Blue and Green Balloons

Ryan had a wonderful birthday. He got everything that he loves most -- cake, Pizza Hut Pizza and gifts and love from his family. Actually, the things that he loved the most were the green and blue balloons. Green and blue are his favorite colors. The actual favorite depends on the mood of the day:) It can't be light blue, either. He only likes dark blue, and believe me, he knows the difference!

This is the first birthday that Ryan was actually "tuned in to." I consider this a pretty big accomplishment considering he doesn't like crowds, loud noises, etc. I'm so proud of the little guy. He tries harder than anyone I know. God bless him, my precious angel.

A study in Contradiction

Many times in my life, I've wondered, as so many do, why? But never more than I did when my son was diagnosed with Autism. I didn't even really know the definition of this HUGE word. I most certainly had no idea what was to become of my life, or the life of my family. But there it was, this word. I soon discovered that never did a word more define a life than this one.

Today is Ryan's fourth birthday. This is the reason that I decided to start sharing our life with others. Not because it's his birthday, but because I realized that today we have been living with Autism for two years. We have made it this far -- I didn't know how we would when I first heard that awful word, but we have none the less. Our life has become a study in contradiction. White is black, green is yellow, and so on. Nothing in the world of Autism is what it seems. It's like living in a wondrous work of fiction, where the writer is making all of the rules, and just when you think you have the plot nailed, BOOM. I don't think so, says the author.