On Grossisms & becoming more age appropriate

Alex, as usual, is full of surprises. Just when I think I've figured him out - he comes out with something new. Lately, I've seen some pretty significant changes in him. He's 8 years old now, and though he definitely is a "young" 8 - I've often put him more on par with say a 5 year old in terms of his emotional level.. I see him making leaps and bounds and narrowing that gap. These days, he is gaining ground and becoming so much closer to eight.

All of a sudden the kid who used to LOVE watching Noggin & PBS Sprout has moved on - now he is into Disney Channel shows like The Suite Life (Zach & Cody) and Disney XD. We sat together and watched Monster Busters Club and laughed and laughed some more because they have an alien on there named Gluten. And he got it. He even tried to get a rise out of me by saying that he liked Gluten!

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Over the weekend - Isabelle had a KidzBop Music CD and he was excited about it. He got out of his chair and grabbed her by the hand and asked her to dance with him.. and he did - he danced. The last time I saw him dance he was around 2 years old and danced to The Wiggles.

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Then, there is the 'gross' stuff. Like - he figured out how to make those armpit "fart" sounds. He was doing it over and over and over. Yeah - it is rude. But, sorry, I just can't be mad at him. He is first and foremost an eight year old boy. Yes, he does have Autism but it doesn't have him.

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So then, there was what happened at dinner tonight. I made him his favored GFCF macaroni and cheese and I used different noodles this time. I went with the Tinkyada Brown Rice Spirals with Vegetables - you know, the noodles where some are reddish and some are greenish. I just kind of grabbed the bag at a whim the other day when I was at Wegmans. I figured, why not try them because hey - any way to get some vegs in can't hurt. So, I serve them to him and he immediately announces "YUCK"! Without even trying it. We asked him what was yucky and he launched into telling me how the green noodles "WERE GROSS". My husband and I really tried not to laugh. But, I was proud of him for telling me how he felt without any meltdown or losing it. There have been many days in the past where I've served something and he has thrown it away or put the full plate in the fridge announcing he isn't eating it. I thought to myself 'oh boy - here we go again'. Yet, I realized he wasn't angry or upset in any way. He was eating around the green noodles when I told him that the green noodles were Monster noodles (kind of like the Monster pudding Omega supplement trick). Guess what? He made some crazy monster noise and then he ate 3 helpings - green noodles and all.

Really, I don't think I've ever been happier to hear my kid tell me he thinks the food I cooked him was gross!