New town, new house, new school...calls for a whole new routine

The last two weeks have been absolutely crazy! We pride ourselves in keeping a predictable routine for Brycen as we know he relies on this to thrive and be comfortable in his surroundings.

Those who know him know how he can get stuck in a routine and if one little thing happens, it can be disaster for the next several days. Those who know him also know that he can surprise us with adapting to change when we least expect it.

Mike and I worked hard at unpacking the entire house (except for some select boxes of wall hangings and such) from the time the truck delivered on that Wednesday morning and I drove the almost 4 hours from SL to Strawberry Pt, until Thursday afternoon when the kids arrived with my parents. It was non-stop work...exhausting! We knew if we were going to have any luck at Brycen adjusting, we had to make him comfortable from the beginning which meant he could not see the new house without his belongings set up and ready for him.

We also knew he would be adjusting to a new school, new teachers, new town, new therapists and hospital, around him at the same time. All of this change would be hard for any child, any adult...and here we are, forcing so much on him at one time.

I am so happy to share with everybody that Brycen has exceeded our expectations in adjusting to everything! There was a bit of a rough start to school with him being very attached when we did an initial visit that Friday morning, and with him crying when I left him there the following Monday morning...but that was it. He eagerly gets his backpack and shoes when I tell him in the morning, walks into the school with a smile, and waves/says "bye" to me with prompts when I leave. He also rode the school van home today with NO PROTESTING! Our goal is for him to be able to ride to and from school every day. The van driver did tell me he became a little upset when she turned off the main road to drop off another little girl first...but he did calm down when she reassured him he goes home next. Amazing how only a week of going back and forth to school and he knows the direct route to our house!!

Not only has this adjustment went well, he has also proved to us that he can fall asleep on his own. We knew we did not want to carry him up the stairs to his room after rocking him every night, so we decided to put the rocking chair in his room just in case. We did rock the first night we were here, and he protested the rocking in his room at first. He is so used to rocking while I am watching TV and he kept trying to get down and wanted to leave his room. I decided I was not going through the fight every night and would just have to figure out a new routine at night for him. So the following two nights when Mike was at work closing the store, I vowed to myself that I would make him lay in bed to fall asleep no matter how upset he got or how guilty I felt. He surprised me in not protesting laying in bed at all by himself. The first two nights were very busy and time-consuming, as I would tell him I would be right back and leave the room for a minute. I gradually worked up to about 10 minutes and he fell asleep! I think I went in and out about 8 times the first night...and only about 5 times the second night. Now, over a week later, he is still doing this every single night and now we only have to go in 2-3 times before he falls asleep!

Now, as I type, we are preparing for his first appointment at the Manchester hospital for his speech and Occupational therapy this afternoon at 2. I'm going with no expectations, knowing he has proved me wrong lately in that he can fall asleep on his own and he can ride the van home from school with no problems. I know there could be protesting to a new environment and new people he will work with...but if this is the only negative reaction we see to all of this change, it reassures me that he and we have made a whole lot of progress in the last year in this area!