Friday.

This morning I was getting Nikko's backpack with him and we stood in the foyer/kitchen putting on his shoes when I looked at his face and he looked like he was going to cry. But he didn't. I took Ronin along with us outside and instructed him to sit down by the lamppost to guard my phone and my sunglasses and to NOT MOVE. Guess what? He didn't. I think that the fact that he can see me, that Nikko sits at the front and that I don't disappear from his sight helps him to stay put while I buckle Nikko in. Nikko just looked at me as the bus pulled away and there were no tears. I had put the green Westbrook shirt over his onesie because Fridays are supposed to be Spirit Day where you wear the school colors. I took a gamble that he might be hot. When he came back, I got on to release him and his hair was wet. It was either because they had playground at the end of the day and he ran around, or he was hot on the bus [because of the shirt]. As I unbuckled him, a little blonde girl in the next seat craned her neck up and over the seat to say, "Good bye, Nikko!" Good bye, Nikko!" I turned him around so he could look at her and she chirped farewell again. I was happy to see that maybe he had a little friend after all. In his backpack was a weekly newsletter, a reminder that next week is a parent meeting, and a set of pictures in a clear plastic sleeve of all his classmates and the teachers for him to practice names. There are 13 kids including himself in the class. 8 are supposed to be neurotypical (normal), and 5 are special needs kids. Nikko had lunch and then fell asleep on the couch, which is always a good sign to me. I stretched out the afternoon with Ronin napping as well. It was an On week to go to the in-laws for dinner so I had us leave early so we could get there early and run around in the driveway since the weather was great. We did just that.

Today, Nikko and Ronin have been getting into some battles. They take turns being at fault. Nikko will want the car or truck that Ronin has, and Ronin will impose himself on Nikko. I have to pry them apart at times and redirect, because Time Outs are not working. When I tried in the past to put Ronin in a Time Out, he would sit there, not look at me, and just keep screaming. I hate having to turn his face up to mine so he will see me, so I gather he just doesn't get Time Out. That's fine. Nikko's been signing for crackers and cookies to me, but I don't give him unless he signs More and if it's an appropriate time. Sometimes it's not, and he'll throw himself on the floor in a tantrum if I don't redirect him to a vitamin or other distraction. Tomorrow we don't have any grandiose plans, but I do hope I can cut the boys' hair.