I am totally pumped about today.
First off, Minifob woke up with a dry diaper, which he's never done before, so potty-training might not be as far out in our distant future as I had thought. Then, we went to our first outing with a local playgroup I joined. His therapist agreed that it was really time to start pushing him on the socialization with kids his age, now that he can be taken to new places pretty reliably (as long as they're kid-safe places to begin with, and not china shops.
) He did an awesome job--didn't outright acknowledge any of the other kids, but played happily alongside them with only the barest of sharing issues, and left peaceably when it was time to go. And I got along great with the mothers I got a chance to talk to--one woman did seem a little freaked when I told her Minifob was autistic, like maybe it was contagious, but the rest of them were open and interested. And one of them... well, her boy is only 17 months, but I'm telling you now, he's autistic. I didn't say anything specific to her about it, but I can tell she already suspects something anyway. She was very interested in my conversation with another mother about what Minifob was like when he was younger (i.e., not displaying any of the "classic" symptoms they tell you to look for on the PSAs, but all the weird things he did do,) and what we were doing to treat him now. Not that I would wish this on anyone else, but it's nice to feel like you might be able to help out someone in the same boat.
And
now, the little dude is taking a
nap. Joy! I already rescheduled his therapy appointment next week so that we can make it to another playdate near us.