He is Finally Doing What Little Boys Should Do ....And Then

Today was hot and Cameron and I had spent the afternoon in the house with the fans on. My Little Angel was out for the day with her Grannie so Cameron enjoyed blasting me with his music, watching some TV and throwing his Primo before trashing his bedroom shelves.

As I contemplated letting him have a swim he walked out the back door without a backwards glance. That seemed odd but I let him go. After a few minutes I wondered what he was doing and wandered out to find him sitting on the edge of the bricks playing with some sand. Astonished I quickly retreated so I wouldn't disturb him and went inside to get  my camera. Typically I got distracted several times as I walked through the house and half suspected that Cameron would be out of the sand and wandering about but he wasn't - he was sitting in the sand, totally engrossed and he was having FUN. He'd found a scoop for balls and was digging the sand with it. I left him alone after I got my photographic proof. This is not normal behaviour for our Cameron. Occasionally over the years he has had a digging session but this felt different, this felt appropriate. He wasn't just digging, he was exploring and he wasn't looking for any praise he was doing it for himself.

My Marvellous Man got home a few minutes later so I sent him out to see for himself and he was equally shocked. Cameron was having a wonderful time in our wonderful black, sandy soil and he was slowly turning the same colour.

We left him alone and suddenly he appeared at the back door - filthy. He clearly needed a shower but we wondered how he'd go in the bath.

I know you are wondering why we are excited about all this - a kid getting dirty and needing a bath - not exactly Prime Time News. In our house it is. I can not recall a time that I have had to bath Cameron because he was dirty from playing.

In the past if you put Cameron in a bath you had to expect a flooded bathroom and often the carpet in the hall as well. If you left him alone for even a second he would bucket the water on to the floor. He'd splash and do everything possible to get the water out of the bath. He didn't play in the bath like other children. As soon as Cameron was stable enough to stand in a shower we stopped baths.

Tonight we gave him a bath and he was delighted and so were we. He played and he had FUN and he didn't get the floor wet beside a few stray splashes. We no longer have bath toys. (My Little Angel grew out of playing in the bath a long time ago, I suspect because she was bored on her own.) I suddenly remembered that a friend had given Cameron a sand pit kit for his birthday so I retrieved that and then the fun truly began. He tipped and poured, splashed and marvelled. He was totally engrossed and didn't notice us standing and sitting there watching. He wasn't looking for approval he was too busy.

We decided that playing in the sandpit and the bath warranted a celebratory meal. (Don't tell MLA - she missed out.) We asked Cameron what he'd like for dinner. We started listing various options and we got smiles and head nods to everything. Once again we were faced with taking the choice away from Cameron because he couldn't communicate what he wanted. Until I suddenly remembered ....

I went and got his ipad while he got out of the bath - leaving a tub full of black silt. I went into the Communication App (ICommunicate) and with a few mistakes and MMM's help I made Cameron a choice board so he could chose his dinner. The elation we experienced when Cameron told us he wanted Chinese for dinner is unmeasurable. It was the first time he has ever used a communication device properly and purposely and we really knew what he wanted to eat. (Wait till I tell the Speech Therapist)

Cameron loves Sweet and Sour pork and that's what he had for dinner and he deserved every yummy drop of it.