Riley has been working really hard to use both syllables of words when he speaks. Sometimes it takes some reminders but he tries so hard. He is really into animals so we use a lot of animal names and noises to practise. Last night he crawled up next to me and wanted to read books and I was able to capture some video of his animals.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Is it time to retire...
Well I wish that was in real life but really I'm considering retiring from the blog world. I'm feeling like it might be time to close this chapter. I use my facebook to share pictures with families and friends and just because I don't write my own doesn't mean I can't read all of yours :-) I'm ok with being a cyber stalker commenter.
I've been thinking a lot lately like this a boring place to visit. It all started as a way for me to share my world and the adventures of Hurricane Riley. I am in such a different place than I was almost two years ago and I'm not twisted in knots of depression and craziness. Riley is funny but not very exciting. We don't have day to day struggles. Yes, he does have Down syndrome but he is way more typical than not.
I think I've lost my bloggy way. I don't write the crazy of my life because I'm really not near as crazy as I used to be. My kids are healthy other than the buugs that the pollen is causing all of us. I don't have any drama, no one has attacked my parenting skills in almost a year. Overall life is pretty dull. Oh do I love it that way. I am enjoying puttering around in our little world and watching Rex become a confident reader ready to jump into second grade and helping Riley explore his world.
So just as I talk myself into closing up shop I get a funny shot of Riley that I really should share. He enjoyed a few Oreo cookies with Rex this evening. YUMMY
Not sure if any of this makes sense even to me. I guess part of it stems from the fact that I don't want to have to be a Down syndrome advocate. Don't get me wrong I'm not going to hide Riley away or not talk about Down syndrome I just don't want to feel like if I'm not seeking to interact with every family that has been impacted by Ds that I have some how not done my part to be educated on what is best for Riley. I hate that as Justin and I worked to choose which school would be best for Riley that I thought about a single other thing that what was best for Riley. I don't want to loose track of whats best for Riley because I'm busy advocating for inclusion and equal opportunities for everyone with Ds. As a mom I will always advocate for what is best for my boys and simply what is best for them.
So who knows if Hurricane Riley and His Big Brother Rex will continue since I've been known to change my mind over and over again.
I've been thinking a lot lately like this a boring place to visit. It all started as a way for me to share my world and the adventures of Hurricane Riley. I am in such a different place than I was almost two years ago and I'm not twisted in knots of depression and craziness. Riley is funny but not very exciting. We don't have day to day struggles. Yes, he does have Down syndrome but he is way more typical than not.
I think I've lost my bloggy way. I don't write the crazy of my life because I'm really not near as crazy as I used to be. My kids are healthy other than the buugs that the pollen is causing all of us. I don't have any drama, no one has attacked my parenting skills in almost a year. Overall life is pretty dull. Oh do I love it that way. I am enjoying puttering around in our little world and watching Rex become a confident reader ready to jump into second grade and helping Riley explore his world.
Not sure if any of this makes sense even to me. I guess part of it stems from the fact that I don't want to have to be a Down syndrome advocate. Don't get me wrong I'm not going to hide Riley away or not talk about Down syndrome I just don't want to feel like if I'm not seeking to interact with every family that has been impacted by Ds that I have some how not done my part to be educated on what is best for Riley. I hate that as Justin and I worked to choose which school would be best for Riley that I thought about a single other thing that what was best for Riley. I don't want to loose track of whats best for Riley because I'm busy advocating for inclusion and equal opportunities for everyone with Ds. As a mom I will always advocate for what is best for my boys and simply what is best for them.
So who knows if Hurricane Riley and His Big Brother Rex will continue since I've been known to change my mind over and over again.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Jump Jump!!!!
Riley has been busy busy lately. His most recent accomplishment is learning to jump. He has been jumping off things for a while but its been more like a dive. He loves to jump off the ottoman on to his bean bag or the sofa. He has finally started jumping from a standing position and landing on his own. For a while he'd jump and his stance would get wider and wider but he seems to have stopped that because I tried to get a video. Riley is so proud of himself and his new skills you can see it in his smile!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Mommy Guilt...
I'll apologize right off if this is a rambling post but I have had lots of thoughts floating through my brain and figured writing them all down would help sort them out and if I did it here hopefully some really great blogging friends will weigh in with inspiring and insightful thoughts and all will be well with the world again.
While I do love bragging about Riley's accomplishments that's not really where I was headed with this post. I have been feeling this crazy feeling that I guess would be labeled guilt about choosing a self contained class over the integrated class that we had the option to place Riley in. It seems that every blog that I'm reading and every article you see is all about how our kids should be integrated. Not only should they be but if it isn't an option then parents should be ready to fight for it and ensure that our kids are allowed into typical classes. Did I really just turn down an opportunity for my kiddo to be in a typical preschool and by doing that did I let down all the other parents of kids with disabilities that have fought for me to be able to even have the choice? Yikes that's a lot to think about.
