Our little monkey is now three years old.  I see how it is much noticeable for people to see that he is different than other 3 year olds. Our monkey is still not talking, always walking in his tippy toes, still not potty trained, an adamant flapper, and prefers to play by himself rather than play with other kids. He releases verbal sounds when he is frustrated or happy that may sound displeasing to some, especially those un-familiar with the autism world.

I still remember when my wife told me, after 10 years of trying, that we were having our second child. I was ecstatic that we were having a little boy since we already had our little princes who had just turned 12. By the time we got to the neurologist we knew then that our son was going to be diagnosed autistic.  But it didn’t really hit us until the doctor wrote out the diagnosis on a fancy medical paper.

I could tell you all the things that autism is and all of the limitations that it brings. I can tell you about how he can’t do this or how he has not reached his age groups development milestones. There are the meltdowns and the challenges that can be exhausting and that only parents with the same situation can understand.  However, I’d rather talk to you about all the things that our monkey can do and the things that make him so unique as an individual and more importantly my son.

Our little monkey is such a loving little boy. There is no safer and better place he’d rather be than on his mother’s arms. He sits in front of her and kisses her with so much tenderness that it melts your heart. She is by far the most important person in his little life. When he notices that his older sister is crying he goes over to her and comforts her by kissing her and hugging her telling her by his actions that everything is going to be okay. Our little monkey has great motor skills that allow him to play freely with his puzzles and other toys. He loves to organize all of his toys by colors and shapes, and when we begin to sing the “clean up song”, even if he doesn’t want to, he eventually complies and picks up his toys. OMG and he has the best stamina you have ever seen. He will be out there jumping in his trampoline for as long as you will let him, this explains his muscular physic he has in his legs. He can be a silly, clever little boy that gets in so much trouble. There was this one time I could not find my only keys to my truck, eventually we gave up and we had to pay quite an amount to have them replaced. As soon as the locksmith left the monkey walks up to us giving us the keys we had misplaced…I wanted to scream!!! But then we resorted to laughing.  He is strong, healthy, blessed with family and so many supportive people in his life.

I love every moment with him. I can’t possibly see my life without him. Somewhere in the cosmos it was written that he would be my son. Thanks to his first therapist, Mrs. Emma, I stopped seeing his limitations and started seeing possibilities. I don’t think of the day that he will eventually talk but instead I encapsulate every moment my eyes capture this beautiful monkey that the universe has blessed me with.