The excitement of Owen’s day got him up a little before five. He could not wait to go back to school. I didn’t sleep much and I was feeling about the same as yesterday when I woke up but my foot was feeling better.

The laughter filled the house as he ran from the living room to me and then back to sit at the table to eat some cereal. This is how the whole morning went. He talked about who he would see and what they would do when he got to school.

We got ready for the bus. He wanted to wear shorts but I put him in blue jeans. I’m always torn at this time of year but it was still a bit chilly. We went outside and he couldn’t wait to see the bus turn the corner.

I knew I wasn’t quite ready to drive because of my foot and after my appointment, I knew I would be tired so I canceled his therapies today. He handled it all quite well. He was excited because he got to ride the bus home.

My friend picked me up and I went to my checkup from my surgery. It was all good news. Everything looked great and my scars were healing nicely. She even looked at my foot and said if anything was a mild sprain or just tender where I hit it but there was no bruising.

When Owen got home he immediately asked if he was going to go to school tomorrow to see his teacher and everyone else. We went through several of the activities he did and then he was back to asking about his people for tomorrow. The paper he brings home from school, it showed he had a good day.

He wanted chicken for dinner and I asked him if he wanted ranch or honey mustard with it. He said ranch. I gave him some of both and he ate a little of both. I have been giving him different sauces to try. He likes some BBQ and tolerates ketchup occasionally. I figured since he likes ranch veggie straws he would like the dip and he does.

He always likes to sit with me before his bedtime in the “white bed.” That is what he calls it because of the comforter on it. He asked Siri to translate “giraffe tallest mountain in Arabic” and Alexa chimes in with I don’t see any giraffe tallest mountains. Then she continued to translate “giraffe tallest mountain” in Arabic. He laughed and laughed. His laughter is the best.

Bedtime came quickly. After his bath I got him dressed and he then put on my yellow bunny ears. Off my bunny eared boy went to bed. It is the greatest feeling in the world knowing that lights up the world with his smile and my heart is so full with his progress and communication. Find joy in the little things, know they will turn into big memories, and your heart will continue to grow. Smiles to all and donut daze!

Owen slept all night long and once again woke up wanting me to know it. He was so very calm and was excited it was Sunday for two reasons. He was happy he was going to church and he knew it was his last day of spring break.

I slept off and on throughout the night. My body temperature seemed to radiate through me and would wake me up but every time I woke up I drank more water and it seemed to help. Radiation is no joke. For me, it is definitely worse than having surgery or chemo but I’m better than I was on Friday and my foot was not hurting as much either.

I told him that one of our friends was taking him to church and he told me he was excited to ride in her car. “I go to church,” he said on a very happy repeat. He wanted to go wait for her on the porch as soon as I told him but he still had an hour until she was picking him up so instead he ran around the house telling me she was coming.

He was so excited to get ready and he was also very calm about it. It is interesting how calm he has been and more focused. His communication skills are blossoming. He couldn’t wait to get to the porch to see her drive up. He said, “She’s not quite here yet she is on her way.” She arrived and off they went.

He loves his people fiercely and he told me about his day. I’m thankful for more details. She picked up his lunch on the way home and let’s just say my boy was doubly happy. He ate a big lunch today. He mentioned his adventures all day long.

I will say to him “Give me one second” and he then sets a timer for one second. I must change my wording. I have to work on changing it to a few minutes so he doesn’t have a way to count that down. It is remembering to change my words that will be hard. He takes things literally so “one second” is one second.

His day was full of church and food but he was very excited that today was his official last day of spring break. He can’t wait to get on that bus tomorrow to get himself to school to see all his people. It was the talk of the day. He went to sleep asking me if he was going to school tomorrow and I told him he sure was.

I look at the progress he has made and I’m extremely thankful. He has such an incredible caring heart and tells me all the time to “feel better mommy sick no more grow hair." The hardest part of cancer was knowing how hard it was going to be on him but oh how much he has grown through this process and the love he has given me heals my heart. Never give up on the hope for tomorrow. Miracles happen every day. Smiles to all and donut daze!

Thankfully Owen and I both slept better. I was up several times but he slept until almost six, proudly proclaiming he “slept upper night you did sleep upper night.” He is working through the proper wording I can tell.

The last few days have been rough. I hurt my foot yesterday but it feels better today. Radiation is no joke. I was doing pretty good with it and then it just hit me like I was still cooking inside. Thankfully today has been a much better day and I’m on the upward trend.

