AmandaWe celebrated Zion’s 5th birthday on July 5th! We went to Pump It Up and he had an amazing time with all his friends and our family. I cannot believe that our little Zion is already the big 5! He is growing up so fast right in front of our eyes and it actually kind of makes me sad. Watching him grow is so amazing and I love seeing him succeed at everything he does. However, there is a little part of me that worries about Zion as he gets older. He is stemming more and more, and even though he is aware of it, it is something he can’t control. I worry about other kids staring at him or making fun of him. Looking at Zion, my heart fills with pure happiness and joy, but there is always that little part of me that is scared and worries. This is normal, right?
Zion started Dragon Camp and he is loving every minute of it. Remember how I would ask him what he did at school and his answer was always “ate breakfast, played outside, ate lunch, took a nap”? Well everyday when he has been coming home from Dragon Camp he actually tells me what he does and what they worked on. He is excited and is really excited to go. They are having a showcase at the end of camp to exhibit all the hard work they have done and I am really excited to see Zion’s work! Oh and he has been riding the bus!! Yes, I initially freaked out when I was told that the bus would pick him up. I was so tempted to say no I will take him and pick him up. However, I told Zion about it and he his face lit up when I said the bus would be picking him up. So to me, that was all I needed to feel comfortable with him riding. Every morning he gets dressed and says “mommy is it time to go outside and get on the bus?” I cried the first day, I will be honest, but now I am okay and Zion is loving the bus!
We took a little weekend trip to Houston, Texas (about 3 hours away) and got to have some great family time. We checked out their aquarium and the Children’s Museum. Both of our kiddos had such a great time and Zion was really into all the animals at the aquarium. We rode the train, which Zion loved, and fed the stingrays. We went the weekend before Zion’s birthday so it was like a little pre-birthday celebration and we honestly all had a really good time!
Thank you all so much for reading! I cannot believe that I have been writing this blog since before Zion turned 3 years old and we continue to get support from so many people. Autism for our family has had its challenges, but it has also taught us so much. Zion was born a military child, and getting services wasn’t easy for us being that we were in recruiting duty and not near a base. However, we made it work and through Tricare were able to get an Developmental Pedi that helped us through everything. We thank you so much for your continued support and we will see you next month!
