Yes, We're Still Here

Bad blogger.  Bad, bad, bad blogger.  What can I say?  I'm at a point between my life is far too chaotic to blog and my life isn't nearly exciting enough to blog.

So, I'll start with an update.  Kennedy is doing amazing, as always.  She has been rocking speech therapy and we are seeing huge changes in her communication skills.  New words and new signs show up all the time.  She actually has a few that I've had to look up when she does them!  One of her new words is butt, she was very proud when she learned that one, but thankfully the use of it is tapering off.    She is our little super star and she's very happy that her "baby brother" is getting to be so much fun.  She absolutely adores him and they are so cute playing together.  Caleb, is a giant.  He weighs about one pound less than she does.  He is FINALLY starting to eat solids.  Yes, that's right.  It took my "typical" child 9 months to decide that he would just the rest of the world with eating solids. When Kennedy was a baby, everyone warned me that we would have feeding issues, need feeding therapy, etc.  It was quite the opposite.  She took off with solids, just before 6 months and never looked back.  Who would have thought that we would have multiple conversations with the pediatrician about our "typical" son who should have no feeding issues.  Ironic, huh?

The things doctors say?
This should be a blog post in itself.  But since I've been such a horrible blogger, I felt bad posting a month later, with a random vent about the medical field.  Today was Kennedy's Opthalmology appointment.  I went there with great anxiety, over how I would amuse her for 2 or more hours while we went through the whole process.  Thankfully, the iPad came through.  Kennedy made a friend in the office, and they danced together to the ABCMouse letter videos.  I'm sure her mother was just as thankful as I was that the kids made quick friends and amused each other.

Of course, there was some anxiety that we would be told she needed glasses.  Yes, I know glasses aren't the end of the world.  But the task of keeping glasses on a two year old...especially my crazy, determined toddler who has a mind of her own.  The assistant got the drops in her eyes, Kennedy and her friend Jillian played, and all was going well.  Maybe I let my guard down a little.  I was immediately unimpressed with the physician.  Especially when mid-exam he called out to the assistant to write a script for glasses.  He then proceeded to *yell* at me for the way that I was attempting to hold her for the exam.  Demanding that I need to get control of her, and hold her the right way, because clearly she can use her arms to push the equipment away.  Oh, and don't forget - she's half my size so I should have no problem controlling her.  He was also incredibly rude to his assistant.  At one point I told him he had 30 seconds to finish his exam, or I was leaving.  When he told me that she would need glasses, and I questioned the difference of opinions between our last Ophthalmologist, he explained his reasoning by saying, "Because this is how I do things.  And I know it's not what you want to hear, but it is what it is."  Wow.  Great response, huh?  Then he mentioned that we should get her plastic frames.  His words were, "They aren't cute or stylish.  But she's two. She doesn't need to be either."  He continued to tell me that he would give me a prescription of the drops used to dilate her eyes.  And that I should dilate her eyes 2-3 times a day to make her vision blurry, which would trick her into wearing the glasses.  EXCUSE ME?????

And that was pretty much when I left.  I have no intentions of going back.  I've made an appointment with our physician in Florida, and we'll be seeing her next month.  If Kennedy does need glasses, then we'll deal with it, and do our best to get her to wear them, with out using eye drops, which could have harmful effects, to trick her into wearing them.  And if she doesn't wear them, well, then so be it.  Some day she will get used to them.  It is beyond me how some of these physicians can work with children.  Or adults, for that matter.  

And here are some of the many many many photos from the past month.

It melted my heart, watching her walk next to daddy and Caleb, while pointing and quacking at the ducks.

Diva Fabulous!

Here ducky, have some old stale bread.

Where's more bread mama?

Talk about backing him into a corner...

At least she snuggled him after he got rescued.

Mama, I'll help you cook.

It's finally warm!!!

It gives a whole new meaning to, "stay out of the cabinets." 

Big girl - loving the slide!  It may soon replace swinging.

The two of them together brings me so much joy.

 Warm weather is the only thing that could make this better.

Look mom!!!  They are wearing a hat!

I'm a beach girl!

Keep walking Grandma.

 This wagon is the best!

Caleb, it's just a bubble!

Seriously? How are they old enough to be doing this?

Summer = Ice Pops.

