Food is Fun!

Kennedy is having so much fun exploring new foods.  Not only is it fun to see her reactions to what she's eating, it's a good game.  It gives her the chance to explore things while I cook or clean the kitchen.  Today after we finished lunch, she played with her spaghetti. 

Mom?  Do you think you can buy something that's easier to get into my mouth?

Messy Smiles and Constant Battles

Today was an exciting day in our house.  Kennedy made her first real attempts at feeding herself.  Of course, I had to help by putting the yogurt on the spoon, and putting the spoon in her hand.  But she did amazing getting the spoon into her mouth!  Of course, I should add that in the process, we ended up with yogurt E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E.  She was so stinking adorable though.  I could not have been any more proud, as always. 

I normally have really good captions for her photos.  But these tell it all.  She's so proud of herself when it was all said and done.  That smile could not be any bigger, and I could not get enough of it.

She also had pasta for dinner.  She had a little more trouble feeding that to herself, since it kept sticking to her hand and getting wrapped around her fingers. 

And here is a video of her showing off her skills!

Notice the towel over her high chair.  The cover was being washed after the yogurt incident earlier in the afternoon.  It's a really good thing Kennedy likes bath time too!

Things have been going amazing.  Kennedy has made a great recovery from surgery and is just nailing her milestones lately.  I couldn't be more proud of her.  Of course, I'll admit, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop.  After all, things can't just go smoothly, can they?  Well, today it dropped.  I finally got a return call from our service coordinator for Early Intervention.  I left her a message, explaining that while we feel we're benefiting from the services our Early Interventionist provides, I wanted to discuss the integration of speech and occupational therapy.  To make a long story short, and in an attempt to prevent my blood pressure from skyrocketing again, I'll give you the highlights.  

• She told me that Kennedy's scores on her evaluation were so good, that she doesn't need services.  This is the same eval that was done when she was 6 weeks old.  She's 7 months old now.  I see something wrong with this.
• When I asked about a reassessment, I was told, "Well, we could bring you back in.  Or I could come out to you and do an assessment.  I'm not really sure what to do."  
• She offered to give me an Early Interventionist.  When I asked her what Amanda was, she asked me "Who is Amanda?"  (I know I don't frequently discuss Amanda any more, but she is our Early Interventionist!)
• She asked me how to spell speech.  Yes.  Speech.  You didn't read that wrong.  I almost fell over laughing.  I know that not everyone is the best speller, but when you work with children who have delays in speech, and you work with speech therapists, you would think you could spell the word!    

So the fight is back on.  They don't want to provide additional services because she doesn't need them.  Down syndrome is a qualifying diagnosis.  It doesn't matter if she "needs" them.  We have a meeting to discuss it next week.  Stay tuned.  I'm sure there will be some sort of fireworks.

My Not So Sleepy Baby

Kennedy has always been a great sleeper at night.  We had a little sleep regression after surgery, but she quickly went back to sleeping all night.  I'll admit, I've been pretty spoiled and I've never truly endured the "new mommy exhaustion."  Every now and then she'll have a night where she decides she'd rather party than sleep, but they're typically far and few between (just like her naps).  Until this week.  The past two nights she's started pulling some crazy sleep habits.  Sunday night she woke up just before I was going to bed, at midnight.  She was up until after 2am.  We didn't want to wake daddy, so we moved to the family room, where I let her lay there, talking away, until she fell back to sleep.  Needless to say, daddy found us both, fast asleep the next morning. 

Notice...we're both covered up with her blanket.  WHY did I not think to go to the spare room?

I have to admit, even though we co-sleep, this was a whole new level of cuddling, and it was kinda nice.  Though I'll admit, the backache I had from being scrunched up on the over sized chair, not so nice.

Last night she was up from about 2:30-4am.  I can only imagine what tonight will hold. 

Discovering Swings!

I have to admit, I love love love the age that Kennedy is at now.  It's so much fun to do new things with her, and see her expressions.  There's nothing that makes me happier than her laugh and those big smiles.  They can brighten even the worst days!  Today Marlon and I took her to the park for the first time.  She's too small for most things, but she LOVED the swings!  We made it a day of first, and gave her yogurt when we got home.  She seems to have loved that too!

