That is the only way to describe today so far. What did I expect though coming out of a craptastic night? Last night started out just as usual. I made Nick a dinner of raviolis since our dinner was going to be a little later in the evening and he needed to stick to his routine. He had dinner around 6pm, after that was bathtime and lotion, and then he got his nightly leg/foot massage from Nana. He had also recieved his nightly medications of risperidal and melatonin. He should have been set for the night. Apparently not so. He woke up around midnight. Wide awake. I waited for him to go back to sleep on his own. And waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, after two solid hours of hearing him laughing and stimming, I gave him another dose of melatonin. Sometime around 3am he drifted back to sleep....I think. I don't know for sure because I was asleep by that time.
He woke up today before any of us did. I know I heard the alarm on our phone go off (and that happens at 7:45am) and Nick was awake before that. Mike got up with him and got him his morning yogurt. But Nick has gotten used to me doing that. He came down the hallway saying "Time to get up!" and tried to pull the blankets off me. I did not fully wake up until after 9am after I had my much needed caffiene and shower. To say Nick was grumpy would be an understatement. Our normal day consists of getting him to practice writing(something he hates doing, but usually does not protest a whole bunch), working on his Ipad, taking a walk outside, numerous breaks in between, but we end up getting a lot done actually. Today, we managed to get two lines of the letter A, and that is it. Numerous meltdowns and whininess. He was tired. The day was getting steadily worse and he was getting more and more upset. Around 1pm I did something I don't normally do. I gave him some melatonin and forced him to take a nap. The kid does not sleep during the day, no matter if he slept the night before. I did not want to end the day with the way things were going. So, we stopped everything and just took naps. Nick and I both fell asleep along with Mike, and I think I slept three solid hours. Nick and Mike woke before me, so they maybe had two hours. Ever since waking up from his nap, Nick has been in a much happier mood. Instead of crying and whining, he has been laughing and smiling. Sleep is what he needed today. Yes it sucks that I gave him something to put him to sleep, but now he is much happier because of it. We are not ending the day screaming at him. It is a Win-Win for all of us.
