This year Mandy and I decided not to take all the kids to the Knox County Fair at the same time. In part, because it’s too much of a handful to have all three there at the same time and in part because Mandy is not the biggest fan of going to the fair after years of making her getting season passes (though it was there where I told her I loved her for the first time). So, this year I decided to take Lucy one night and Simon another night all by myself (Ian will have to wait for another year or two).



Last night was Daddy’s night with Lucy. I asked if she wanted to go to the fair and she said, “Yes.” I then asked her if she wanted to see some horses and she said and even louder, “Yes.” On the way to the fair I asked if she wanted to go to the fair and she said, “No… horses.” I tried but couldn’t explain to her that the horses are at the fair.

So the first thing we did at the fair was go see the horses. She liked them a lot as long as we didn’t get too close. She’s not the biggest fan of petting animals, but she loves watching them. After that we went and watched the demolition derby, but both Lucy and I were bored after about two minutes. But then it was on to the fun stuff… the rides!

I got Lucy an armband so she could ride unlimited rides and all she said to me after we rode one was “more!” I was so proud of her as she rode some of them all by herself (after I buckled her in by myself very securely of course)! A few of the rides were way too big and fast for her so I was able to ride along with her, which was a treat. I thought for sure she would get scared on a few of the rides, but there was no fear in my little girl.

We finished off the night by sharing a piece of cheese pizza on a grassy hill overlooking the demolition derby as the sun set in the distance. It was a great night with my little girl!

Bee Stings

Simon and Kevin were supposed to have a little guy time at the Knox County Fair but a bee sting on the bottom of his right foot got in the way. Lucy has never been stung so this was a first for us. His foot swelled up but not too bad, and he limped around for the rest of the night. He was pretty bumbed about not going to the fair. Lucy took his turn and had her Daddy Date Night. Kev will probably take him later this week.

I'll try to encourage Kevin into write about their time at the fair.

Day 1

Today is our first attempt at getting Simon potty trained. He will be 2 1/2 on July 29th. I would rather wait. It can be such a pain taking kids to public restrooms but he is showing some signs of being ready. We don't have any big trips planned for this week and once August hits I have some things to do at work so this week is it. It's now or wait until I'm on Christmas break.

After the traditional breakfast of mini-wheat's. I rolled up the rug and keep the kids off the carpet. They changed into their clothes. Simon with just a shirt and his underwear. Then I loaded him up on juice and took him to the potty about every five minutes. We went through 3 pairs of underwear until he finally went on his potty. We jumped up and down, gave him some candy, and then he went on the floor.

I laid out a towel and said that I would turn on Cars if he went on the potty and would turn it off if he went on the floor again. That seemed to do the trick. He was even able to initiate going on his own. He went about 3 or 4 more times. This was all before lunch. He had about 3 cups of juice.

Hopefully success is on the horizon.

Sunscreen

We have searched and searched for sunblock for Lucy. Anytime we put sunblock near her face her eyes turn red, get puffy, and tear up. We have tried many different kinds. Even those that are "tear free" cause tears. She either had to suffer through the tears or we had to not protect her from the sun. We always felt so bad for her when we would go to the zoo or where ever and she was just all red and teary eyed.
Well we have finally found something that works- Neutrogena Pure and Free Baby. We are able to put it on her face and haven't had to worry about it irritating her eyes.
Just thought I would pass this along in case anyone else has a little one who seems to have really sensitive eyes.

Cute Pics

Wizard of Oz

On Sunday Lucy, Nana, Kelly, Halle, and me went to our local community theater to see the Wizard of Oz. It was amazing. So well done considering it was community theater. Even though the actors were great Lucy's enjoyment was even more fun to watch. She sat in full attention for the entire play. (3 hours) The people in front, behind, and beside us commented on how cute it was watching her enjoy the show. At intermission we almost had tears. She kept signing and saying more, more. We reassured her that it was just a break and that there would be more.

I wonder when she will be on stage? I think she was made to preform. We should get her in dance soon.

Lessons

As a mother you are always learning.
My daily lesson yesterday was that nasal aspirators are helpful when trying to get corn out of a little boy's nose.
I wonder what today will bring?

