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Remember my post about how every night Aaron has to ask us if it’s going to rain?  The boy loves rain!  He loves weather!  He loves talking about weather!

This morning he’s up early to go back and have his TB Tine test read.  As Gary was leaving, Aaron was – guess what? – talking! 

“Dad, do you think it’s going to snow?” 

Gary:  “Well, I don’t know Aaron.  It’s not going to snow anytime soon.” 

“Well, when do you think it will snow?”

And so on it went, with Gary telling him he doesn’t know when it will snow.

Gary left and it was my turn.

“Mom, do you like snow?”   Me:  “Sometimes, Aaron, but I’m not ready for snow right now.”

“So when do you think it will snow, Mom?”  Aaron, I don’t know when it will snow. 

“Mom, I don’t like snow!”    Yes, you do, Aaron.

“Well, sometimes snow makes us have an ice storm.  Remember our ice storm?”   Yes, Aaron, that was years ago. 

“Did that ice storm come from Antartica?”   No, Aaron, it didn’t come from Antartica.

“So Mom, when do you think it’ll snow?”   Aaron, I DON’T KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

And here we go.  I love the change of seasons.

Aaron becomes fascinated with the most random things.  He may see something on a movie or Looney Tunes or the news.  He may read something.  He may see something on a sign or in a store.  He’s always observant and for whatever reason, this “something” will captivate him and then he’ll have to talk about it.  Of course – always talk about it!!

So this morning Aaron popped into my room and said, “Mom!  You know those Ozark people?”

Uh, not really, Aaron.

“Well, they’re kinda like cowboys………………no, not really cowboys.   They’re like farmers……………….oh, not really farmers either.  But anyway – those Ozark people square dance!!”

OK, all you Ozark people!  You may have no real identity……………after all, you’re neither cowboys or farmers!   But you SQUARE DANCE!!!!!!!!!!   I want to be an Ozark person!!  They have fun! 

Aaron has such a fascinating way of describing things that he sees and hears. He is extremely observant and doesn’t miss a beat.  That’s why he’s always finding money, for instance, that’s laying on the ground.  I’ll walk right by it but he stops and picks it up, whether it’s a penny or a few dollars.

How many of us notice, or even care about, the Braille that’s on many public signs?  Yesterday as we walked into the immunization clinic for Aaron’s TB test, he paused and ran his fingers over the Braille on the sign at the door.  He said, “Look, Mom!  Morse code!”  HaHa!  I reminded him that it’s Braille and he said, “Oh yeah!”  and marched on in to see what else he could discover or talk about. 

As we left the clinic we walked by a huge picture on the wall.  It’s a beautiful outdoor scene that looks like it came from the mountains of NC or WV.  The picture shows a pretty stream flowing over rocks.  And Aaron said, as usual, “Look, Mom!  That’s a picture of a running lake.”  Now who would ever think to call a stream a “running lake.”  But think of how appropriate that description really is. 

Yesterday morning before we left the house for our busy day, he was outside in the mulch.  It was a cool, fall morning.  That’s what you and I say – a “cool” morning.  Not Aaron.  As he got in the van he said, “Mom, it’s a half cold morning.”  Not cold – not hot – so that makes it “half cold.” 

He teaches me a lot and keeps me sharp, that boy does!

Today was a full day with Aaron.  He had a dentist appointment and then an appointment with family practice at McConnell Air Base for his 2 year physical – part of his upcoming BASIS assessment this Friday.  Anyway, I threw in a few other stops along the way, too – so it really was a FULL day.  I thought you might want to get a little glimpse of my time with Aaron.

GREAT CLIPS
First, we stopped at Great Clips so he could get a much needed hair cut.  While waiting for a stylist to call Aaron, he had time to stare at the large pictures hung all around the waiting area – pictures of attractive people with attractive hair cuts that we would all like for Great Clips to give us!  But Aaron doesn’t notice their attractive hair cuts.  He (rather loudly) asked, “Mom, why do they always make their faces shiny in those pictures?”  He’s forever thinking that staged pics of models are interesting because their faces are shiny.  Hmmm………..they really are, you know.  Then he observed how the men getting their hair cut had the cape around them as well as the white strip around their necks, under the cape.  Again, rather loudly, he asked, “Mom, why is there a napkin around their neck?”  So in case they’re here for lunch they can just grab it and start eating, Aaron!

