Proven Saturday

I’m loving this sleep thing. Owen struggled a little bit last night going to sleep. It seems like he was working through emotions but thankfully he slept all night and woke ready for his day. Exploring emotions in itself is exhausting for both of us. My emotions sometimes upset him, his emotions can put me on a rollercoaster, and our emotions we are learning to breathe through. He now says, “elephants eat peanuts with Goofy” sometimes when he needs to express something more than one time that he knows he isn’t supposed to be focusing on like “blue pants.” I like that he is starting to redirect himself. Even though he kept asking about when he was going to see his grandma he was not processing the steps to get us there. I knew he didn’t want to miss seeing her again on his Saturday though. He was very concerned about the weather. Once I said that I would go sit back down if he didn’t want to go see grandma he put a pep in his step and got ready. I have to watch my words because he holds on to them and references back to them like with the weather but I also need him to make connections to his actions and reactions. He put his shoes on the correct feet this time but his jacket backward. I’m not sure how he does this or why but he was ready to go. I helped him fix it and we were out the door in pretty much record time. When we got to grandma’s house she had the campfire going and the marshmallows ready for toasting. His grandma is the best. He made his request earlier in the week and she had it ready for him. I left him there and came back for him a few hours later. He wanted to go to the “little park and little Donald’s” but I told him we weren’t going to the park today. I didn’t want to say “because it was too cold” then those are words that would turn into a concern for him when I reference them again. He transitioned well when we told him the park was closed and that instead, he could ride his bike on the driveway. He walked outside and said, “the mud gets hurt.” I’m not sure what that referenced. He usually takes his balance bike but they also have a tiny bike that he never rode before but now loves it. He grabbed it and started riding it around. It is so small for him but he rides it like a balance bike since he doesn’t understand how to ride with only two wheels. I showed him his new helmet and he absolutely loved it. Hats aren’t always something he wants to wear so this was huge that he took to it so quickly. He loves dropping his bike to the ground and then laying next to it in this very dramatic fashion, posing in different ways. He takes his bike out like he is a wrestler in a ring winning a match. When he was little he would fall and I would make a big deal out of checking to see if he was ok so we could have conversations. I wanted him to know how to tell me when he was hurt so I may have helped create this dramatic interpretational bike dance performance. We went to the “little Donald’s” when we left and then came home. He was happy. I think about the huge meltdowns he used to have almost every single time we were in the car. I’m thankful he has mostly moved on from the concern over the stoplights even though he still talks about them. He told me he wanted a Pete the Cat cupcake. It’s always interesting. He was asking Alexa for more words in several languages. He asked for “grandma grandma grandma” in many languages and his go-to is “buffalo buffalo buffalo” in Arabic and Portuguese. He had an amazing day with a side of drama and a mix of fun and humor. It’s funny that one of the reasons I didn’t like to paint with watercolors is that I never felt like I had any control with them, they seemed to do what they wanted. It’s like life though. Once we let a thought go, pay an action forward, or even sit on an idea we no longer have control over it or with it. Be brave in your decisions, be kind with your heart, and remember what is in your control and use that to shine your light on the world and share your story. Smiles to all and donut daze!