Well Off Wednesday

Nothing like a good night’s sleep for my baby to make my day start off right. One night, it’s only the first night, but I’m so happy Owen was able to sleep. We are trying a new supplement and within a half-hour of taking it he was out, slept all night, and woke up laughing. I hope that night two goes the same way. I sat for hours after he fell asleep thinking about the past couple of months. The struggle he goes through to fall asleep and to stay asleep has always been hard, but it seems like it has been causing more problems during the day. I can’t say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree though, because I’ve never been a great sleeper. It’s hard to explain to Owen why he needs sleep or that he has to at least try to go to sleep. His body fights through those quiet moments with constant stimming and restlessness. We had several hours before we had to leave this morning for our day. He screamed his happy, high-pitched squeal of delight, looking over at me as if to say try and stop me. He knows he’s not supposed to scream, but the appeal is too great. There’s a difference in his screams that somehow I can tell apart now. Happy screams and meltdown screams come from two different places and leave us both with different emotions. As we were getting ready to leave I put Owen’s shoes on him. I didn’t get his left shoe on just right, because he instantly started grabbing the Velcro and trying to move it. But he didn’t know how to pull it up. It’s a skill we have been working on, but he hasn’t mastered it yet. I adjusted the strap and went to get our things to leave. I put Owen in the car, got in, and he immediately started crying. His shoe was bothering him again. I was able to fix it and he stopped crying. From there it was all smiles and for that I am thankful. One day at a time. One moment at a time. And know you are not alone.