Family life

The first months were easier as we had my family around. Then, we were only the three of us. Elyza cried a lot. An awful lot. I did the best I could to be a good father and a good husband. And I think I did a good job. Then we had the nanny, and it helped.

We were happy together, we went for walks with Snow our Husky dog, we went out for breakfast as a family, we went for hotel stays, we went to the playground, ... yet we knew there was something different with Elyza. She loved hugs, she would babble but not as much as I remember babies doing, she would hold our hands to show us what she wanted, she was a fussy eater, she would easily wake up with noises, etc, and when it came to the developmental stage when Elyza should have called "mommy" or "daddy", she did not.

When you were 18 months old, Mommy said you did a regression. I did not quite understand what she meant by regression. Over time, Mommy said, we should start thinking of looking into getting you tested. Somehow, I did not want to see or rather admit that you were different, and did not want to admit that you had a disorder...