First Thanksgiving

It's been a busy month for us. Sasha started his various therapies (speech, occupational (no, he's not getting career counseling yet!) and developmental) this month. Our therapists are very nice and work with him while playing with a tub full of toys. It only took one time for Sasha to figure out that he really likes people coming to visit him with a basket full of toys. We've been working mostly on mimicing actions and sounds. This teaches turn taking and mimicing is the start of learning to speak. We've also been working on his fine motor skills i.e. picking up things precisely between the forefinger and thumb, etc. We've been learning skills that help Sasha fulfill his need for deep pressure contact and learning many sign language words. I continue to believe that I am learning far more than Sasha but perhaps that's the point.

As we had a few extra hours today, we began pulling off the video from our second Russian trip. As I sat here watching our son during the first day of our second trip, I see a totally different little boy. This boy on the video tape doesn't smile. He sits on his rocking horse and looks completely emotionless. He takes the offered cheerios and slowly puts each one in his mouth. He never looks up. He doesn't move around. He looks scared, shy and stressed out. He doesn't know us and doesn't seem to want to know us. He doesn't understand anything that we say to him. His pale skin is dotted with a bright red rash. He does not resemble our son in any way.

Today seems like a good day to review these tapes. As we continue to work him on his 'little' challenges, it's sometimes easy to forget just how far he's come. Our son runs around our house at top speed, isn't afraid of anything and fills our home with his constant energy. He is no longer pale but has a rosy glow to his cheeks. He understands everything we say which many times he chooses to ignore but he does understand us. He knows how to really laugh and when you hear his full belly laugh, you can't help but laugh too. He is never still. He runs up to us frequently to hug our legs and never wants to be away from us. He loves us so deeply that our departure (even if its just to look at another aisle in Best Buy while Nathan has him) makes him start calling for us. He bobs his head to music and gets a little grin when I start bobbing my head too.

He is our son and today seems like a good time to remember how thankful we are to have him in our family (okay, Snickers may not have the same sentiment as the little boy's favorite thing is to chase her with a toy but we're working on that). We celebrate each victory. This week he's finally learned to clap his hands when he's excited instead of flapping his hands. Yea for Sasha!

Today on Sasha's first Thanksgiving, I'd like to express my deepest gratitude that you are our friends and family. On this day that is surely meant to be a Sasha favorite (come on, the whole day revolves around food and having his family around!), we feel blessed to have you in our life.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!