Today is Purim. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this Jewish holiday, it celebrates the Jews being saved from a Persian King and his advisor, Haman, by a Jew named Mordechai and his niece, Esther. We celebrate Purim by reading the Megillah (the story of Purim) and by dressing up in costumes and eating Hamantaschen (cookies that are shaped like Haman's ears). I took Coby to Chabad House (one of the temples in the area) so he could experience this celebration. He dressed up like a pirate, and even ate an "ear." While he wasn't thrilled about sitting and listening to the story read in Hebrew (which he doesn't understand), he got to hang out with some friends he hadn't seen in a while, and later admitted he didn't have such an awful time after all.
We went to a roller skating party today for one of Coby's friends, Alynna. Coby had a great time, and even I tried to skate (I put on roller blades and succeeded in going around a few times without hurting myself or anyone else.) Interestingly enough, roller blades are easier to skate with than regular skates. Go figure!
When Coby was 2 years old, he was diagnosed with high-functioning autism. With early intervention and a lot of therapy, Coby is now pretty much a regular kid in a regular 1st grade class. Last week we participated in a fund-raiser for autism, called "Spare Some for Autism." The kids got to bowl with celebrities, which just happened to be our local hockey team, the Carolina Hurricanes (who won the Stanley Cup 2 years ago.) Coby has been a huge fan, knows all the players and announcers, and this was a really big deal for him to get to meet everyone and bowl with them. We go to games quite often, and meeting the players and talking to them meant a lot to him (and to us!). All the kids got bowling pins and sharpies so they could get autographs, and a lot of money was raised for a good cause. 
