Saturday, December 29, 2007

Vacation To-Do-List

The busy life of a 9-year old. And this was just before lunch. There was another list for after lunch.


click to enlarge


Helpful Tip #1: When making a to-do list, make sure to include those things you've already accomplished. Then when you finish writing the list you can instantly check off all of those items you've already done. Presto! You are making progress already!





Thursday, December 27, 2007

Christmas Happenings

This is what happens when your decorating markers get clogged with icing and you decide to lick it off

Opening gifts


The Aftermath


Uncle Milton on the banjo


The Edgar Strite Family - One & All

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Odds & Ends

Wade is supposed to walk behind this vehicle, but rather prefers to ride

The wagon train


Where is that other sock?


Making Christmas cookies


Look, Mom. I combed my own hair.


Band Practice

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Music Therapy


"Music therapy is the prescribed, structured use of music and music strategies by a trained music therapist to influence changes in the learning or behavior patterns of a child. It is one of the related services listed in both the federal and state laws pertaining to the education of individuals with disabilities."


"Music can be an effective learning tool for many children with disabilities. The effectiveness of this tool varies from child to child and music therapy is definitely not a miracle cure for any type of disability. However, since music is processed by a different area of the brain than speech and language, a child may be able to more easily absorb information and skills presented with music. Music is also motivating and fun, which is useful when working with a child who demonstrates low motivation to learn."

From -- Riverbend Down Syndrome Parent Support Group http://www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/index.htm



Someday we would like to find a music therapist for Wade, but for now we just let him express his musical prowess unsupervised.






Tuesday, November 13, 2007

School Photos





Wade’s School Days


Speech:
Massaging cheeks (outside and inside) and lips
Providing a chewy tube and vibrating toys to bite on, making sure to motivate him to move his tongue from side to side (if he really isn't interested in biting on the chewy tube, dip it in Pixie Stick powder—yum, yum!)
Making all feeding times part of therapy by having him drinking from a short straw to encourage the correct backwards tongue movement and by spoon-feeding with a straight in-and-out movement to encourage him to close his lips to clear the spoon himself
Playing games with little animals and flashcards to help him learn to imitate sounds
Using sign language along with spoken words to help facilitate communication from early on
Trying to help him learn to blow his hierarchy horn
Fine Motor Skills:
Practicing picking up small objects—food especially, for example pulling cheerios off pipe cleaner
Practicing pulling pop-beads apart
Playing in a bucket of rice—feeling, dropping, throwing, eating (Oh, no! Quick, put his pacifier in!)
Playing with edible play dough (fun, fun, fun)
Learning to drink from a recessed-lid cup with handles
Gross Motor Skills:
Pushing to sit from a prone position
Practicing catching himself when he's pushed off-balance (we sometimes roll him on a ball to do this)
Walking along the couch while holding on (at this point we have to move his legs ourselves in order for him to do this)
Learning to crawl
Learning to crawl!
Learning to crawl!!!
(We had to laugh when we saw on one of his reports that he "crawls with maximum assistance". A better description would be that he crawls with maximum resistance! He thinks if he can roll to get somewhere, then why go to all the agony of crawling? But this past week he has finally started doing his version of a belly-crawl! Woo-hoo-hoo! We worked long and hard for that! It's difficult bending someone into an m, when he thinks he should be an l
or sometimes a u.)

 
Practicing walking
(He loves walking and would do it all day if he could. At first I walked with him on the treadmill to get him into the idea of bending his knees and putting one foot ahead of the other. I had to lift up on each side under his arms in order to get him to go. It was a great workout for Mommy—pant, pant. Gradually he has continued getting stronger and now can walk with support only on his forearms and hands.)
Massage:
We try to massage his limbs throughout the day when we are playing with and holding him in order to help all those little nerves wake up and make connections.
*Blessings to the team of dedicated therapists and service coordinator who help us in learning the language of Wade's schooling. They are beautiful people to us.

Friday, October 19, 2007

He Did It!!



Wade has been working hard with his therapists to learn how to go from a prone position to a sitting position.


Today when I went in to get him up from his nap, he was sitting up, just grinning away! That is the first time he has done it all on his own.


One more milestone down. Ninety-nine to go. We're having so much fun.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

A Week in the Life of Wade

Monday: Wade goes to see his eye doctor.


Tuesday: Occupational Therapy in the morning. Upside of Downs support group meeting in the evening.


Wednesday: Physical Therapy


Thursday: Service Coordinator comes to visit


Friday: Speech Therapy



Thursday, October 04, 2007

More photos

Wade with good friend, Ruth Ellen


With cousins Carolina Sue & Landon... Who taught my boys to smile?


Fun with water balloons


All she does is work, work, work...from sunup to sundown



Miss Susan gets the snooty face

The cheerful one


?????

Monday, October 01, 2007

Turning 4 is great because....


....you can decorate the cake yourself and then tell everyone how beautiful it is


....you can still blow out all the candles in one puff


....you don't have to make sense at all, and everyone still smiles benevolently


-- in other words when someone asks you what Curious George's name is, you can say with great confidence and authority, "Piglet!"


-- and when, before supper Mommy says, "Christopher, did somebody poke a finger into the birthday cake?" you can say fervently and charmingly, "I love you, Mommy, and I forgive you and I won't do it again!"

(Next time I need to apologize, I'm taking lessons from a 4-year old.)

-- The Lady