Rowen has managed to string together several days of peace in our house. I am amazed at his ability to turn the cheek and give kisses to his brother rather than the sleeper hold. Our 5-year-old autistic son who can pull the bumper off your car in the parking lot while yelling "Mr. Butt-Popper" (don't ask... I don't know either.) over and over again has been showing his sweet side. It's the side of him that I miss horribly when his alter ego (Hitler, anyone?) comes knocking at our door at 3 a.m. He's been raking in the smiley faces on his sweet little preschool chart and holding down the number of times he calls me mean in a day. He may be down to a dozen or so lately. Big stuff around here.
Here's the best part though... drum roll please. He has slept through the night for about 4 or 5 nights consecutively! No, he's not 6-months old with a raging milk addiction. He's five. We've spent many sleep-deprived nights trying to soothe or otherwise sedate, er I mean lull him into sleep. His nightly routine was to come in screaming and kick daddy out of bed. If we didn't oblige, the wrath of Rowen would knock the sandman into next week. So daddy would drag his half-alive butt out of bed to sleep in Rowen's room next to Goldie Henry the fish (may he RIP after Rowen played hide-and-seek with him under his fish rocks).
Later we got a little savvy and put a sleeping bag next to our bed. Miraculously, Rowen would come in at night and slip into his sleeping bag without a word. To him it was like going to Disney World on acid. Best. Thing. Ever. Thank you Experienced Mom From Our Autism Group for the idea. It worked like a charm for awhile. It worked, that is, until Rowen decided to start sleeping in his room. I'm not sure what made him change his mind after his 1,915 days since birth, but who's really couting, right? Or better yet, who wants to jinx it? I do think the 15 blankets we pile on him at night (to mimic a weighted blanket) has something to do with it. So what if we have to ring him out of a pool of sweat in the morning? (Just kidding, Children's Services!).
Brenner and I have exchanged many "who is this and what have you done with my autistic child?" glances in the past few days. It's been refreshing. I've been refreshed. Heck, I've had sleep so I feel like I'm starting to resemble my human form again. Praise the Lord for a little reminder of my former life as a person who sleeps at night. It's good to be back. Let's hope it sticks.
