A Date with Mom

My middle child often gets overlooked. Not intentionally of course, but as we constantly try to interact with him, the eldest intervenes and by the time we've made it clear it's Connor's turn for attention, Connor has moved on to something else and doesn't want to play. Part of this is personality--he's very, VERY focused. I've rarely seen a child this intense before--about everything. We've never been able to distract him, dissuade him, or convince him to do (or not do) something he isn't doing (or is).

When we had the Early Intervention crew come to work with him starting around 4 months, they were astonished that no matter how hard they tried, he wasn't going to do anything they wanted him to. He barely acknowledged their presence, he wouldn't stop playing with the toy he currently had, he wouldn't bend, move, etc. on command.

He still doesn't. For awhile, we worried about autism. That's not a concern anymore. Now we worry about keeping him alive. He's such a boy and has NO sense of self-preservation. He'll regularly just walk off the stairs (without holding onto anything, without looking, without carrying that he tumbles down). He'll step off couches, try to climb as high everything, touch everything, move everything. If we tell him no, he'll smile and do it again. If we move him, he'll just try it again, and again, and again--never getting discouraged that we keep removing him again, and again, and again.

That's why I like one on one time with him. I need it. I feel like he needs it, even if he doesn't express that need. And when this is the end result--a chocolate covered, sweetly exhausted, happy little boy--I do a happy dance.