It has been so long since I posted and I don't even know where to start. Of the many events that have taken place since my last blog entry, our adventures with "Baby" stand out the most and so I will spend a few moments highlighting the newest addition to our family.
Several months ago, I sent Bruno on an errand with Gabe to pick out an indoor trampoline. Gabe seemed excited about this mission and eagerly went along with dad to purchase his new toy. Awhile later I received a call from Bruno and he was barely able to stop laughing long enough to fill me in on "mission trampoline." Bruno decided to run in the mall and thought he would check in at the mall toy store to see if they happened to carry indoor trampolines. While there, the entire mission changed as Gabe became completely enamored with a certain baby doll with black and pink pig tails, a pink dress and shiny, gold shoes. He not only insisted that he had to have this special doll, but he also apparently needed a pink, floral stroller to go with her. Bruno did what any good father would do in this situation and instead of sticking to the original plan, he purchased a baby doll and stroller for his 5 year-old son. Bruno laughed hysterically as he described Gabe pushing his doll in her pink stroller through the mall. Gabe even stopped in Corner Bakery on their way out and picked out an apple for each of them. Bruno said that a group of older ladies stopped to compliment Gabe on how well he was caring for his baby doll. Instead of being embarrassed like most fathers might be in this situation, my husband recognized the importance of this moment. Our son was showing empathy and pretend play skills! This is huge in the world of Autism. Gabe had rarely shown any interest in dolls or stuffed animals before this day and Bruno knew that this was a moment to not only encourage, but celebrate! Would many other fathers purchase pink dolls and strollers for their Kindergarten aged sons? Probably not, but most fathers are more concerned about teaching athletic skills and don't have to think about their children's ability to learn empathy, pretend and symbolic play because these things come naturally to most children. I am grateful for a husband that recognized the importance of Gabe's interest in and new "relationship" with Baby as more important than protecting his own "male pride." Sure, Bruno would rather be coaching little league and throwing the ball around with his son than parading through the mall with a pink doll and stroller, but that's not where our son is developmentally and so we deal with what "is" at the moment and in doing so, we welcome Baby into our family.
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