The brain is fascinating and how little we understand it and how much it seems to understand on its own. The middle of the night would not be complete without a lost tooth in it. At first, I didn’t realize he had lost a tooth. We were up at least 15 minutes before Owen finally handed me his tooth. He was upset because the pirate tooth fairy didn’t come right then. He wanted his lollipop and coin. I told him we would have to do it later. Then I told him he needed to go back to bed and he told me no because he was sick. I thought this was an excuse to stay up but maybe he wasn’t feeling well. He then told me he needed me to wipe his nose. I liked his nose and then once again told him that he had to go back to bed. I could tell he was getting agitated, and he started talking about it being June. It amazes me how he can remember the days of the week the months of the year and keep track of it all. He wants nothing to do with a calendar or looking at his schedule. All of this is met was opposition. He knew it was June and he knew this was the month he would get to see his teacher again. I tried to explain to him that it wasn’t today that he would see his teacher, but he still had several more days before school started again. And I tried to convince him once again to go back to bed, but he still wanted to talk about it being June there was no more sleep to be had. He was calm and agitated all at the same time. As the morning went on, I knew I would not be taking him to his therapy. I could tell he wasn’t feeling well and his sinuses were really acting up. When I told him that he wasn’t going he said once again that he was sick, I knew I had made the right decision. The screams felt louder today. Generally, when he is sick, he will tend to make more noises and scream throughout the time. I think it is because of the noises he hears in his head from his sinuses. I could tell he was pretty exhausted all day. At one point he was watching the video of Curious George that helps him now fall asleep on his own. He was role playing on the couch while he was watching Curious George. He kept acting like he was asleep and would pull the cover up over him like on the video. His actions and reactions were also in full swing today. He needed plenty of confirmation as to what he was doing and what days he was doing them on. I did more research on how his brain reacts to words that I say, and actions that I do with him. Owen reacts to different things at different places in different ways. Between this and the way he associates colors, patterns, and words with what he is doing made me start looking at how his brain processes timing and movement. This is one of the reasons that he is in vision therapy. As I studied the brain more today, I realized that he has gone through another transition with wanting the lights completely off. I’ve been noticing that when he doesn’t feel well, the light causes him more issues. When the lights are off to me it feels like he is in more control over the situation. And I want to understand how the words that I say will cause repetitive behaviors in him. When does the behavior stop based on what I say and when do I make it harder? He wanted to take a bath and again it was great to watch him do role playing. A few days ago I started putting water in his container to wash the soap from his hair. I was joking around with him and told him that I had gotten the bottle stuck on his toe. He sat in the tub, saying that his toe was stuck in the bottle and he couldn’t get it out. The skills he used to get his toe in the bottle are exactly the progress I wanted to see and the follow through with something I showed him before and is now doing was also wonderful. It didn’t take long to convince him to go to sleep. The sleep part, however, took a little more time. I have more questions to ask his vision therapy doctor when we see her again in a couple of weeks. Even though he wasn’t feeling well I’m thankful it was a good day. Hopefully tomorrow he will be feeling much better. The pirate tooth fairy came to visit and he was excited to see his lollipop and coin. He didn’t need it, but he was happy to see it. The victory comes from following your heart, seeing the progress, and knowing that you are doing amazing. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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