Just a Typical Toddler

When Kennedy was born I had no idea what was ahead.  I had no idea what life would be like in 2 weeks, 2 months or 2 years.  I quickly found out, that life was pretty typical.  And the older she gets, the more similarities I see.  She is sweet and adorable and so much fun!  She is also in the midst of the terrible twos!  She can throw a tantrum like any other two year old - complete with foot stomping.  She's also an amazing big sister.  She loves to give her brother kisses, and always comes running when he's upset.  She thinks it's so funny to tickle his feet and his belly.

Her communication skills are growing by leaps and bounds.  She's picking up new signs and words daily!  She is copying everything we do.  In fact, this week she attempted to stir the food (on the real stove) and took a plastic cup out of the pantry and tried to get ice/water from the fridge.  She loves to climb on the furniture.  And she has mastered opening doors.  She climbs the steps at the playground and goes down the slide.  She loves music, dancing and dogs.  She asks us daily for a dog.  We still haven't given in.

She amazes me more and more every day, and I could not be more proud of her.  I love seeing her learn new things and the look on her face when she accomplishes a task.

Here's some quick photos of our last trip to Washington D.C.  I have some adorable photos on my phone, but I seem to be having technical issues.  You can also get a sneak peek of her dancing, her enthusiasm for a dog and her quacking, which she started completely on her own after watching the ducks one afternoon.

Little Miss Chatterbox

I was thrilled when Kennedy started walking.  She walked relatively early for a child with Down syndrome.  I couldn't have been any more proud when those one or two baby steps transformed into her being an independent walker.  But what about talking? Communication has been a tough one.  And admittedly I spent a lot of time worrying.  What if she never talked?  And yes, sometimes it felt that way with crawling and then walking.  But how many times have you seen someone with Ds that doesn't know how to walk? Yeah, me neither.  But the reality is, some individuals with Down syndrome are not able to talk.  I'm not sure that I ever admitted to anyone just how real this fear of mine was.  I tried to focus more and more on signing, and while she used a few signs, they were far and few between and overall she just didn't show much interest in using them.  She spoke a few words, but seeing how much other 2 year olds were talking was sometimes hard.

Until last month.  Shortly after she turned two.  In true Kennedy fashion, she decided she was ready.  She randomly started generating words and signs.  Some that we have barely worked on.  Over the past few weeks she has continued to add more and more signs and words to her vocabulary.  This weekend she put three signs together and asked to eat more crackers.  We took an impromptu trip to Virginia to see some family, who happen to have two golden retrievers.  As soon as she saw them she pointed, yelled dog, and then signed it.  Over and over and over.  She asked to be put down.  But then the dogs rushed to play, knocking her over and licking her face.  She was no longer a fan of the dogs. However she has been talking about them repeatedly since Saturday. Using both the sign and word.  I may need to invest in a soft, snugly puppy that barks and plays.  And runs on batteries, because I don't have that kind of time when it comes to taking care of animals.

It's an amazing feeling to see her signing things not just for her basic needs, but about things that she sees and things that excite her.  Although we aren't having true conversations, I feel like we are able to communicate so much more these days.

So, the hard work is paying off.  I am so proud of Kennedy and how hard she is working at speaking and signing.  And I feel a sense of accomplishment.  These are all things I've taught her.  We haven't had any sort of consistent speech therapy since we left Florida.  Last week was our first real session with the therapist in North Carolina.  I feel like she will be a great fit for us and provide a lot of guidance.  We're facing a lot of tough decisions regarding Kennedy's future and education, as she prepares to age out of the early intervention program at age 3.  Her recent accomplishments and progress have me feeling more confident about our decisions.  But that's another topic, for another day.

Here are a few photos from our Passover and Easter celebrations.

Dreams Do Come True

When Kennedy was born I was scared. I had no idea how much Down syndrome would change my life.  In the past two years I've realized that it has changed it more for the positive than anything.  We enjoyed our vacation so much.  Kennedy absolutely LOVED Disney.  She loved the characters.  She ran up to them all, hugged them and kissed them over and over.  She even hugged a few photographers.  It was a trip that we dreamed of taking long before we had kids.  Long before Down syndrome came into our lives.

There are no words to describe what a great time we had.  So I'll just blast you with a few of the 1,900+  photos that I took.

It's DISNEY, people!!!!!

How do I hug this dude?

I'm coming!

Hi Daffy!

Hey tall dude? Dance with me.

She loved the rides! Especially Dumbo!

Excuse me?

Truly the happiest place on Earth and an absolutely magical vacation for the entire family!  I'm counting down the days until we go back.