My Little Monkeys

It's sad...the older they get the fewer milestones there are to celebrate it seems :(  This week however, there was a reason to haul out video camera and catch a first!  The fellas finally figured out how to climb our maple tree with no assistance. 

Well, NO assistance might be a little misleading.  Initially, they figured out how to give each other just enough of a boost to make it onto that first branch.  24 hours later, they figured how to climb up completely solo and are literally begging to do so morning, noon and night. 

Morning: We had a two hour delay one day this week and they chose to forego riding the bus so they could hang out in the tree.

Noon:  It's the first thing they want to do when they get home after school.

Night:  Oh my...we have a problem Houston. 

A happy little AJ reported to me nonchalantly this morning that he climbed the tree in the middle of the night and watched the cars and counted stars.  Jim was convinced it was a dream and that he was just sitting in his window sill watching the stars, which was what Jim witnessed him doing at 6:30am when he checked on him. 

Doubting Mom...not so convinced it was that harmless.  So, I checked the front door - yep - unlocked and backpacks that should have been sitting in front were moved to the side.  Shoes that were in the closet when I went to bed were kicked in the hallway.  Oh - and Alex showed me the dirt on his hand from when he jumped down from the tree.  Busted.  Well, since he so cheerfully self-reported, perhaps 'busted' isn't the right word?  Confirmed?

He's so stinkin' cute and naive and infuriating all at once that little guy!  Once he hyperfocuses on something, it's all consuming of his thoughts and generally makes him SO happy :)  So let's break this down.  Watching cars, counting stars...peaceful and quiet and harmless.  Climbing a tree with adult supervision using only low, thick branches...great sensory input for the little dude.  Leaving the house at night to climb a tree unattended...safety violation buddy! 

Had a long chat about that one.  He's never tried to leave the house at night, but I know that is a problem for some parents of kids on the autism spectrum.  If he does it again, I'm jumping straight to an alarm system.  Scares me to death! 

And here I thought that sneaking out at night would be a teenage problem!  Nope...a 3rd grade monkey is just as sneaky it turns out :)