I have no pictures because I didn't want to ruin the wonderful moment---- after 9 months of refusing, the word refusing doesn't even began to tell the extent of it, Reece took a real bath in the bathtub for over 15 minutes with his sisters! You have no idea how AMAZING this is!!!!!
You see, bathtime use to be one of Reece's most favorite times of the day. He's absolutely loved it every since he was a little, tiny baby. In fact, when he first became autistic and Lindy was a baby, if he was getting too wild or throwing a tantrum, I'd put him in the tub and let him play for an hour while I sat on the floor in the bathroom and took a breather (and nursed Lindy!). Well, last March we moved. We'd lived in the same house for the last 8 years, so it was the only home Reece had ever known. He seemed to handle the move just fine (it was only 3 miles away from the old house) and happily took a bath in the new and different tub for the first couple weeks. And then, one night, he just refused. I mean, absolutely, threw a knock-down-drag-'em-out fight when it was time to take a bath! For about a week, we really fought him on it. But, he's getting just big enough that he's very hard to manhandle and he's super strong! (although you'd never guess it by looking at his toothpick arms!) He would still use the toilet and stand at the sink and brush his teeth, but he wouldn't get within 2 feet of that tub. So, I got out a metal bowl and a washcloth and gave him a sponge bath in the hallway. We did this for months. Gradually, we moved him back into the bathroom and eventually, he would sit next to the tub and take his sponge bath. Washing his hair was a huge, gigantic problem, but thankfully it was summer time, so he went swimming alot :-) Chlorine is a disinfectant, right? Anyway, after our Labor Day camping trip where he took an outdoors bath in a Rubbermaid tote, I decided to see if he'd do that at home. I put it in the tub and put water in it and bubbles and bought some cool funnels. For the last 3 months, he would sit on the side of the tub and dip his feet in, but I figured this was major progress!! Then, 2 weeks ago, he actually SAT in the tote!!!! HUGE progress!!!!!!! We were thrilled! And then, tonight, totally out of the blue, as the girls were filling the bathtub for their bath, he told me wanted to take one with them! I figured that once he stripped down and realized they were actually in that dreaded bathtub, that he would chicken out. But, NOPE! He hopped right in like he'd never had a problem with before in his life! AMAZING!!!! I tell ya what, God is GOOD!!!
As a side note- I just finished reading the Karen Kingsbury book "Unlocked" about a boy with autism. I cried and cried and cried my way through, but it was awesome. She totally nailed the feelings of a mother with an autistic child. The boy in the book was 18 and it's based off of a real-life autistic boy that Karen Kingsbury knows. Crazy as it may sound, this fiction book gave me so much hope for Reece's future and renewed in me that God is here, He's with us on our Autism Journey, and He's not only watching, but He's participating!!! PRAISE GOD!
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