There is a difference between “seahorses” and “see horses”. And truly, who needs sleep. Not us. Owen was up at one. Sure he went back to sleep but I hadn’t even fallen asleep at that point yet. He woke up by six and was ready for his day. Me, not so much. We had a very busy day ahead of us. Today was therapy day and we were going to a horse farm. I kept telling him we were going to see horses but I realized at some point he thought we were going to the “water” for “seahorses”. I didn’t know how this was going to go. He watches a video that shows a seahorse so once I realized he thought we were going to the water I started showing him horses and he said, “ride in little red wagon”. I had driven him by the area before. This helps with some of his anxiety when he knows where we are going. When we got to the stables I got out his “little red wagon” and he was ready to go. He was also anxious at this point but at least he was sitting in his wagon and he wanted to walk. When we walked inside the stable there were several animals there to greet us. Owen was squealing and wanting to keep moving but I kept talking to him, pointing out the animals. So far we were doing better than I expected. The lady that I had spoken to on the phone came to meet us and she started talking to both us. She had us come further into the stables and telling us about the horses. We kept walking with her past the different stalls. We got to a more open area and there were a couple of horses in it. One of the horses, Otter, was watching us as we continued to get closer. Owen was getting calmer at this point but still wasn’t sure what to make of everything. I had pushed his wagon close to the pin so he could see the horse and we started talking to him. He was very interested in Owen and the wagon. He was touching the handle of the wagon and we could see his “teff”. This fascinated Owen even more. We stayed there for quite a while talking to the horse and I was learning how I should hold my hand near it so he would be comfortable with me. Owen became calmer as our time went on. When I was talking with the lady at one point he picked up a piece of hay off the ground and held it out for Otter. He grabbed it from Owen and I could see the connection growing. This made my day. I didn’t know how it would go but he didn’t want to leave. He said, “ two more minutes ten minutes five minutes one minute”. I told him we would come back again soon. The horse was as happy as Owen was. When we left he was calm the entire way home. We ate our lunch and then it was time for his therapy. He did great in the car and hardly told me any directions for us to get there, except “turn right at the kangaroo”. That will be another connection I have to figure out. His therapist told me he did good but seemed to be sleepy. I explained that we didn’t sleep much and we went to see the horses. When we left he asked me for a “fancy chocolate moo milk” and wanted me to get a coffee. We got our drinks and headed home. I was dreading the ride home, hoping for the best but still expecting a meltdown. We made it home without a meltdown. He said, "Otter had a tail and teff he make smile". Happiness is seeing my sweet baby O smile. I think Otter and Owen will both be smiling the next time they see each other. Find joy in the world around you and know that tomorrow is a brand new day. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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