I didn’t think I should drive because of my foot but I knew Owen wanted to see his grandma so our village came to help us. He was so excited. I didn’t tell him until about an hour before our friend picked him up and didn’t stop talking about it. He loves his people fiercely and they make him so happy.

Another friend brought him home. He had fun he said and went into lots of details. He told me I made a mistake because I didn’t take him and I broke my foot. I told him I didn’t think it was broken. He said, “Good.” He always says “mistake” about anything different than he is used to. He has just started using this reference and applies it to himself and everyone else. I feel like it is part of a big trend for him with his communication skills.

When he came home he wanted so many hugs and told me about his big adventure. He was so calm. We started working on his exercises and I’m trying to give him more instructions on how to do things. I feel like it is clicking more. He is becoming quite the controversialist. He is smiling a lot more and so much calmer. So much progress. And he welcomes the progress. He isn’t fighting a lot of the strategies like he used to. He has so much more situational awareness as well.

With my foot still hurting I am going to stay home from church tomorrow but thankfully once again he is going to be picked up. I am thankful for our people and the amazing support we get. Owen had a wonderful day and I can certainly see the growth in him. Each day is a gift and I’m thankful for my sweet baby O. Find the music in your heart and sing out loud. The world needs to hear your joyous noise. Smiles to all and donut daze!

No sleep for one of us and early to rise for the other. Radiation after effects are no joke and I was up most of the night with that. Owen proclaimed he “slept upper night” but he woke up extremely early. He immediately wanted milk in a cereal, and I immediately wanted to go back to bed.

Our main focus on the day was getting through it so that spring break would be over. He is beyond ready for Monday to come. He handled the week pretty good but it’s also been very hard on him. It’s also so much and he wants to get back to school. He watches his videos on his tablet about activities that they do at school and he also uses one of the apps to do his schoolwork. He prefers getting the wrong answers because he likes to hear the “boing” sound when he puts the wrong answer into the box.

He sounded much better today with his allergies but we also didn’t go anywhere. I was the one that sounded froggy now. I’m hoping that everything will finish blooming soon and we can go back to our normal voices.

We worked on following directions and getting him to do more independent life skills. When I try to explain to him how to get something if you say, look at the bottom shelf in the refrigerator that doesn’t necessarily get him to that shelf he will look everywhere else but that shelf. I watched him look all around the refrigerator, pick up stuff from the other room, and even go to his bedroom, looking for something that I told him was on a shelf in the refrigerator.

I also had him help me bring the groceries in that were delivered. When there is a group of bags sitting someplace, and I tell him to take them to the kitchen, he will take one bag and then sit down. He doesn’t understand that when I say we have to take all the bags to the kitchen that means every single bag. It is something again that we have to work on for him to be able to understand that that group of bags needs to be put away and into the correct locations.

All in all, he had a good day. He wanted to put everything into his toy microwave and the real microwave, but thankfully he didn’t turn the real microwave on. I’m not quite sure why he’s decided to put everything in the microwave but he finds it hilarious and makes sure he tells me.

Bedtime was once again quick and he was out pretty much when his head hit the pillow. I pray he sleeps tonight and hopefully, I sleep tonight. I told him I wasn’t feeling well and he stayed next to me most of the day and wanted what he calls hugs but it was a kiss on his forehead. He made sure he laughed a lot for me and I truly saw growth happening before my eyes. Share your joy and know you are amazing.
Smiles to all and donut daze!

Owen “slept upper all night” and was very happy about that. He was in the best mood and couldn’t wait to talk to me about everything. I didn’t quite sleep as well as he did but I was thankful for the sleep we did get.

He told me he would go see his teacher on Monday and that he was on spring break. I said are you excited about spring break? He said, “Yes” without hesitation so maybe he can’t process how to be happy that he has days off because he needs his routine and it is so important to him.

He woke up still sounding froggy but it was definitely allergies because every time we walked outside he sneezed and he told me about it. He says, “Sneezed I sneezed.” He told my mom yesterday that he was “froggy.” I love it when he uses the words I’ve used with him or others. He is making so many connections with his communication and emotional skills.

He started talking about his doctor. I asked if he wanted to go see her because he felt sick again. He told me no, that he liked her, calling her by her first name that he learned one of the times we went to see her. He said she makes me happy. This makes me happy. The connections and being able to express his emotions now is such a beautiful thing to watch. The impact she has made on him is incredible.

