A Friend

It warmed my heart to hear just last week that Eli has a friend.  Something that right now he doesn't have a lot of--in the sense of your typical 5 year old friend(s).  The therapist mentioned this to me as we were leaving school.  He said, "Eli has a friend.  She asked him to sit by her today."  He told me her name as well & that she's very nice to him.  And just this morning when I dropped Eli off at school, the teacher said to him, "You like to sit by _____, come sit here."  The same girl the therapist told me about.
It made me SO happy!  A little scared--I have no idea how long he can keep a friend & hope he doesn't ruin it.  (As bad as that sounds, it's true.)  But this girl must be a sweetheart and can see that he needs someone.  Who knows though... I am just happy he has a friend, even if it's for a short period.

In another sense--Eli has a lot of friends!!  He turned 5 August 23rd & although it causes me so much stress to throw a party, I did.  And Eli had a blast, making all the effort put into it worth it.
Everyone came & I was so worried no one would.  So we had a house full of  handsome little boys with a beautiful girl cousin to celebrate Eli's birthday!  I was going to post a pic of all the kids & their fun, but I didn't get permission from parents & didn't want to worry about that.  So you will have to believe me..

We stayed up late the night after his party--playing with all his new, fun toys!

One of Eli's cake--luckily it tasted better than it looked!

Always, gotta have a grandparent party :)

One happy birthday boy!

Although, friends may not be the easiest for him to make right now, with the progress he is making I believe it will get better in the future.  The hardest part for me, is knowing he wants to make friends.  Seeing the joy it brings him to have friends to run around with & getting excited to see his cousins--I know he wants those relationships.
When both therapists went to school with Eli the other day, when they came home to do therapy with Eli they told me about something they witnessed.  Two girls were just chatting away while Eli was sitting across from them during snack time & he would look from one girl to the other as they were talking & would smile like he knew what they were talking about.  Which I believe he did know what they were talking about, just for right now he is unable to join in.  And it hurts at times but I am slowly getting tougher.
I believe I will always worry for my little boy, but it's OK.  He will be made strong early on in life, with the hand he has been dealt.
Love him & even though he may have some setbacks he is still a blessed boy.

Love,
Katie