My friends have discovered the fun past time of blogging. I have not made it a priority until one of my amazing friends said, "you should do a blog for Kristian. That way you can keep a journal of all his ups and downs and also of his progress." It was such an amazing suggestion. But she also knew that I needed a little shove so she even set up the blog and had it all ready for me to type. She rocks. I am not the best writer, and spelling can be an issue as well, but I am ready to dive in and give it a shot. Kristian is my 5th child of 6. In June he was diagnosed with autism. I had been watching him for a while, with several concerns that I was blaming on his ears, until it became obvious that it was something else. When he was 2 my pediatrician was concerned and asked me if I thought he had autism. I was not sure. He was definitely delayed in many, if not all areas, but I did not know enough about the disorder to be sure. We are continually learning more as a result of his diagnosis, and we would not trade him for the world. Each day he makes me and our whole family better.

Going back to last Thursday the 21st of August, Kristian had a bad little accident. We were coming home from a friends and he got a ride on a motor scooter, which he loved. He arrived home and was getting off the scooter when he grabbed the handle and some how pusher the accelerator. He was not able to process the information and he ended up caught between the curb and the moving scooter. He was stuck as the scooter's muffler moved over his leg and burned him pretty good. One side of his right leg was road rash, and the other had 2nd degree burns. He was quite hysterical, and unaware of the object that gave him such horrible pain. I got a wet rag with ice in it to ease the pain until we got to the doctor. They were able to get it clean and bandaged up. We have been changing the bandages twice a day since. I am hoping to let it air out during a movie tomorrow. He hates to have the bandages changed, and it is hard to reason with him. I needed to go to Walgreens yesterday to get some more supplies for his burn, and he saw that we were going to the store. I said that we needed to get things for Kristian. He responded, "Thanks mom. You da best!" I then said that we needed stuff for his owie. He then responded, "You no da best!" It was so funny, and great to see that he understood!

Today was also his first day of preschool. He is attending the same special needs preschool that he did in the spring. It is great for him, and he gets all of his pt, ot, and speech therapy at school. The bus comes right to our door to pick him up and to bring him home. They call him their little surfer boy. Everyone loves his hair. I have learned how to ask him questions. Questions such as "what did you do at school?" will get a blank stare. But if I ask, "did you have fun at school?" I will get a resounding "yes!". Mark was asking him at bed time "Did you read stories at preschool? Did you eat snacks? Did you play with toys? Did you flush the toys down the toilet?". Yes was the response to every question! So we know there is not a flushable toilet in the trailer at his preschool and he is not toilet trained. I know he had a great day because he came home happy. He is a very happy boy, and he is a gift in my life.