We walked outside to go to therapy and the frogman returned. He sounded so froggy as soon as he got outside with the trees in bloom. He was doing good while we were in the house. He was so happy to be at therapy. We went to see the burger boy statue but he didn’t want to get out.

On our way home we drove by some churches. His therapist had said he did good and was very lowkey. He wanted to use scissors and she said he did excellent with them. He hit about 75% of the marks she had on the paper for him. He was very calm and asked her a lot about taking a break from spring break.

After his bath, he could tell I was very emotional. The last few days I haven’t felt my best and I know I’m still processing the radiation. He did his fake laugh for me and said, “You’re laughing.” I love that he knows how happy his laugh makes me and I know when he does the fake laugh he is doing it specially to make me happy. This means the world to me.

Bedtime was once again fast and right away he was asleep. He is ready for the next three days to go quickly. I’m thankful he had a great day with so many connections. Each day is a gift. Let tomorrow be your day for special moments and beautiful memories being made. Smiles to all and donut daze!

Owen woke up very early to tell me he was on a break and that he would get his school tablet on Monday. He also wanted me to know he has to talk to his teacher about TeachTown to see if he can have it again. It’s an app he used at school when he was younger.

He went to sleep with the bunny ears on, woke up with them still on, and asked if he could wear them today. I told him to be my guest. He looked at me and moved on. It’s funny how he has decided to like them. I think he likes the feel on his head. He sounded better this morning and didn’t wake up with a snotty nose. I was hopeful.

He immediately started in on how he wanted to go to his grandma’s house. I wanted to see how he was feeling before I said yes, plus, I was exhausted from being up so early. Thankfully he was sounding better so I told him I would take him. It was quite an adventurous morning before we headed there around noon.

I started fixing him second breakfast and he said, “Pirate in the toilet pirate in the microwave.” I immediately questioned everything when I realized he was playing with the pirate from his game. He started giggling and said, “No pirate in the toilet pirate in this microwave” pointing to the microwave on the counter. He had been putting it in his toy microwave and knew he couldn’t put it in the real one. I told him he knew exactly where his pirate could go and he started laughing. He loves his toy microwave and he knows he can’t stick things in the toilet but he likes to see my expressions.

We got ready to go to his grandma’s house and he said, “Mommy is like magical hats” referencing the game he likes to play that has a bunny in it. We both wore our bunny ears when we left. We got in the car and he kept saying “New ear.” He told me he needed to go to his speech therapist. He told me how to drive the whole way there and kept saying “Pay attention.”

In the car, I went over the rules again about not giving anyone a hard time about clothes or hair so he could wear his swimsuit and go swimming this summer. I wanted to make sure he didn’t yell at my mom for what she was wearing if it wasn’t something he liked. On the drive there he said that we were going through winter seasonings. He said it’s cold today. I love his thought process.

When we got home our internet was out again. This time we had his new phone that was connected and my phone’s “toothpaste toothbrush Bluetooth” worked to connect to his tablet after a couple of tries. He was mostly calm about it and it was only off for about an hour.

He told my mom he shouldn’t upset his vision doctor and he was sorry. He screamed while he was there on Monday and licked her whiteboard. I know he goes back through his days and processes what he can but I was glad that he wanted her to know he was sorry.

He asked to wear the bunny ears to bed again. I told him absolutely. He went from never wanting to even look at a hat to being able to wear them now so I’m all for it. He fell asleep quickly and I hope that he sleeps better tonight. I am thankful for his growth and his beautiful connections. Be inspired, be joyful, be happy. Smiles to all and donut daze!

Today was emotional but fine. As Owen said, “slept upper night.” He woke up after six. I was in and out and made myself stay in bed hoping to be quiet so he could sleep. He sounded better again when he woke up and I’m still going with allergies.

He showed me his school on Google Earth and told me that Mommy texts his teacher on Monday to get him for music therapy. This conversation was once again being discussed after he told me he needed a break from his spring break.

My little food planner knew exactly what he wanted for the days ahead. We shall see what happens but he told me Bob Evans today, Dairy Queen tomorrow, pizza on Thursday, Tudors on Friday, and to his grandma’s on Saturday. He ate pretty well today and enjoyed his treat of Bob Evans breakfast from his grandma.

