Yes, it is...

For the first two-and-a-half years of my son's life we used to rock him to sleep to this song, and when she was a baby, we'd sing it to my daughter as we put her to bed.  

According to my son, who is now seven, today is "Okay Friday..."  

May you be blessed with the kind of love we feel for our children on this "okay" day with your family, friends and loved ones.   

Have a beautiful weekend.

Angry Birthday to Me...

This is Angry Lamb.  He is always angry, and it's very funny.   

He recently came about when waiting in the car for Jill to get some items from the store and the kids were at their limit, growing impatient and antsy.  He suddenly got "angry" at Nicholas and Elena for throwing their plush toys under the seats so they could relentless ask me to pick them up.  He kept saying to them in a very "angry" voice, "Knock it off!  Stop it!  Don't drop that again!" and it was hilariously funny.   

Angry Lamb now makes regular appearances around the house, and he is always angry over something.  Today he sang the "Angry Birthday Song." to me and because they are both autistic, he had to sing it over and over and over again.  

They loved it every time.  

Sing with him now, in your angriest of voices...

 

Angry birthday to you!

Angry birthday to you!

Angry birthday,

Angry birthday,

Angry birthday to you!

In the music industry, that's called an "instant classic."

It Began with a Phone Call...

It began with a phone call I received on October 19, 2011.  I posted about it on Facebook.  In fact, here is that exact post:


I just got left a message by the owner of Therapy West - Elena's early intervention program she attended until age 3. She has suggested that I meet Mark Jonathan Harris, an Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker who is making a film about the cultural differences and the reality of minority families with autism. He wants an "articulate" Latino perspective.  I guess that would be me.  I will keep you updated as this process unfolds.  But give me a minute, I just got the call twenty minutes ago.


Well, it's been nearly 18 months since that call.  Almost there!

There is so much more to share than what I have posted thus far, at least seven years of experiences to remember and recount, and all the new material still to come.  I hope you will stick around for the ride :)  It's Spring Break around here, and that means little to no free time to do this!  It will get better!

An Awesome Mom!

My wife Jill is a remarkably devoted mom. She has a knack of accomplishing the big, big, big tasks, like potty training, sleep schedules, and bedtime routines, which for children with an ASD are extremely difficult to acheive.  If fact, she has consistently taken on every major transition we have had to implement.  It has never been so easy, yet she is always successful - no thanks to me :)

She is so patient, loving and caring in those situations, and can see the big picture at the same time being to able to navigate through the details to get it done.  We each have our strengths, and hers tend to get the big tasks accomplished.  She won't talk about it, so I will.  Jill is an awesome mom!

A More Beautiful Way of Seeing

To gaze into their eyes is to see a life with a 
myriad of hopes and hopeless impossibilities, 
of unknown potentials inspiring and discouraging, 
of journeys arduous and enlightening, 
of dreams deferred and renewed.  

Yet to gaze at life from their eyes is to see 
the maze of the infinite moment,
the experiential engagement in the 
beauty, joy and astonishment of life 
in the here-and-now as it is being LIVED.  
As it was meant to be lived.

And that's a more beautiful way of seeing...