There was a time when he didn't talk. When those first words he'd started to speak, just faded away until they were gone. They came back, eventually, but functional communication has (and likely always will be) somewhat of a challenge. He's come so very, very far ...
On a random Thursday night, I took two of the boys out to dinner. Dad was at work. Sawyer was out with Aunt Kelly. It was just me and Connor and Xander. And Xander had a plan.
"We wait for Connor," he told me.
Okay, I agreed. We will wait for Connor.
"We wait for Connor, then Buffalo Wild Wings. Chicken fingers, french fries, ketchup and a Coke."
And that was his plan. We would wait for Connor to come home from middle school (he rides the bus in the afternoons). And then we would go to dinner. At a very specific place. To have a very specific thing.
And I love it.
I love the words. I love the plan. I love the understanding that goes into all of those words and the plan. I love the functional communication that lets him tell us exactly what he's thinking and what he wants.
We don't always get that.
So we embrace the days we do. And when it's practical, we indulge him with what he wants. Not every night, but maybe once every week or two. We let him take the lead, and plan what we're going to do on our nights together.
Because there was a time when he didn't talk, when the words faded and went away.
And we are so incredibly glad that he's found his words, and his own way to communicate the things he likes and the things he wants. We'll keep working on answering questions, identifying emotions, appropriate conversations, and all those other speech goals.
But sometimes, we're just going to take him at his words. We waited for Connor. And then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings. Where he did, indeed, get his chicken fingers, french fries, ketchup, and his Coke (actually Pepsi).