Summer Schedule

Our school district offers summer therapy. So Lucy has the opportunity to continue with one on one OT, PT, and speech. This may sound great but lugging three kids for 3 different half hour appointments in not easy.
Monday- We go to Joanne's (in Dublin- an hour to get there, she spends an hour with her, and then an hour back) The only plus about Mondays is that we often get to meet up with Aunt Jessica for shopping or lunch.
Tuesday- OT 11-11:30
Wednesday - PT 11:30-12
Thursday- Our Day Off!
Friday- Speech 9:30-10
The other day it took us a half hour to get in the car. We arrive and I get out the stroller to load up Ian and which ever kid isn't listening so well that day. (Usually Lucy) Then when we finally make it in the building. (for PT I have to unload the stroller because there are steps and they are just far enough apart that I can't just tip the stroller. Then I put them back in the stroller for the walk to the room.) While Lucy is working with her therapist I try to keep Simon entertained. My neighbor watched him once but her schedule doesn't always allow for that. Plus she has three of her own. (I miss Michaele a whole bunch!)
If I have Simon I can't be in the room for PT or OT. Today we had speech and it worked great with Simon in the room. When I'm not in the room Lucy spends the first 5-10 minutes crying.

So I'm thinking I'm not doing this another week! We'll go to Joanne's on Mondays. The OT let me borrow a scooter board to work on hand and arm strength, I got some 4 piece puzzles, and some silly putty and beads. In PT she's working on jumping, throwing, catching, and those sort or things. I'm thinking that while the boys nap I can have school with Lucy. We can work on our cards from Joanne, and them do some PT and OT activities. Right now she's working on a puzzle. She's gotten three out of the four pieces so far. (by herself)
I think we can still make it to speech since it works for all of us to be in there. Plus communication is so key. The down side of summer speech is that she is working with a different person. Knowing that she was going to be working with Lucy the therapist did stop by and see her in her classroom during preschool.
Within about 5 minutes of today's apt. the therapist looked at me and said she had no idea Lucy talked this much and that she's way beyond what she thought. She had to scrap what she planned for that day. She mentioned that she is pretty quiet in class. Sometimes I wonder if her teachers under estimate her abilities because she's quiet in a group of kids. Most of the time I under estimate her abilities.
As I wrote this she finished 2 puzzles and is now sitting at a table practicing making circles. We better do Ms. Joanne's homework before the boys wake up.

1,2,3,4

On June 12th Lucy turned 4. I've been wanting to post something about her birthday. We were traveling on her actual birthday so we didn't really celebrate until last week. We also decided to just celebrate as a family. No big party this year.

Before I started writing this post I looked back to the previous birthday posts. It's amazing how much she has change but what was even more stricking was that in every picture you can just see that spunky personality. She is so much fun.

We are so lucky to have her in our family. She has taught us so much! We are looking forward to growing with her.

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Bedtime

We have had some new twists to bed time. Thankfully they've been good. (I send lucky vibes to you Jennifer.)

Lucy has stopped napping so she is dog tired at 7. So her bed time has jumped from 8 to 7. I have cut out Ian's evening nap so he is going to bed around 7:30 instead of 8:30. Simon hits the hay (I wonder where that expression came from?) around 8. It's actually pretty smooth.

I'm usually the one that lays Simon down. We go up in his room and grab his blanket and we sit in the glider. I used to just hold him for a minute or two but a couple of weeks ago he started asking for a story. I started by giving a summary of his day, then we progressed to stories about things I know he loves, this week I've introduced The Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs. I leave out any violence against the pigs and the wolf.

Tonight after our story I was just holding him and being so thankful. Having two toddlers isn't easy but there are some awesome parts about this stage of life. As I held him I knew that these nights won't last forever. Sooner than I want he will grow out of my lap and my stories.

