Happy New Year!

We've been having a great stay-at-home vacation this year. Stay-at-home in the sense that we didn't go out of town. We've been going places every day, today A, G and I went to J-town for lunch with A and B's godmother. A loved the fountains with multiple sources of water flowing over different sized rocks. G loved the Japanese videos and mangas. I loved seeing my comadre and feeling like a family. I'm not quite sure why having G with us makes us feel more like a family. Well, (I guess this is exactly the kind of reflection that blogging is destined to inspire) I suppose it makes a huge difference to have an offspring who is not moderately to severely affected by autism. Someone to show things to, share things with, hang out with, interact with. Usually when I am out with my boys I am holding a one-ended conversation, a running commentary of what we are doing and seeing, and what will come next. It's nice, for a change, to have someone comment back, ask a question, offer a suggestion. And I love the way G interacts with A and B. He is loving and accepting, nonjudgmental. (Or at least smart enough to keep any negative comments a long way from my ears. But I really think I'm right about the nonjudgmental part.) And it is really nice to have an extra person in the house - I find that I check myself more frequently and don't yell as much at the boys, and for that I am grateful. And very happy. Yeah, I am very happy. I hope you are too. Happy New Year.