Major Milestones... an update

First, I want to apologize for not posting more often lately. We've been crazy-busy around here, so my blog has taken a slight backseat.

John Michael, officially 2 1/2 on the 14th, has been very busy and keeping up with him is nearly impossible.

He has had some developmental growth spurts and a language explosion that are very exciting. I've been keeping a running tab on his new words. We also felt that, with his new baby brother coming at the beginning of June, maybe we could get him in a toddler bed to avoid having two cribs.

Here's John Michael helping to put his IKEA toddler bed together yesterday.

This is a heavy tool and he got the bit into the metal hole a few times. He could actually turn on the smaller Black and Decker battery-op screwdriver (not shown) and make it turn.

So, we got the bed all set up... moved his crib for the baby into the girls' room, put on his fresh, new bedding and Voila! a happy toddler boy.

BUT!   It didn't last for more than a few minutes. His newfound freedom was waaaayyyy too much for him to handle. He also couldn't settle into bed last night, so guess where the little stinker slept? In the girls' room, in his crib.  I put him down for nap (already asleep from a trip to Target) in his toddler bed today... not sure how long that'll last...

So on to language...

I am so proud of this guy!  Over the past 6 weeks or so, he has been making a greater effort to say or repeat words back to us.  His speech therapist is working on getting two syllables of different sounds out of him, like "Daddy" rather than "Da-da".  Well, he has "Daddy" down pat. 

Here's a list of words he can say...

baby (bay beh + sign), Binky (bee beh),  ball, bell, bowl, in, out, on, off, up, down (dow), moon (moo), dog (daw), juice, blue (baloo), block (blah), bubble (sounds just like bubble), car (kah + sign), hi, (hiya), bye-bye (with waving), please (pees + sign), eat (et), open (ben or beh + sign), more (moh), signs "all done", no (says no-no or shakes head), nods head for yes, Daddy, Mama, Papa, water (wah wah), shoe (show + sign), cracker (cowdow + sign), love (uv + sign), ice, bed (beh), signs hot, stop, says "do" for go, and signs "want" and "milk".  For flower, he sniffs his nose and when he has to cough, he covers his mouth.  He says "shhh" with his finger to his mouth when the neighbor barks (which is often!)  He can say a close approximation to his siblings' names as well.  There are so many more things, but this is what I managed to write down in case I had a brain freeze (which I do!) 

He also has some cute expressions that he uses when he's playing.  Every time he gets a Duplo Lego to stick, he says "yay".  He also says "wow" when he hears us saying it.

At mealtime and at bedtime, we say family prayers.  He tries to make a sign of the cross and now folds his hands and bows his head.  At the "Amen", he will try to make a sign of the cross again.  He is the king of mimicking.  He will dance, spin, and march for Greta. 

Last week, I tossed a small lightweight rubber ball to him and told him to catch.  If I toss it carefully, he will catch the ball 6 out of 10 times.  Keep in mind, I'm only about 3 feet away at this point, but he's "catching on", so to speak...

Finally, he is beginning to match animal puzzle pieces and is getting his shapes into a shape sorter with more ease.  The easiest shapes are circle and star.  Square is next, followed by triangle, which often takes a couple tries.  For the puzzles, he actually looks at the animal on the puzzle pieces and matches the image on the board.  He then turns the piece so it will fit.

He is self-feeding with utensils most of the time and can drink (assisted) from an open cup.  He favors a straw and can even feed himself Cheerios with milk using a toddler spoon.  His diet is limited right now, because he's picky, but that doesn't stop us from trying new things.  If I call something "meat", he'll usually open his mouth to try it.  Funny boy...

Very exciting stuff right now.  Sometimes his new words are spontaneous, which is even more exciting!  It means he understands the concept of saying a word to get what he wants or to show me he sees something.  He's also quick to point and grunt, which can frustrate both of us at times, but I'll take what I can get for now.

Can you tell... I LOVE this boy!!!
 

Milestones and More...

I know... I've been a serious blog slacker, just trying to get away with a few extra words on Wordless Wednesdays, which often turn out too "wordy". 

