Go Go Go

I remember the days that I thought Kennedy would never walk.  The days a year ago when she would crawl backwards, and get stuck under entertainment centers, tables, etc.  Then came crawling forward.  And cruising, and independent standing.  Then one or two random steps.  Then 5 or 6 steps.  All of the sudden 20 steps!!!  And now I can't stop her!  Literally, in October when we were house hunting she made a record of 22 steps.  By the time we moved 3 weeks later, she was a full time independent walker.  Now, 6 weeks later, she's running.  Girlfriend does not stop.  She doesn't want to do puzzles, she doesn't want to watch Signing Times, she doesn't want to stack blocks.  She wants to run around the house, playing with whatever happens to be in her path, for a few minutes at a time, but mostly tearing things apart and getting into everything.  Throwing things into the Diaper Genie, pulling things out of the trash can, throwing books off shelves, emptying laundry baskets (clean or dirty), and emptying every cabinet.  We're still missing TWO pairs of my husband's glasses.  Yes, I said two.

We recently found a place called Monkey Joe's.  When we took Kennedy for the first time last weekend, my husband had an alarmed look on his face, when we walked in to find huge bounce houses.  He was definitely concerned.  I wasn't sure what to expect, I felt like bounce houses were a little old for her, even on the toddler level, I wasn't sure what she would think.  Well, she loved it.  She crawled under, through and around all the different obstacles.  Jumped and flipped off inflatables, went down slides, crawled, climbed, ran and bounced.  We took her back today, for a play date.  She was all over.  Literally throwing herself against the sides, and sliding down.  Bouncing, sliding, running.  I am not sure which of us got more exercise but I can tell you, I'm exhausted.  I was looking forward to photos of Kennedy and her friend, Ben, playing.  Unfortunately, Kennedy didn't spend enough time in one place to even think about getting a picture today.  Hopefully if we keep hanging out with Ben, his talking will rub off on her.  Of course, there's also a chance that her wildness may rub off on him.

This was a video of her the other day, before she got too completely wild.

And this would be her today.  I know.  The worst photo ever.  But the best one I could get, as she threw herself across the bounce house.

And just to show what a goofball she can be.  

Yes mom, I'm eating crackers for dinner.  But give me more.

What?  I'm just working on my splits.

Look for me in the gymnastics portion of the Olympics in a few years.

Other random videos that show miss wild thing in action:

Checking out Daddy's office, after Monkey Joe's last weekend.  

(She walked circles through daddy's building several times.)

And this morning's run in with Mr. Penguin....

On that note, I'm going to bed.  Because tomorrow is a long day of keeping up with her, while juggling a 20 pound baby on my hip.

It Will Happen (Video Included)

I think it's safe to say that no matter what you may or may not go through in life, you have yours ups and downs. We've had a lot of major changes going on lately.  None of them really related to Down syndrome.  In fact, Down syndrome does not play a big part in our life.  But some days I do get a little sad about things.  Latley I've struggled a bit with Kennedy's speech delay.  Everyone is constantly reassuring me how wonderful she is doing, and I have no doubts about that.  I'm so incredibly proud of her.  But every now and then it hits me a little harder.  Especially when I see other kids her age doing things so easily when we work so hard. 

Today we made an impromptu trip to the park.  Because, well, I'm officially a North Carolinian now and I was thrilled that it was 65 degrees and a "warm" day.  So despite my middle of the night shopping trip induced exhaustion, we headed to Kennedy's favorite swing spot.  The same park that we had a play date at just over a month ago.  The very park that Kennedy took her socks and shoes off at, and refused to walk more than 5 steps.  Well, today, she didn't take her shoes off.  She spent the majority of the time we were there running around the grass.  She was wild.  She was happy.  She was the social butterfly that she always is.  The baby that wouldn't take more than 5 steps on her own outside of her home last month, was now RUNNING through the grass at the park.  I remember the days that felt like Kennedy would never walk.  And now, just three and a half months after she started standing independently for a few seconds, she's running!!!!!!!!!  When she took her first steps, I felt like we were far from having an independent walker.  But I think that we can officially call her that!  So although some days feel like Kennedy may never really "talk," I just have to keep reminding myself that she will get there. 

I should also mention that not only was Kennedy a social butterfly today, she was a stalker.  She was chasing after babies, toddlers and older kids, trying to play with their balls and run around with them.  Some of the kids were more receptive than others.  And none of the parents looked at me like I was crazy, as my toddler ran around kissing strangers.  I keep trying to tell Kennedy she should blow kisses to these people, instead of kissing them physically.  She isn't convinced.  Here's some video.

 

And one more.

 

 

Check back tomorrow for more photos.  I had computer problems that delayed my blogging tonight, but I have some seriously adorable photos.



Breaking News: First Steps!!!

BREAKING NEWS ALERT:

Kennedy took 3 very small steps INDEPENDENTLY today!!!!!  There are no words to explain how happy and proud I was.  And how upset I was that of course, I didn't have my phone or a video camera in my hand.  You can bet I'll be walking around with one glued to my hand.  She has been working so hard at walking lately, and it shows.  I know that these 3 tiny steps are a long way from walking completely on her own, but my guess is that she'll be walking around the house in no time! 

