Making Friends

School on Wednesday was delayed which meant no school at all for Wes. It was supposed to be the first day back after Christmas break. We could not spend another day stuck in this house so it was time for a field trip. I took the boys to Discovery Stop which is an indoor playroom. Wes loves going there and isn't at all overloaded as long as it's not too crowded. Usually winter is the worst time to go, but since it was back to school, I figured it wouldn't be that bad. I was right. Neither Wes nor Casey could wait to get in there and start running. For the first time, I felt comfortable bringing them together with no other help. I trusted Wes to stay in the play area and to be safe. I spent my time chasing Casey and making sure he was nice to the other kids. That's a tough job. Casey ran over to the large climbing structure and I heard lots of giggling coming from Wesley. He was with two other boys who were being silly on a slide and Wes was watching and laughing at them. It was so amazing to see. I could tell these boys were feeding off of his reaction. They became sillier and sillier. Finally, Wes had a bit too much of them and ran off.

I've even been noticing him trying to get Casey's attention and making him laugh. A couple of weeks ago, the three of us were upstairs playing and I was putting clothes away. Wes was running past his bedroom and surprising Casey, who in turn was in the clutches of a belly laugh. He was looking directly at him and laughing along. This went on for a good 6-7 minutes before they each were distracted by something else. I watched out of the corner of my eye and smiled enjoying the brotherhood that was playing out before me.

Wes stopped engaging with other kids after 18 months old. That's about when he really retreated into his own world. It's the first step to accepting other people and realizing that they give him something in return for his attention. Just another sign that school is really making an impact on him. The funny part is that boy is so stubborn. We all know he can do something, but he refuses to do it correctly or completely. He will fight for 10 minutes before he concedes and does what he needs to do. Wonder where he gets that from.