Right before your eyes.

 

I rememebr the picture at the top.  That day was a stunningly beautiful day at the Jersey shore.  Jack was four.  His t-shirt was from Bloom Early day care. 

He is just gorgeous, that mouth, those eyes, his bleach blonde hair.

He had also been thrown out of two daycares that summer.

yeah sounds funny, but truly a nightmare.  He was sooo aggressive that he was hurting other kids everyday.  Tantrums, hitting, kicking, punching, screaming.  He also didnt speak a the time.  At least not in sentences.

He could use single or possibly  two words to communicate and that is where his frustration came from.

He had already spent two years at Wyoming Valley Childrens Association and was making great progress.  But we werent there yet.

I think if we look back on the blog there is an entry about this day.

He would wander off, Run down the beach not look back.

He tried talking to other people but they had no idea what he was saying so they would look at us???

What???

I remember he walked through THROUGH a crowd of people bulding a huge sandcastle this day.

He stepped all over it, without realizing he was doing it, and kept right on going.

In his own little world.  I freaked out because we had parents and kids yelling at him for destroying their work.

He had no clue.

He would pick up other childrens toys and play with them, then not give them back.  Or walk away with them and leave them all over the beach.  Kids didnt want to play with him because he didnt PLAY with anyone.  He would be alongside them, but not WITH them.

I have other photos from this day... He is jumping, happy, throwing water, with his daddy, but he has the faraway look.

He is happy, but not engaged with people.

 

Flash forward.  This photo from Karate was yesterday.

Our boy is 8 years old.

If someone could have shown me what 8 would look like, I would not have believed them.

How can I explain to anyone the progress that has occurred with our boy?

 

I had a Dr. tell me three years ago that they "Believe jack will be able to live independently someday..."

 

He could live independently NOW!

He is beautiful (of course) smart, sweet, affectionate, a whiz when anything building related.

Are we where "other" eight year olds are? No.

He gets frustrated easily, when it is something he is not interested in.

His work is sloppy.

He cries very easily, which is better than lashing out, but may be a problem heading into third grade.

He is a terrible speller, The Dr. believes this goes back to the speech delay.  He has trouble hearing certain sounds, thereby making sounding out a word nearly impossible.  Spelling is all memorization.  Soccer is great, he knows how to play, he knows the rules and excels.  A new game or sport he is reluctant, he doesnt want to make mistakes or hurt anyone, so he doesnt play.

His best friend Lou loves football.  He trys playing with him but had an experience last year when he tackled someone too late and hurt them.  He felt terrible and now doesnt want to play at all.

 

He becomes obsessed with certain ideas, video games are huge.

I wish we could take them all away, but they are such a great distraction sometimes. 

Totally mommy selfish there folks.

He has friends.  I know I have expressed before that I never thought that would happen.

He is a very lucky boy that his friends accept him as he is.  They like him that way I think.

I like him this way.

I actually adore him.

So four years form now I will come back and post a current picture of him at 12 (?!)

I will tell all of you where we are at in the process of "Raising Jack".

The goods, the bads.  We will take them.

He is a beautiful person, inside and out.  I will Love him through it all.