My dad called my husband early this morning. He needed help with his vehicle. My husband is always willing to help with any mechanical issues my dad may have. He always tells me that my dad is older and that it’s his duty to be there for him whenever he needs us. ♥️

My husband asked the monkey, “Want to visit grandma and grandpa?” And he clapped excitedly. His usage of the sign word for ‘more’.

As we are driving, the monkey will touch the steering wheel, his way of telling us where to go. Right. Or left.

And this morning he was adamant that we visit my parents. He wanted to make sure we wouldn’t deviate from the way. I just love that he knows how to get to their house, and he can also tell us how to get there.

As we arrive the monkey runs to the backyard and plays on the swings. After about two hours or so, the monkey runs to our car, gets inside, and puts on the seat belt. His way of telling us he’s ready to leave.

But my husband isn’t ready. So we tell him that he’s not ready. And he understands and patiently waits as my husband finished the job. Then he has to pack up his tools. And the monkey is there with us as we are packing, patiently waiting.

This may seem as a very typical day for most. But the fact that he understood he needed to be patient, he needed to wait, and he didn’t mind doing it, this is huge for us. A year ago this would have turned into a full blown hourly- long meltdown.

But not today.

As we are driving home, my husband is telling him how proud we are of him. How he has grown so much and he is more mature, more communicative, and we could not be more proud.

As the monkey is listening to us, he puts his hand on top of my husband’s hand. And he leaves it there until we arrive home. ♥️

Yeah, we are pretty proud of you monkey. You’ve learned to live in this world with these crazy rules, you’ve adapted in trying to communicate your way, and you jumped barriers to learn to self regulate and control your emotions.

We are very proud of you. ♥️