New experiences, new friends, and new medication . . .

Last night we traveled out of our comfort zone and went to a party at a friends house. Angie and her (very talented) husband Scott invited us to their annual July 3rd party. We usually shy away from activities like this due to Dustin's difficulties in dealing with these unstructured social situations. We almost always politely decline and find other ways to occupy ourselves. Lately I have been trying to force myself to put him in those situations . . . it's hard work and constant supervision, but he needs to learn . . .

A couple weeks ago we went to a party at John's house for his birthday. His girls are great at telling Dustin what's acceptable and what's not and they do a great job of keeping him in line. He got a tad out of control there and I lost my cool, but all in all it was a good experience. We have also been going to our neighborhood-public pool on Monday nights for a special needs swim that they have. They open te pool on teir dinner hour for free for special needs kids and their families. It's awesome. Last week he made a friend. That may not be a big deal for most kids, but for Dustin that is AMAZING.

So, last night we walked into Angie's yard with much trepidation, and he did pretty darn good. He got a little inappropriate at times, and spit in a girl's face once, grabbed a child and tackled her and then had a angry face staredown with one boy, but all in all he did awesome! I was thrilled!

The best part of the night was getting to meet Marla and Maizie! I nearly did a backflip when I walked into the backyard and saw their family there! It was really nice to meet someone I read about everyday. Maizie was sweet and darling! It was a great night filled with old friends and new!

On the home front, Dustin had a psychiatrist appointment yesterday. The Doc and Robert chatted about the explosive temper we have been experiencing and the aggression. The doc thought it was time to try Lithium in addition to the other meds. I am interested in seeing how it works . . . I'm praying . . .