Owen slept until after five and was ready to get in the car to go to therapy. “You open the window check in,” he said after being awake for only a few minutes. Routine means absolutely everything to him and routine has to absolutely mean everything to me or the anxiety that it causes him ripples across the ocean like waves trying to reach the shore. He asked me once, twice, thirty, or more times before breakfast was even over. He wanted to make sure he was going to therapy today. Spring break breaks my heart and I’m already dreading summer. Thankfully there is summer school but that’s such a short amount of time compared to the weeks off he has. My heart aches for the hours he spends thinking about the days ahead when his routine is not what he wants it to be. The more I can do to help him redirect his energy moves him forward but it’s draining. I drank some coffee and I swallowed wrong. I tried to explain I was coughing and needed space to just catch my breath. He got right up to my nose and fake coughed in my face. He doesn’t like the emotions I show. He’s still learning to process his own and mine don’t always work with his. I asked him are you ready for breakfast, a waffle, sausage dog, or some eggs? He said, “no therapy.” That is how almost every question was answered except when I talked to him about the big slides tomorrow for his birthday that we aren’t calling a party. It’s too much for him to handle so we just have a few fun moments and let him run around and have fun with a few friends coming. He was so happy talking to Alexa this morning. He was back to asking her words in all the languages. He hadn’t done that in a while. Sometimes, a lot of times, I sit because of the silence it provides. Owen gets overstimulated by my actions and reactions. It causes ripple effects and sitting provides the calm for my soul. This isn’t always the right answer or a solution but calm is what both of us need on those days. He did great at therapy with all three of his therapists. His occupational therapist had him work with scissors and they were squeeze scissors. These seemed to work well with him. Then they played the pirate game he requested. He told her he was going to play it with his grandma. His speech therapist was very excited about his sounds and how he was doing with his sentence structure. I put some jeans on him that had a tiny frayed spot a little bigger than a pin head and then did a second thought but decided to leave them on him. He was swinging with his physical therapist and he jumped off the swing on purpose as he does and the hole split open. He didn’t realize it at first but once he did I thought he would have a meltdown or want new pants right away but he did great. He talked about the hole, wanted it put back together, and asked for new pants but he didn’t scream or go into meltdown mode. It was a great moment for me for him. It felt like huge progress. He was full of great words and explanations throughout the day. He talked about Donald Duck as Humpty Dumpty and explained what he saw in vivid detail. He wanted to take his bath early and he was happy about bubbles in his hair. He said he was “splashing the bathroom wet” and he was. My sweet baby O sailed through the day with only a few ups and downs. He is ready to get in the car for his big slide adventure tomorrow. Through challenges we grow and we learn that the victories come from the steps we take after we walk through the obstacles of life. You are strong and you can rise above those challenges to celebrate your victories. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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