There have been numerous times over the past few years that Ethan has requested that Greg or I be silent in the car while he joyfully sings along to our music selection, whether it be Jack Johnson, The Eagles or James Taylor. Usually we allow him to assert some control, but help him ask in a mannerful way.  However there are other times we make Ethan endure our singing along with his and the musician’s to help teach him that he cannot control every situation and always manipulate circumstances to his personal preferences. Just a few days ago I was wondering to myself if Ethan would ever get to the point that he would WANT someone else to sing with him. Today he unexpectedly requested that I sing a duet with him in the car!

Ever seen the Disney movie Bolt? The two main characters are voiced by Miley Cyrus and John Travolta and the theme song, “I Thought I Lost You,”  is pretty catchy. There are only two songs with lyrics on the soundtrack; all the others are instrumentals which Ethan likes because he can visualize exactly with which part of the movie the music correlates. Ethan has been absolutely stuck on “I Thought I Lost You” for about 2 weeks now…singing or humming it constantly. The humming and singing is common for him, but he usually switches up the songs. This afternoon I was very surprised and encouraged when he asked me to sing Miley’s lines and he belted out John’s; especially since I was thinking to myself not that long ago that it was something “we” would have to work on. Smart little guy–he worked it out himself! 

It may not seem like much to anyone looking in from outside, but I consider this self-initiated growth and progress such a gift.

Hooray Ethan!