Daniel & Matthew Held Hands and An Invite to a Party in London with TreeHouse Charity for Autism Education

Well the weather down here in the South East was absolutely gorgeous today so we decided to go out for the day as my husband has this week off from work as annual leave. We thought it would be nice to take the boys out for the day so they can have a play in the sun and it gets us all out of the house for some fresh air and exercise. So we packed a load of Daniel’s special drinks and some food for Matty and some sun block lotion for the boys and off we went. It was lovely and warm out. The boys had great fun. They are always so well behaved. No matter where we take them. Matthew got a bit tired toward the middle of the afternoon as he hadn’t had an afternoon nap, but he was only tearful for a few minutes bless him. Daniel was quiet as usual, but happy enough. He wore his sunglasses all day again and seems very happy to hide behind them. Matthew fell in love with a huge squishy cuddly soft toy in the shop and so we had to buy it for him – he wouldn’t let it go!! We had to fight him for it to hand over to the till to scan it!! Then he cuddled it for most of the walk round during the rest of the day. He is so sweet with his cuddly toys. He absolutely loves them.

When it was time to come home, we thought the boys (or at least Matty) would fall asleep in the car as they were both whacked. But no. Neither of them fell asleep in the car. Daniel had a whole bottle of his milk, as he hadn’t had much during the day, and Matty just sat cuddling his new Squidgy!! And smiling a lot. And then a wonderful thing happened. I turned round to see what they were doing, and they were holding hands!! Daniel had let his arm rest out at an angle so his hand was in the centre of the backseat. And Matthew saw him and seized the opportunity, and leaned forward to look at his big brother’s face, and grabbed his hand, smiling!! It was so cute. They sat like that for ages. Just holding hands. And every now and then Daniel let go and stroked his little brother’s fingers or held his wrist or his thumb, then he would just hold Matthew’s hand again, and they seemed really content and comfortable. It was wonderful to see. It is one of the first real signs of affection that Daniel has shown towards Matthew, and little Matthew absolutely dotes on his big brother so I think he was over the moon that he held his hand. His little face was lit up all smiles.

And the other exciting news is that I have received an invitation to the official launch of TalkAboutAutism to be held in London next week. I am attending as a guest of TreeHouse Charity for Autism Education, as a thank you for the work I did with them recently in raising awareness of Autism within the community. I am very pleased to have received this invitation and I think it will be a wonderful opportunity. I am hoping to find someone willing to babysit the boys so that my husband may attend also. We shall see. It is not so much fun attending all these conferences and functions on your own. But with the two little ones it is not so easy to juggle!! Either way, I shall be attending. It has been a while since I went on a train. I think the last time I took the train to London was probably to see Madonna in concert, and that was pre Daniel so must have been about 2006. I don’t get out much do I?? Although, that does appear to be changing. Oh what to wear?!! I hope that this may also be a good opportunity to forge links with the right people to promote the charity ICT4Autism and the magazine The LIME. It is always useful to meet people who have the right experience and expertise to guide you. And a posh party in London may be just what the doctor ordered after all this hard work in getting the June Issue of The LIME off the ground!!

Well, I am going to have to try and find time to start reading all these wonderful books authors are sending in for me to review in The LIME, so I guess it is time to go up the wooden stairs to bedfordshire and read a few pages before exhaustion kicks in!! I seem to be either full power or off these days!!

Sally

www.limemag.co.uk and www.digbyandsprout.co.uk and www.ict4autism.org