Perfect Morning

Even though it started a little early we've had a great morning. They all woke up happy. I made pancakes for breakfast. Ian went down easily for his morning nap. I got a shower while Simon and Lucy watched Super Why! and Ian slept. Ian was still asleep so we went outside and I got out the sand table for the first time this summer. Lucy and Simon played without major incident while I laid on the hammock and read. I was able to read 3 whole chapters before Ian woke up. He woke up cooing and not crying. Then we came inside just in time to catch Sesame Street while I made a pizza for lunch. I just love Sesame Street. I just love being at home. I wonder if I would appreciate mornings like this if I didn't have to work 9 months out of the year. I'd like to think I would.
The pizza is done and we'll keep our fingers crossed that the afternoon goes as smooth as the morning.

Vacation

On Lucy's birthday we left for Siesta Key in Florida. We were pretty nervous about an 18 hour car trip with our three little ones but thanks to portable DVD players and restaurants with playlands it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.

We haven't been able to write about it on the blog because it was a surprise to Nana that we were going. We went with Nana, Papa, Aunt Jessica, Uncle Dave, and Julian.

Since our kids are fair skinned we had limited beach and pool time. Most days we stared pretty early. We would go to the pool and then when Ian went down for a morning nap one of us would take Simon and Lucy to the beach for some sand time under the umbrella. We tried to have them in by 11:15.

I loved many parts of our time at the beach. Playing in the sand, watching Simon swimming with his life jacket, sitting around the table and eating together. I was so nice just to be away.

One funny story is that Simon got attached to these little toypeedos. He has a blanket and loves to sleep with it but doesn't carry it around or anything. He's not necessarily attached to any toys but he fell in love with these pool toys. They were Julian's. He wanted to take them to dinner and sleep with them. He carried them everywhere. When we were taking our family pictures he insisted on holding them. My mom finally got him to put them down.

Avacados

After rice cereal, avacados were all of their first foods. I looked back in our phots and found a picture of each of them enjoying them for the first time. The top is Ian, then Simon, and then Lucy. It's so fun to look at pictures of them when they were about the same age. They are all around 6 1/2 to 7 months in these pictures. Ian's hair really doesn't look that red in real life.

I usually try to make most of the kids' baby food. WIth Lucy I was pretty successful. With Simon I was mostly successful and with Ian we'll see. Making his avacados was quite and adventure. Lucy and Simon where running around and I was wearing Ian in a sling because he would cry if I laid him down. All I have is a Magic Bullet. It takes awhile to make a large batch. I think that if I had some thing bigger it would be easier. It's just hard to spend the money on a food processor when I'm pretty sure Ian will be our last.

Preschool Graduation

This video is from Lucy's preschool graduation today. She actually has at least one more year of preschool left, but it was fun to celebrate the year she has had anyway. She has grown in so many ways this past year. At the begining of the year we weren't sure if she would ever run or jump due to her arthritis, but after watching this video you'll know we don't have that concern anymore!

This next video is of her getting her diploma and then coming to say "hi" to everybody.

IEP

Lucy's IEP meeting is tomorrow. I'm excited and neverous. It will be great to have all the people that meet with her all in one room. I wish Joanne could be there too. I didn't think about having her come until today. Oh well, there's always next year.
We noticed that her current IEP her goals weren't very specific and I don't think they were very helpful to the teachers. This time I gave the teacher some of our ideas for what her goals could be. After hearing about Jennifer's trip to Cinci. I wrote some behavior goals. I wrote a couple of learning goals and then I went to the ODE web site and looked up the preschool standards that gave me some good ideas about what other things I would like to see her accomplish this next year. They sure do expect a lot out of preschoolers. We'll see which ones end up on her IEP. I hope it goes well!

Field Trip

On Tuesday the whole family got to go with Lucy and her preschool class to Rolling Ridge Ranch in Holmes County. It was amazing. The kids were able to get up close and personal with the animals. There is a petting zoo and then you get to take a horse drawn wagon ride through their property. The ride is about an hour and they give you buckets of feed. Once they open the gate animals come rushing to the wagon. Deer like animals, moose, cows with huge horns, ostrich, donkeys, and many others. Lucy wasn't a fan. She sat on our lap and enjoyed the ride. Simon found the courage to feed the animals. It was pretty wild!

Brent and Michaele

On Monday we said good-bye to our friends, partners, and babysitters. Brent and Michaele left West Side to go and spend a year in Swaziland. We already miss them. Simon has already been asking where they are.
Simon- "Where's Kale?"
Me-"Kale is in Africa."
Simom- "Kale in Africa?"
They have a blog but I'm not sure what the address is. I'll put it in my blog list once I find it.

