John is a train. Got it?

Readers of this blog are undoubtedly well aware that Burrito has a "train thing" going. Recently, he's taken this to new heights. He whistles at people when they're in his way or if he wants to say Hi to them. He makes chugging sounds, and asks if we can see his smoke.

Last weekend, Dodson had the audacity to suggest to him that he did not, in fact, have wheels on his feet. Cue the meltdown! John informed us that he did not want to play with his friends any more. He's getting very self-conscious about these sort of things of late, and when he feels he did something wrong or gets his feelings hurt it's very obvious. We've had to make adjustments in the way we explain things to him, which is hard because we haven't yet found a good way to say "That's not the right thing to do" without having to say that he didn't do the right thing.

It's easier to deal with the hurt feelings thing, if for no other reason than it's far less complicated to be sympathetic and supportive. He's doing much better at expressing his emotions when he's hurt as opposed to throwing something, but it's hard on him. It seems that he's starting to become aware of his feelings, and we think he might be realizing that some of what he does is different.

Amusingly enough, later that same day, the boys were playing inside and decided they wanted to watch a video. John suggested "Best of Gordon." Dodson said - get this - "No, I don't really like train videos." Joyce and Eric suppressed laughter as John then went to his video bin and offered an alternative: "Best of James." A brief intervention rendered a neutral verdict, in the form of Bob the Builder.

Finally, lest you think that Burrito's train obsession is unique, well, we submit this link:

Thomas and Autism

Excuses, excuses

Okay, so it's been a while since we've added to this blog. Here are our excuses, in chronological order:

1. Eric was gone for a week and a half on travel.
2. Eric then started a new job.
3. Then our hot water heater broke.
4. Then the hot water heater, having been repaired, leaked all over the basement.
5. Then the air conditioner broke.

No, we're not kidding.

As we await a verdict on the air conditioner's problem, we've partially moved into the basement. John thinks this is great fun, akin to a campout. He's handled it very well, and the fact that it's a familiar surrounding probably helps, even though it is very different than his room.

John has taken the idea that he's a train to new heights. He blows his whiltle at people. He insists that we follow behind him in a line, as though we are train cars. He makes chugging sounds.

Eric's new job is with DFI International. The work he does is similar to the defense work he did at Palisades, but the clientele is different. Instead of working for various parts of the government, he's working for various defense contractors. After a week and a half, he has found his office, the bathroom, the conference room, and identified roughly half of his co-workers. His new employer also had the audacity to give him a project to work on, so he's being productive on top of that.

Back to John, though. Beyong his transformation into a train, his attitude still needs adjusting. He's discovered that talking back to Mom and Dad is not an effective way to disagree with their rules, but he continues to try it anyway. Highlights include popular favorites like:

No, you're in time out.
You're not my friend anymore.
I don't like you.
Stop talking! Stop talking!
You go away.
Don't you put me in time out.

As such, he remains for sale, cheap.