There's Always A Reason

Dad: Randall, did you feed the puppies this afternoon?

Randall: Yes.

Dad: Then why was their water bowl bone dry when I came home?

Randall: I don’t know.

Dad: If you gave them water then why were they so thirsty when I filled their bowl?

Randall (emphatically): I don’t know! I did give them water!

Dad: You’re going to have to come up with a good reason to make me believe that.

Randall (desperately): Maybe it evaporated.

At this point Christopher (who has been absorbed in a book and apparently ignoring this whole conversation) suddenly says offhandedly to no one in particular: Oh, I emptied the bowl.

Dad (sternly): Christopher, you don’t dump out the dogs’ water!

Christopher: Well, that was after I finished washing my fingers.

Dad: You washed your hands in the dogs’ dish?

Christopher: Randall told me to! (Long pause, then sorrowfully) And that is not a pleasant thing to do.

--The Lady

Disappearing Act

I was working in the kitchen while Wade rolled happily around the living room, when suddenly I heard a distressed cry followed by a “thwoink, thwoink, thwoink”, then silence.

Upon going to search for Wade, I found an empty living room! After frantically looking up the stairs (totally illogical) and in the office, I finally found him---under the pie safe.




Every time he raised his head, it went "thwoink" on the bottom of the pie safe. Poor boy!
Then he had to endure a while longer while Mommy sat down and laughed hysterically and then went for the camera.
-- The Lady

Garden

Randall likes planting nasturtiums



I put up a fence for Karen's cucumbers this year. They have done very well.

Digging potatoes

Wade's First Haircut

I've trimmed Wade's hair twice already, but today he got his first all-over haircut.

Aunt Laura sucked his hair into a Mohawk with the vacuum

Sitting at the supper table I decided it was time for a haircut.

A hair-cutting attachment for the vacuum makes the job so easy. I use it for all of the boys. Wade really enjoyed it!


The finished product - "My Little Man"

Mississippi Trip

Several weeks ago, we traveled to Mississippi for the wedding of Karen's nephew. We had an enjoyable time at the wedding seeing friends & family.

John Dale & Luanna

Maryann (Karen's mother), Betty (Karen's sister), Wade, Karen

Galen Schrock getting ready to feed catfish

Galen & Jeanie fed us a tasty supper of fried catfish. Not this one, but one similar.

We also had the priviledge of spending the night with my cousin Julia and family. Her husband Paul thrilled me, Randall & Christopher with rides in his plane the next morning.

Extended Family

On Memorial Day, Dad's invited all of the children home for an outdoor supper together. It was a beautiful evening and we had a good time together. There sure seems to be a lot of little children when we all get together.

Laura, Karen, Mom

Wade sucking out of his honey bear, Landon wishing he could have some

Dad & Mom

Todd with his new glasses

Playing with bubbles

Kari, Karen, Milton

Dad's mower with 4BP engine

Duane, Tyler, Milton, 1/4 Dad

Wade at 8 Months

Wade is now 8 months old and is doing very well in every way. He is doing most things at a slower pace than our other boys due to his mild muscle weakness which accompanies Down Syndrome. He learned to roll from his back to his tummy at 6 ½ months and just last week rolled from tummy to back once. When he’s on his tummy he pivots himself in a circle. He can sit propped on his little arms for a few moments. I had Randall take the picture while I sat to the side ready to catch him!

A friend loaned me her jumper swing and this has been a great aid in teaching him to use his feet and legs. He loves the swing and has learned to turn himself with his toes to find us. He still doesn’t jump with it, but loves when the boys help him bounce.
Just within the last 10 days he has finally really started grabbing toys. Before this, he would reach for them but only if he was really inspired. Still a very sociable character, he continues to think that the therapist’s face is much more interesting than any toys. Lately the OT has been bringing two students with her and he thinks that’s great. The more faces, the better!

He started eating solid foods at 5 months and has done much, much better at that than either of our other boys did. Now he thinks he’s a Big Person and wants to eat table food at every meal. He learned to drink from a cup at 7 months and now at 8 months is supposed to put the cup away and drink from a straw. Liz, the SLP (Speech,Language Pathologist), brought him a honey bear with rubber tubing for the straw. She hadn’t expected him to use it until he was a year old, but he took to it instantly and drinks from it at every meal.


Now for the very weird part: at 6 months old Wade started going mess in the big toilet and has been doing it ever since. No, this is not part of the therapy. It just happened accidentally. He grunts and I set him on the pot and he goes. Then I laugh hysterically and so does he! We’re enjoying it while it lasts—certainly saves on diapers and clean-up anyway. (This has been documented by the SPL and both grandmas who have all experienced the phenomenon.)

We are beginning to teach him sign language. Since he is predisposed to have language difficulties because of the Down Syndrome, teaching sign language along with spoken language is supposed to be a way to unlock the doors of language in his mind. So far we do the signs for eat, more, all done, drink, and, of course, potty!

And as we try to unlock the doors of language for Wade, we’re trying to stop the floodgates on Christopher whose main job is to make sure his parents stay humble (or maybe humiliated). He told an unsuspecting guest on Saturday that our two puppies were “nipped and tucked”. She gasped wildly and said, “Aren’t they a little young for that?” We blushingly explained that the puppies names were Nip and Tuck.

-- The Lady --

Wade & Amy Heatwole


Chris & Randall giving Wade a ride with the help of Wade's Bumbo.

Mama's big helpers

Johnny The Bagger

If you haven't heard the inspirational story of "Johnny the Bagger" see it here.

Upside of Downs

There is a local support group for families with Down Syndrome. The group is appropriately named, "The Upside of Downs". They usually meet once a month.

We have attended two recent get-togethers. The most recent was a play date at a local place that has inflatable playground equipment indoors. We had an enjoyable time meeting other families and just sharing and learning of other's experiences. It was neat seeing all of these children with Downs along with their siblings, and watching how they interacted with each other. They just had loads of fun playing together.

Afterwards we all shared in the refreshments together.

From The Mouths of Kids

This evening we were eating at a local buffet restaurant. As my wife was carrying her filled plate to our table, an elderly lady seated nearby said, "If I filled my plate like you did, maybe I would have an awesome figure, too."

As we were discussing this at our table, Randall pondered a few moments and said, "Mom, you don't have an awesome figure!" Upon being questioned on whether or not he knew what an "awesome figure" was, he admitted he didn't. But then he said, "If I ever saw one, I would know it."

Don't you just love little people??