Mood, that’s the best way to describe how Owen woke up. He slept all night but woke up a little agitated. He quickly turned it around though. I didn’t push the rewards system this morning. I talked about it with him but let him take control of what he was doing. I was still trying to promote his independence but there are days where mood trumps everything else that happens next. When we went to wait for the bus he said, “walk like a monkey” and tried to do the exercises I had been working on with him. When I am introducing new activities or exercises he doesn’t always want to do them and it can take him days, weeks, or longer until he will try it. Sometimes it takes him even longer to warm up to a routine change or the activity itself isn’t something he can process so I was very thrilled that he initiated the activity. He then grabbed my hands and started making monkey noises. I showed him how to bend over again and he bent over with me instead of picking up his foot to touch it. This was progress. It didn’t take long and the bus turned the corner. He was happy to see it and he knew today was one of his favorite days since he would be going to therapy. He loves going to school and therapy. I picked him up from school and his teacher said he was having a good day and they worked on a few activities to help him process choices and use his words for descriptions. We got to his therapy and he wanted me to go in once again. I tried to convince him to go in on his own but he kept saying “mommy can go.” Sometimes it is easier to just go because otherwise, it can cause a meltdown. He did mostly great at therapy. Blue pants strikes again with one of the therapists, but she was very calm about it and went through it with him and was able to distract him. When we left there, he wanted to drive by the windows and then we came home. He was very calm and ate steadily throughout the night. His hair had not been cut completely in a while and it is another hard thing for him. He doesn’t want me to cut his hair and he hasn’t gone anywhere else to have his haircut so it’s one of those things that I try to continue to cut his hair when he is having a better evening like tonight. His red blanket got here today. I washed it and then showed it to him. He immediately wanted it on his bed. I was hoping this would go over well but with everything, the unexpected is the expected. After his bath, he got into bed and didn’t want the red blanket on him at all. He wanted it next to him but when I tried to put it on him he pushed it off and put it back on the other side of the bed. This is like everything else and could take him a while to get used to. Thankfully Curious George was still for the win because off to bed he told me to go and he stayed in his bed, mostly. Autism is as much about how I handle it as it is about Owen having it so I’m thankful for his progress but I also have to remember to give myself the same kindness and grace I always talk to him about. We are both learning and growing through this journey. He screams a lot. It’s not always screams of anger or frustration. There are as many happy screams as there are mad ones but it is all noise and it is all loud. I remind myself to breathe. Be kind to your heart, remember you are amazing, and be brave in the adventures of tomorrow. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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