Jacob’s bus arrives at approximately 8:40 in the morning. They are almost always on time. In order to get everything done that I need to, Jacob needs to be up and out of bed by 8:00AM at the latest. But, like a lot of kids on the spectrum, he has a difficult time calming down at night.

He is doing fantastic things these days. He is talking more (and not just about his favorite shows or stories), he is playing with his brother with some great pretend play, he is participating in group activities at school and even volunteering answers during group reading! I don’t see him stimming much at all during the day but it seems to catch up with him in the evening. That’s fine. I’ve got no issue with that. I love seeing all the progress he’s making.

So, by 7:45 or 8:00 in the evening, he starts getting wound up and jumping around the room. He brushes his teeth, gets dressed for bed and then says, “Dad, I need some time alone in my room, please.” So, he gets it. We hear him up there jumping around and talking and laughing. (Sounded like he was going to come through the ceiling last night!) I asked him what he was talking about and he said, “Mom, I’m a Power Ranger.”

What all that means is that he is still awake most nights until at least 10:00PM, sometimes closer to 10:45. What that also means is that he is TIRED in the morning. Fortunately, he is not grumpy in the morning. (Very un-Bailey like.) When I go to wake him, he will say, “One more minute?” I usually give it to him. Most days, he’ll lie up there a few more minutes and then come down without any more prompting from me. (Again, very un-Bailey like… he certainly doesn’t get that from me.)

That gets him downstairs most days by about 8:15 or so. And, though I have his breakfast ready and waiting for him, I still have to get all of his supplements ready (two of them are liquid ones that you have to shake up so I can’t pour them until he is ready to take them), make sure he takes them and has time to eat and get dressed AFTER I have put some oils on his feet that help with his allergies. (Needless to say, I run around like a crazy woman trying to make sure he gets everything he’s supposed to.)

Today, we went out with me shoveling the last few bites of his breakfast into his mouth as we walked down the yard to the bus, while he was putting his backpack on his shoulders.

Once he’s on the bus, I let out a big sigh that we made it (sort of on time) once again.

Why then does he wake up at 6:45AM almost every Saturday?

Crazy as it sounds, the look of pain on my little Bean’s face when he broke his arm has been haunting me a little bit. Thankfully, I have a new, wonderful picture in my head of his sweet face! I took him to school today for the first time in over two weeks. He was a little nervous about going and even tried to talk me into letting him stay home one more day. But I convinced him he would have fun. Wow, was that an understatement.

When we got to the school, he was still a bit tense and started stalling in the office. But, when we walked into his classroom, you’d have thought a cloud of fireworks just went off in there! Those kids turned and saw Christopher and they all started screaming and smiling and running towards him. His little face lit up like the sun!! They all came running and started hugging him and yelling his name. He was like a rock star. And, oh, that face! You know how kids get that wide eyed, open mouthed, smiling from ear to ear look when they are really excited? That’s the look he had. It was amazing and so incredibly heartwarming! I think he almost cried he was so excited.  I can’t get the picture of that sweet smile out of my head!! And, I love it! (Unfortunately, I was so wrapped up in the moment I didn’t think to get an actual picture!)

I had to spend the day there with him today to make sure he didn’t get too jostled around and to sort of help him figure out how to navigate in the classroom with his arm in the cast. When we left near the end of the day, as we walked to the car together he said, “This was the best day of the entire school year!”

Tonight when I go to bed, that is the face I will see in my dreams. And, I think Christopher will see all those kids running for him with excitement on their little faces and he’ll fall asleep with a smile.