Calvin's First Why

So, today was another benchmark for Calvin's progress in his therapy. Calvin likes to "parrot" (repeat verbatim) his Thomas the Tank Engine stories. He has memorized most of them. He will mumble some of the words and run through them quickly, not because he doesn't know the words, but because he processes the stories so quickly in his mind, his mouth doesn't put the words out fast enough.
So, in order to be in sync with Calvin and to participate in his world, Luiza will lead the story or add to the story by adding parts to the story or starting the next phrase for Calvin. This allows a lot of interaction with Calvin. He will often look at her (us when I do it), and we can even teasingly change the story to different words or names, to which Calvin quickly says "No", showing that he understands that we are teasing him.
Luiza did not know the story that Calvin was repeating very well yet. She wanted to be able to know what was next, so she needed to find the Thomas book to read it and be able to interact with Calvin. The playroom door was closed, and Calvin was playing with his trains right in front of the door.
Luiza said, "Calvin, I need to open the door to get the Thomas book." Calvin quickly said "No." She said, "But Calvin, I need to go get the book." Calvin asked "Why?" Luiza, trying not to show how insanely overwhelmed she was with joy answered, "Because I need to read the book." He then said, "No, no book."
So, finally a "Why?"!!! Our first. I remember his first "No." haha. Wow.
Tonight, we went to Doris Aleman's birthday party at the Nunez's house. Lots of kids Calvin's age were there. Calvin played with them all night. He was chasing, sitting with them on the patio swing, pushing them in the swing, chasing deflating balloons as they flipped through the air.
Luiza told me that while I was at work, we had 3 other boys come over to play with Brendon on the Wii. Calvin was with them all morning. Luiza wanted to get time with Calvin by themselves, so she had to pull him away from the other boys to his playroom. She was very impressed that he wanted to hang out with them so badly, and not just to play Wii, but because he wanted to be with the boys so badly. We were very happy to see how much he wants to play with friends...chasing them, jumping on the trampoline together, swinging, he even likes to dance now. It's pretty dreamy.
And for me, tonight was so special. I laid down with Calvin in bed. His tiny body was on his side, with his back to me. I put my arm over him as I lay down next to him, and I asked him about his day.
It's always been a dream of mine to have a conversation with Calvin.
So, I asked him, "Calvin, you went to a birthday party! What did you eat at the party?" "Pizza!" he quickly replied. He shook with the excitement of the memory of pizza (he's not supposed to have wheat or cheese because of allergies, but we occasionally let him have some pizza). I asked, "What else did you eat?" "Pizza!" "Yes, Calvin, but you also had some birthday c..." "Cake." "YES! You had birthday cake! Was it yummy or yucky?" "Yummy." "Good job, Calvin, it was yummy! What else did you do? Did you break something?" ...no answer... "Did you pop something?" ...no answer... "You popped the..." "Balloon!" "Yeah! You popped the balloons!"
I asked some more questions, but I had to really help him with the answers, but he knew the right answers. So, it was a real mini-conversation! Praise God!
Also, on Sunday, the whole family went to church. Normally, one of us stays home with Calvin, as he is always overwhelmed by the loud music and length of the services. But this time, he sat through over one half hour of music, standing up and sitting down...just listening and watching. I had to read some books to him after about 20 minutes, but he was very calm and not overwhelmed at all.
So, we're seeing definite progress! It's slow, tedious and emotionally draining. But, Luiza's tenacity is something that autism cannot withstand. She's a vicious fighter for her son, and it's showing. She's the key to his success and her patience, faithfulness and non-stop input and sacrifice has changed Calvin's life. She's a queen among mothers. Her reward will be her son standing in front of her as a typical child, even though she will always know how special he is...