All by My-say-elf

                                     Wade got custom-made ear plugs for swimming this summer.  

                                     Which is why his cartoon characters also now wear ear plugs.

                                                            Meet Gep.  Wade's new friend.  

                                                           Who is Gep?  I don't know.

                                                     I drew the top picture.

                                                     I thought Wade was copying it.

                                                     Then I saw the snout and whiskers.

                                                     I don't know anything about that either.

Ha Pe Fhr Dae

                                           The spelling wasn't perfect, but the sentiment was.

                                           It made Father's Dae very Ha Pe.

Words are everywhere!

Montessori.  Very.

Books + Wade = Happiness

We both are loving Numicon math!

And we all love Grandpa!

Summertime Strategies

Wade picks flowers for Mommy from her own precious violets on the windowsill.

Randall and Chris make a how-to plan for manipulating Dad (and leave it where Mom finds it).

Mom gets them each their own library card and hopes to redirect the flow of creativity.

Oh no, they designed a monster!

Help! Help!

Back to the drawing board...

Hmm.....okay.  Let's just go outside.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Cut.

Snap.

Sleep.

Oh yeah!

Much better.

Tonsils Begone

The sleep study Wade had done in April indicated that he has moderate obstructive sleep apnea.  The recommendation was to remove his tonsils which have always been borderline large, especially in comparison to his small airways.  

So Tuesday was "Good-bye Tonsils Day".

Waiting for the cotton candy sleepy medicine.

Before tonsillectomy---happy!

After tonsillectomy--not happy!

At home--before Cousin Kari came to visit.

At home--after Cousin Kari!  Much better!

Playing doctor with the new medical kit from therapist friends.

Yes, he has a heart!

Tonsils versus no tonsils

Hurting again!  

Yogurt pops from a kind auntie help to make life bearable

. . . even when you fall asleep before you get started.

Dynamic!

I am enjoying all the wonderful words I am hearing from Wade the last while which he puts together in ways that just tickle my funny bone.

Our music therapist has started using the Music for Little Mozarts piano course with Wade.  It incorporates the adventures of Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse along with music concepts and Wade is LOVING it.  He learned the dynamic signs forte (loud) and piano (soft).  

One evening I was talking to Chris in the living room while Wade got ready for bed.  In the background I heard Wade saying something very loudly, but I ignored him for a bit while I finished talking with Chris.  When I finally went to see what Wade wanted, he said reproachfully, "Mom!  I was forte, LOUD!"

(Yes, yes, I KNOW, dear!!!!)

In our other summer adventures in learning, we finally got our Numicon Math Kit 1.  Down Syndrome Education International recommends using this math with our children.  Numicon was not originally developed as a special ed curriculum, but I've been in contact with a special ed teacher and researcher from Virginia who has had amazing results using this math with her students.  She is currently doing some research projects that will evaluate the effectiveness of Numicon in comparison to other math programs for students with disabilities and math difficulties.  Wade and I are eager to get started learning more about using it!

The summer writing practice continues.  

And so do the oral motor exercises.

Even for Murphy.

The Graduate

Wade graduated from his Bible Play School Pre-K class last week.

Next in line!

Posing with teachers.

  Celebrating with his best friend Bryan.

Performing at the program.  Wade is the letter S in J-E-S-U-S.

Back home.  Big brother swiped the outfit.

Phantom of the opera...or something.

Summer schedule coming up!  Stay tuned.

Adam Wouldn't Approve

...And then there are days

when you just don't care what everyone else thinks

and you name your dinosaur "Frog".

Bionic Boy

Dinosaur eggs...

and a Purple Dinosaur Bridge...

and the Sleeping Green Monster...

What could be next?

Um....this is starting to look ominous.

Oh, no!  They turned him into a robot!

And then they said, "Good night!  Sweet dreams!"

The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that all children with Down syndrome have a sleep study done by the time they are 4 years old.  So Wade had his done Friday night.  How you can have that many wires coming from your head, face, legs, chest, and big toe and still have anything that resembles a night of sleep is a wonder to me!

But he did!  

Daddy stayed all night with him and said he was sleeping within 10 minutes of crawling into bed.  

Now we are waiting on the results.  Apparently, a rather high percentage of children with Down syndrome have problems with sleep apnea.  We have questions about the quality of Wade's sleep at times.  He goes to sleep quickly but then sometimes tends to wander out of bed and fall asleep again instantly in odd places.  Why does he get out of bed when he's obviously still very tired?  We don't know.