He said...She said...

On a cold January morning with nothing on the calendar, we decided a little one on one time with Maisy and Elijah is just what we needed.  And with three free hours and two free ride passes to Nickelodeon Universe in hand, we decided to lay all expectations aside and see what fun we could have at the Mall. 

It was a great day...with very few people at the amusement park, it was like having it all to ourselves. We were able to enjoy our two sweet "middles" of the littles...Our kids have come to us in three waves...we have the "bigs", the "middles" and the "littles." 

Elijah and Maisy are the middle of the littles...and they are so different in the way that they approach life. Both kids obsess over things...but each of them obsess over very different things...Elijah's autism is most evident in his unusual speech patterns, echolalia, and repetitive phrases. Maisy's FAS is most evident in her perseverative thoughts...She says things like   "I want chicken dinner. I need a bolus. I want to go to play practice. I want to go on time out."  She says these same phrases over and over and over... until you don't know whether to laugh or cry.

The two of them were in prime form this outing. Each of them having a wonderful time but both of them expressing it in their quirky ways. These two little ones remind me of what a wonderful, joyful and wacky world we have created in our home. And sometimes, you just have to laugh at the oddities of these little 

ones...

Typical Maisy and Elijah---both kids so excited to be able to ride the rides...Elijah a little anxious and Maisy making sure that we were both coming too...always wanting a nice big crowd to experience all the fun she is going to have.

 Elijah enjoying the giant swings but you wouldn't know it by his expression..often causing ride attendants to wonder if they should stop the ride because of the look of fear that is common for Elijah. Right after the ride, Elijah wants to go again. There is so much sensory discomfort to get through to be able to really enjoy the ride..

 He is reading the signs that are all over the park. She, with her take-charge personality is dragging him along so they can ride on the hot air balloons...no time to read signs for Maisy.

 

She is wishing that she could ride on the adult sized thrill rides...the wilder the better! He has lost himself a bit thinking of going "bowling" and to "chuck E. Cheese." His latest obsessions.

 He is contemplating...reading, most likely...in his serious mode..but having a great time in his own way. He is so tender and sweet...such a joy.

She is silly...happy, carefree...so polite and thoughtful at such a young age. She even thanked the doctor for her throat culture the other day.

God has created them with such different, unique personalities. Both of them are such a gift to us. As we watched them on this day, the words were few because we could not escape the silence that often comes with the sense of wonder and feelings of humbled hearts that were ours...as we watched these two beautiful blessings enjoy a day together.

As we left the park with two tired kids, Maisy obsessed over chicken dinner the whole way out and Elijah asked repeatedly to go bowling...we couldn't help but laugh. If we didn't love them so much, I am pretty sure they may drive us crazy! And all the way home, we couldn't help put praise God for the perfect way in which He knit our family together...but would we expect anything less from the God who knows the numbers of hairs on our head?