Cereal and Update

Ian turned 6 months on May 7. So he got his first taste of solids. I was shocked at how well he took to it and by how much he loved it. He has was born at a great time. We will be able to make a lot of his baby food fresh and local. I'm looking forward to hitting the farmer's market! I'm sure the pictures will get messier as we move towards more colorful foods.

Updates- We are all doing well. Ian is starting to sit up and creep across the floor. He loves to smile and just loves Simon and Lucy. Simon is a great big brother. He kisses him, hugs him, he lays on him, puts laundry baskets over him and has given him his first bruise. Lucy is much gentler. She loves babies and gets right down on their level and talks with them in a sweet high tone. Babies tend to love her too. This morning she climbed in bed while I was nursing Ian and Ian just stopped and stared at her with the biggest smile.
I'm amazed at how fast Simon's vocabulary has grown. Every week he has more and more words and is forming more and more sentences. He loves to run and jump and play. He could spend all day outside.
Lucy is doing great too! Preschool is winding down and her IEP meeting is coming up soon. We are going to take a much more active role in helping to develope her goals. I'm acutally looking forward to getting a good plan together for her and her teachers.

Last night Simon and Lucy were chasing each other in the yard. First Lucy was chasing Simon but Simon kept passing her and they were going back and forth on who was chasing who. He is so much faster. Sometimes I feel bad for her that Simon keeps passing her. He's faster, he talks more- the only thing she has is that she's a neater eater and potty trained. I'm just thakful that right now neither one of them seems to mind. They love each other.

The effects of spring

We were just about ready to go and get his hair cut again, but I just can't do it. His curls are so cute! This is probably as curly as it gets. If he were a teenager I think the girls would love his hair. I hope curly wild hair is still in style when he gets older. If so, he's got it made.

Miss May

A special feeling of pride swells up in my heart today. This morning as many people across Ohio turned the page of their DSACO calendar to the month of May they experienced the same joy that I get every morning. Looking at beautiful Lucy! I've been waiting for May 1st since Janurary 1st.

I'm just so proud of her!

Art Show

Lucy's preschool had an art show on Thursday. Her projects were Mars by using an eyedropper and colored water, and the Northern Lights with melted crayon.

Her class is in a building that holds many different preschool programs. This was a building wide art show. We tried to get her to stand by her art work but she wouldn't do it by herself. It was breath taking walking into the gym and seeing all of the different displays.

The school has also held a math night where we played games and then were giving a packet with all the instructions and manipulatives used to take home. Next month there is a literacy night. I'm so glad they work to include parents. You tell that they value what preschoolers can do.

Clinical Remission

Today we went to Children's to see Dr. Spencer about Lucy's JRA. It was just a check-up but the great news is that he thinks she is almost in clinical remission. Clinical remission means that with meds there would be no signs of her JRA. YEAH! He is hoping that this summer she will be free of signs. He feels that since she is doing so well and it hasn't spread to other joints that she has a good chance of growing out of it.


Right now she gets a shot twice a week. She is taking Enbrel. It has worked well for her but we hate that fact that we have to give her such a powerful drug. Once she reaches clinical remission then the next step is remission. That means we can start cutting back the meds.


She has made such progress with Enbrel. She is running more smoothly and jumping with two feet. I almost forgot that we used to get asked daily why she walked funny. That never happens anymore. I'm sure her Sure Steps have helped too.

I was a good visit today, minus the waiting. Dr. Spencer is so personable. Kevin has a friend who is studying to be a chaplain and he stopped by while we were waiting. The doctor walked in the room and told us he would just be a couple more minutes. Then he introduced himself to Rob. Rob said that in his 11 weeks at the hospital he is only the second doctor to introduce himself.

Weekend Fun

Yesterday we had plans to go to the zoo for the Easter celebration but the chance of rain kept us away. The zoo usually closes at 5 and yesterday there was a special event for memembers from 5-8. That's perfect time for us. Everyone is awake and in a good mood.