He started telling me that he wanted to see everyone from school. He was using the same words over and over so I told him he had to tell me things he did with different people. He listed caterpillar with the letters, piano, and helped with his tablet for his teacher. He next chose his autism mentor and said, she eats bananas and he gets to throw them away, she helps him with food, and gets his school tablet which he can’t bite. With one of his friends, he said they trade their school tablets which I think they don't actually do, sit to do arts and crafts, and eat. I was happy he went through all the steps with me. It isn’t always easy for him to answer questions but I try to help him work through them on his terms.

He jumps a lot. It is part of his stimming. He will also throw himself on my bed or the couch repeatedly. The whole house shakes as he jumps around. Technically the floor shakes but I feel it. When he needs more sensory input or something doesn’t feel right to him he will go back over the same area in the house countless times until he can process and move forward. He will literally jump on the exact same spot a hundred times if he needs to. Distracting him from this only delays the process. He will go right back to it when he is done doing whatever I have tried to distract him with. My twenty-pound baby didn’t shake the house as nearly as my eighty-pound baby.

The sneezing was back. I’m still thinking allergies because he was eating and drinking fine, no fever, high energy, and showed no other symptoms. I’m praying that the weather will change and it moves on out of his system completely.

He requested to wear the yellow bunny ears since I wouldn’t wear them. He wore them for quite some time before his bath and immediately put them back on when he was done. I asked him if I could take his picture and he went to sit down. Sometimes he says no and we move on. When he got ready for bed he told me he was wearing them to bed and off he went. It will be interesting to see if they stay on all night.

Before bedtime, he told me he wanted to see a cow, go trick or treating, and see the Christmas lights. I told him we could find a cow but we couldn’t do the others right away. He said not until October, November, and December. The dude is planning his future and I bet there is some food involved. Off he went to bed with my bunny ears on that I think he may have claimed. I pray he sleeps tonight. He was so animated and carried on amazing conversations and that makes my heart happy. Sing from the mountain tops your joy and let the world hear your song. Smiles to all and donut daze!

Owen sounded much better when he woke up. He slept all night and thankfully I got a little more sleep than I do most nights. He went through all his usual morning questions but the biggest thing he said was he missed his friends.

He wanted to know when he would go back to school even though he knew exactly when he was going back to school. He found his school on Google Earth and showed me the door he goes into. My boy with the heart of gold said, “Miss friends gone on spring break everybody needs to be happy only one week.” He went on to say that his teacher “will be happy she misses everybody.” I told him I’m sure she does. He then started going through the aides and bus personnel.

He does not like it at all when I’m on the phone but he spent an hour on YouTube listening to different ringtones. It always amazes me what he finds fascinating. He is now saying “new ear” on purpose instead of “near year” so we can go through it together. He told me he needed to go see his speech therapist. I think he is trying to find ways to do more sessions.

Since he sounded so much better I decided he could go to his therapies. His music therapist said he did good but was quiet. I’m sure his allergy medicine was making him sleepy too. He was excited to see his friend there and talked about him on the way home. When we got home he started sneezing with all the trees in bloom.

He did pretty good at music therapy about blue pants and mentioned them a few times at his vision therapy appointment but he talked more about her gum than anything else. He was a little more anxious at this point and did his exercises fine but he was pretty loud several times. He was happy when we left and asked the doctor to walk us out to our car and she did. She is always so patient and kind with him.

Before vision therapy he said he wanted Bob Evans for dinner again. I told him we can’t have Bob Evans every day. He said yes we can. He then told me he needed a break from spring break. When we left his appointment he said he wanted Tudors but I told him we weren’t going in that direction so he decided on Chick-fil-A and told me he wanted Dairy Queen on Wednesday. He’s quite the food planner.

He asked Siri for the “Do you like broccoli in Espanol song” and was singing right along with it. He is asking for more languages again. He likes the song but he doesn’t like broccoli. He liked the green beans I gave him the other day so I will try broccoli again soon.

By bedtime, he was getting that allergy sound again and I could tell he was tired. He actually asked for bed. I have timers set every night for the different things we do and he asked for his breathing exercises. We work on them hoping for calm as he sleeps. Sleep happened quickly and I hope he sleeps all night. He told me “Mommy loves my laugh” and I told him yes I do. Make your happiness a priority. Smiles to all and donut daze!

