The Best Sleepover Ever

Around Christmas, Sydney got it in her head that she and Myles were going to have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and she has been talking about it ever since. Like everyday ever since. When cousin Raum was visiting at Christmas, we saw him during the day, but not at night because he was "sleeping at Grandma's," which I think Sydney decided sounded like a lot of fun. Myles has slept over a few times, but the one time Sydney tried last summer she got too scared at bedtime and came home with us.

So finally Sydney planned the sleepover with Grandma. The main things she decided were that she was going to have popcorn and a movie before bed, and for breakfast she would have yogurt, orange juice, and a pink donut. The week leading up to the sleepover she talked about it nonstop. On the way to school Monday morning she rehashed with me what she was going to eat and how Myles would be there, and then on the way home she said out of the blue, "I forgot to decide what to have for lunch and dinner at the sleepover!" She was clearly thinking about it. On Tuesday evening, while she and I were at a meeting at Myles' school district, she kept leaning over and whispering in my ear, "It's going to be the best sleepover ever!"

Finally Friday came, we got everything packed, including a dozen random things that Sydney just HAD to have, and Grandpa came to pick the two big kids up before dinner. I guess Sydney wasn't there for more than two minutes before she already had her nail polish out and was polishing her nails. They had pizza for dinner, painted nails, baked cookies, had popcorn and a movie, ate Sydney's pre-approved menu for breakfast, Facetimed with lots of relatives and cousins, and did in fact have the best sleepover ever, although according to Grandma and Grandpa there wasn't as much sleeping as desired. The kids were wired and went to sleep late (Sydney wanted to "dance all night" instead of sleep), Sydney was up in the middle of the night (as always), and Myles woke up for the day at 4:30 (also not unusual). With our two not-so-good sleepers at the grandparent's house, Gilby and I thoroughly enjoyed a full night's rest for the first time in way too long (Ryker's good for 12 solid hours with seldom a peep).

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! Sydney is already talking about the next time.

Kindergarten Update

We're halfway through this school year and I can honestly say that Myles is having a really good kindergarten experience. It's not that I'm surprised, but the first few weeks of school were a little rough, so we weren't sure how the year would shape up. By our 9 week conference he was a different kid in school: more confident, had settled into the routine of the classroom, made connections with other students, and was better understood by staff. He has taken off since then and rarely has rough days anymore (attention span, persistence once he's made up his mind, and fatigue can still be challenges).

Myles is in a regular education kindergarten class 100% of the time. He receives push-in support from an occupational therapist, speech therapist, and special ed teacher, and has a one-to-one para all of the time. To communicate he uses the limited speech that he has, his talker, and some sign language (lots of staff there know sign). He is well liked by classmates and kids school wide, and he has a little crush on his kindergarten teacher, sweet Mrs. Babbs. Full inclusion is our goal throughout school (and life) as long as it makes sense for Myles, and we are thrilled to be in a district and school that supports this (why we chose to live where we do). I wish every child with a disability was treated with presumed competence, but in the disability community it's unfortunately still an uphill battle where we have to prove what our kids can do before being given a chance, rather than the other way around.

Academically, Myles is making progress, but we are considering repeating kindergarten as he is just not quite where we'd like him to be to start first grade. With such a late summer birthday he's already one of the youngest in the class, he's definitely the smallest, he has less stamina than his classmates and is really tired in the afternoons, and with such an adjustment the first few weeks of school there was "wasted time" when he was solely focused on figuring out how to "do" kindergarten, and not working much on academics at all. We haven't made a final decision, but there's a good chance we'll do Kindergarten Take 2. With the help of all the private therapies we take him to (5 a week), some focused instruction by us this summer, and maturity, hopefully he'll be ready to make even more progress next year. Plus, we won't have to be stressed about potty training because HE DID IT! A huge deal in our house. We've been working on this since the summer, but he regressed a bit in the fall with the stress of school, so he was wearing pull ups again all first semester. I decided I was DONE, and he was ready, so starting the first day of Christmas break he was in underwear and we haven't looked back since. He won't initiate yet, so we take him on a schedule, but he hasn't had an accident now in 17 days and counting, which we are thrilled about. (Average age for potty training for boys with Down syndrome is somewhere from 4-7.)

We are so proud of Myles, his hard work, his character, and the young boy he is becoming. Amidst our almost daily frustrations with communication and behavior, it is easy to lose sight of the big picture and all the progress he is making. We have such high expectations for him that we don't celebrate new accomplishments too long before raising the bar again - not because we're pushing him to be somebody he's not, but because he is capable.

Ryker Update - 14 Months

 Ryker has changed so much in the last month that I want to document, for my memory, some of his developments before all of his new skills quickly become old tricks! So far he is doing everything earlier than his siblings, but mostly because he tries so hard to keep up with them! He continues to get stronger and braver with his climbing and other physical skills, as evidenced last week when he scaled his crib and landed in a thud on the floor, but the biggest change is in his emerging personality and language. He is his own little person now and so expressive. His play is advancing (he will build with duplo blocks, push cars with purpose, etc), and he will follow simple commands ("put in," "go get," "clean up"). Ryker just started daycare ("school") two days a week (after we very sadly lost our awesome nanny to an unexpected move), and everyone has commented on how happy he is and how easily he has adjusted. Thankfully, this is how Ryker is about most things. Although he does have his own opinion and will let you know about it, he isn't bothered by much and generally just goes with the flow.

Ryker is in a language burst right now and has new words daily. After watching Myles struggle so much with talking over the past 5 years (he too is making improvements), it is still amazing to me how kids just learn new skills with seemingly no instruction. Our experience with Myles has helped me value a child's ability to communicate SO much, so I am thrilled to hear Ryker's little voice. It seems as though he tries to repeat most everything we say, and he jabbers a lot, but words he definitely has in his repertoire include apple, banana, up, down, go, car, Daddy, Mama, Sydney, me, more, all done, yogurt (whoa-gah), see (probably his favorite word as he points to whatever he wants to "see"), dog, no, yum, hi, bye, uh oh, whoa, and others that I'm not remembering right now.

The cliché is true, he is growing up far too quickly.