Disneyland

It has been a crazy few weeks at our house between all that has been happening with Mark's father and Matthew being sick so on Wednesday we decided to take a mental health day and go to Disneyland. Matthew loved it and was so excited to see the characters he loves to watch on television. He would just squeal when he saw Pluto, Mickey, Goofy, etc.

We met our friends the Derelioglus there. Matthew was so excited to see his buddies Riley and Connor.

It was hot and my little fellow dozed off for a quick nap......Doesn't he look like an angel?

Matthew's favorite rides were Autopia, Dumbo and It's a Small World. His face was in complete awe as we went through the attraction while he sang It's a Small World as loud as he could. He later said he wanted to ride again on the "boat in the swimming pool" (guess that is actually a fairly accurate depiction). Seeing Matthew's joy and hearing his precious voice singing was the highlight of our day.

We finished the day with the parade..... the smile on his face was priceless. We had so much fun! It was such a wonderful day and one we will remember for a very, very long time.

Happy Boy

It was such a warm afternoon we thought that we'd head over to the park. Matthew loves this new park and had a great time with Daddy. Mark had been gone all weekend and Matthew really missed him, he asked about Daddy several times over the weekend. When Mark got home today Matthew was so thrilled he said "I am appy (happy). Appy (Happy) to see Daddy." No doubt it was the sweetest sentence Mark has ever heard!

Look at that beautiful smile! I love this precious face.

Talking to Dr. H

I don’t have a photo but today we had one of those “wow” moments I want to remember. Matthew spiked a fever this morning so I rushed him to the doctor (he can go from 98.6 to 104 almost instantly). My poor baby was feeling pretty awful and was crying. The doctor walked in and this was their conversation….yes, I said conversation.

Dr. H : Hi Matthew
Matthew: I go home, go Matthew’s house. Bye Dr. H. Please go away.
Dr. H: Why are you crying Matthew?
Matthew: I am sad
Dr. H: Why are you sad?
Matthew: Matthew feel sick
Dr. H: What hurts Matthew?
Matthew: (he just cried)
Me: Matthew, tell Dr. H. what hurts? Can you show me what hurts?
Matthew: Throat hurt.

So they may not have been discussing world politics but Matthew had a 4 part exchange! Our doctor almost fell over! Even he is blown away by the progress we are seeing. To think of how far my baby has come takes my breath away. We are nuts about taking photos and videos (if you have not noticed) and we see the videos we took at this time last year and Matthew was just saying “I want …..” and that simple carrier phrase with different words thrown in to let you know what he wanted was the extent of his language. No commenting, asking questions and no back and forth exchanges, only requesting. We are so proud of what Matthew has accomplished and how hard he works each and every day. It confirms to us that even on a bad day, we know that the time will come where autism will be a distant memory. Great job little sweet pea!
In the end, poor Matthew had a high fever and double ear infection which made its way to his throat. Poor angel, we hope you feel better soon. XOXOXOXO

Happy Mother's Day

With so much going on with our family right now it was a low key Mother’s Day for Matthew and I. Keiko and her family came down and we all grabbed a quick lunch together with my mom. Matthew was so excited to see everyone, he literally ran in place when he saw Keiko, Rob and the boys. He just loves his cousins Andrew and Zach and they do take such good care of him.

When we came home and Matthew wanted to ride his bike around the neighborhood.

How cute is he?

I never thought I would get to celebrate Mother’s Day as a mother……Who would have known I would be blessed with the unspeakable joy of being a mom to Matthew.

I love you sweet boy and I love being your mommy!