Meet Piper!

It's funny how life works itself out sometimes...For several years now, we have gotten to know friends through my great friend that I have had since high school. They have had some ups and downs when it comes to having a child, but have been blessed with their little girl Piper...

I think we were brought into each other's lives for a very important reason, but most especially, because we are sharing this journey of having a child with Down Syndrome together.

We had the opportunity to meet this cutie right before Halloween and she sure is a precious little girl. Piper's Mommy just started her own blog called Precious Piper, so if you get a chance, could you head on over and meet Piper?

Piper's Mommy and Daddy are very new on this journey, so if you have any comments, words of advice, or encouraging words, I am sure they would appreciate it very much!

This and That

While I was feeding Kailey dinner last night, Colin was sitting on the floor playing with his bat and putting it through the rungs of the chair that I was sitting on. I guess he thought it would be a good idea to put his body through and when he started whimpering, I looked over and he was stuck in this position.

So, being the nice Mommy I am, before attempting to help him, I ran and got the camera first...after all, it was a GREAT photo opportunity.

I gave him a few minutes to work it out, and he did...

...it made me giggle.

Tonight during dinner, Colin asked for ice cream, so I was letting Kailey have some as well. Her first bite was hysterical because the cold must have been too much for her. However, watch her face as she starts to adjust to the taste...

Also, Colin is doing so great with his speech lately. He is trying to say almost all of the words he signs, so it has been so cute listening to him. We also discovered that he knows most of his shapes! During circle time every day, they work on shapes and other things. They told me the other day that Colin is saying or signing most of the shapes so we are so happy to hear this! In the video, I ask Colin to say a few of my favorites...

And finally...Colin took 3 steps on his own the other day! He decided to push his grocery cart on his own and when he crashed into his chair, he let go and took 3 steps to Chris! No video yet, but we are so much closer!!

Practice Makes Perfect

Tonight's task at dinner was working with a fork...partially for selfish reasons (didn't want tonight to have to be a bath night).

...loving this progress!

Making Progress

I am so excited to say that we are finally seeing signs of progress in the feeding department with Colin. I mean real progress....

...our meal times are slowly becoming less stressful and I feel like something has changed in the fact that Colin is more interested in eating since he asks to eat when I think he is hungry and he asks for specific things as well. We don't need to use the TV anymore AND meal times are becoming more and more enjoyable again.

The first video is from lunch today when Colin was trying pretty hard to feed himself his pudding. There are still things he refuses to feed himself, but since he was really motivated by the pudding, he was interested in feeding himself. (don't mind the video being on it's side...it was started in one direction and then got flipped)

The second video happened after Colin ate his whole dinner. He has really shown an interest in pizza lately and he was happily eating some of mine.

I am loving this progress!

Walking

Chris and I want Colin to walk so badly so that every little thing he does that shows he is taking a "step" in the right direction makes us super excited. Yesterday during the transition meeting, it came up that Colin still isn't independent walking yet despite the fact that we explained that he is walking with minimal assistance. Someone brought up in the meeting about whether or not we would need to get him special equipment (whether it be "medical" equipment or simply a stroller) so that he could get around at school if he still wasn't walking by the time he started. Oh the look I must have had on my face! I quickly started saying that if someone would just hold his hand, he would walk! I do NOT want that option even surfacing again! As Chris and I said, we don't need him becoming comfortable getting pushed around everywhere he goes!

Anyway, Colin must have had a birdie in his ear because he had physical therapy today and she did a lot of work with one handed walking which he really hasn't done much of lately, or at all. Since that session, I have been able to walk a few short paces only holding on to one hand and he seems much more confident than he did before. We are getting so much closer and I just can't wait!!

The Transition

Today was a big day...we started with our first meeting of Colin's transition to the public school system. It was an interesting experience and I can't believe we are at this point already! Colin does have a ways to go (6 months), but they like to get started around this time to introduce us to the idea, get started on the paperwork, and then give us a tour of the building where he will be attending.

The school is 5 minutes or less from our house and is only a few years old. We met with a social worker from the district, an intern that was working with her, our case manager from Early Intervention, her intern, and our physical therapist. The social worker explained the different programs that are available and all pertinent information that goes along with this.

After Colin is evaluated, it will be decided that Colin will participate in one of these 3 programs:

1. 2 hour program: 1 special education teacher, 1 paraprofessional, typical children who put their names into a lottery and pay to go to the school, and about 6-7 kids who are classified. Originally I had it in my head that this was the program I wanted Colin in because I wanted him with typically developing children, but they are allowed to have up to 18 kids in this classroom and when I peeked in, it was way too many kids for what I want for Colin.

2. 3 hour program: (his most likely choice) 1 special education teacher, 2 paraprofessionals, and the max number of kids is 12. The children in this class are all classified, but it is a range of disabilities.

3. 5 hour program (full day): 1 special education teacher, 3 paraprofessionals, and the max number is much less but these children that are classified have more needs due to medical conditions or cognition delays.

We toured the school and when we walked into the class of the 3 hour program, the kids were working and she asked them to say hi and tell us what they were doing. It was really cute. I think people expect that this is going to be really hard for us, but we are used to having Colin in a school setting and I am really excited to challenge him in a setting that is geared towards him and his needs. Of course, it's hard to think of my little boy getting on a bus and going to school at 3 years old, but it's what we have to do so I think it's just an idea that we easily accept.

One thing that is difficult though is to sit in these meetings and listen to everyone talk about your child in such an official way. Chris and I were saying after that we just wish we could have had him there so it wasn't so official and so they could see how awesome he is :)

Soon enough...

Funny times!

Ok, I actually wasn't going to post today because I was going to take a break after the challenge. However, this was TOO FUNNY not to post. The only thing that would have made this funnier was if Colin had put Kailey in the shopping cart (I did it though). Colin started pushing it on his own earlier today (which he doesn't do often AT ALL) and I got the brilliant idea to stick Kailey in it. She loved it and I think Colin wasn't too sure if it was good or not.