It was Christmas morning, and Gavin (6) was up at the crack of dawn. He popped out of bed, ready to go look and see if Santa had been there. I brought him into our room so he wouldn't wake his brothers and so they could all approach the bounty under the tree as a unit. (You know, for the best pictures!) He really wasn't saying much, but I could tell he had a lot on his mind about the previous night. He was just humming and stimming around the room like a bee in a mason jar. Of course, there was no way he was going back to sleep. Finally, I got him to lay down with us and just wait a bit. He laid there quietly for a while, but soon I heard his little voice whispering something. I looked at him and saw that he had a perplexed look on his face,as if something were completely out of order. I've seen the look before. His autism gives him a passion for order and regularity. Everything must go as planned, or all is failed. It's one of the issues we deal with regularly.
"What are you thinking, Gav?" I asked. "Daddy," he whispered, "Last night I didn't see any sugar plums dancing on my head. Did Santa come here anyway?"
Garrett (4) and I were talking in the kitchen the other day about growing up and being an adult. He sat at the table munching his breakfast and pondering life. We have these great talks where he'll really get me thinking about things I'd never considered before. Today wasn't like that, he just wanted to know what he would do when he didn't have to go to school anymore. I always remain neutral on the subject and tell him the obligatory "You can be anything you want to be" type answer. He responded immediately that he wanted to be a doctor. I told him he would make a great doctor, and I'd be very proud to be a doctor's dad. He then asked me how he can become a doctor.
That's an easy answer for dumb ol' dad, "You just have to go to school to become a doctor."
He thought for a few moments, then his face brightened and he said, "Okay, when it is circle time at school and we get to raise our hands to ask a question, I will ask the teacher to make me a doctor."
Hide and seek is the new game in town. It's a classic oldy but goody. These kids are the funniest little hiders, always picking similar spots. Usually Gavin will run outside or to the garage and get into one of the vehicles or in the truck bed. He's laughing and giggling the whole time, and calling out, "You'll never ever find me in this spot Garrett!" Of course, Garrett hears this and zeroes in on Gavin's spot, but he's too short to see inside the cars and can't open the door. Soon he gets me to lift him up and confirm the target. Gavin always asks, "Was that a good hiding spot Garrett?" "Yeah! I didn't see you at all!"
When it's Garrett's turn, he inevitably heads right to the same spot Gavin was just in, and I have to help him get situated and remind him to keep quiet. Neither one of these boys really gets the point of the game yet, and actually I think they can't stand not to be found right away. Garrett crouches down in the back of the truck, snickering quietly and wriggling with impatience. As soon as he hears his big brother's footsteps approaching, he leaps from his concealment shouting "Surprise! Was this a good spot, Gavin?"
Gavin does come up with some funny ideas for hiding. Yesterday he said to me "I know the perfect hiding spot - I'll just get behind Garrett and follow him while he's looking for me. He can't see me if I'm always behind him!" The theory sounded good, but it didn't pan out for Gav. That was the shortest round of H & S ever, I think. The next time it was Gavin's turn, he decided to hide behind me, which led to the second shortest round ever. He didn't know that Garrett's first course of action as a seeker is always to just come to Dad and start asking questions. Garrett came over to me and saw that I had four legs, and the jig was up.
I love this game for them because there really isn't a winner. These boys are both terribly sore losers. I mean, they get so upset when they lose that I don't let them have bike races or anything like that anymore. They seem to be in constant competition with each other, and it drives Sara and I crazy. They're not only sore losers, but they are sore winners as well, which is even worse. They obnoxiously celebrate their own victories in a way that would get them a penalty flag from any referee in America. I hate to discourage them from wanting to win and succeed at what they're doing, but the cost to the other sibling's ego is sometimes devastating. Gavin is getting a little better at keeping his victory exclamations to himself. When he's trying to bottle up an "I'm first, I win, I'm first, I win.." this is what his face looks like:
Garrett finally figured out a variable of the "car as hiding spot" theme and went underneath. I explained the danger to him and that under the car is an "off limits" spot, and of course he had to retort that he's seen me crawl under the car lots of times. What a smart alec. "You could get squished like a bug." I told him. "Would I look like this?" he said, making the face seen below:
Playing hide and seek is a perfect game for them because it is always about taking turns, creating new ideas for hiding, and commending each other's ideas. There are no winners or losers, so they just play together with no gloating or hurt feelings. Don't get me wrong, I believe in healthy competition, but its going to have to wait with these two.
During the process of getting all the photography done with Bodie modeling the new Snugfits colors, Gavin has become intrigued by cameras. He's just thrilled by the idea of capturing an image and keeping it, going back to it and looking at it again and again. He and Garrett got their own little kid digital cameras back at Christmastime, but right now the interest is really booming. I think he's seeing the practical use of the camera, as he "sits in" on Bodie's photo sessions. To be honest, Gavin can't just sit in on anything. He has to be smack dab in the middle of the action, so he gets his little Mickey Mouse camera and starts snapping away! He actually helps the process because Bodie is distracted by him, and Gavin can always make the baby laugh.
The camera is great. It's the red Disney one sold at Target for $56, not the "Discovery Kids" camera sold at Kohls. We bought that one first because it was on sale for $26, from $80. We thought surely it must function a lot better than the less expensive Disney camera, but it was terrible! The screen was so blurry you literally couldn't tell where the camera was aimed other than color and shape. It didn't have an automatic shut-off, so it went through batteries like Garrett goes through a box of Dunkin Donuts. That camera was a real piece! The kids were pretty bummed.
These Disney cameras, however, are incredible. Most importantly to me, they don't drain batteries on a daily basis. The pictures are mostly well focused, and the kids can even add graphics to them! They really get a kick out of taking my picture then adding honeybees buzzing all around my head. They're pretty durable too. Bodie has proven that, as he treats most objects he gets his hands on as either a hammer or a projectile. At least he hasn't tested the camera's buoyancy yet. (Knock on wood)
Scrolling back through the shots on Gavin's camera is hilarious. He's got about 30 pictures of various street signs and traffic lights, lots of different colored Jeeps, tons of his brothers, another couple dozen shots of his favorite t.v. show, Peppa Pig, and then a few of Sara and me working around the house. I notice that I look angry a lot. I need to be more camera wary, and less "scowly". There's one random shot in there of a huge "number two" floating in the toilet. He must've been pretty proud of that one, nice tapered ends and all. Its a shocking and repulsive image, but to him its something to take pride in, I suppose! Being potty trained is still a big achievement in this house, and something to be commemorated!
Yesterday there was a bulldozer clearing a lot near our home, very loud and violent work. It was a huge machine, mowing down 30 foot trees and pushing them into a gigantic pile by the street. Gavin (of course) wanted to get a snapshot of it, so we walked up the street to see it. As we neared, Gavin became more and more nervous, covering his ears and grinding his teeth. "DADDYDADDYDADDY" he kept repeating, and I knew he was really thinking about turning his tail and bolting back to our house. But he didn't. We found a good vantage point at the edge of the street, Gavin uncovered his ears, raised the camera, and took one quick shot. Then he turned his tail and ran back home. I was pretty proud of him for that act of bravery! Overcoming autism is all about pushing the limits as much as possible.
This blog post has sort of turned into an unsolicited review/endorsement for the Disney cameras. They really do work well, and because of that Gavin's new passion for photography is starting to flourish. It's like a unique little window into his brain. He's a kid with autism, and he's pretty quirky, and sometimes a real challenge to keep up with. This camera has been an exciting, creative outlet for him to show us the world through his eyes.