DENTIST
Aaron hasn’t been doing a good job of keeping his teeth clean.  This is always an issue with Aaron.  As we sat in the waiting room, he said, “Don’t you think going to the dentist is creepy?”  Well, I never would have used the word “creepy” to describe the dentist experience but I think it shows how Aaron feels about his visits there.  He came out rather agitated because he doesn’t like hearing the hygienist give me bad news, but today he got a good report for doing a better job of brushing.  Yay!  But as he said in his defense, “Everybody’s not perfect, right?!”

PIZZA HUT
And here is the main reason that Aaron endured this day……………the unlimited pizza and salad buffet at Pizza Hut!!!  We were the first people there, before any pizza was even out on the buffet, so we started with salad.  With Aaron I feel like asking him if he wants a little lettuce with his dressing and cheese!! Good grief!  Of course, he enjoyed the pizza immensely.  He kept shaking Parmesan cheese on top, though, and getting it on the table.  This bothered him, so as we’d be talking and eating he kept wiping the crumbs off the table in big swoops.  To which I’d say, “Aaron, quit wiping the crumbs off the table.”  We talked about the dentist, about the weather, about what he wanted for his birthday…………….”Aaron, you don’t have to wipe the crumbs off the table.”   More talk about his doctor visit at McConnell, road work we might encounter on the way, will we go to Wal-Mart today……………..”Aaron, the waitress will wipe the crumbs off the table.”    Talked about running home to let Jackson out, what will we eat for supper, how to better brush his teeth…………………….”Aaron, DO NOT WIPE THE CRUMBS OFF THE TABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
And finally…………..”Mom, can I have some of that black pudding before we leave?”  YUCK!!  So I got him some chocolate pudding………..he did not get to choose the amount for safety reasons.  I set the plate between us as he finished his pizza……………”QUIT WITH THE CRUMBS, AARON!!!!!!”    I sneaked my fork over and got a little sample of the black pudding – and he promptly moved the plate out of my reach.  Well!!!  At least the pudding didn’t leave crumbs on the table. 

THE DOCTOR
His physical was very uninvolved and uneventful, thank the Lord!  The very young Air Force doctor was nice and pleasant.  I can always tell, though, that a new doctor is trying to figure Aaron out.  Good luck with that!  The funniest thing that happened all day, though, was when the doctor was going to check Aaron’s reflexes.  I guess he was trying to get Aaron to relax and not think about what he was doing.  Aaron’s tee shirt had writing on it, something about Thunderbird Motor Oil, etc. and so to get Aaron to not pay attention to what he was doing the doctor said, “Hey, Aaron, what does your shirt say?” 

And Aaron looked down at his shirt and with a hint of disgust at this doctor’s ignorance, he replied, “Hmmph!  I can’t read it cause it’s upside down!!”  I’m sorry, but I just had to laugh – and thankfully the doctor did, too. 

He can get the best of everybody!

Aaron loves Looney Tunes.  He loves Sylvester and Tweety, and the little grandma.  The other day he was talking about watching Looney Tunes at his group.  He was trying to describe the scene with Sylvester and Tweety, and the grandma.

And he said, “Mom, that grandma was sitting in her chair and she was knitting.  You know, she had that knit box and those knit rolls!”

You know, if we have a knitting basket and knitting needles…………….then why not have knit rolls?

Aaron’s a genius!

Last night Aaron and I saw a Sonic commercial on television.  It’s a commercial advertising their new breakfast burritos.  The gist of the commercial is this:

A man is heard talking in a very deep, sexy voice while pictures of the new breakfast burritos come on the screen.  He says something like, “Baby loves the sausage.  Baby loves the eggs.  Baby loves the bacon.  Baby loves the onions.”  He goes on for awhile in this vein, in that deep voice.

I noticed that Aaron was just staring at the screen, thinking.  

And then he said, “That’s stupid!”

“What’s stupid, Aaron?”

So he told me, “A BABY can’t eat sausage, or eggs, or that other stuff!” 

Oh, my literal Aaron!  He does make these commercials a lot of fun!

