Stimmy Saturday and Sunday / Improvements with his Dad

Not much in the world of Adam today. Today, he was pretty darned stimmy, absolutely craving to run around with a cell phone playing videos in his ear, and shaking down all comers for their cell phones. His dad, him, me, and my boy all took a long walk to the park while the sun was shining and that all went really well. Adam loved throwing pebbles in the pond, and he ran around like normal at the playground. He initiated some interaction from a trio of Jr High age girls who were hanging out on the jungle gym. Apparently fuzzy winter boots and wearing your pajama pants in the middle of the day is the new hotness as 2 of the 3 followed this uniform, with the third having on pants that weren't PJ's. LOL. Adam came up to them and said some incomprehensible things to them. Happily, with me around attempting to translate or asking him what he was asking, they didn't get mean in their response wondering what the hell this 8 year old was talking about, or "what's wrong with him." So, kudos to the boot and PJ wearin youth for some sensitivity, I guess!

After we got back, he gulped down some water, and about an hour later, had a near tantrum toward the middle of the afternoon. He either wanted a phone to stim on, or something not good for him and wans't happy with No for an answer. He also got a little destructive, tearing up some paper and throwing it around, and he got into my wallet and threw its contents kinda everywhere in the dining room, with a credit card on the ground and wadding up some receipts in the main section and throwing them on the ground. I caught him in the act of this, told him "no," and he laid on the ground calling "Dah-dee, dah-dee...." like he'd do when he was at our place earlier this week and I correct him for something (he'd call for my wife then).

He is due for B12 tonight, so this would seem to be a data point in our "maybe he needs more B12" thoughts, but Adam's dad reported that he wasn't appreciably different yesterday with respect to stimminess and making messes on purpose.

All this happened over at the in-laws (Adam's Dad/Grandma's house) around the corner by the way... I went there today to take in some football with Adam's dad. I'm thrilled that he's now just one day shy of being 1 month sober, and if I can be someone he can spend some time with without drinking, fine by me--I do enjoy his company when he's sober, and the idea of a boys day watching football is good times too.

This development with his Dad's sobriety is huge for Adam, and for his Dad I think. Getting Adam's dad more engaged will only help both of their recoveries. Big changes I see in his dad is that HE initiated us all going outside to play when it was clear Adam was getting a bit stir crazy inside, and was more than happy to amble all the way to the park and back.

Finally, there were some really cute moments between Adam and his Dad--they were playing a new game Adam seemed to pick up somewhere, where he talks (usually parotting a TV commercial like Capital One), and holds his dad's chin, making his chin move along with words Adam's saying. His dad was trying to do it back to him, but Adam didn't get that in this reverse role, he wasn't supopsed to talk! I got a video of it on my phone... it was awfully cute. So great to see the growth in Adam's dad here as he remains sober. I remain cautiously optimistic that it'll continue. His dad needs to learn how to fill up his time without thoughts drifting back to the drink, and hopefully in Adam he sees some opportunity in doing things with him as ways to keep his mind and body busy rather than just hanging around the house. For my part, I'll just keep engaging him in fun stuff to do with the boys and hope he continues to show interest in participating and keeps his car free of any places to pick up beer on the way home from work.