Rebuttal - of sorts

I got to thinking about my post yesterday and had really wanted to add things to it. The post was already getting long and I like to keep them on the short side. I don't want to give the impression that we aren't good parents or that Xavier is completely incapable. That just is not true. We are caring parents with a wonderful boy but we have problems just outside of the norm.
Xavier is highly intelligent and has always been one to decide when he developed a certain skill. At three months, he decided he didn't like breastfeeding and wanted a bottle. At a year, he gave up the bottle for a cup. Both situations were instant - once he was done he was done. However, he had a pacifier until he was six. He was good about not taking it to school but he needed that comfort. Potty training was a completly different story - he did not want to potty train. Even in kindergarten he was having problems until we stopped allowing him to come home after an accident. His caregiver had been bringing him home to clean him up and since class was only a half day it never made sense to take him back. One day, she decided to clean him up at school and send him back to class. That took care of that problem but we still had to put him on a bathroom schedule to prevent accidents at home. It didn't bother him to be wet and going to the bathroom would interrupt his play. The schedule lasted a couple years until he got tired of the constant interruptions (and I think he matured just enough to figure it all out).
As for life skills, Xavier has been self sufficient in the kitchen since he was 2. This may seem like a really young age but I needed him to be able to be a little self sufficient since he was not much of a sleeper. He did fine on 3-4 hours a sleep at night, I was exhausted. By teaching him to fix his own breakfast and snacks I would get an extra hour or two sleep in the morning. At this age he was also very good at turning on the tv and finding ways to entertain himself. We had to have chain locks on the doors to prevent him from going outside but it worked.
At about age 10 Xavier started getting the bug to create his own recipes. He had been cooking and baking for ages by this time. He and I developed some recipes together and now he does a competative Dutch Oven cooking event every year. Last year he designed one of the recipes on his own. We're going to play with it a little for an upcoming Betty Crocker competition.
Xavier does his own laundry and cleans his bathroom. Not well and not without guidance (mostly just reminders to do the work). He can wash dishes, load and unload a dishwasher so he's got a lot of skills for living on his own.
I was really proud of his ability to be aware of the world. Every morning he sits and watches Good Morning America with his Dad and I. Xavier likes to discuss the show and often records it when he sees things he wants to know more about but has to go to school. He had some pretty strong feelings about this last presidential election that were totally different from his Dad and I's. If he could have voted he would have voted for someone different from us, it was a little weird and we weren't sure of his reasons but it was nice to see he was thinking it through.
He's very supportive of charities and has a strong sense of injustice - he was totally crushed when we found out that the guy from Stones for Schools was a fraud because it was a charity program Xavier supported whole-heartedly.
I think a good description of Xavier's charity work would make for a great post in the near future.
Xavier's biggest problem is his focus. He can be very focused to the point of obsession or he barely focuses at all. I think the trick is to learn how to make this work for him.