As I've been looking at photos of the past year my heart has felt a little bit heavy because of the realization of how fast my children are growing up and I am getting older (OK, it may also have something to do with it being my 35th birthday tomorrow). Time is really going by more and more quickly the longer I live. So strange how our brains work that way. High school seemed like such a significant amount of time in my life and now four years is practically nothing. Of course, a lot can still happen in four years, it just seems to go much faster.
It also definitely has to do with the fact that this boy/man just turned 13 yesterday!
Shule has been making amazing strides this past year. His social skills have improved immensely thanks to the help of some wonderful teachers, an amazing scout/youth leader, and some super patient and understanding boys in his deacons quorum. He's made a best friend in a boy from church named Tyler LaDuc and has actually gone to his house to play video games and had Tyler over to our house to play (AWESOME)!! Tyler even cut his family vacation time short in California so he could attend scout camp with Shule. It warms my heart for Shule to have a good friend and it's a total bonus that he's a member of the church.
Shule continues to love drawing- he's developed a very characteristic style- and he has a great imagination, as seen in all the little characters he comes up with. He continues to enjoy being the clown but he's learned a better sense of when it's appropriate and inappropriate. He has a great memory for jokes he's read/heard and he really does have good comedic timing which seems to be a peculiar thing because most kids with Aspergers lack a sense of humor. He loves to watch the Marx brothers (actually all of the kids do) which Jon and I both appreciate. I love watching him, Shazer, and Sally cracking up together.
He is my reading buddy. He's always willing to read books I suggest and we have a good time discussing books together. One of his birthday gifts (and mine) was going to see the newest and last Harry Potter movie. I had made seeing the last two movies conditional for the boys, requiring that they read the 7th book before they see the movies because they had always seen the movies first and this was their last chance to read the book first. Shule took me up on the challenge right away and was able to see the first part of the last movie in the theater. Shazer just could not get into the book (even when I tried reading aloud with him) so I felt bad but he still hasn't seen either movie. It's not because Shazer isn't a good reader either. He's our GATE student and he'll be in advanced placement for math and language arts in middle school this year. He's just having a hard time getting interested in it. Oh well. Sorry for the tangent- this is about Shule :) I love talking to Shule about books and getting a better sense of the way he thinks about the world.
He's also made me really proud this past year at how well he's taken on his new responsibilities as a deacon. He is the secretary in the presidency and has to go a half an hour early every Sunday for meetings and to prepare the sacrament. He and the other deacons gather all the trash after church because our ward is the last that meets in the building. He has volunteered at many service projects this year: helping people move, cleaning yards, and babysitting. He's participated in all the scout and youth activities without grumbling (much) even though they really take him way out of his comfort zone.He's also become a helper around the house by entertaining the girls. Sally especially adores her oldest brother and is interested in almost everything Shule is and repeats a lot of his phrases. He's also learned to cook a little bit and I'm working on teaching him things like ironing his shirt and cleaning more to my satisfaction ;)
His favorite color is still green but he's recently gotten over the insistence that everything be green (like his clothes or the car that he's riding in on the roller coaster at California Adventure). He will also wear jeans now and seems to be less tactile sensitive. He still loves mac n cheese and all things pasta related and while he still doesn't appreciate a casserole or fish he will sometimes try it. He loves our music, especially Ben Folds, Weezer, the Cure, the Killers, Muse, Radiohead, Cake, and TMBG. He is physically growing like a weed and looks less like a middle schooler and more like a high schooler with his height, deep voice, and his slight mustache and goatee made up of just a few freakishly long hairs that he refuses to shave (we're working on that). He's learned to ride a bike this year and to tie his shoes (which we honestly didn't know if he would ever learn to do either one and it would have been OK with us). He continually surprises and pleases us and we're so thankful for having a Shule in our lives! Happy Birthday kiddo!!
I love his drawings! Wow, I had no idea he could do that. And he is looking more like his dad everyday. It really is going by so fast.
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