Recovering Noah

We had such a good evening tonight! Oh my gosh, it was like an answered prayer. Seriously. First of all, Noah has not shrieked since about 4:00 this afternoon. It's been so wonderful! And then, I've made a friend out here, and we went to the mall around 5:30 to just walk around and push the kids in the stroller. She has a little boy Noah's age who also has autism. Anyway, we went and played at the mall playground and Noah was so happy. He was all smiles and he immediately went in and started climbing up on all the toys. This is the same kid who a year ago couldn't climb up or down a 3 inch step. Now, he's climbing all over climbing structures. He wasn't scared at all. And he never even hesitated. Just went right in there and started climbing. So, after that, the boys rode the toy train that they have at the mall. Noah was smiling and so excited. He wasn't scared. I was sure he'd be whining and getting all panicked. Nope, he just grinned at me everytime t...

Thought I'd post how Noah did this week. There were some rough patches, but I figure I concentrate too much on those and need to lighten up this blog a bit. Noah started giving kisses on the phone this week. So, if I'm talking to Sim or Mom & Dad, I can put the phone up to this ear and say "Give Daddy (or Nonna or Papa) a kiss and he'll actually place his lips on the phone. Isn't that awesome? He doesn't look at the phone or act like he's even paying attention, but he does lean in and touch the phone with his lips. He's doing it pretty consistently, too, so we are all sooooo excited. I think it's been 3 1/2 years since he last did that. Also, today he climbed into his car seat by himself. All by himself. I was so excited and said, "Give me five, Noah!" - totally not expecting anything in return. But that kid actually looked me in the eye and smacked my hand with his his. I was in shock. And, of course, then I had to call Sim and Mom ...

Well, it looks like I'm behind again. I think this might have to turn into a weekly update blog, instead of the daily blog that I had envisioned when it was first created. We've got seven full weeks left before we go back home. Yea! I am counting the days. Seriously. This is hard work. I never, ever, ever imagined it would be so hard. Last Monday, I almost gave up. I called both Sim and my dad just bawling that I wanted to pack up and come home. Noah had stayed up all night - in fact in 39 hours he had only slept 1.5 hours. And then, of course, Eli wakes up after a full night's sleep just full of energy and ready to start the day. AND Noah's still shrieking up a storm, which wakes our neighbors up at all hours. And then, he has developed this awful habit of making grunting noises and hissing noises that remind me of those hissing cockroaches that I've seen on Fear Factor. Very lovely. There is no telling what our upstairs neighbors must think with all the shrieking,...