Last night Nathan said 'Nathan'. Almost five and he's cracked it, he can say his name. I admit it, I squealed. 

We've had long times of saying 'no' when asked for his name, then he called himself 'Naynay' for a long time. In the last month or so there was a shift to 'Naynen' and then finally last night the 'th' appeared. He beamed with pride. 

Some cliches are true. The one where they say that it may be tough to have a child with special needs, but that you will never know joy like the joy you feel when they achieve things that others take for granted. That one is true. It is very true. 

He managed to pull to stand over Christmas and oh my the whole world was told about it. It's the first thing I said walking back into the office after the break.

There simply is no joy like it. And it way outweighs the occassional bouts of heart ache watching him struggle with things.