AJ�s mood swings today have been so staggering as to make my head spin. I can only imagine what they are doing to his own head. One minute he is laughing hard and a second later, provoked only by a situation of his own imagining, he is crying as if every light has gone out of his world. All I can do is to be around to pick up the pieces. We spent the morning at his gym class where a mere glimpse of the color red sent him to the peak of ecstasy while minutes later, when a classmate walked a little closer to him than he deemed appropriate, he was sobbing as if he had been beaten. I�m gaining a new appreciation for how difficult it is to just get around every day. AJ�s storm didn�t last long, but the pattern was repeated at least four times during the 45-minute class, during which he was clearly both the happiest and saddest one in the room. Part of me was a little envious of his ability to feel that strongly. I don�t think I could do that anymore. But it makes him seem even more vulnerable than his small size and inexperience with the world.

After class we went on a quest for some new shoes for AJ, who has been pulling an Incredible Hulk maneuver on his wardrobe of late (�Uh-oh, mommy! My button went in the air!�). After persuading him, with difficulty, to tolerate the trying on of several pairs, we settled on one with a soccer ball on the tongue that lights up with each step. He was enthralled and spent a great deal of time stomping around the store watching the lights go on and off. We also got him a pair of cherry red snow boots, which I�m hoping we can actually convince him to wear. I had envisioned a winter of snow games � snowmen, snowballs, angels, sled rides � but AJ is quite skeptical of the value of such pursuits when, as he puts it, �my shoes get all snowy. You do it, Mommy.� I feel distinctly like the overworked court jester to a very capricious king.

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