Well, We DO Look Alike!

Today I was inspired to discuss first names with Thomas, who at age 7 is still a little sheltered due to his autism. I began by asking if he knew Mommy's name, to which he responded, "Mommy? No!" as if the idea of Mommy having a name was ridiculous in the extreme.

I informed him it was Juliana, and then went on to give him my full name -- Juliana LeRoy. He repeated it, somewhat, and I moved on to his Daddy's name: Matt. This name was familiar to him, because our best friends have a Matt that Thomas adores -- Uncle Matt. At this point Thomas's train tracks once again called all Thomas's attention, so I called it a day on the name lesson.

When my husband came home, I decided to try out our newfound knowledge by prompting Thomas, "Hey, buddy, do you know Daddy's first name?"

Thomas looked up from his trains and replied, "LeRoy."

Er, close! I reminded him that that was Daddy's last name, and that Daddy's first name was ... and here I mouthed, "Mmmm-aaaa-- ttttt."

Thomas just shrugged, so I went on to my name: "Okay, do you remember what Mommy's name is, buddy?"

Thomas's head lifted in a heartbeat. THIS one he KNEW! "Auntie Cari!"

Now, Auntie Cari is Uncle Matt's wife, and she and I have been accused of being sisters before -- "You even have the same expressions! It's totally eerie!" -- and Thomas has confused us before, with both of us in the same room.

That time Cari was at our house and I was showing her something on my laptop, which was set up in "my" place at the dining room table. Thomas wandered in and idly went over to lean against Cari's leg as he asked, "Mommy? I can...?" All of a sudden it dawned on him that this WASN'T Mommy, and he drew back with a quick, "Whoops! Try again!" and he fairly flew around the table to lean against my lap.

Yep... I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this boy is worth the price of admission! LOL