A chronicle of my life events, including raising children with Asperger's syndrome, with Down syndrome and with love.
Life, love and laughter, with a few unexpected moments thrown in for good measure...
Sometimes having a brother, especially one close in age, is awesome. Someone to play with - someone to laugh with - someone to get into trouble with....
Sometimes having a brother - is an chance to exact revenge.
Oh, your hair is so soft! Mind if I pull it a little? That's right - just pretend I'm not here...
Sometimes I like to do blog posts on Wednesdays - they're usually just a picture. "Wordless Wednesdays" if you will...
Today, I'm going for the opposite. Because of something awesome, amazing, stellar, radical, fabulous, exciting and long overdue! A new Anti R-word idea. See for yourself....
It's what I try to tell my kids. There are so many, many words to convey how we feel and what we think. Do we have to limit ourselves to hurtful, hateful words when we experience frustration? When we want to be funny in the sarcastic way that so many have? We do not... we can know better and choose to do better. I have hope that by the time my kids are adults, the word, "retarded," will have passed out of common usage and that people will think with their hearts before their words pass their lips.
Yesterday kicked off the end-of-year holiday season with Halloween. Next up....Thanksgiving. To start the month off, I'd like to give a little thanks for some of the blessings in my life. Since we just had a major medical event in our family, I will have to put health first and foremost. Things are not perfect right now with all of us - but compared to all the awful things I worried about in the last 24 hours, we're doing just fine.
One of the other things I'm thankful for is how much progress Levi has made in his development and skills in the last few weeks. I'm certain he's still having hearing issues, but he is beginning to babble more. He's willing to practice walking more with his push toy and on the treadmill. AND he's decided that drinking from a straw cup is something he's willing to do (most of the time). If I get pushy about it, I think I can get him off the bottle in the next week....I'm so proud of my little pumpkin!
Drinkin' all by myself....
the more difficult twisty-hold-and-slurp
don't even think about taking my cup
Clapping for Himself - he's even proud about his straw skills!
Major, Major Brag Time! After months of watching Baby Signing Time videos and working sign language into his day as much as possible, Levi has finally decided he's ready to show us what he's learned. His very first sign. Yay, Levi!!
Learning to sign can be a huge deal for kids with Ds because they often develop verbal communication later, sometimes much later, than many other kids. Sign language can fill in the gaps until they learn to create all the complex sounds associated with speech. Some kids can develop huge vocabularies in sign language - and as they start learning to say the words verbally, the signs will slowly drop off and verbal communication takes over.
So, we've been working forever, seemingly with no results. Until today. It still took some prompting, but he did do the sign without physical assistance - I'd be willing to be that if we really celebrate and reinforce it, he'll start using it of his own accord in no time. And that will hopefully be the beginning of a snowball effect. Hooray!!
Today, whilst the Bigs were off at school, the Littles and I went to play with the cousins. They are very close in age and so they should enjoy each other's company, right? They do - as much as any one and two year-olds might.
But when the moment comes to try to capture the moment for posterity, well... you can see for yourself.
Well, this two-out-of-four is a start...
No, you have to stay put
Where are we supposed to be looking again?
Wait! Come back...
Kids! Really...we've almost got it...
Aaand....better luck next time.
Such are the perils of photographing the Littles. They're so cute, I almost didn't mind.
Scouting is better than hanging out in a tree all day!
Trevor is going to be joining "The Scouts" - the Cub Scouts, specifically. We're very excited for him and hopeful that this activity is beneficial to him in allowing him lots of practice with socializing with lots of different people. He can sometimes have difficulty understanding and going along with some of the day-to-day rules and problems kids his age encounter. For example, dealing with frustration and learning to talk to friends instead of becoming volatile emotionally has been hard for him. Scouts tries to teach kids that life is about doing your best - not necessarily winning. It helps to teach them how to be good citizens, to be healthy and fit, to have respect and faith. These lessons are accomplished in ways that someone with Aspergers can relate to - they can focus on their special interests and perhaps even pick up new ones along the way.
I found a blogger who lays this idea out very well. Enjoy the read...
