A very quiet Easter...

As we're not a particularly religious family, Easter is all about the chocolate.

And because we tend to stick to what's routine, the boys stayed out at their Nan's last night, as they do every other weekend. No sense in changing things up, I'll see them for an hour before bedtime; in fact this set up has given me chance to clean the house before setting up an Easter egg hunt for when they return tonight. Much fun will be concentrated into this upcoming hour and shall follow through to tomorrow - bank holidays are so useful sometimes!

In between considering making a start on dinner, sporadic periods of obsessive cleaning and smoking, I've decided to use this free time to write a formal introduction of our family. Although I'll try my best to keep each section as brief as possible, I do have a habit of rambling on, so apologies in advance for any tenuous paragraphs of drivel I may spout out before clicking Publish. 

First, there's the adults - me (Pix) and my partner (the Space Cowboy) are 23 and 26 years of age, respectively. Our relationship reflects out situation; unique. He's the thread that holds our family together. As my carer, he helps me with daily living, organises each one of us, keeps us safe and, as the only one of us able to drive, he's in charge of all transport and frequently referred to as our taxi service :) 

Without him, there would be no blog, as there would be no internet, as I wouldn't have paid aforementioned internet bill. In fact, I'd have paid approximately 50% of the bills, if that, and would probably be a dribbling mess in a barren, cold living room right now. With my parent's both too unwell to care for me, it fell on him rather early on in our relationship to take over. Not many men have the self control, perseverance or inner strength it takes to do what he does for us. 

He's a fabulous person in more ways than just his role of course, in fact he's one of the brightest, funniest people I know - and one of the most stubborn too :) His interests are based mainly on space/time/matter and aero-mechanics - most of which goes straight over my head. He has three children from a previous relationship, I'll say more about them in the next few paragraphs. He's a wonderful father, both to his own children and mine. And there's nothing more attractive than a great Dad :)

As for me, I'm best described as being both half and double my age. I have a number of interests/passions, including but not limited to behavioural science and psychology - specifically in cases where nature goes wrong, animal studies (specifically elephants, wolves, degus and all felines), neurology and the TV series Supernatural. I'm also very excited when I'm around rainbow colours (in the order red/pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple), glitter, water and books. At present, I'm awaiting formal diagnosis for Autism Spectrum Disorder. I was misdiagnosed as a child with a mood disorder and have been on every pill they could think of - not one of them made any positive difference in my life, and only recently have I reconnected with mental health enough for them to get an idea of how my mind works. I'm an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction and occasionally sketch/paint. My favourite creations are my two children, the Soulful One (6) and Bo (3), both blue eyed, brown haired ninjas. 

The Soulful One is, as his name suggests, a rather soulful child. He's always been a little bit eccentric in his ways (and his speech) but not much was thought of it until he reached school age; the pressure and change it brought about was both unexpected and explosive. His volatile reaction was most likely a result of us (his family) adapting to him so subtly and slowly that we didn't even realise it was happening; his life before school was one of routine - almost every day was spent with me, doing the same things, with the same people - with hindsight, I can see that the abrupt change to this monotonous lifestyle would of course cause upset, in fact I can imagine it would affect even the most well balanced child in some way. If we knew then, what we know now, this reaction could have been predicted and adjustments/accommodations made accordingly, but alas they weren't. 

After a period of time, he settled slightly; but almost every time he seemed to adjust to this new routine, something would happen and things would go right back to where they were, or worse, escalate. This has continued to present day. He'll seem to be coping okay and then he'll have weeks of meltdowns, hiding under tables, screaming bloody murder and more recently he's resorted to physical violence when he's touched during an anxiety attack. Unfortunately so far he's yet to be formally assessed so has no diagnosis. His school feel unable to put adequate support in place until they know exactly what they're dealing with, so for now he's stuck in limbo. 

Aside from his at times frightening outbursts, he's an incredibly sweet, sensitive boy. His love and generosity for his family and friends knows no bounds; he would and has gone without so everyone else gets a share. He's incredibly stubborn and believes he knows more than any adult does (being fair, he probably knows more than most!) and has an awesome imagination. He wants to be a scientist when he's an adult like his hero, Flint Lockwood (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and his favourite book is his encyclopaedia of science. He's famous for his deep and, at times, sombre quotes about life, death and everything in between. 

His younger brother, Bo, is a whirling dervish, to put it bluntly. He's almost never still, enjoys bouncing on/off/onto/into things and very tight cuddles. He's usually pretending to be an animal of some sort, is persistently scruffy and is often referral to as "the Feral One". His favourite things are his stuffed reindeer "Kittycat" and his Megabloks square, and he loves being tickled or "eaten" more than anything in the world. He has quite severe speech delay and mild - moderate delays in motor skills, understanding/cognitive development and social/emotional development. Like his brother he's bursting full of love, although he likes his space from other children sometimes :) who doesn't?

Last but certainly not least are my partner's children, the Genius (6), the Wanderer (4) and Wreck-it Ralph (3). They visit here once a week, though we're increasing to two/three visits slowly to let the younger two adjust. The Genius, as his name suggests, is an incredibly bright and well adjusted young man. He's a wonderful older brother and role model for his younger brothers (he also has a new baby brother at home, so he's got a lot of little faces looking up to him!). Although he can seem quiet when you first meet him, it's not long until he's blowing your mind with his vast collection of knowledge about animals, space, wrestling and just about anything else he's interested in. 

Middle child, the Wanderer, currently falls on the severe end of the autistic spectrum. As a result, his communication is limited and relies on a combination of gestures and guesswork from his caregivers, PECS and some sign language. Despite these difficulties, he's an incredibly pleasant and happy child - probably one of the happiest I know! He enjoys playing with his train set, is very adept with technology and makes some very interesting artwork - though it's been known to make a few noses twitch ;) he's a very expressive, endearing little boy; his smile makes my heart happy :)

Wreck-it Ralph, as you may have guessed, has a bit of a destructive side - though never with bad intent - he's simply a very active little guy! Like his brother, he's been diagnosed with autism. His speech, although delayed, is coming on in leaps and bounds - his chattering is both heart-warming and very persistent, and quite often hysterical (think speaking in tongues and you'll get what I mean). He's the type of child that's adorable even when he's grumpy - which tends to be whenever something's taken off him :p he's a beautiful little boy though, and like his brothers, he's a pleasure to have in our home.  

Yes, this may in fact be the most autistic family picture. Psst, told you he's still adorable. 

So that's us. Thanks for reading, and have a fabulous Easter!