This is fun!!!

Come on daddy!  Push me higher!

Oh my gosh!  Why haven't we done this before!? Higher daddy!

 Eeeeek!!!  He listened to me!

Okay, this isn't so bad!

Okay, I can handle this!

I'm having fun!!!

Oh yummy!!  This is so good!

Stand Up!

Kennedy has accomplished so much, and changed a lot in the past few weeks.  It's hard to believe that this baby just had open heart surgery 2.5 months ago!  We've missed the past 5 weeks of Early Intervention because we were on vacation, and our therapist was sick.  I'm excited to see what she has to say this week.  When she saw Kennedy last, she was sitting WITH support.  She can now sit completely on her own, and she's STANDING!  I posted the pictures of her standing on my lap on Thursday, but today's photos take it to a whole new level.  She can't quite pull herself up yet, but when I put her down in a standing position she can hold it.  From what I'm told, that's pretty impressive for a 7 month old with Down syndrome!  Then again, Kennedy let us know from day one that she wasn't going to let anyone tell her how things  would be done!  I'm also starting to practice kneeling with her, in hopes that we can strengthen her legs, to crawl!  She's getting pretty frustrated that she can't quite get it.

Hey Mom?  Isn't there supposed to be a baby in this?

Don't take pictures of me.  My hair is a mess from my piggies!

I'm going to say my prayers while you get my milk ready!

I may not sleep in my crib, but it sure is a good place to practice standing!

Lazy Days at the Beach

We had such a wonderful time at the beach with Grandma!  Thank you to my wonderful mother for taking us on our little getaway!  Kennedy and I had a wonderful time, as always!

Here are some photos from the rest of our trip.  Sadly, our beach photo shoot was more of a fail than the first time I tried it a few weeks ago in Hilton Head.  I think maybe I should leave the photography to the professionals.

Oh, and guess who is standing??????  More pictures to come soon! 

Thanks to Kennedy's early morning wake ups, I was able to see this beautiful sunrise.

I'm going to eat this sand, you don't mind do you mom?

Now I'm going to put it in my eyes, and rub my face.  Ouch that hurts!

Haha!!  This is funny!  I'm sorry that you're not getting the pictures you want.

I'm over it mom.  I call it quits.  Let's go to the pool.

This is more like it!

I don't need this hand to swim do I?

Grandma...Mommy says you look like you belong on Where's Waldo.  What does that mean?

Why do I have to sit in this seat where I can't reach your plate?

Fine...I'll eat BBQ Sophie.

Okay, not getting your dinner was worth it if it meant I got to taste some ice cream again!  But why can't I have more than a spoon or two?

Mommy!!  Grandma's playing with her feetsies like I play with mine!

Look what I can do mom!!!

Thanks for reading mom's updates!

Making Up For Lost Time

We didn't get to do a lot of the things we had dreamed about pre-surgery, so we're making up for it now!  To celebrate my mom's birthday, Kennedy, her and I are enjoying a few days at a hotel on the beach.  This is a tradition that my mom and I have had for years, and plan to carry on with Kennedy now.  I didn't get any formal pictures taken today, but here are some photos from our adventures.  Adventures, which included, ordering Kennedy rice at Bubba Gump's.  It's a REALLY good thing she's so cute, because no one minded that she made a mess with her dinner. 

 C'mon Mom!  In the pool.  Let's go.

Grandma, make me bounce like mommy does!

I love time with mom and grandma!

All this swimming is exhausting.  I love my pool time naps.

I cannot believe you forgot my bath tub....AGAIN!  You're lucky we have a kitchen here.

Okay, this whole bath in the sink thing is cool.  Can we do it at home?

Where are we going for dinner?  I'm ready!

Bubba Gump's?  Are you serious?  And do you really expect me to sit here?

You give me rice and then you want me to pay attention for pictures?  I think not.

This stuff is SO good. 

Who needs shrimp when you have rice?

Good thing I'm cute, cause I'm making a huge mess.

I love sleeping in the fresh air.

Did you say this is a tradition mom?  I like it...

Mom? You said you'd protect me from the sharks.