Busy week and Mason's birthday

Last week was crazy busy.  Mason had his usual three appointments.  I was gone for two nights at parent/teacher conferences.  On Saturday, we celebrated Mason's 3rd birthday.

I took Mason to his first OT appointment last Tuesday.  He has never had a tantrum at this appointment since the very first times in June.  Thirty minutes into the appointment, he decided he wanted to get his sucker (they always give kids one as they leave).  The OT and I tried to distract him and tell him that we were going to keep playing.  Mason was having none of that.  He started to go into insane tantrum zone and got a few good hits on the OT (which never makes you feel good as a parent).  This OT had never seen him this disregulated. Unfortunately, we couldn't get him to move past the sucker incident and left the appointment early. He was then mad that we had to leave early because once he had his sucker, he wanted to go back and play.  We wanted to enforce that once you get your sucker, you leave since we were not physically able to stop him from getting the sucker.  It was a disappointing way to end the appointments that are usually a good experience.

Mason's speech appointment was Wednesday, so Zach took him while I was at p/t conferences.  He said it went awesome!  Mason was really regulated and engaged with him and the speech therapist. They took him to his future classroom and met his preschool teacher.  Mason saw the playground outside and tried to leave through the classroom.  They told him they had to go a different way to get outside, which he comprehended and calmly followed them a different way.  That is a big deal for him!  My mom took Mason to his second OT appointment.  He was really regulated and engaged with the OT.  Evidently, she kept talking about how awesome Mason was doing compared to normal. The OT was able to do a lot of body work and played a lot with him.

The common theme that we are noticing is that when I take Mason to appointments by myself, he is much more disregulated.  When Zach or my parents take him, he is completely fine!  Even if they are with me at the appointment, Mason is completely fine.  I don't know what I do or what about my relationship with Mason that makes him more disregulated.  It's frustrating know that my very presence limits what he can get out of an appointment.  It makes me feel like I am doing something wrong or I should do something differently, but there is no clear cut thing to change. Sigh. Zach (and maybe my parents) are going to try to take Mason to more appointments with me or without me.  It's unfortunate because I don't have to take off of work to take him to any appointment, but everyone else would have to take off of work.  It's just another piece to the puzzle of Mason.

Mason's 3rd birthday was Saturday.  It's amazing to think he is 3.  The past 3 years have brought so many changes, especially in the last year.  As much as many of these changes have been so hard to comprehend and accept, I know that it has helped bring us all closer.  We understand Mason more than before, which makes it easier to help him and meet him where he is at.  All I know is that I would not change anything for the world.  I have learned more about love from Mason, which has made my life so much more than I ever thought it could be.

For Mason's birthday, we had some family and friends come over.  We kept the birthday festivities to a minimum since Mason would not understand or enjoy them.  My parents got Mason a swing in the basement, so he loved being in there!  He was happy for most of the party and opened a few gifts.  He definitely felt overwhelmed when everyone looked at him and sang happy birthday, which you can see in the video. After he went to bed, we were able to keep celebrating with our family and friends.  It was a great day.

Here are some pictures and videos from the weekend and of the kittens:

Mason snuggling with Yoda and I after I didn't see him for two days.

The kittens fell asleep in the cupboard.  Mason was very excited to talk to them.

Mason petting Yoda as Yoda tries to steal his cereal.

Mason waiting for grandma and grandpa to come over.  The wait was torturous!

Mason's new basement swing!  He loves it!! We also love it because we could watch the end of the Lions game with Mason happy in the swing.

Mason's birthday party!!  Nate is feeding Yoda nacho cheese.

Mason opening a gift and sitting by grandpa.

Happy birthday Mason! Love you!