eBay item #11092000: Leelo Rosenberg

I came very close to posting Leelo as an online auction item today, after he bolted all the way down our driveway and into our neighbor’s carport while I was buckling Mali into her car seat. He covered a distance of 200 feet before I could blink, and ended up 10 feet from a steep slope into a winter-deep creek. I think everyone in the entire neighborhood heard me hollering at him. (That bodes well for my trying to collect their signatures on one of our easement-fiddling documents.) I only caught him because he chose to stop in the carport.

He has never in his life dared to run that far, or that fast. He always stops at the point where our driveway narrows, about twenty feet from the car. I guess he’ll be getting buckled in first from now on—Mali is picking up steam but certainly isn’t going to outrun her mother any time soon.

Later on he pulled the same thing on Babysitter A—but in her case he tore up the steep hillside at the opposite side of the yard, and ended up at the gate three feet from the upper street. Again, unprecedented. Babysitter A says that she’ll be sure to wear only sneakers from now on.

The only reason you are not currently able to bid on your very own autistic five-year-old is that he spent the rest of the day being sweet as pie. He was really snuggly, listened well, and demonstrated real joy in being with—and interacting with—his family. He sang with me, sat all heavy, warm, and relaxed in my lap while I read him books. He used a lot of fantastic language. It’s all still basic language, but he’s using it more frequently.

Plus he had a good first morning at ALSO preschool. I’ve not yet had a chance to hear how it went from Therapist L, who accompanied him, but his new Teacher W said that the day went really well.

We’ll keep him for now. But he’ll definitely be a Watched item.