Friends, Family, & Loved Ones: I am going to be taking the next month off from writing here. I am stressed. I am overwhelmed. There’s a lot going on, and we’re once again needing to support a more beefed up therapy schedule as our son’s new ABA provider has begun services this week. There are some important things going on that need my full attention and I am in a self-care deficit.

So, I am taking a writing breather for the next month. But, before I go, I just want to leave you with a couple of the happier therapy moments from the past several days.

We’ve been working on expanding our little man’s tolerance for new things, and recently he was willing to try seasoned curly fries for the first time. He was also willing to try climbing on a twisting ladder that scares him. Trying new things is very hard for him, and there once was a time where it would take him months to be willing to even touch new items that were purchased for him. This was actually the first time I’ve asked him to try curly seasoned fries, though he has had Taco Bell’s seasoned fries when they carry them. Just even the shape and the different fast food chain are enough for him to reject an item for too much new-ness or being different.

We also were able to take him in to the Phoenix Zoo this past Sunday, and weekends (especially when the weather is nice) are much more crowded. I gave him almost complete directional control because of the number of people there, and he was able to stay calm and tolerate it fairly well because of that. The hardest bump for him was when we had to go into the guest services area because I had recently renewed our membership, and even though the current one hadn’t expired, their system wasn’t accepting the card because of the renewal, but even that he tolerated with only a minor outburst. He also stood in a bathroom line near their Mandrill exhibit for roughly 10 minutes (a bathroom with a hand-dryer in use) and he was calmly able to do what he needed to in there. For me, there is so much hope in what I saw in those happy moments, so much hope for even happier moments to come.