In addition to taking her first steps, Kennedy has been demonstrating her toddler behavior.  She told me that she wants everyone to know that even though she has an extra chromosome, she is just like every other toddler.

Last week I mentioned that she knocked over wine in the grocery store.  Apparently the grocery cart wasn't quite far enough away from the shelves.  In the 20 seconds I was comparing chicken broth, she managed to stretch and reach and I assume in the process of reaching for a bottle of wine, she knocked two others off.  For a grand total of 3 bottles of wine shattered on the floor.  Oops.  It's a good thing she's cute, and they laughed it off.  Mommy would have had a tough time explaining why she spent so much on groceries with nothing to show for it. 

The wine was just the start of the string of toddler behaviors that are driving me to gray hair and exhaustion.  In the past two days she has discovered that shredded chicken sticks to the wall really well.  And after months of crawling all over the same floors, she found the area that the grout was cracked.  And discovered that she could take the broken pieces out.  And put her blueberries in.  Yes folks, she has mastered the in and out skill.  Removing the grout and filling it with blueberries.  I'm sure any potential buyers will be very impressed.  We may want to consider moving sooner, before Kennedy destroys the house any further.  My friend said people expect that when they look at a house with kids living in it.  I hope they also expect broken blinds.  And maybe they won't mind stepping over the tupperware she through all over the kitchen.

One thing is for sure.  Kennedy has grown to love her brother more every day and is such an excellent big sister.  It melts my heart to see her with Caleb and it makes me so excited to continue to grow our family.  She was a little upset that I took pictures of her with out any pants, and with bed head, but they are to cute not to share.

I think Caleb needs a kiss.

 I really love him mom.  When can he play?

Caleb: Mom, can I have some peace and quiet? Please?

I can't deny it, the kid is pretty funny.

I'm hiding from my sister.  Please don't tell her where I am.

 I'm milk drunk, Leave me alone people.

Mom, is he okay?

But I don't want to play with you mom.  I want to play with Caleb.

Maybe if I kiss him he'll wake up.

I think I'm going to snuggle him.

Nap time with Caleb.

Enjoying a cool Florida afternoon.  It was only 87*.

Goodnight blog reading people.

Weekend Wrap Up - Big Steps

Wow!  What a busy weekend.  I think we've felt a little guilty that Kennedy has been stuck in the house so much.  Combine that with wanting to reward her for being such a wonderful big sister, we made sure that she had a blast all weekend, despite some lousy weather.  So in the past 48 hours we went to Busch Gardens, an indoor play center and the park.  I'm really not sure who is more exhausted. 

And there's one thing I always say.  There's a few ways to get Kennedy to do something. 
1) Blog about how she's NOT doing it.
2) Express concern to the therapists about how she's not doing it.
3) Stop practicing it.

As I mentioned in my last post, I felt like we weren't getting anywhere with speech and communication.  Kennedy has made it clear that she has a pretty good understanding of things.  She can follow simple commands and recognizes objects.  But we've been at a frustrating standstill with her language or signing skills.  Since I blogged about my frustrations the other day, Kennedy decided to prove me wrong.  She started signing eat and more this weekend.  Did I mention that we had cut back on the amount of work we were doing with signing, per our speech therapists suggestion.  And now she's going to start signing.  That's my girl! 

I also finally got a video of her walking with her push toy.  I've been trying to catch this on video for awhile, but I never seem to have my phone or video camera on me at the right moment.  Or when I do, she's so distracted by it, that she doesn't walk.  One of these days, she's going to be walking on her own!  I am voting sooner than later. 

And here are some photos from the weekend.

Mom, why does it always rain?

Oh my gosh the carousel is so much fun!

The elephants are really funny mommy!

It's been so long since I've been swinging!

Push me higher daddy!

Don't stop!

I love the swings! Can't we get some.

Catch me daddy!

Peek-a-boo people!

Oooooh!!! Catch me daddy!

Peek-a-boo daddy!

Baby Steps!

This has been an exciting week. And yet, the first time I've managed to write a post AND it's lacking a lot of photos. But Tropical Storm Debby, Grandma moving in, being 9 months pregnant, and day to day life with a 16 month old hasn't left a lot of time for blogging.

Kennedy is making huge progress in the area of gross motor skills. This has always been her weakness and an area that we've worked hard on! She's been capable of pulling up for some time now, but only did it when she was really motivated to - usually by something she wasn't supposed to have. All of that had changed in the past week or so. She's now pulling up and climbing on everything. She's getting into things she never knew existed - like her brother's dresser. I've caught her climbing into and out of things and becoming quite the dare devil. She still thinks it's best to plop down on her butt when she's done standing though. And the dramatics that go along with it are hysterical...to us and her.

 

She's continued to enjoy climbing out of the pool, and it's become quite the hit to see.

 

She's started to cruise the furniture more and more. She'll now take steps to get around her activity table and is starting to stand independently for a few seconds. Tonight, for the first time, with some help from mommy - she walked from the family room to the kitchen with one of her push toys!!! She's definitely not ready to do it alone, since the push toy moves faster than she does, especially on tile, but I feel like we've made some huge advances on the way towards walking this week! We're far from being an independent walker, but I have the feeling that in a few months I'll be able to stop chasing Kennedy on my knees!

I promise. More pictures to come this week!