Fifty Fifty Chance

Okay so, the Joshman is verbal (some boys with Fragile X are not, but we worked very hard and paid speech therapists lots of money early on to make it happen).  While he can say almost any word in the English language, and some Spanish as well thanks to his girlfriends at the grocery store, he has only about a fifty fifty chance of saying the right thing at the right moment.  For example, when I ask him after school what he had for lunch he almost always excitedly says "a burrito!"  But alas, his communication sheet from the teacher indicates he had chicken tenders.

Having said that, sometimes he says just the right thing at just the right time, and it's the most uplifting moment for our family every time it happens.  At one point in his life, he did horseback riding therapy every Saturday morning.  Well, one time he was riding a horse around the barn and the horse decided to go stand in the corner and not move.  We were very curious how Josh would handle it, so we didn't step in to help.  A minute or so later, he threw his hands in the air and said "I'M DOOMED!" Everyone in the barn was laughing hysterically, and since Josh LOVES to make people laugh, he's still saying "I'm doomed" from time to time.

Our recent example of this monumental (I'm serious when I say that) occasion in our lives happened a couple of nights ago.  Jen and I were hanging out in the living room with Josh just visiting and winding down for bedtime.  Josh was sitting in the love seat with his arms stretched out on the back and his feet crossed on the coffee table.  I think I've mentioned that he is a very big dude, but I'll add here that he is a very hairy dude as well.  At one point, his sister thought she saw something and asked him "Josh, what's that on your knee?"  To which he immediately replied "some hairs."  The way he said it (like duh), and the fact that he was accurate, had Jen and I laughing hysterically.  So if you ever hear him say "some hairs" that probably means he wants you to laugh.

He's the house clown for sure.  Such a joy......the fifty fifty chance that comes to life for us from time to time.