Progress at the most unexpected time

We had a rough week here but it also resulted in a bit of a turn around so I'll take it.  Junior has a serious negative reaction when we go to the doctor.  We tried talking to him prior to the doctor about what to expect and he knew what the reward would be if he was good.   Didn't matter, it was a horrible experience,until shortly after the doctor walked in.  For some reason when he saw that the doctor was a male it caused him to turn around and the behaviors improved drastically.  

We talked about his behavior and what the consequences would be.  I was clear that he wasn't a bad boy and I didn't hate him, I just didn't like his behavior.   We try to use logical consequences with him:

• He takes off his seatbelt while we are driving he is fined just like I would have been if the police stopped us.
• He throws a football in my face he loses the football for a week. 

It was decided that he would do 3 good deeds.  This included him doing the dishes one night, emptying the kitty litter and today he helped me with shoveling the driveway and a bunch of other cleaning.    All of this was done with no complaints which is great.  

The biggest change since then has been in his affection levels.   Since Wednesday he has been super cuddly, he calls me mommy much more often, he has said "I love you" multiple times, and he gives spontaneous kisses. Tonight when I was doing the laundry we had the following conversation:

Jr:  I love you mommy

Me:  I love  you too Jr.

Jr:  You don't need to call me by my name anymore

Me:  If I don't call you by your name what would I call you. 

Jr:  Son

It is so funny how kids think.  

There has also been a great deal of progress this week with him playing on his own.   He is now able to sit down and play by himself and in another room which is huge.    

I know we still have a long road ahead and this may not seem like progress to some, but I think it is huge.