Visiting my in-laws is always a good test for us to see how far Andy has come. Taking Andy out of his comfort zone (home) and away from his usual routine really shows us how much Andy really truly knows and understands if he can take his new skills into a new environment.
We had a few areas that we were particularly curious about...eating, sleep and rides.
1) Eating - Andy recently started eating vegetables, without them hidden in muffins. We wanted him to start carrying this new skill outside of our house. Food is often where Andy's anxiety comes out. If he's feeling stressed then the first thing he'll do is either seek food out or refuse to eat. Andy ate like a champ this weekend....including vegetables!
2) Sleeping - This is another area that Andy's stress will show. Often when we go to my in-laws Andy takes hours to settle and is usually up in the middle of the night. Not this weekend...he fell asleep easily and slept like an angel both nights! What a relief... John and I even managed to get out for a few hours so I could see my first demolition derby!
3) Rides - This summer we promised that as a family we were going to be seeking out more fun. When we were brainstorming ideas amusement parks kept coming up but we'd never even attempted rides with Andy. Well, it just so happens that the fair was in town while we were visiting the in-laws so off we went...and Andy was rock star! No stress at all, full of smiles and started leading us to new rides!
We had an amazing weekend with the great-grandparents and grandparents. Andy and Emily were both in their glory. One of the sweetest moments was watching Andy have fun with others.
It's gonna be a great summer of FUN!
That's definitely a visit for the books! Go Andy!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks...it's so exciting to get to see him enjoy himself out of the house and routine:)
ReplyDelete