What To Do About Wednesday

“Okey dokey”, Owen said. I’m not sure what he was referencing, but he walked by, and said it. He holds on to phrases, using them randomly. Sometimes I really don’t know where they come from, other times they are expressions he heard years before. His memory is long, and will reference things I didn’t even know he knew. I’m amazed daily by him. Today school was closed because of the cold weather, and his church program tonight, as well. He’s asked several times to go to school, and church. He misses both of them when he can’t go. He also wants to go bowling, and to the coffee shop. His days are routined, so if he is not going to school, he thinks he should be doing his weekend activities. He really wants to go to the bowling alley, so he is setting timers on his tablet to tell us when to go. “Five minute timer go off den we get ready”, he said. It makes me happy that he understands why I use the timers for him, and I’m amazed that he has learned how to set them to go off. Not so excited that he set one for hours later, waking up in the middle of the night to hear it going off, but I was happy for the progress that timer meant. He seems to be smiling a lot more lately. Some days feel loner than others, but when I see his smile it brightens up my day. Even though Owen is learning to talk, he doesn’t always know how to communicate, or express himself. Some days he cries, or lashes out, because he has no other way to tell me what is going on. My heart aches for my little boy when he can’t tell me what he needs to. He looks over at me, and I hold up the “I love you” sign. He smiles, talking to me about what he’s watching. I keep looking at him, smiling, to see what he will do, and he is doing the same thing. His smile, that’s what keeps me going. Through rain there is the promise of sunshine. One day at a time, keep pushing forward. Smiles to all and donut daze!