Thankfully Owen slept all night and in fact, slept late. He might have slept later if I hadn’t woken him up when I went to the bathroom. I slept more than I do most nights but wish I could have slept longer. He was still snotty and coughing some but nothing like yesterday. As much as I knew it would disappoint him we were not going to church. He still didn’t have a fever but I felt like it was better to stay home.

He wanted to make sure all his things were still happening with the week ahead and that he would be going back to school next Monday. These were the questions for the day. He asked them a lot and often. He also knew my response and I wasn’t going to say it every time. Any and all breaks are hard on him and I can only imagine how hard it will be for him when he doesn’t get to go to summer school.

He was asking to go to see his teacher and I said what do you like about her. He said, “makes me calm and feel better.” I was happy he made the connection. I am so thankful for the amazing team he has at school. He constantly talks about the aides and mentor. They all work so hard to help Owen grow.

I got him to eat about ten green beans and a lot of macaroni and cheese. It is always a huge deal when I get him to eat vegetables. He eats a wide variety of foods but vegetables and fruits are not his favorites. The macaroni and cheese is a newer food for him as well. Texture and smell are a big thing for him when he is eating. I gave him one bite of the green beans and then the next bite of macaroni and cheese. I kept doing this back and forth. I work with him a lot with textures and combining foods. It helps him to continue to grow with his food choices.

I told Owen that I thought he might have a cold or it could be allergies since he was sick. A few minutes later I told him it was very cold outside today. He asked me if outside was sick. The English language can be so hard and when you have words that sound the same but have completely different meanings it can get very confusing. He is doing amazing with his words and connections.

The day was filled with him asking me about tomorrow and all his days ahead. He told me he wanted to go to school for social skills and to watch the lockdown drill but liked the fire drill. He asks to pull the fire alarms when he sees them places. I pray that is never a thing for us. I hope tomorrow he is feeling much better and he can go to his therapies. He was very interactive and laughed for me a lot. His smile is my dream come true. Look for the rays of sunshine in everything you do. Life is better with those extra smiles. Smiles to all and donut daze!

When I say Owen was full of conversation I mean he pretty much was talking nonstop since around four this morning until he went to bed, sprinkled with a few quiet moments. He still had a very snotty nose and you could hear it in his voice. He wanted to go see his grandma but I told him last night we weren’t going. He wasn’t running a fever still but I didn’t want to take any chances with getting her sick.

Indecisions are almost as fun as overthinking. Today was a day full of those moments. Plus, add in exhaustion, and no decisions were made today but a lot of overthinking happened. He got very upset because people outside were screaming in our neighborhood. He came running to me wanting them to be quiet. He was almost about to have a meltdown over it when I could hear them finally walking down the street. I keep praying for some property to become available that will work for us so we can move.

“I want to go see grandma in Arabic,” he said asking his tablet to translate something he already knew how to say. He’s been listening to more videos in all the languages and asking for translations again. He had a video playing the other day and I asked him if he could sing the song. Without hesitation, he started belting it out. He doesn’t usually do that for me but he knew that whole song and sang it amazingly.

He pulled up a coloring page on his tablet. He used to avoid doing them and would bring them to me to do if he had to do them in a series of steps. He stood next to me and colored to whole screen blue, avoiding all the colors in the lines suggestions I threw out. I never imagined he would want to color like this so even though he wasn’t coloring the picture in he was making huge progress by coloring it at all. I told him he did a fantastic job and off he ran.

I gave him more medicine and it seemed to help his nose but I could tell he was still very congested. He was requesting more food as the day wore on so I finally ordered what he requested for his birthday dinner but then never wanted me to order it. He ate two crackers with spinach and artichoke dip on them while we waited. He seemed to like it but didn’t want any more. He sure enjoyed his dinner though.

He probably won’t be happy but we won’t be going to church tomorrow. I don’t think he is contagious but he is still very snotty. I cut his hair and he took a long bath. He was pretty calm but kept checking to see when he was going back to the babysitter he had when he was young so he could play their piano. He also wanted to know when he was going back to school even though he had been telling me all day that it was one week.

Even though he wasn’t feeling well he had a good day. I hope he feels better tomorrow so he doesn’t have to miss his therapy on Monday. This spring break cannot go fast enough for him. He would be happy if his routine stayed the same all year long. He spent a lot of time sitting right next to me and wanting me to hold him. I enjoyed are time even though it was exhausting keeping up with all our conversations. The dude does not forget a thing and remembers so many details. Let happiness be your guide for an amazing tomorrow. Smiles to all and donut daze!