I always ask the people in my life to take time to be a part of Johnathan's world for awhile. Sometimes it's hard for them to slow down to his pace but what an eye-opener it is for them when they do. I love seeing them 'peek through the curtain' for that first time. When the spectacular iceberg comes into view with all it's grandeur.
Let me give you a peek into Johnathan's world for a minute.
Music - Johnathan loves music. Be it listening to music, playing music, or singing he loves a super musical life. One of the wonderful things is that Johnathan was blessed with incredible music teachers that allowed Johnathan to use his talents to make music. Mr Younger was his music teacher in Kindergarten and 1st grade. Quickly Mr Younger realized that being a class with others was too much of a sensory overload. He set time aside during the day for Johnathan to have a one on one music class. Johnathan was able to sing, play instruments, and learned to read music. Johnathan next worked with Mrs. Kieffer who also saw Johnathan's music skills and worked with him to. The attached video is from Johnathan's 'concert' that he put on at school. (He can not do whole school programs due to his sensory issues so this was an incredible opportunity for him) He played the drums, the wood guiro with a scraper, and then the xylophone. His audience included a few classmates, teachers, and aides. Then my mom, Charles, my niece, and me also attended.
Seeing him be able to share his love of music with us is truly a gift. He is constantly learning new songs and we often find him singing to himself. Often we aren't able to figure out what the songs are but still it brings a smile to his face and our hearts.
Laughs - One of the things that a lot of people miss out on is Johnathan's laugh. Charles is known among so many people of having the most contagious laugh. The fact is that Johnathan has a very contagious laugh too. When Johnathan shares his huge, belly laughs with us it is one of the greatest gifts. This is where what lies beneath the surface reigns the loudest too. We often hear Johnathan laughing uncontrollably and don't know what causes those laughs. It is those times we would love to know all the thoughts, visions, and ideas going through that mind. Even when he is sleeping Johnathan gets the giggles sometimes. There were many times when he was younger that he'd be sleeping in his room. I'd hear him laughing and go in to tell him it was time to go to sleep. Imagine my surprise to find out he was sound asleep and laughing in his sleep. Now he is older I enjoy hearing those laughs and can't help but wonder what he's dreaming about that brings him so much happiness. The picture was taken when we took the boys to the Circus museum in Baraboo. We went to the circus performance that Johnathan loved. His favorite was the clown act and this was him laughing during it. Again that pure happiness pouring from that smile and laugh was our favorite part of the day.
Math: People are surprised to find out that Johnathan does really good in Math. I think it has to do with the fact that it has very consistent and factual answers. Obviously Johnathan likes things to be black & white when it comes to answers. Especially now in this time of e-learning I see how quickly he can fly through a math sheet.
Cooking & Baking - Johnathan enjoys helping us in the kitchen when we are cooking or baking. Even when he isn't helping he likes to watch us when we are preparing food. It's interesting when we are making a familiar food and he hands us a needed ingredient. He has won multiple state awards at local fairs for his food projects also. I have a feeling he'll be winning Cook of the Year at 4-H at some point like his mom and aunt.
Water - It didn't take long for us to realize Johnathan has a great love of being in water or by water. Since he was little we started taking him to the beaches in Michigan City, IN. While it took him a while before he'd go in the water without holding on to us his love has only grown. Often if there is an opportunity to go to an area with swimming or beaches Johnathan is all for it. When we go to spend time with the boys' Pa John and his wife Mary Johnathan can't wait to go down to the beach. Even if we go down just to walk by the water when it's too cold Johnathan has to be stopped from going into the water. I learned this lesson when I took the boys down to build sand castles one day. Johnathan built for awhile then stood up and took off for the water. He didn't care that he was in his clothes and shoes he was going in the water. Since that day I've learned to have extra clothes and shoes with us and 'plan' on coming back from the beach wet.
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