ABC's--N

N is for Nicholas, Nick, Nickaroo, (at one point Alex called him Nee)

Nicholas, ahh, Nicholas. Where do I start? Nicholas officially came into our lives when he was about 2 and a half. We received full custody of him after fighting and driving to Champaign, Illinois for 2 years or more when he was almost 5. He was diagnosed with Autism about a year ago. But his Autism doesn't define him, it simply adds a different layer of challenges to his life as well as to ours.

Nick is most definitely a challenge. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. He is very extreme in his emotions. He is either really excited, really angry, really whiny, really happy, really obsessive or really...well anything. When he feels something, he feels it all of the way. 

Nick is very sensitive to certain people. He feeds off of them. If other kids are hyper, Nick most definitely is going to become hyper. If someone is angry, Nick is probably going to pick up on it. 

Nick has what I call these "moments of clarity" where he says something to make you think, "Oh my gosh, he actually gets it." For example, the other night I got upset and I really yelled at him. I immediately felt horrible, but I was having a rough day and I guess ultimately I took it out on him. I went outside to be alone for awhile and came back in. When I came back in, I was still crying some and he said, "Is mommy sad about Cam?" JR responded with, "Yes, that and other things." Nick said, "Yeah she's upset and she yelled at me. But it's okay. Everything's fine." I mean what eight year old gets that I was upset and took it out on him some?

Nick LOVES cooking and I mean LOVES cooking. He doesn't just love the actual act of cooking, in fact I think he loves the other parts more. He owns about 6 cookbooks of his own. And he carries these cookbooks around with him, reading the recipes. In school, one of his teachers would give him cookbooks during his free time and he would spend the time hand copying all of the recipes. He watches cooking shows. Chopped is one of his favorites. He even loves to play Chopped at home when we let him. This is where he picks or has us pick 4 mystery ingredients and he has to make something. My only rule is, he must eat it or at least eat part of what he makes because I don't want him to learn he can just throw away food after playing with it. He loves to create menus.

Nick has other intense interests also. These vary. Right now they are basketball and beyblades. He's learned to go on the computer and pretend shop for the things he wants. He will sit for hours writing down product numbers and prices and adding up the things he wants. We often get lists with totals.

Nick reads at a very high level. At the end of kindergarten he was reading at a 5th grade level or something like that. He's very into Diary of a Wimpy Kid books right now. He just started reading the Harry Potter series. 

He finished 2nd grade with a certificate for honor roll all year. We are so proud. Especially because he tends to get distracted in school. 

His social skills have come a long way. We've been working very hard on this. So has his school. He's learned a lot in the last couple of years. 

Behaviorally, Nick is all over. He has more good days than bad at this point, but it seems like the bad days are pretty bad and frustrating. Very frustrating. 

All in all though, we love Nick very much and we are lucky to have full custody of him. He helps us grow as parents each and every day.