I had a meeting with Riley's teacher, PT and OT this afternoon. I didn't have to include the speech therapist because we have an amazing speech therapist and are lucky enough that she not only works part time in the school district but we knew her in her real life and were able to get into her private practise. Riley loves his Marie time!!! Anyway, it was a great meeting and I was given a ton of positive feedback about Riley and some great ideas to work on this summer. Riley has been thriving in the routine and structure of her class. That is the biggest reasons that we have decided to keep Riley in this class. He is teacher has very high expectations for him and all of her kids. She is such a mom to them and really is protective and demanding of her kiddos. So if Riley is thriving in his current environment why would we consider moving him? Riley thrives with structure and consistent high expectations. Would having typical role models really be worth it? The biggest question that comes to me after I have typed all of this out is why in the world am I doubting my judgement as Riley's mom and the decision that Justin and I have made for him. Is it bad that Riley is thriving with other kids that need a little extra help too?
I wish there was a magical equation that would let us all know exactly the perfect setting for our kids and also magically fund it. I hear about all of these children that are in typical classes with one on one aides to help them stay on track and wonder how that is possible with all of the budget cuts. How do you make it work and get your school district to provide something special for your child in a time of great budget cuts.
OK I'll stop rambling now and your reward for getting to the end of this is pictures of Riley and Ella on Mother's Day. Kacey and her family join my mom and family to partake in a yummy Asian themed meal. Turned out pretty stinkin good if I do say so myself. The kids were "racing" down the hallway with Ella's Nana. What a crack up these two love birds are.
We have been thinking, planning and dreaming about Riley's future in school. Just in case you haven't picked up on this I'm a planner. I like to have things laid out with a nice plan. The funny part is that I generally change plans a million times and am OK with that but I do like to have a plan to get started. So back to planning for Riley. We have spent the spring planning for next school year and after a lot of talking with teachers and therapists have decided on what we think is best for Riley. We have decided to keep him in his current preschool class that is a self contained class. All 15 kiddos have some disability of some sort. At the school he has at the teacher splits the morning and afternoon and the after class is generally the higher functioned kids. Riley is in the afternoon class so there are good verbal role models only one really wild behavior issue. In this years class Riley is the only kid with Down syndrome and is by far the youngest. He started on his 3rd birthday and most of the kids in his class are 4/5 year olds getting ready for kindergarten. About 6 will be staying in the class for next year but the rest are moving on to kindergarten. So as you can imagine Riley has to really work to keep up with the big kids (seriously bigger - he short compared to three year olds so he is really little in this class) Riley is making amazing progress. This afternoon when I met with his teacher she had wonderful things to say about Riley. He is identifying the letters of his name and today sat and spelled his name out loud. Granted he was quiet and didn't think the teacher could hear him but she is so on to him. He is starting to do patterns. When the teacher starts a basic pattern he will complete it. He has mastered sorting by colors and she is starting to work on sorting by shapes and having the colors not match and that bugs him but he is making good progress with it.
While I do love bragging about Riley's accomplishments that's not really where I was headed with this post. I have been feeling this crazy feeling that I guess would be labeled guilt about choosing a self contained class over the integrated class that we had the option to place Riley in. It seems that every blog that I'm reading and every article you see is all about how our kids should be integrated. Not only should they be but if it isn't an option then parents should be ready to fight for it and ensure that our kids are allowed into typical classes. Did I really just turn down an opportunity for my kiddo to be in a typical preschool and by doing that did I let down all the other parents of kids with disabilities that have fought for me to be able to even have the choice? Yikes that's a lot to think about.
I had a meeting with Riley's teacher, PT and OT this afternoon. I didn't have to include the speech therapist because we have an amazing speech therapist and are lucky enough that she not only works part time in the school district but we knew her in her real life and were able to get into her private practise. Riley loves his Marie time!!! Anyway, it was a great meeting and I was given a ton of positive feedback about Riley and some great ideas to work on this summer. Riley has been thriving in the routine and structure of her class. That is the biggest reasons that we have decided to keep Riley in this class. He is teacher has very high expectations for him and all of her kids. She is such a mom to them and really is protective and demanding of her kiddos. So if Riley is thriving in his current environment why would we consider moving him? Riley thrives with structure and consistent high expectations. Would having typical role models really be worth it? The biggest question that comes to me after I have typed all of this out is why in the world am I doubting my judgement as Riley's mom and the decision that Justin and I have made for him. Is it bad that Riley is thriving with other kids that need a little extra help too?
