a little background

hi, my name is mandy and I have two amazing little boys. My oldest son, Ty, has been diagnosed with autism (which is what you will read most about in this blog); I also have Tripp, who is an amazing little brother to Ty (who you will also hear alot about). I was encouraged to start this blog to document our journey through life and life with autism... my world has been rocked in last few years and i have responded in good ways and bad ... but Jesus has gotten me through all of it...





i hope i can be an encouragement to you, and for the friends and family that will read this - maybe this will keep you posted indepth on what Ty is learning! :) and the adventures of Tripp too





thank you for reading, and if you have any questions, comments or smart remarks; feel free to post them.



Friday, January 16, 2015

Laughter is the best medicine

Hey! So it's been quite a while since my last post and I typically try to write something at least once a month but I couldn't find the right words lately so I'm jumping back in the saddle today! Here we go...

So the holidays were pretty exciting this year - Ty was really into opening Christmas presents and wanting us to get the toys out of those boxes so he could play with them immediately! His face lit up with excitement as he would discover a new toy and then he could just barely contain himself as he waited for us to break into those armored boxes. (I mean if you're looking for a good security system, call the people who package toys, they seem to have a handle on things). By the time you conquer the tasks of opening the toy, everyone has given up and there's no one around to bask in the glory of your pride as you hold it up free from the package, wraps, rubber bands, twisty ties, pad locks and finger print scanners..... Yeah so maybe I exaggerated - but you know what I'm talking about! Ha anyway let me get back on track..... In the past Ty didn't really care about unwrapping gifts, etc so it was awesome to see him get excited over each gift as he opened them!
Have I mentioned that I love Christmas! It has always been one of my most favorite times of the year. We get to see family, exchange gifts, eat some amazing food and we get to just hang out and visit. The older I get, the more I am loving the food and visits! Don't get me wrong - I love watching the boys as they tear into everything and get so excited over each new thing. But there's just something about being with your family and friends that just makes the day better and that usually includes lots of stories and lots of laughs! Ty has a very infectious and loud laugh and once he hears someone laugh he wants to join in! He loves to do this with my brother - everytime he sees him, he jumps in his lap, grabs his face and throws his head back as he let's out this loud commanding laugh, stops to see if he's joining in and then starts again! It's hilarious and pretty awesome to watch! He has done this to others too but he always does it to my brother and it just really cracks me up. It shows me how well he understands what's going on and how he desires to be apart of everything we do. Especially the laughs and it's like he's saying "laugh loud and hard because this is awesome and this is how a laugh is meant to be". Who knew someone with so few spoken words could speak so clearly and profoundly.

Tripp has been an amazing little brother! He has been really encouraging Ty as he conquers new things and he is quick to point it out to us. We were riding to school one morning and Ty started humming along to some of the songs on the "frozen" soundtrack and Tripp started yelling "momma he's singing! Ty is singing" and as I looked back in my mirror Ty was grinning from ear to ear and humming along to the beat! I sometimes miss the new things he's doing because they can mimic some of his "normal" things. For example(disclaimer, we will talk about bodily functions in this example): we had dinner at my friend Cody's house the week before Christmas - Ty walks in the room, points at his belly and then the hall and Cody says "I think he's telling you he needs to go to the bathroom" I said "nah he just wants to go back in the other room and play" Ty leaves.... Comes back..... And I smell something.... I look at Cody and say "or what do I know!?" So as I take Ty to change him I ask him if he was trying to tell me that he needed to potty - he looks me square in the face, nods his head and says "uh huh" so I apologize to him and tell him to tell me next time and we will go potty. Well a few minutes later he comes and gestures the same way, so I jump up - take him to the bathroom and he toots on the toilet! Ha I ask him if he's finished, he nods his head and then he's off playing again... I was so excited! That was the first time he has asked to potty and had a bodily function of some kind (which verifies that he recognized the feeling) so it was awesome! Since then he has asked very randomly to use the bathroom and we go, but he has yet to do this consistently but it's baby steps! And it goes to show me that I need to be on my toes! That I need to pay more attention and recognize that maybe he's trying to tell me something new but he's using the only signs he knows and maybe when he gets louder, maybe that means I need to listen up and that I didn't get it right.... Oh what I'd give to be inside his head ;) but all of that to say that I am thankful for friends and family that can recognize his new steps and show them to me and then celebrate with us - even over toots on a toilet! Yes you read that right.... Because we all made a big deal about it! And he was telling us all about it...

There's so much more to fill you in on, but I'll save it for another post... Until then laugh loud and celebrate the little things!