Instead, we spent the evening with Carey, Ben, Madi, and Luke. We had such a great time. I'm sure the zoo would have been fun but not as relaxing. It's always great to take the kids to a place that's chlid proof and offers a new array of toys. Too bad they live in Columbus!

Today Nana and Papa came up to drop something off and decided to take us to lunch and to the park. As I watched Simon and Lucy run around I was so amazed to how quickly they are growing up and changing. They are kids. I wish I had taken my camera. I need one that I can keep in my car or purse.

The rest of the evening was spent laughing and playing. I love spring. Fresh, New, Warmth.

We usually don't blog much about normal stuff but this "normal" weekend was perfect. I wanted to remember it.

Tomorrow it's off to Grandma Marcum's. The perfect way to top off this weekend!

Name Game

So lately Simon always wants to know what everyone's or everything's name is. I think it started at Nana house with all the Thomas trains and Aunt Jessica and Julian telling him their names.
The other day he brought me his mini toy dinosaurs and asked, "Name, Name?" So I named them. Spike, Pointy, Bill. I guess I wasn't feeling too creative at the time.

Today we were upstairs playing and he brings me a different dinosaur (that also has some spikes like the one I already named Spike) and says "Name, name?" I draw a blank for synonyms for spike so I just say Spike. Then Simon replies, "Spike downstairs." The kids are keeping us on our feet! Luckly Kevin was there and he named him Thorn.

This week Lucy and I are on spring break. Over this past weekend Lucy and Simon spent some time with Nana and Papa while Kevin and I went to DC. I had never been and we had such a good time. We're so lucky that Ian is such a good baby. He did so well on our trip. A special thanks to Amber for letting us crash at her place. Lucy and Simon had a great time being spoiled! Simon is still talking about the trains.
Today we went to the zoo. It was the first time we were able to let the kids walk around and not be bound to the stroller. Lucy has finally learned about consequences so she will listen much better than she used to. I was amazed at how well Lucy did walking. Her arthritis is doing so much better. The gorillas are always a favorite. A bonus was that we got to see the zoo keepers feeding the tiger.
Elliot's Nest is one of my favorite blogs. Lucy is about the same age as Aidan and we get to see his parents at many of the DSACO events that we go to. I read her blog today and wanted to shout Amen! I was trying to think about how I could rewrite it over here. I decided just to copy it.
From Elliot's Nest by Jennifer Elliot
Huffington Post
I was reading a story on the Huffington Post about Obama's joke with Jay Leno about the Special Olympics. There was a poll at the bottom, so I voted and was surprised by the results...
Obama’s joke about the Special Olympics was…
Just a light-hearted, self-deprecating comment. Get over it people. 27.54%
Maybe a dumb thing to say, but he didn’t mean it in a mean-spirited way, and it is pretty funny. 26.04%
A tasteless comment that he should not have said, period. 24.92%
Why are we even talking about this? 21.5%
I guess I'm surprised that almost 50% of people don't think this is a big deal at all. Does that mean that almost half of our country thinks it's perfectly fine for the President to ridicule people with disabilities? Perhaps that's not too surprising in a country where 90% of babies with Down syndrome are aborted, but I guess I just wish for more for our country, more for Aidan, more for children with disabilities. I hope for a day when Aidan has the same opportunities as everyone else, not just by law, but in people's hearts as well.

Well said.

Field Trip

Dear Friends,

Today I went with my preschool class on a field trip to the post office and to see a train. We have been learning a lot about trains in school. At the post office I got to see what happens "back stage" and mailed a post card I made.The best part of the day was getting to see the train. It is parked in Gambier on the Koksoing Gap Trail. The train is fully restored and we even got to get inside the caboose. It was so much fun. Another fun part of the day was riding the school bus!

Love,
Lucy

Spread the Word to End the Word

I saw this on the Elliot's blog and wanted to share. I'm buying the t-shirt. It's worth four minutes.

Mommy the Zoo Keeper

Everyone has those toddler talk stories. You know those ones when the family is in the car and the toddler in the back seat says something totally silly. Those things they might say as you are putting them down to bed that make you forget about the mess they made and just ease the stress you have. Times when they are trying to make sence of their world with the vocabulary that they have. Lucy is doing amazing things but I've longed for some of those moments. I remember waiting for her to say "Mommy." I took a litte longer but it came.