I wish there was a magical equation that would let us all know exactly the perfect setting for our kids and also magically fund it. I hear about all of these children that are in typical classes with one on one aides to help them stay on track and wonder how that is possible with all of the budget cuts. How do you make it work and get your school district to provide something special for your child in a time of great budget cuts.
OK I'll stop rambling now and your reward for getting to the end of this is pictures of Riley and Ella on Mother's Day. Kacey and her family join my mom and family to partake in a yummy Asian themed meal. Turned out pretty stinkin good if I do say so myself. The kids were "racing" down the hallway with Ella's Nana. What a crack up these two love birds are.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Big Bird and MELMO
Riley has finally found a video that he likes besides Signing Times. Don't get me wrong I love Signing Times and am totally amazes at Riley's signing vocabulary but it is a nice break to have a new video he likes. He loves MELMO aka Elmo and Big Bird and the crew. We happen to have the video below from when Rex was little and Riley is trying to sing with it. He is such a mimic.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Decisions Decisions........where is my crystal ball???
Big decisions need to be made at our house these days. First we need to decide which of the family pictures to order. Check them out Here and use the password RexRiley to view. I could use some input. I love #5 of Riley. I also really like the shot of the boys at the top of the slide. I’m having hard time figuring out what sizes and so on. I think my inability to choose is because I have too many important choices to be making and my brain is on overload.
Riley has been doing great at school but he has certainly been pushing the teacher. We have a notebook that goes back and forth in Riley’s back pack each day. The teacher keeps us up on what Riley is working on, his behavior and any other questions we have.
Here are some of the highlights:
1/26 Riley was functioning on “cute” today.
1/28 He did get a bit sassy towards the end of the day, but then he realized he would miss recess if he did not get his work done (coat on and such)
2/4 He was on his “A” game for trying to be cute and get out of work with our sub. He tried and it didn’t work.
2/24 Riley was full of himself today. He was trying to get out of work and used every trick in his tool box to escape. It didn’t work. He also learned he will not get to have peers do things for him. He had to re do it for himself. He is very unimpressed with my expectations and persistence.
2/25 He tries “cute” on every grown up! It works on new people (subs) and I have to teach the grown ups to have big boy expectations for him. Riley had a good day. We painted and used scissors work on left to right orientation and activities.
3/16 My friend Riley actually met our timeout chair today. He was pushing all boundaries. He walked on puzzle boxes repeatedly. He threw toys and “tools” He colored on himself rather than his white board and he ran away from us (in the room) when asked to move to a new center. At about 2 he realized I wasn’t going to let him continue and he settled down. He did much better when he realized recess was on the line.
4/5 Riley was great coming back to school. He quickly settled into the routine.
4/12 Riley had a great day! He had PT and we played tball in gross motor group. He should be a tired kiddo. He is becoming more verbal in telling other kiddos what they should be doing The great cooperative mood continued.
So now that you are getting a good chuckle picturing Hurricane Riley bossing his friends around and testing every adult that enters his preschool, here is the question at hand. Riley is currently attending a preschool class with 15 kids all with disabilities. There is one teacher, two aides and then the therapists that are each there one day a week. We have the opportunity to move him to an inclusive preschool setting. He would be included in an ECAP class. This is an income based program in the public schools to help get low income kids ready to attend kindergarten in some areas it is called Headstart. They allow up to six developmentally delayed kids like Ri to attend and created an integrated class. There are 18 kids with 1 teacher and two aides. There are still therapists but a bit less because fewer kids qualify for services.
I am totally torn on what is the best move. I love his teacher this year. She totally has his number and doesn’t let him slide or play the cute card. She holds him accountable and her expectations of him are high. He has the ability to make choices during free play but overall his time is structured. If he changes classes the ECAP room has to spend time eating breakfast and lunch. They have to eat twice because it is low income. They also have an extended free play time that is less structured. So during a class that runs for 2 ½ hours he has to eat twice and spend 45 minutes in free play. That is a huge portion of his day. I know he would love the big kids and would learn so much from having typical kids as role models but he isn’t lacking social skills. Is it more important to have more structure to help get him ready for kindergarten? Our goal for Riley is for him to be part of a typical kindergarten class. He does have two full years of preschool left before kindergarten so we could stay in the class he is in for one more year and then move to the integrated room the following year.
There are so many options that are causing me great anxiety. I want to put Riley in the absolute best situation but how in the world will I ever know what that is. There are so many pros and cons to each. Please share any words of wisdoms. I am open to all thoughts and suggestions.
Riley has been doing great at school but he has certainly been pushing the teacher. We have a notebook that goes back and forth in Riley’s back pack each day. The teacher keeps us up on what Riley is working on, his behavior and any other questions we have.
Here are some of the highlights:
1/26 Riley was functioning on “cute” today.