Aaron is particularly fascinated by anything that is not a usual part of his world.  One day he was telling us about his trip to the mall with his group.  He was very excited to have seen a woman whom he was trying to describe to us.  He was using hand motions to try to demonstrate what she was wearing.  He would start at the top of his head and then go downward over his body in a flowing motion as he tried to tell us what she was wearing. 

“You know,”  he said, “It’s one of those loooooooong things that hangs down.”  

“Oh,”  we replied, “was she a Muslim?” 

“No,”  Aaron answered.   So we thought for a minute longer and then it hit us.  “Was she a nun?”  I asked.     “Yes, yes – she was a nun!”  Aaron replied excitedly.

So I asked if this nun was there alone and Aaron answered, “No.  She had her children with her.” 

Oh.  Well, you see, Aaron – this could be a problem.   Never mind.  Not important.

Aaron has recently seen the trailer for the new movie that’s out, The Mighty Macs.  It’s about a coach who goes to an all-girl’s Catholic high school to coach their basketball team.  He saw the trailer again yesterday and was excited to tell me about it.  He had been telling us about “some basketball movie” that’s out but now he understood it better.

“Mom, I saw the trailer for that basketball movie!  It has those nuns in it.  You know – those WOMEN nuns!!” 

Well, Aaron, I do believe that the only nuns you’ll ever hear of are WOMEN nuns.  But if he sees a monk I greatly anticipate his description of that!! 

Sometimes I wonder how honest to be in my blog.  Not that I don’t tell the truth about Aaron – he truly is all the things I write about.  Most of the time we laugh – or we roll our eyes in frustration when he’s annoying.  Like last night at supper.  Andrew is home from college for Fall Break, so we wanted to catch up with his life.  Aaron likes dominating the conversation.  He very much fits the characteristic of Asperger’s Syndrom that states “persons with Asperger’s are extremely egocentric.” And he’s honest about it.  When he found out that Andrew was coming home he was disappointed and then told me, as he often has, “Mom, when Andrew’s here all you want to do is talk to him.  I want you to talk to me.”  We chuckle, Aaron and I, and talk about that.  But deep in his heart he means it.  Andrea has become a mother figure to him – Andrew is his competition.

So at supper last night he tried to dominate the conversation with talk of movies, movie characters, friends from his group, and whatever else crossed his mind.  We listened and then someone else talked awhile, and you could fairly feel Aaron nearly bursting with all the things that HE wanted to say.  He shoveled his food in but every little bit he let out an “Uh” as he tried to break into the conversation.  We just had to keep going, and then later pause to allow him to talk – about something totally irrelevant to what we were saying or irrelevant to life in general.  Global warming?  The Bermuda Triangle?  Really, Aaron?

This morning Aaron didn’t actually shower but tried to convince me that he did.  When I challenged him he got mad, slammed my bedroom door, and then went back into the bathroom to shower.  Another fact of Asperger’s – “Rage reactions/temper outbursts are common in response to stress/frustration.”  The same could be said for me in response to Aaron sometimes.  Yet I know that I must be calm, because my escalation only causes him to escalate, and the result is NOT pleasant.  The break while he’s gone to his group is good for both of us.  Later we will talk, and Aaron will be sorry.  He’s already sorry – I could tell by how nice he was trying to be before we left for his group.  I love him so much – but on some occasions it’s hard to like him. 

But this afternoon he’ll bound in the door, telling me about the movie they went to watch and all the buttered popcorn he ate and whether he was also able to get a chocolate ice-cream concoction and wonder if he’ll get a stomach ache and ask me if he’s losing weight and remind me to tell him if we can play Skip-Bo later.  Life with Aaron – predictable, funny, frustrating. 

I do love that boy – who is really a man but to me is my special boy. 

Every time I turn around I’m finding something else to share about Aaron.  He sure does keep our lives…….well……..interesting. 

Aaron has NO fashion sense.  Being cool or in style is totally foreign to him.  His only concern is comfort.  In most ways this is very refreshing.  Sometimes, as I’ve shared, it can be embarrassing.  And today it was downright funny!  It was cold outside this morning.  Aaron wanted to go out and relax with the mulch awhile (read my past blog about that unusual pastime).  When I walked out this is what I saw (he gave me permission to take his picture):

Look at the hat!   He just cracks me up sometimes!