We had storms last night that woke me from my sleep numerous times. Then I looked at the clock and it was almost six in the morning. I listened for Owen and didn’t hear him. I got up and tried to be very quiet. When I came out of the bathroom I looked and he was asleep on the couch sitting straight up with the blanket over his head. He surprisingly didn’t wake when I went to the bathroom or got coffee. He slept for almost another thirty minutes. We had a very busy day ahead that I didn’t tell him about because I didn’t want him to get anxious. We ate some breakfast and after a while, I told him that he would be going to see his grandma. The first thing he said was “no breakfast.” He then told me “mommy go bye bye.” I told him that I would and then we would go to his therapy later. He was afraid we were going to a restaurant to eat breakfast. He then got concerned we were going on a trip and he started telling me “no trip today.” This is why it is so hard for us to do anything out of his routine. It’s not a matter of him doing something at the moment but the ripple effect that follows. He needs his routine and it is extremely hard on him when anything is out of his realm. I promised him we were not going on a trip. Next, he got it in his mind about the petting zoo. He went through the same steps. “No petting zoo today,” he said. I told him we were only going to grandma’s house and then therapy. I put some laundry to fold on my bed. He asked me to get him more milk so I left it sitting there. I came back to my bed and he followed me. I sat down to start folding it and he threw it all on the floor. Laundry is not supposed to be on my bed in his mind and anytime I put something on it he will throw it on the floor or take it to the trash. I breathe. When it was time to leave he wanted to take his robot with him so he could show his therapist. He had been telling me every day he wanted to show her so I made sure he took it with him in his bag. We also took one of his extra robots to leave at grandma’s house. Before we left he told me he wanted to take his “puzzle letters with me” to show his other therapist. I told him we couldn’t take both today but he had to make a choice of which one he wanted to take today so he chose the robot. It was a big robot party in the car there. He stayed with grandma for a few hours. I picked him up and I took him to therapy. When he showed his robot to his therapist he told her “I made a choice.” I explained that he got to choose which one he wanted to bring and he brought the robot. He told her “next time bring puzzle letter with you.” Sometimes he has a hard time with how he references himself in sentences but I think how incredibly far he has come. I was getting a new roof put on our house and I knew that having all of the people outside all day and the noises for hours would be too much for Owen. When we left therapy we went to get some chicken nuggets. I knew he loved the chicken nuggets from one place so I took him there but he kept asking for a cheeseburger. He ate the eight nuggets and then immediately requested, “ten chicken nuggets and a cheeseburger please.” We had plenty of time because I knew they wouldn’t be done with our roof so off to the next restaurant we went. By this time I wanted him to see what they were doing so he would know they would be there when we got home. We sat for a while and I gave him the other chicken nuggets and then we drove by our house. I asked him if he wanted to go inside or drive by his beloved windows. The windows won and won and won. He was calm and not screaming about them so we drove around for quite some time. I drove him back to our house and I told him we could go inside but we would hear the noises from the roof. I quickly rushed him past everyone as much as I could. He ran off to the bathroom when we walked inside and he yelled, “mommy change dress on.” He had had enough of this day. Thankfully the roofers were done in less than a couple of hours. He kept asking me to turn off the blender but was pretty calm in general about the noise. He ate the cheeseburger and French fries when we got home and then requested two waffles. In a three-hour timeframe, he ate a lot. Bedtime went easily and hopefully, the adventures of the day will let him sleep late again tomorrow. He knows he will “be with mommy” tomorrow and he was happy with that. The journey is not always easy to explain but the love sure is. I’m thankful for his words today and his growth. Today is a moment in time. Find your strength and keep moving forward. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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