Ryan. He is just AMAZING lately. I am so proud of him. I am so happy for him. He seems so much more comfortable in his own skin.
-He's eating chicken nuggets and fries that I make at home (dinosaur shape preferred, LOL)
-He tried (and liked) Chic-Fil-A
-He ordered his own ice cream this week when we went after an evening hike at Kensington.
-He's been willingly leaving the house to go places and has even gone on a couple random bike rides of his own volition. He's gone grocery shopping with me a couple times! While some of this might be attributed to him getting to pick a snack or candy while we're there, he used to just ask me to bring him something. And honestly I'm all for incentives when it comes to hard/non-preferred things.
-His new weekly chore is mowing the lawn and he does it with minimal complaining. And he does a pretty good job!
-He made plans with a friend all on his own today and had fun when he went.
-He's going to a summer day camp run by our school district and while he doesn't love it, he hasn't complained about going even one time.
-He has been amazingly nice to Lauren lately.
-He chose to spend his own money on his cousin's birthday present and declined when I offered to pay him back because he wanted the gift to be from him.
-He's been playing outside more.
-He went to an event at church with us a couple weeks ago and had fun. Today while we were there (he generally doesn't come with us to service) one of the leaders made a point to tell us how great he did and that he was outgoing and had a great time. He tried Kayaking earlier this month when we went on vacation. He tried a new food while we were on vacation, too! I am just so proud of how hard he works and how much he loves his people and his pets. He has such a kind heart. He is such a source of joy for me.
These things probably seem like no big deal to most parents. But parenting a kid with an anxiety disorder is a different ballgame and these are really huge wins for us!
