Things are good and not so good... not evil, not insurmountable, but not good.

Good things: Alex and I are healthy. We're ready for his school year. He's more talkative and conversational than ever before, which is very pleasant. He's remembering difficult words and putting concepts together -- all in all a series of good signs, given his level of autism.

The bad bit? Self-control issues. He gets angry and disappointed very easily and when he does, he either throws himself to the nearest soft surface and cries or he lashes out. Fortunately, the lashing out is becoming less and less common. The bigger self-control issue is his tendency to get into everything, even if he knows he'll get into trouble for doing it. Today's case in point: I had some paints out for a set of crafts I had been working on. They were sealed and had been there for a few months without him acknowledging it. When I woke up from a nap this afternoon, I found purple spots on the rug. When I questioned Alex about it, he showed me an item he had "painted". I then asked him to show me where the paint bottle was; we eventually found the cap... then the nearly empty bottle on its side. The whole bag of crafts had been hosed. I wasn't real happy at that point -- not angry, but really disappointed. I plan on discussing this with his teachers; they might have a few tips on how to start curbing his instincts.

Every day's a learning experience...