my job. 

Thank you God, for all of your blessings, big and small and Bug!