Today I talked with her speech therapist and am glad to report that those comments could be right around the corner. During speech she was playing with a plastic hippo and the zoo keeper, who she called Mommy. Mommy fell off the hippo and her therapist told her to tell Mommy to get back on. Lucy came back with a 5 word sentence. A five word sentence! (a rough measurment is one word per year 3 years = three word phrase) Lucy said, "Get on please hippo Mommy." A little out of order- but I do believe that's the cute toddler phrase I've been waiting for.

Locker Soccer

Saturday we were able to attend the 3-5 playgroup. We were so excited to finally be able to go.It had been a while since we have been able to make it. We went to an indoor soccer place in Powell called Locker Soccer. It was great. The kids got to play inside a walled in area that had some fake grass so it was kind of soft. They ran around and kicked soccer balls. It was so nice to see some families we hadn't seen in awhile.
They had some organized games planned. When ever the "coach" would call them over Lucy would head right over and sit in the circle. He had them run back and forth from wall to wall. She was able to stay right in the middle of the pack. So often she's heading up the rear. Then he had them stretch. I wish I would've caught it on video. She followed right along. During the actual "games" she just ran around. It was so much fun! I got some pictures but nothing special. It's difficult chasing after two kids holding one and remembering to capture the moment. I guess it was one of the times we just enjoyed the moment. Simon had a great time too. With only a car nap he wanted to follow his own agenda.
Days like these make me wish we lived closer to Columbus. I wish Lucy (and us) could have a chance to interact with our DSACO friends more often. There are also opportunities there that or little town just can't provide.

Family

We finally caught him smiling. He has been smiling for a while not but we haven't been able to catch it on camera. They grow and change so quickly.

Things here are good. Lucy is enjoying preschool. We had parent teacher conferences and those went well. We are always trying to decided what is the best classroom setting for her. We weren't totally convinced she's in the right place now. Right now she is in a small classroom with only 12 students and 6 of those kids also have an IEP. She will probably be in preschool for two more years and we know that we want her fully included when she goes to kindergarten. So when do we switch her to a "typical" classroom? Do we switch her? What truly is the best for her? We know what we want for her but we want to make sure we do what's best and not just what we think looks the best. I feel like we could be doing so much more for her but time just seems to go by so quickly.

Simon and Lucy get along so well. You can already see how he challenges her. He can go down the steps standing up now and so Lucy has really been working on it. She needs an extra hand. (She so short and you can tell it strains her ankles) She works so hard at it though.

We have really been working on getting more 3 and 4 word pharses. Yesterday Kevin heard her say "This is serious." It's from the Wonder Pets. It's too cute!

I was reading some blogs this morning and came across this video. I love things that help to break down the sterotypes. Take a moment to watch.

Mondays

On Mondays usually one of us takes Lucy to see Joanne for tutoring. When I have the day off work both of us like to go so that we can head to COSI after Joanne's. So that's how we spent our President's Day. COSI was very crowded but they kids didn't seem to mind. While Lucy was at tutoring I took Simon to Cookie Cutters for his first offical hair cut. I hated to see his curls go but they were getting a little out of control. Here's the big boy. He looks so grown up.

Before the snow melted, we were able to spend some time outside on one of the warmer days. Since the snow was pretty icy it took a lot of work for Lucy to manuver around. So she wasn't up for pictures. Simon on the other hand had a great time. They love being outside. Its been so hard being stuck inside this winter.

Valentine's Day

This was my first Valentine's box. I made it in preschool. I had such a good time at my party. Mommy and I brought cheese and crackers for snack and we cut the cheese into heart shapes.

Waffles Fall Down

So the other day at breakfast. Lucy looks at me and says, "Mommy, waffles fall down" and then she laughs. She keeps saying this over and over and continues to laugh at herself. Now she was eating a waffle so I'm thinking she just being silly. She has said this a few more times in the past week. Always laughing.
Then on the way to preschool this moring. We were singing some songs in the car. Then she says again, "Mommy, waffles fall down."
"Lucy that is not a song." Then I think to myself... "waffles fall down.... We all fall down." We have been playing Ring Around the Rosie often. That time at breakfast I think we had played it the night before. "Lucy are you saying we all fall down?" "Uh huh." Then we began to sing.