There's been so many good things going on lately, but I haven't had the time to sit and write.

Last week was a huge week, culminating in an exciting weekend.  Friday night was the Saving Sofia Crab Feed and Silent Auction for our friends Jennifer (Three's A Charm and Saving Sofia) and Hector, who are adopting beautiful 13 month old Sofia from an orphanage in the Ukraine.  Sofia has Down syndrome and needs her new mommy and daddy and brothers desperately.  She has no idea how fortunate she is that another family values her so much that they are willing to make a huge financial and emotional sacrifice to get her.  The crab feed and auction was a huge success.  Lisa of Genetically Enhanced, uber-organizer extraordinaire, posted some pictures of the evening (including my 28 week prego belly).  Thank goodness black is "slimming."  Ha ha!  It was a fantastic turnout and so great to see familiar faces from the local Ds community. 

Then the next day (last Saturday), we attended a family day with kid activities and parents' sharing sessions through our local Down Syndrome Information Alliance.  Doug and I were facilitators for the 0 to 3 year old parent sharing session and enjoyed chatting mostly with friends and a new couple we'd just met.

Fast forward to this week and I'm feeling very behind in blogland.

John Michael has met some great milestones in the past couple months.  His new thing is running, stomping his feet, and kicking a ball across the yard.  His gross-motor skills are awesome and his upper body strength are very good.  He can pull himself up on almost anything.  He loves to climb and has added climbing up the girls' bunk bed ladder to his list of accomplishments, much to my dismay!  A couple days ago, I heard SILENCE, which around here can mean trouble.  I checked the girls' room to find John Michael standing at the top rung... not sure where to go next.  Anna (big sis) now has the added burden of taking the ladder down every morning and tucking it away.  Better safe than sorry!

John Michael's communication skills are blossoming as well.  He is saying STOP (dah), GO (doh), UP (ub), DOWN (dow), IN (in), OUT (oud), MORE (moh) and signing, nodding his head for YES.  He finally says Moo for cow.  Not sure why that one was so hard.  His Speech Therapist is trying to get him to say two different syllables together, like BA-BY, MOM-MY, and DAD-DY for starters.  She also wants him to try to get the ending sounds of words like HO"T", PE"G", etc. and not just the beginning sounds.

He is quick to sign the words he knows and will often sign or make a sound if he sees something familiar to let me know he sees it.  If he hears an airplane or a siren, he touches his ear and makes sure I know he hears it and then I'll identify it for him.

I love this new explosion of communication.  It seems he's confident in his gross-motor to the point that it's now second nature and he can focus on the other stuff.  He still needs help with stairs and will either reach for my hand or crawl up and down as necessary.  He has stopped pulling hair, dumping the dog's water bowl, listens to instructions better, helps to clean up when asked, and lets me know how much he understands.  Occasionally he still hits, but this is less frequent as well.  I just love this little guy -- he never ceases to amaze me DAILY!

I took some video with my camera yesterday of John Michael kicking a ball, climbing up the slide and saying a few words.  For some reason, my Microsoft Movie Maker software didn't recognize the MP4 video files so I couldn't splice them together. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER69AEol4Ic  John Michael kicking a ball

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8L5e_gvtOo  John Michael around the yard and up the slide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1xf1sQZqFw  John Michael laughing and then going down the slide

Can someone tell me how to embed a YouTube video into my blog post?  I've always done it a different way... but it's not working.

100th Post! -- Major Milestones!

My 100th post! For me, a major procrastinator and non-finisher of projects, this is a major milestone! If it weren't for the all wonderful comments I've received and all the other inspirational Ds bloggers out there, I don't know if I would've continued. I honestly didn't know when I began in July 2008, whether I'd stick with it. It was just an experiment, but it's here to stay. I'm hooked!


