Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmas

My brother, JJ, came up Saturday to spend some time at our place before the holiday.
It was really nice to have him around. Between his full time job, living in another state and my schedule, our paths don't cross often anymore.
Liam loves his Uncle JJ. Truly. He will climb right on top of him like a big bean bag chair and snuggle in.
This kind of affection is very rare for Liam. But J,... he just brings it out in him. It brings happy tears to my eyes every time I see it.


J and I are a mere 15 months apart in age but have completely different lives.
He's single, lives with three other guys, doesn't plan for much and knows very little about autism.
It's nice to hear about his aspirations, his relationships and hobbies. It gets me out of the crazy autism world for a while.
I think of it as free therapy. :)


Love this guy!

On to the holiday...

After months of planning the easiest holiday celebration for Liam, the day arrived.
My parents house was decorated beautifully, as it always is, and everything was catered to my sweet boy.
Quiet, soft music. Nothing breakable out. All allergenic food was put up until the rest of the family were to arrive.
Everything was just as we'd planned.
Liam slept late, as he usually does. Finally 9:30 rolled around and he was ready to get up.
He hasn't been too interested in the tree or gifts under it so we didn't expect much when he came down the stairs.
To our surprise and delight, Liam ran to the tree! He oohed and ahhhed at his gifts. They were set out on one side of the tree unwrapped and ready to play with 




Grandma and Grandpa walked in around 10am and we all sat down to brunch. I had made Liam a separate meal and he sat in his own small space to eat.

The key to success with Liam in these over-stimulating environments is to very slowly and cautiously ease him in to each step. Getting up, coming down the stairs and seeing the tree and gifts is a lot in itself. So we slow it down and move to morning supplements, green smoothie and breakfast. It helps to keep him calm because these are predictable steps.

I could feel him tensing up a bit with the louder voice of my grandpa, but quickly acclimated and finished brunch.
Proud momma right here!

The rest of the day went well. Liam had a few anxious moments, but overall handled everything like a champ.

I'm thankful for the family we have. The extra steps they take to make the holidays doable for Liam.
I'm thankful that even tho they do not fully understand all that Liam goes through, they try to make him comfortable.

I hope you all had as wonderful a holiday as we did.

With love,
Susie

1 comment:

  1. Hi Susie,
    How are you!
    Its Isabel, are you still writing?
    My prayers and love are with you!
    Isabel

    ReplyDelete