On Sunday, Halloween, we didn't have any formal plans. I was still waffling with whether or not to take the kids TOT'ing or to linger at home. We went for a grocery run, however, and took a chance at going to both Costco and Jewel. We survived Costco with Ronin whining for monster trucks he saw in the toy aisle. I tried to avoid those aisles like the plague because things always end badly, but the heavy kid blankets I wanted to get were perched exactly on the corner of a toy aisle. Thankfully, Nikko didn't see one particular item and get attached to it. But when we arrived at Jewel he was at the beginning of whiny mode. We split up to shorten our trip and I had Nikko with me to get grapes and Pop Tarts. He was stimming by running up and down the cereal aisle, punching at boxes that I would have to pick up if they fell on the floor. Denis and I reconvened in the dairy aisle and Nikko picked up a carton of yogurt, refusing to part with it. I knew we could leave it out of the cart at check-out. We got to the self-check-out lanes and Nikko was in full cry mode. We are not sure what sparked it. He had all his toys in his hands and he wasn't really attached to the yogurt. Since he was the only screaming kid in the store I ordered Denis to take him outside so I could finish checking the cart out. He picked Nikko up and Nikko's screams reverberated throughout the store. The other two were quiet in the cart. Once back into the Pilot, Nikko was screaming and thrashing violently. I was so thankful that he wasn't taking shots at Audrey, but I was also trying to figure out why he was having a meltdown. I really couldn't figure it out so we had to listen to his crying all the way home and into the house. EVENTUALLY he calmed down inside while he sat in my lap, and minutes after that he was in the living room watching TV as if nothing happened. It's truly remarkable how so much energy is put into these meltdowns and when he's finished he returns to deafcon 5 while I am still recovering from it.
At 3:00p we took the kids outside to do yardwork and watch out for TOT'ers. Ronin had his hard hat on but I didn't put the others in a costume. I had no desire to take them anywhere and they didn't seem to mind at all. However, when the neighbor's girl Brianna came with a large group of kids, with Rachel watching them from the sidewalk, Ronin ran to me full of anxiety and said he wanted his bag. He wanted to go TOT'ing with them. Of course I didn't want him to be upset so I let Denis lead him away. Ultimately, Rachel took Ronin along for TOT'ing around the block. He was SO happy to tag along. When he came back to show me all the candy he got, I praised him and said, "And now I'll trade you that candy for a LOLLIPOP! ISN'T THAT COOL??" Ronin replied, "YEAH!!" so he took a DumDum and I confiscated his "itchy" candy and put it in the house. I wasn't as lucky with Nikko and Audrey, who seemed to thrive on eating chocolate. I definitely had to cut them off and neither of them stopped willingly. Nikko had no desire to put on a costume or go from house to house. Maybe next year will be better because Ronin and Audrey will probably want to go TOT'ing and Nikko will come along no matter what.
I didn't expect much from dinnertime since the kids had so many lollipops and candy. I think the candy affected Nikko because he wouldn't sit down at all. He lounged across the two fold-up chairs in the kitchen and hardly ate his pasta. He doesn't get chocolate often at all, so I wonder if it made him act differently.
Today he was in a good mood except for when Jenna arrived for ABA. Nikko let out a panicked whine and didn't want to stay downstairs at the beginning of the session. He was glued to the base of the stairwell. I finally left to let Jenna figure out how to get him back to work at the table. He did, eventually, and completed all his tasks even when he was crying through them. I really hope Kathy doesn't have this kind of problem tomorrow.
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