Breakfast

Breakfast is usually the most uncomplicated meal of the day. Waffles, mini pancakes, Honeynut Cheerios, or oatmeal - any of them make Simon and Lucy content. This morning Lucy choose Cheerios but also insisted that Linny, Tuck, and Ming-Ming sit with her. Simon was already finished and I tried to sit them in his seat but she wanted to hold them. This was her attempt at Cheerios with the Wonder Pets in her lap. As you can see, she was able to fingure it out in the end.

Happy Birthday Simon

Today Simon turned 2. Here he is enjoying his favorite dinner- Spaghetti. We topped it off with cupcakes. In honor of his birthday we thought we would list just some things about him.

1. He has the most amazing personality- So sweet, kind, and full of life.

2. He loves to laugh.

3. He loves to cuddle and give hugs and kisses.

4. He absolutely hates it when his sister steals his cars and trains.

5. He is so gentle

6. He would sit on your lap and read books all afternoon.

7. Like his dad, he loves to go to asleep, but hates getting up.

8. He went from one word sentences to three word sentences in the last fewweeks.

9. He makes friends so easily - everybody loves him.

10. He's all boy.

He has truly been a gift from God. He just has this way of making you smile and laugh when you need it most. We are so lucky to have him. He brightens our home.

Another Snow Day

Another day off for Lucy and Mommy. We had such a fun day playing together.

Listening

As I sit here and check facebook and some blogs. I'm distracted by the sounds of Lucy and Simon playing together. Talking, chasing, laughing. These moments give me a view of the friendship that will build in the years to come.
Although they know how to push each other's buttons - Most of the time they really do play well together. I can't wait until Ian can join in.

You maybe surprised by two post in such a short amount of time. We are trying to be more faithful.

boxes

We live in a world where people are constantly put in boxes and we have this love of labeling people. The day Lucy was born she was given a huge label and put in a tiny box. Most people felt sorry for us (including ourselves) and they told us all the things she would never be able to do.

It was a constant battle to get people to look at her as an individual and not this person with a huge label and a tiny box. Whenever we had a concern about something or mentioned something about her, people (Doctors and therapists) would say it was because of Down Syndrome. We had to fight for them to see Lucy as a unique individual and not just the Down Syndrome girl.

One example of this was when took Lucy to see the chief orthopedic at Children’s because she wasn’t walking right and we knew something was wrong. He told us some time kid’s with Down’s just walk like that. It took us another visit before he at least said it might be something else, but even then he didn’t refer us to anyone else. After we did some more digging we finally got a referral, from someone else, to a Rheumatologist who very quickly diagnosed her arthritis (JRA) and eventually got it under control. But because the first doctor refused to look past her “Down Syndrome” she could have been in pain a whole lot longer that she needed to.

Then today I had a conversation with Lucy’s Speech Therapist. This lady is wonderful! Today she told me that Lucy told her three different four word sentences. Which in her words, “Is almost advanced for her age.” Advanced, not for kids with Down Syndrome, but for any kid at three and a half. This lady, along with some other therapists and tutors we have found our pushing Lucy to be all that Lucy can be and not what Down Syndrome tells them she can be.

Now I know that in certain ways Lucy fits the Down Syndrome stereo type pretty well, but not nearly in all ways or even most ways. The problem is if you start looking for the Down Syndrome you can get tunnel vision and not see anything else or worse, not expect anything else. And if you don’t expect any thing else you will usually not get anything else.

We don’t want Lucy babied her entire life. We don’t want her just dealt with in school. We don’t want her to get by or get away with stuff just because of her diagnosis. We expect a lot out of our little girl and we find the more we expect the more she blows our expectations out of the water.

Are we going to push her and be these demanding parents her entire life? Of course not! But we will strive to give here the room and the support so that she can achieve anything and everything she has the potential to do in her life. That means no boxes for Lucy! And though she has a label of Down Syndrome, that is not nearly as important as who she is… Lucy Kay!