Some very cool signs for the future.

Some very cool things happened today:

• Problem solving
• Caleb couldn't get his kindle to unlock; this is done by dragging the yellow bar across the screen in one swipe.  When, after multiple attempts, Caleb couldn't get the yellow bar to reach across to the other side of the screen, Caleb turned the kindle over and turned it off.  Caleb then turned the kindle back on and after 2 attempts was able to unlock his kindle.
• My interpretation of this behavior is that Caleb was problem solving.  He said to himself, "huh, this isn't working the way it should.  Let's try something else and then see if it has an effect on how I get the kindle to work."  Now, whether or not turning the kindle off and then back on had any real effect on the unlockability of the kindle isn't the issue.  It is that Caleb went through the process of trying to figure out how to solve his problem, and he solve his problem he did.
• Creative/Imaginative Play
• Caleb had a bottle of milk this morning.  While he was drinking his milk, he was also playing with a large Duplo elephant.  With his milk nearly gone, Caleb decided to share his milk with the elephant; he tipped the elephant over and started dabbing the milk into his mouth.  The dabbing process ensured that the milk flowed out of the bottle whereas  just putting the bottle up to the elephants mouth would not release a stream of milk.
• My interpretation is that Caleb was pretending that he was feeding the elephant.  By explicitly excising milk out of the bottle, we was guaranteeing that the elephant would be fed.  This tells me that his imaginative play was not an accident.
• Responding Well to Physical Affection
• Caleb freely gave puckered up kisses to both his Grandma and Grandpa.
• Caleb usually only gives me puckered up kisses.  The fact that he is starting to branch out and share his affection is monumental.  We can only hope that this is a pattern he repeats.

In reality, all of these are single instances, and in all possibility,  could remain as so.  BUT, for us, Caleb's family, it is a sign of what Caleb is capable of. 

Caleb is capable of beating autism.
Caleb is capable of having a normal life.
I just need to be strong enough to help him have it.