A couple of weeks ago, Siddhu was raiding the kitchen, as he usually does when he gets bored. It has become his obsession to pour some flour, mix it with egg and oil, and attempt to make pancakes - he can almost fix a pancake for himself now, just doesn't dare light the stove because he knows that is hot and can hurt him.  This time around, I was in the backyard, and Pramila was working on her computer.  As he climbed the kitchen counter and was sifting through the cabinet, he dropped a box of cereal on the floor, with cereal pouring out.  Pramila heard the noise and came out, asked him in her exasperated tone "Siddhu, who did this?" expecting him to give his usual reply of "Clean up, why did you do it?" He has the habit of repeating or mimicking what the other person would say in that circumstance, rather than make up his own answer.
 
But he surprised her this time. Siddhu looked at her, with a mischevious smile, "Appa did it". Pramila could not believe it - she called me and asked me with an accusing tone "Did you really do this?" I said "No, I wasn't even here". She could still not trust that our son had figured out how to lie! She asked Siddhu "Who is going to clean it up now?" and he answered "Appa will clean it". She gave him a hug, and we celebrated his first lie that evening. In its own way, this feels like a major triumph for us - autistic kids are so literal-minded that lying is a major effort.