snow and outside play

We still had some snow the other day (it has since melted!).  SJ wanted to play outside with his new sled.  There really wasn't enough to sled in, but he gave it a good try.  He was outside for 15 minutes when I went to check on him.  He was no longer in the front of the house sledding, so I looked out the back window.  SJ was sitting on our outside swing watching the neighbor kids play in their yard.  He looked so peaceful and happy swinging away. 

When I looked outside a few minutes later, he had left the swing and was playing with the neighbor kids in their yard.  They were attempting to make a snowman and SJ was right in there helping.  He played with the kids for about 20 more minutes and then came home.

When he came inside, I asked him what he had been doing.  "I was just playing with the kids," said SJ.  I love hearing that!  I would have killed to hear that 5 years ago and now it just flows out of his mouth like any other kid.  The kids in our neighborhood are so accepting of SJ.  They hardly ever look at him as the boy with Autism.  He is just SJ, a boy who is their friend!