I think it is important for me to share some of the “firsts” that we celebrate with Tristan. We never know when one will occur. Life with autism is full of surprises. Enjoy a “first” from our home!
One Friday night in May, Brian and I were making dinner. Then we heard a knock on the door, tap tap tap. We both looked at the front door, and through the window, we could see a child standing there.
When Tristan attended Kindergarten and First grade, we took him to school. The nice part was we got to interact with the teachers and assistants on a daily basis. One day, there was an interesting greeting. Mrs. S said, “Good Morning Mr. Fontaine how are you?” Brian replied. Although what he said and what Mrs. S heard were two different words. So, Mrs. S paused and said, “Wow that is pretty good. I don’t know what to say.” Brian replied he was “terrific”, but Mrs. S thought he said “perfect”. Another healthy dose of laughter from our home!
I have to say this is one of MY most embarrassing stories. I really wish this didn’t happen, but it did. A few years ago, Tristan came home from school. His artificial eye came home in a baggie. That alone could have been enough excitement for one day but… I was totally embarrassed when we realized he left the house with “The favorite sweater”.
Let me explain. THE sweater that Tristan loved is blue and has this pattern all over it. I didn’t particular care for it. Yet for some reason Tristan LOVED this sweater. In fact, he would hunt all over the house for it. He would find it in dirty piles, clean piles, in the washing machine and in the dryer. He has pulled it out of the washing machine wet and put it on! …
I vaguely remember how that morning went. I noticed Tristan putting on THE sweater before school. I thought to myself ” I need to change him out of the sweater before we leave because Tristan grabbed it from the dirty pile.” That thought came and went…and NOW 7 hours have passed!!! 7 hours later, we greeted Tristan off the bus. Immediately we took him to the bathroom. I said to Brian, “Oh No!” Brian looked at me and said, “Oh Yes.” In disbelief I asked, “Did we let him go to school with THE sweater?” Yes we did. The sweater was DIRTY. I mean REALLY dirty he had Spaghettio’s sauce all over it! I wanted to die of embarrassement! The eye was nothing. It was the sweater that sent me over the edge. Another healthy dose of laughter from our home!
A few nights ago, we went out to dinner with some friends. They specifically asked to hear about our adoption journey. So as we were sharing our experiences our little angel was up to no good. The irony! When we returned home our friend said it was hard work to keep up with him. Also her pant legs were visibly wet. She began to share…
Tristan decided to step outside into the backyard. Normally that is OK. It is a fenced in yard, a nice open space to explore. This has helped to keep him safe. There is always a risk of elopement–at any moment he could run away. Since we recently got a LOT of snow and of course drifts, our backyard had one temptation for him. Along the back of the yard the snow drifted up to the top of the fence. Tristan decided to walk right up the hill to the top of the fence. Somehow he never sank into the deep snow…he could walk ON the snow without caving in. As soon as he reached the drift up to the top of the fence our friend went into action. She went after him. She began lookijng for her coat and realized Tristan had put on her coat! It became crystal clear he was going to go OVER the fence! She quickly ran to him trying to stop him. Over the fence they both went! Now he began to get cold and wanted her to pick him up. NO WAY! He is a BIG boy. He was not going to get up on his own. Panic set in. There is NO convincing him. If he doesn’t want to do something he won’t. She saw some car lights and said, “Tristan your mom and dad are home!” Tristan got right up and walked to the back door! Another dose of laughter from our home!
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