September 26th

Today is a significant day in our lives. 
Today is National Pancake Day!
Mmmm...I do appreciate pancakes and all the warm yumminess that comes with the gooey syrup, but that really isn't what makes today special. Although I don't have dinner planned yet, and pancakes are easy to prepare and well received by both my picky eaters, so breakfast for dinner may be on the menu for tonight.

Today is Street Dancing Day!
Hmm...not sure what the new neighbors would think of this. I guess it would give them a true glimpse of our craziness in our home. But when you have a child on the spectrum, isn't everyday "Street Dancing Day"? Or maybe that's just our house, because more often than not Jacob can be found outside dancing a jig.

Well, here it is the moment you have all been waiting for...

Drum roll please...

Today is Our One Year Anniversary of Jacob's Aspergers Diagnosis!

It's time to celebrate!

Right?

When browsing through other Autism blogs, I read of many people who dread this day. The day their life changed. The day their dreams for their child were shattered and altered forever. A day filled with pain, heartache, and longing for a different reality.

I definitely get that. Trust me, I've had those days. Many. And I could stay in that place of self pity if I so chose. Each day could being heartache if I only fixated on what my son is incapable of doing, or how he measures up to his peers, or if I focused on the challenges our family faces every day.

But I try not to do that.

Jacob was a gift. A very special gift from God.

^" Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." James 1:17 

When Jacob was a baby that verse was on a picture frame in his bedroom. Many a night as I rocked a very hard to console baby, I would read that over and over finding strength in those words. He was perfect. He IS perfect. He is exactly as God intended him to be.

That's the approach I have taken way before there ever was a diagnosis of Aspergers. Sure we knew something was "different" with Jacob. Unique or different don't even begin to describe my son. "Special" doesn't do him justice either. And so I have always thought of him as a "gift".

And with gifts come celebrations!

So today I am celebrating all that my son has achieved in the past year. He moved to a new house with no problems. Every morning he walks into his new school with a kiss, a wave, and a smile on his face, instead of clinging to my leg and hitting me in the back like last year. He is no longer scared of fireworks, balls rolling down hills, dogs, thunderstorms, cars going too fast, and I'm sure there are more things I could add here. He's learned to roller skate and ride a scooter. He's stepped up to a baseball mound on more than one occasion striking out the batter with no thought of the crowd cheering around him.

Last night when I returned home, Jacob met me at the door. He couldn't wait to show me that he had learned to swing on the playset in our backyard all on his own. So at 8:00 with his jammies on and the moon shining bright, I watched my son in the backyard pumping his long lean legs as fast as he could in hopes of reaching the top of the monkey bars. If I could have bottled that moment forever, I would have. The pure joy on his face. Pride. Pleasure. Innocence. Carefree. Happiness. Independence.

That smile on his face is what I celebrate today. How far he has come from those days of shrinking back in fear of just seeing a swing in the distance. From the days of standing at our window crying with true fear as the school kids were swinging away on the playground. Did I ever think we would get here? Here today, where my son willingly and with excitement can't wait to swing on his own? A small moment that to most parents would hold little a memory, but to me is a huge milestone worthy of celebration.

So I celebrate hope. I celebrate those small milestones that are insignificant to many. I celebrate all the successes and also the failures, as they have gotten us to this point as well. I celebrate the connection I have with Jacob. I celebrate my beautiful boy.

And so tonight if you happen to drive by our house and see us dancing away in the street, just know that we are celebrating our "gift", Jacob. And be sure to stop for a stack of pancakes.