I was reflecting this past week on what to write for my 100th post and how to tie it in to John Michael. Since the beginning of my blog, I've been publicly celebrating John Michael's milestones, great and small. For my 3 typical kids, major milestones came without much effort and all happened within the standard timeframes. One day, you turn around and your one year old is walking. We celebrated the big ones like sitting up, crawling, walking and talking. But with John Michael, before each major milestone occurred, many mini-milestones had to happen along the way -- all the little in-between steps. Each victory was a cause for celebration in our home and another reason to post to my blog.

John Michael's newest milestone, at 21 months old, has been standing for 5 to 8 seconds unsupported and taking one to two steps forward. He puts his hands out for me to pull him up, lets go of my hands, and with his hands chest level, feet apart and hips balancing his weight, he takes a step forward and literally falls face-first into my chest. It's hilarious! We do this about 15 times in a row until his legs are too tired to stand again. It's quite an amusing game!


Here, John Michael is actually doing the work himself. Pulling up to stand with the help of the box chair, letting go and then grabbing onto the chair again. Getting a photo was quite a challenge since it all happens so fast!

Another recent milestone that took him several months to figure out is climbing in, turning and sitting forward in a chair by himself. This boy works so hard and doesn't give up easily. I love his spirit and perseverance!

Another cause for celebration is putting John Michael down in his crib for a nap or at bedtime while he's still somewhat awake and letting him put himself to sleep, with the help of his Binky. In the morning, he sits up and pushes the button on his little jungle music toy and waits for one us to pick him up.

Another milestone for me has been making so many wonderful new friends, both in person and online. There is an enormous support network for all of us parents who have a child with Down syndrome. It's amazing! Our local Down Syndrome Information Alliance, blogging, Facebook, Ds forums, NDSC Convention, and our local Ds buddies... they've all been ways to connect with moms and dads and to share each others' joys and trials... to give each other support when things aren't going well and to celebrate the milestones, great and small. It's been an amazing learning curve and growth for me personally. I also no longer "worry" about what other people think about John Michael because the positive experiences we've had far outweigh any negative ones. I now enjoy talking with people about John Michael, his abilities and try to help shape peoples' views about Down syndrome in a positive light.

Which brings me to this... John Michael just received his very own afghan, beautifully crocheted by CJ. We've had the pleasure of cuddling with the official T21 Traveling Afghan and have even given an afghan as a gift, but now it's John Michael's turn. This afghan has so much meaning to us and connects us to all the other beautiful children with Down syndrome who have their very own afghans as well. I chose the yarn and colors, and CJ did a beautiful job putting it all together.

Isn't it gorgeous?! John Michael loves it, too!

More John Michael firsts (Golden Arches)... and "Roses"

OK, this isn't exactly something I'm proud of, but I guess it's a big milestone in typical American households.


John Michael ate his first order of Chicken McNuggets and french fries.



This isn't his first time eating french fries -- he actually likes this vegetable (wink). And he likes cheeseburgers. But I've tried chicken nuggets before and he just tossed them on the floor. Yesterday, I was super busy shuffling my older kids to and from art camp and fire camp and I caved, I mean, went through the McD drive-thru. He ate 3 out 4. I guess you could say he liked them!




Another first... I taught him how to dip his fries into ketchup. I think more ended up on the side of his chunky fist than on the fries, but he liked the process and the taste was a bonus.


Finally, I want to say... what's up with the toys in Happy Meals? I mean, this toy literally does nothing, except that the acorn in its pouch goes up and down. The look on John Michael's face should tell you how exciting this is. This was actually Greta's toy, but she passed it on to her little brother. When Nic and Anna were little, we used to say, "No, thank you," to fast food toys. The cashiers usually looked at us as though we were denying our children. Sometimes the kids would look for other kids in the restaurant and give them their unopened toys. Seeing this toy yesterday reminded me that that's not a bad thing to go back to.



If you're interested, I posted a photo that I edited with a new tool in my toolbox.

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Lesson 4 of JessicaSprague.com's "Photo Editing: Frame-ups and Special Effects" class taught us how to use clipping masks.

I used a photo of roses from my garden and applied a grunge clipping mask to it. The photo conforms to the clipping mask, giving it a grungy, worn look. I think I'll use this again and again.

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