I requested a microwave and fridge for the room. In addition, I took the toaster oven to make sure all of my son's food was prepared and ready to go as needed. I took his morning cereal and bowl, soy milk, plastic cutlery, disposable plates, ziploc bags, aluminum foil for the toaster oven, endless bags of his GFCF pretzels, cookies, fruit compotes, tapioca bread, peanut butter, tater tots, chicken nuggets, waffles and vegan cheese. Also his lunch box, thermos, sippy cup and a 24 pack of purified bottled water. Most importantly, all his supplements had to go on the trip as well. One big cooler full of ice for all the cold items went on vacay as well. My son's diet is limited to these items as of right now. It's all he will eat and it's all GFCF No, we were not moving in, I swear!
We timed the drive there so that he would nap in the car. It was really only a 1.5 hour drive and he only napped for the last half hour. Luckily, the lack of sleep did not really hurt him later. He jumped on the bed the minute we walked into the room and had a blast doing so. We don't mind either. He gets such a huge smile on his face!
We had to take a tram to reach the beach. This meant WAITING in line. He was a little antsy, but the tram came fairly fast with no chance to really have a meltdown. We spent the afternoon on the beach watching the sunset. Beautiful.
He insisted in going into the water and did so up to his waist! Of course, once he was over it, he wanted "all done with pants" (even though he was wearing shorts) and we could not take it off because my hubby had taken his diaper off and forgotten to put something else on him. (Have I mentioned he is not yet potty trained? He won't go while wearing clothes, which is good and an improvement from before, but not potty trained yet.)
He stayed in his wet shorts and we waited for the tram to take us back. This time, it took a good 15 minutes which in autism world means 30 minutes or more. He kept pulling our hands and saying "bye bye." We did explain what was going on, but he didn't understand. Have you ever spoken English to someone who does not speak the language? Yeah, that's how it goes except he also cannot comprehend or reason. How is that for fun?
Once again, right before a meltdown happened, the tram magically appeared and all was back to normal. Phew, dodged that bullet. Back to the room for family dinner. Decided to order in and relax this night.
The next morning we also had breakfast in and then headed to the pool. My son, who we lovingly nickname Nemo because of his love of swimming, wasted no time and went right into the pool with my husband. The pool was still not getting sun and still quite cold, but he did not care. My husband had the good idea to take him on the hotel slide with him. That spooked him and now he did not want to come near us in fear we would attempt to take him on again. It was fun spending an hour trying to rebuild the trust that, hey, we just might not be after him for that. Spent most of the day switching on and off with my husband going into the pool with him. In the back of my head I kept fearing any additional stimming and behavior that all of the excessive pool chlorine would cause. But tried hard to have a relaxing time in spite of constant reminders that we are just not that "normal" of a family.
For instance, it was not fun when my son playfully splashed water at a girl twice his size and shoved a little boy. In his world, this was his way to interact with them. He did it all with a proud smile on his face. Not one mean bone in his body. We ran to the rescue, had him apologize to the kids and showed him (attempted to anyway) the proper way to interact with them. Luckily, the kids were sweet and patiently sat back as he did all these things. He would repeatedly attempt to get near the slide landing to feel the water as it rippled, which of course is dangerous. My husband had to keep swimming in to fish him away from there. This was over and over, all afternoon. There was a piña colada for my husband and I somewhere in there. We still attempted to get some sun and get into the tropical vibe. Called it a day late in the afternoon and headed back to the room for baths. I put my son down for his nap and my husband escaped for a massage while I showered.
Once my husband got back, I prepared dinner for my son in the room and then we headed out for our dinner. Found a really cool restaurant which is Italian and sushi bar all at once! Walked in and panicked when we realized there was live music. My son loves to hum and hold his ears when this is the case. We figured we would try it anyway.The host said our son was "the cutest thing she had ever seen." I think so ;) Of course it helped he was wearing his "Sorry girls, I only date models" tee. They walked us to a perfect table: by a window, away from the main dining room and near a wall with a plug on it. This way my son could look out the window, be as loud as he wanted without disrupting anyone and we could plug in his DVD player without the fear that the battery would die. Yeah us. As usual, we delayed bringing out the DVD player as an exercise of patience for him. He sat without holding his ears! This was great. He alternated between sitting and bopping his head to the music and looking out the window. He did good and perhaps the longest he has gone without flipping out. Once the food arrived, we finally took out the DVD player and it was heaven. He was able to focus by having the DVD player there with him. Sort of like his crutch. To our surprise, he kept dancing in his seat. He did it even to Brown Eyed Girl. Woohoo! Had an amazing dinner overall complete with wine, dessert and coffee! Left back to the hotel where my son ran around the lobby having a jolly ol' time.
The next day we did our morning routine. We packed and headed downstairs to catch the tram to the beach. We got our chairs and hung out most of the day. It was a beautiful day. We alternated between being in the water and out. My son was too tired at times and would sit and lounge on the chairs just like us. We could not interest him in his bucket and pail but we kept trying repeatedly. It was a picture perfect day all around until it was time to leave. We walked to pick up the tram back to the hotel and there were about 20 people in front of us. As is customary with some autistic children, routine is huge. My son was now used to walking, picking up the tram right away and leaving. Not today. There was a long,
hot wait. After he realized we were just standing there, he started to throw his head back in full screams, tears and even some kicking. I attempted to kneel down to eye level and explain in brief that the "choo choo" was coming and that we had to "wait." The more I attempted to explain, the louder he screamed, so we let him. We stood there poker faced while he went insane. I refused to walk away and show him that by doing that he got to step out of the line. Of course, I am sure everyone in line hated us. To our surprise, the family in front of us with two kids around the same age as our son used our situation to explain to their kids that this is how "they" look when they tantrum. LOL Made us feel like we had someone who understood. And their kids were typical! It was finally out turn. Like an automatic switch, the minute he saw the tram he smiled and was an instant angel. Phew! Got back to the room, where we did had his bath routine and then naps for all.
My turn for the massage this time. Very well timed I should add. I ran there, well not really but I wanted to. I walked to the spa and had a deep tissue massage and a pedicure. Heaven! I did not want to leave. They pretty much threw me out because it was closing time. So long peace! I felt rejuvenated and ready for the rest of our trip.I walked back in and my husband had fed our son dinner. Wow! This was great! We changed and headed out for us to have dinner. I wish we could do joint meals, but it's too hard with our son's diet. We found an Outback Steakhouse and had another nice experience. Other than him standing up in our booth a bunch of times, it was nice. I am thinking the key is to go to loud restaurants. Seems to work out good for us. It's so sad when the waitresses always offer us kiddie sippy cups, crayons and coloring pages. We always take them and attempt to use them with our son, but he doesn't care for it yet and certainly does not drink out of a straw.
We went back to the hotel after dinner and off to bed shortly after packing for the next day. At about 4am our son decided to get up and sing and dance. I guess he didn't get the vacation memo...sigh.....he was having the time of his life too! He finally nodded back to sleep again and woke up at 9ish. Yes! We managed to sleep some. Eventually we headed down to the pool again and had a small breakfast there. He was not as into the pool this time around so we decided to just leave back home. Once home, he picked up on his regular daily routine immediately.
I realize now that it was actually a good getaway. It's just hard to remember this while you are going through it. It's hard to let go and relax and I can only do so in hindsight, you know? I am learning to embrace the experiences rather than fear them. I do it all in the hopes that one day my son can enjoy them and tell me so. Wouldn't that be something?