1/28 He did get a bit sassy towards the end of the day, but then he realized he would miss recess if he did not get his work done (coat on and such)
2/4 He was on his “A” game for trying to be cute and get out of work with our sub. He tried and it didn’t work.
2/24 Riley was full of himself today. He was trying to get out of work and used every trick in his tool box to escape. It didn’t work. He also learned he will not get to have peers do things for him. He had to re do it for himself. He is very unimpressed with my expectations and persistence.
2/25 He tries “cute” on every grown up! It works on new people (subs) and I have to teach the grown ups to have big boy expectations for him. Riley had a good day. We painted and used scissors work on left to right orientation and activities.
3/16 My friend Riley actually met our timeout chair today. He was pushing all boundaries. He walked on puzzle boxes repeatedly. He threw toys and “tools” He colored on himself rather than his white board and he ran away from us (in the room) when asked to move to a new center. At about 2 he realized I wasn’t going to let him continue and he settled down. He did much better when he realized recess was on the line.
4/5 Riley was great coming back to school. He quickly settled into the routine.
4/12 Riley had a great day! He had PT and we played tball in gross motor group. He should be a tired kiddo. He is becoming more verbal in telling other kiddos what they should be doing The great cooperative mood continued.
So now that you are getting a good chuckle picturing Hurricane Riley bossing his friends around and testing every adult that enters his preschool, here is the question at hand. Riley is currently attending a preschool class with 15 kids all with disabilities. There is one teacher, two aides and then the therapists that are each there one day a week. We have the opportunity to move him to an inclusive preschool setting. He would be included in an ECAP class. This is an income based program in the public schools to help get low income kids ready to attend kindergarten in some areas it is called Headstart. They allow up to six developmentally delayed kids like Ri to attend and created an integrated class. There are 18 kids with 1 teacher and two aides. There are still therapists but a bit less because fewer kids qualify for services.
I am totally torn on what is the best move. I love his teacher this year. She totally has his number and doesn’t let him slide or play the cute card. She holds him accountable and her expectations of him are high. He has the ability to make choices during free play but overall his time is structured. If he changes classes the ECAP room has to spend time eating breakfast and lunch. They have to eat twice because it is low income. They also have an extended free play time that is less structured. So during a class that runs for 2 ½ hours he has to eat twice and spend 45 minutes in free play. That is a huge portion of his day. I know he would love the big kids and would learn so much from having typical kids as role models but he isn’t lacking social skills. Is it more important to have more structure to help get him ready for kindergarten? Our goal for Riley is for him to be part of a typical kindergarten class. He does have two full years of preschool left before kindergarten so we could stay in the class he is in for one more year and then move to the integrated room the following year.
There are so many options that are causing me great anxiety. I want to put Riley in the absolute best situation but how in the world will I ever know what that is. There are so many pros and cons to each. Please share any words of wisdoms. I am open to all thoughts and suggestions.
What a good student he is!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Official Sponsor of Birthday.....We are having a party!!!
Danita of The Ruff Life is helping me with a a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. If you haven't checked out Danita's blog you should. She is super creative. I'm hoping my cards turn out half as cute as these demo cards below. We would love for all of you to join us. If you live in the Spokane, WA area check out the Evite and come join in the fun! If you don't live in the area but want to play along you can make a donation by clicking on the Relay for Life button on the side of my blog. Once you have made a donation to my team shoot me an email with your mailing address and I'll mail your cards.
Last year the Relay in Davenport was great. My mom was the co-chair and she is again this year. Just in case you forgot how much fun we had here is a reminder.
Lately it has felt a bit like every time I turn around a family member or friend has a new cancer story to tell me. I am tired of it and it is time to fight back. This year's Relay has special meaning to my family as my cousin Doug takes up the fight a second time, as if the first wasn't enough. My friend Lora's dad is battling pacreatic cancer in North Dakota and the list goes on and on. Even though I work for the American Cancer Society I still feel like my ability to fight this terrible disease is limited. One thing I can do is join the ranks of Relayers around the world that are raising money to fund the research that will one day stop the insanity of cancer. Please join me in taking up this fight.
Last year the Relay in Davenport was great. My mom was the co-chair and she is again this year. Just in case you forgot how much fun we had here is a reminder.
Lately it has felt a bit like every time I turn around a family member or friend has a new cancer story to tell me. I am tired of it and it is time to fight back. This year's Relay has special meaning to my family as my cousin Doug takes up the fight a second time, as if the first wasn't enough. My friend Lora's dad is battling pacreatic cancer in North Dakota and the list goes on and on. Even though I work for the American Cancer Society I still feel like my ability to fight this terrible disease is limited. One thing I can do is join the ranks of Relayers around the world that are raising money to fund the research that will one day stop the insanity of cancer. Please join me in taking up this fight.
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