The Big 5

This Labor Day weekend, we celebrated an auspicious occasion indeed as my little Jackson prepares to turn 5. It's an old cliche, but man has time flown. I still remember the day he was born. I remember all his milestones. I remember wondering if he would ever start walking and talking. I remember how scared I was when I suspected he had autism. I remember how relieved I was when he got his diagnosis and we started on the path of helping him achieve his fullest. I've got a long road ahead with my little man. It won't be easy. It'll be pretty damn hard, I imagine. But I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

We had a family party with Grandma, PawPaw, Ba Ngoai, Uncles Tuan, Gilbert, Johnny, and Nick, Aunt Gerri, and cousins Nicholas, Micah, and Cody. Whew, it was a full house!
For the first time ever, Jackson opened his own presents. He was actually excited about it!
Of course, Noah had to help his brother.
He's been playing playdough and moon sand for days. And that Thomas laptop? He tries to play with it, but Noah has taken it for his own.

His cake was a red velvet from The Red Oven Bakery. Mmm, so yummy.

And he blew out his candle.
You know a party is rocking when people aren't wearing pants!
Later Jackson discovered a new pastime. Climbing onto the footboard of Mommy's bed and having PawPaw throw him backwards.
He didn't get tired of that game at all.
Even when PawPaw's back started giving out on him.
Brad and I got him a tv for his room. I'm hoping that he will spend more time in there so there will no longer be lincoln logs, legos, puzzles, and plastic animals scattered all over my living room. Really, you couldn't walk through there for anything.
So far so good. The tv has a built-in dvd player which you can see on the back, left-hand side. It's very snazzy. We're probably going to get him a dish box with dvr soon so we can record some of his favorite shows.

Everyone remarked how grown-up Jackson is becoming. He didn't cry when all those people showed up at his house. He let us turn on the lights in the living room. He used the bathroom on his own when told. I love being able to see my son through other people's eyes. I'm able to appreciate all the changes and advances he's made that way.

Hope everyone out there had a safe, fun holiday weekend as well!