Not so ordinary

Josh told his dad we were going to eat lunch at a restaurant.
No, guys. This is serious business here. Josh told his dad we were going to eat lunch at a restaurant!
Ever have your kid do something completely ordinary that you knew he could do, but was amazing nonetheless because of what all was involved for them to have the supports to do it?
It's pretty cool, right?
So josh and I are at the mall dropping off sewing and sometimes we walk around the mall just exploring, only today josh was on a mission. Through the food court, down the escalator, out into the foyer and through the roundabout door to the restaurant. I don't know if it was his plan all along, or if it occurred to him at the spur of the moment, but he found food and he wanted it, and what was more, he wanted his dad to eat it with him. I am guessing (completely guessing, who knows what goes on inside his head*) that he remembered the time that wade met us at the mall and we had lunch at Red Robin.
Anyhow, there was foot stomping when I said I didn't bring money, a plan made, a phone call to dad (josh told him the plan, see below), and a drive to pick dad up (I modeled language, see below):

We get to dad's work and josh walks in, climbs on dad's lap, and says:




Completely ordinary and typical, right?
But let's look closer. He's bossing his dad around. With words. Not only is this insanely typical, the fact that he is bossing someone around now decreases his risk for abuse in the future, when I'm not around to make sure the people in charge behave appropriately. Next step: tattling on the siblings.
And when was the last time I said 'lunch?' I can't decide if he has a crazy good memory or if he knows his words better than I think he does. With all the fiddling I have done with his words to get them comprehensive and efficient, I have moved words more than a couple times. In the AAC world, this is a BIG no-no. It's like teaching someone French, and then saying syke! We're speaking Italian now! Start over and learn it again! I love his resilience and tenacity.
He's consistently putting two word sentences together, both with his words, and with sign. This dude is rocking the communication developmental schedule whaddayacallit.
Want to know what he said next?




Well, I showed him how to tell dad "now," and he asked for the yogurt. No yogurt at cafe rio, but I did buy him a drink...




And just to keep it real over here so you don't start thinking we're Harvard graduates yet... He signed "dad" and pointed to the drivers seat so I showed him how he could say it, he asked for beer but apparently meant lemonade, not sure about the worm, and I made "Costco" and "cafe rio" buttons for him on the way over so he had to try them out.
Just a half an hour in the day, folks, but what a fun ride it is!
*it turns out we ARE getting to see a bit of what goes on inside his head thanks to assistive technology. I love it so much.