Today was a good day in the making. A very, very, very hyper day but a good day. Owen woke with a mission for me to sit and for him to go to school. I try to explain to him that those two don’t go together but he needs to process it like that. So we sit and go. He knew that he was going to school and then he was going to see his doctor for his wellness check. When I got to his school to pick him up for his appointment they told me he had been explaining to them that he was going to see his doctor and that I was going to take him. I love that he can express this now and tell others about things he wants to do or even something he doesn’t want to do. When we got to his appointment I asked him to remind me to get gas before we went home. I wondered if he would tell me. My car shows me I need gas but Owen always talks to me about getting gas so I try to give him tasks like this to help him with the concept. Since he was little I’ve explained to him why we need to get gas and how it makes the car go “vroom”. Now he will say, “mommy has to get gas”. I also try to warn him because he doesn’t always like to wait for me to get it. I try to get it when he isn’t in the car but I also want him to understand sometimes we have to do it when he is with me. He loves riding the elevator up to the doctor’s office. It’s part of the excitement to get there. Once we got checked in we went to the room and the nurse took all his vitals and asked the general questions. I was shocked when she asked him to take his shoes off to be weighed and lickety-split they came off. Not once has he ever taken them off or it has been something he would be comfortable doing. He gained five pounds and grew three inches since his last appointment. That is huge for him. He’s always been so tiny for his age group. I’m so proud of how he did when the doctor came in. He told her everything she was going to do. “Look in my ears”, he said. He went on, “open my mouth ahhh”. She asked him to stretch out and touch his toes and he did it perfectly. He even spoke to her in Arabic. She was amazed at how much he was doing and saying. I’m thankful for his growth and I’m thankful that he loves going to the doctor. He didn’t want to leave. When we got to the car he told me, “mommy get gas” and with that, I was even more grateful for his growth. He is learning to communicate on many different levels. The night was full of one thing after another and he was beyond hyper but he was at least happy. He didn’t go to sleep until very late for him so maybe that will translate to him sleeping through the night. We learn, we love, we grow, and today my baby grew big time. Never give up on the hope yet to come. Smiles to all and donut daze!

Some days all I hear are Owen’s words invading my thoughts. We slept okay, we got up, and then I had to “sit”. He was pretty anxious as soon as the day got started. I asked him to do several things for me and it was all on his timing which was not quick timing. I don’t know why I haven’t figured out that I need to get him dressed quickly and then me second but I always do it opposite. I keep hoping he will start to do more on his own. The bus was early and we were running late. They, fortunately, waited for us and technically we still had a couple of minutes but I always like to get there before the bus and give Owen time to talk to Siri. When he came home from school he had one thing on his mind and that was seeing his teacher tomorrow. We were walking up our sidewalk and he was talking about me changing my clothes and about seeing his teacher tomorrow. He looked down and there was a leaf on the ground. He bent down, picked it up, and moved it out of the way. He talked to it a second and went back to telling me what I was going to do and who he wanted to see. It reminded me of when he was a toddler. He would do this a lot. It was always interesting to me though because he doesn’t necessarily notice when things are in his way or he will walk on or sit on an object with no regard to if it is something he should sit on or step on. He will sit directly down on my open laptop or books, really anything that is where he wants to sit. The same with walking. He has no sensor that goes off and says you are about to walk on mommy’s feet or that pile of laundry on the floor. When he was younger I would set up little obstacle courses trying to get him to understand he had to go around an object. It took years for him to make progress with this. He still will turn full circle when he is on the stairs and has no body awareness of what he is doing. I now have him in physical therapy to try to help him with body awareness and spatial issues. The rest of the night was filled with him wanting me to read a video caption in a language I didn’t recognize and asking every few seconds when he would see his teacher again. I needed lots of distractions for him. After he ate his very large dinner he was screaming in my face about going to “sleep” and seeing his teacher so more distractions were needed. This time I had him read books with me. It’s not something he will always do and sometimes they cause huge meltdowns because I’m not reading correctly or repeating a page multiple times. But he is growing. It was an anxious day but a good day. Tomorrow is already being planned. “School first and then ride the elevator”, he says and goes on to talk about his doctor. I’m thankful he likes to go. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Smiles to all and donut daze!

Some days it feels like everything is tumbling together and other days it’s like it is all tumbling apart. It’s like we are in one of those rock tumblers grinding our way through life and then there it is, I see all the progress Owen is making. Some days the screaming, screeching, and shrill sounds keep me from focusing on the progress but then I reflect on all that is happening with him, and my emotions are set in motion. I wasn’t sure how our morning would go but Owen sounded much better. He only had a few sniffles but nothing like it was. We got dressed and walked to the bus stop. He was happy to be going to school. We stood there and he asked Siri how to say many phrases and wanted to hear animal noises. He amazes me with his vocabulary now and I’m constantly wondering if he actually can read in other languages as well as speak it. He is starting to sound words out more. “Magical world of Disney tro intro”, he said, as he figured out how to pronounce the word “intro”. Last night he was talking to Alexa in Japanese. She was saying words half in English and half in Japanese. Owen said, “I can’t do that try something else in Arabic”. She responded by saying that she didn’t know what he meant and he started laughing. He repeated it again and he then answered her in Japanese. And I can only assume it was Japanese because she asked if he wanted her to translate in Japanese. I remind myself this is the little boy that the doctors said might not talk and not only does he talk but in more languages than I can imagine. I was sitting on the couch and he came to me. My shorts didn’t cover my knee but he ran from the other room when he realized he had to pull them over my knee. Everything has to be in order. When he got home from school he wanted to sit and snuggle with me. He laughed and held my hand. It felt great for him to sit with me, answering questions. He ate a huge dinner. I cooked fish and some veggies and he ate every bit of it. Plus, I gave him black cherry cranberry juice. At first, he told me, no but then he drank it all. I love when he branches out and tries new foods. He was really hyper today but he kept telling me he was happy. I have magnets with expressions on them and I asked him to show me what he was feeling and he kept it at happy all day. And that makes this momma happy. Find your happiness, reach for the stars, and know that you can change the world. Smiles to all and donut daze!