21!

Our sweet Daphne is 21!

For the first time in 9 years, both the girls celebrated their birthdays in the same week. So we pretty much partied all week.  I felt better knowing that I was only eating cake for one week rather than over two weeks. It was a mental thing. You have to understand that.

When Daphne was about 5 years old we discovered that she loves parties. Especially planning parties. We would literally be cleaning up her party and she would come up to me, telling me what she wants to do for her next birthday!

What?

You just had a party and now you are talking about your NEXT birthday!?

This would go on all year....talking about her next party! One more clue into the world of autism. Becoming hyperfocused on a thought or an idea.

Daphne's idea was her next birthday party.

All I could think about was how sweet she was at 5. I didn't want to think about her being 6!

Well, we thought that at some point she was going to move on to another idea that pops into her head and leave the birthday planning thought behind.

Nope! Not Daphne!

It was almost becoming unbearable. So at her young age we made a family rule.

Daphne cannot plan her birthday party until after August 31st of every year. With her birthday towards the end of October, I figured that 6 weeks of planning should be enough.

It became a game. She would come to me with a thought on her party and I would remind her that she would need to keep all those ideas until August 31st. I thought she had forgotton about the rule.

Nope! Not Daphne!

Every year in the month of August, Daphne will say something along the lines,

"I can't wait to talk about my birthday" with a huge smile on her face.

Now, she is 21. Yes, she is still planning out her birthday and finds great enjoyment in helping Victoria plan out hers mostly. And every year, she has taught Victoria that you can't talk about your party until August 31st. So I will hear them whispering to eachother about thoughts of their birthdays.

The girls love their Birthday!

I do too.

I loved them deeply from the first thought of their existence and loved them beyond words from the moment I layed eyes on them.

So do the boys plan out their birthdays?

Nope! They have Daphne to do that!