Team Cannon CAN

Day 1 of summer vacation - Cannon eloped several times, I should really compile all the Ring clips of Carsyn and I chasing after him and make a video 😂 new child locks have been ordered 🙂 we went to the park, watched Smurfs, played with kinetic sand, painted, baked a cake in honor of my nephews birthday and sang to a doll, decorated the yard for Christmas, and Cannon made me set up a table and chairs in the garage and made his brothers and sister sit and watch him eat…. It’s Cannon’s world, we’re just living in it. Today mommy is going to work, and Cannon can’t wrap his head around that because mommy’s job is to stay home and play with him… but mommy is happy to go back to work part time and of course I’ll be counting down till I come home and see what evening shenanigans Cannon has in store for us 💜

This little guy spent almost all day outside at school yesterday, and despite being exhausted, ran to the playground down the street as soon as we got home from school, because he made a little friend the evening before, and hoped he would be at the playground again. When Cannon connects with someone, he never wants to say goodbye! He is always inviting everyone over to the house, and if it was up to him all of his “people” would live under one roof! We spent hours outside, back and forth between the park and the house, Cannon was so tired but was so adamant his friend would be back…. And sure enough he was 🙂 this little boy is 4 years old and bilingual, but mixes his 2 languages together a bit, he and Cannon truly have no idea what the other is saying, but the last 2 nights they have ran around the playground together playing, and giggling uncontrollably. Their connection had me choked up. If only we all saw the world through the lens of a child 💜

Cannon was so excited for his field trip to the zoo this week! The night before, he put himself to bed at 5:30, thinking the sooner he went to sleep the sooner it would be time to wake up and head to school 🙃 I have said it a hundred times, and I’ll say it an infinite amount more, Cannon has the most amazing paraprofessional - and the title “paraprofessional” seems so inadequate in explaining the relationship between her and Cannon - she understands Cannon on a level that simply cannot be matched, their bond is so special, and because of her, Cannon is able to enjoy the things his classmates are able to, but on Cannon’s level. She truly believes Cannon “CAN” - and those that are not familiar with Sanfilippo cannot possibly understand all that she does day in and day out. Cannon continues to gain vocabulary - when doctors told us he wouldn’t gain any more words, and we should focus on maintaining the words he had. He continues to excel physically - and has no physical restrictions. Cannon was previously in speech, occupational, and physical therapy outside of school - Cannon was NOT a fan! We made the decision to pull Cannon from non-school therapies, and he is thriving - because he continues to receive these services in a school setting, but also organically day in and day out with his super hero para. Cannon relies on her for many things, but she also understands that sometimes Cannon wants to be a typical 8 year old boy, which includes telling her to “hide” on the playground when he wants to look “cool” in front of the other kids 😉 I am forever grateful for having someone who has so drastically improved his quality of life - she is truly my hero, and seeing Cannon’s smile in these pictures is a reminder that God is good, and puts people in your life for a reason 💜