Day 2. Year 4.

April 2nd. Today's date. How many times a day do I write the date down?  I write out a check. I sign forms and fill out paperwork. I write notes.  How many times a day do I ask myself, what day is it? Quite a bit, more so every day I get older. ;) Dates hold special meaning for each of us. They mark happy occasions such as birthdays and wedding anniversaries and big moments in our lives. First words. First steps. First day of school. First kiss. First love.  They also mark sad occasions, the anniversary of a loved one's death, the anniversary of a world tragedy, They mark days that are filled with hope, I wonder if that's why so many people use birthdays and special days when they play the lottery? They mark reflective days, such as this date today. World Autism Day. Of course I spent the day reflecting on how my life changed the day we got Vicki's autism diagnosis. I never thought as I was so diligently filling out my children's baby books that I would have to write down "Diagnosed with Autism" under a specific date. To this day I get chills, and not the good kind, when I think back to those first days of coping with the enormity of that 7 letter word.   But that's not what this post is about. This post is about Vicki. And how she sees dates. I'm not sure how much I touched on this in years past... but this past year it has been crazy to watch her obsession with the calendar and dates unfold. Truly remarkable. And when I think about how Vicki comprehends dates, I get chills, and not the bad kind. :) The kind of chills that make me realize that Vicki is giving me a glimpse inside of her amazing mind. A glimpse of the unbelievable. Of the astonishment that I can't even grasp. The fact that I have no idea how far reaching her mind is. And when she shows me something... holy moly. The goosebumps never leave. Vicki loves calendars. I mean really LOVES calendars. We have one of the those big ones with velcro on the numbers hanging up on our wall. Every morning Vicki does her calendar. She goes to school and does calendar there. She loves all of the firsts of calendars... I think her 12 favorite days of the year are Jan 1. Feb 1. March 1...... She loves the day we change seasons. She loves talking about the calendar. She loves looking at calendars on my phone. She loves her pocket princess calendar. She loves our hanging 30 day color coded calendar. Now here's where the amazing and phenomenal comes in. Her memory of dates. It blows my mind. Let me give you a few examples. She's been talking about the scar she has on her hand. And when she started talking about it, she said, 'Sunday October 30, 2011.' How can she remember that date exactly? And let me tell you how she describes that day, and these are Vicki's words. 'Pink cut. All better. Pumpkin.. Cut. Boo. Boo.Gray knife. Blood. Red. Vicki wrapped it. White paper towel. Ouch. Doctor. Come on Barbie lets go party.  Then Halloween. Blue. Wrapped it. Vicki Annie.' And she goes on and on. And she is 100 percent correct. She cut her hand the day before Halloween, 2011. With a gray knife. We wrapped her hand up with a white paper towel. At the doctor's I played the Barbie video song that she loved so much at that time. The next day she dressed up like Annie for Halloween. (I even did a post about all of this, if you ever care to go back and read it.) Another example. Vicki had a really hard time last weekend. She wanted "Trip. PA. Grandma. Grandma/Pappy." But we couldn't go home last weekend. Why was she so adamant about going home March 30? Because when I looked it up... we did go home to PA to visit family March 30, 2013. That was Easter weekend last year. And then... another example. I made a scrapbook for Vicki with pictures of Vicki and her cooking masterpieces that she has been doing with the Cook with Me. Love, Vicki  endeavor. One day as she was flipping through the pictures (and mind you, I didn't write down dates in the scrapbook) she stopped at a picture of her stirring homemade apple butter in a crock pot. Vicki looked at the picture, smiled, and said, "Vicki. Apples. Sunday October ... " and I can't even remember what date she said now, but she was spot on. She can do that with so many days. It's unbelievable. She remembers EVERYTHING!  It has been an amazing process to watch Vicki and listen to Vicki as she begins to tell me what she has in that mind of hers. I soak it all in. And am thankful for every word. Every date. Every memory. (I'm not going to go into the down side of this tonight... that will be for a post on a night when I am sad. That's not tonight.). And just so you know... Vicki didn't wake up this morning and say "Wednesday April 2 World Autism Day." She woke up and said, "Wednesday April 2. Mom. Take a shower. Car. Joey. School. Home. Medicine. Old medicine. Calendar. Car. School. Home. .(Aide's name). Old medicine.  Car. Dance Class. Home. Homework. Reading. Exercise. Dinner. Brush Teeth. Potty. Pinterest. Movie. Medicine. Old Medicine. Clean up. Bed" because that's what's on her visual schedule. And now... I can almost guarantee you that next year on April 2... Vicki will say, 'Peanut Butter Pancakes. Jelly Syrup. Bacon. And Milk." Because today we celebrated National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. And she won't forget that.From this day forth, April 2 is now officially peanut butter and jelly day. And because I have a song for every occasion, I will leave you with this oldie.
I love, I love, I love my calender girl
Yeah, sweet calender girl
I love, I love, I love my calender girl
Yeah, sweet calender girl
Each and every day of the year. 
xoxo