Owen is 8!

Owen,

You are 8 years old!  How in the world did this even happen?  My goodness, we love you so much.  You are definitely growing so much lately and we love watching you grow into the person you're going to be as an adult one day.

 For your birthday this year, you decided you wanted to have a small family party.  So, we went to Cici's pizza for lunch where you got tons of Legos as gifts, then went to Arkadia Retrocade.  You love Legos and video games, so this party was perfect for you our sweet boy.

This year you are in 1st grade.  You are in Ms. Werner's class and you love her.  We were so excited when we found out you had Ms. Werner, because she was a resource teacher before and had worked with kids just like you.   You are still going to Mrs. Bea for reading, writing, and math as well as Mrs. Godby for language therapy.  You need a lot of one on one or small group help, but we have talked to you about how it's ok to be you. Every child learns differently and grows at different speeds.  With autism, everything comes harder to you and you have to try so much more.  Figuring out what works best and how you grasp concepts is the main goal.   You have progressed in reading and writing, although math is the main struggle.  We know you'll get it eventually and are all working so hard to make sure you get the help you need.  You are on medicine to help you focus and we think it is really helping.

You are definitely your own person.  We love how analytical you are and how you get lost in thought.  You are such a loyal friend, brother, son, and cousin and although it is hard for you to read other's expressions and to interact with everyone, you show love so well.  You love to be by yourself, but also love to be around people too.  You are beginning to realize your personality isn't like other 8 year old boys your age, but we tell you all the time it's ok to be you.  Kids may not understand your personality, but you are so sweet and they can't help but love you.

You are really into Legos, anything you can build with, love to be outside, play your tablet, read your favorite books, and watch movies.  You are in Cub Scouts and you really love it!

You played First Tee golf, which is for ages 7+.  You liked it, but decided you didn't want to play again right now.  We don't want to push you to do too much and if you just need to focus on learning, how to socialize with others, and just being you, that is perfectly fine with us. 

You've had a lot of fun holidays this year and dress up days at school.  It is so cute watching you dress up and I know we don't have very much longer of you being a little boy left.  So, we will soak it up while we can. 

We love you so much and are so lucky to have you as ours.