Life According to Julie: It's been a while....

Hi Friends--
   I've been having a bit of a blogger's block the past few weeks. Usually, by the time I get around to writing a post, I've been forming it in my head for a few days. There is usually something on my mind that I need to spit out. Not lately. That's probably a good thing. It probably means I'm adjusting to everything--staying home, being a mom of two, being Bryce's mom.

   We are so busy. Friday is the only day of the week that we are just home, all day, with no plans or interruptions. Even though I'm now mostly a stay-at-home mom, I actually do work about 25 hours a week. Those 25ish hours are over the course of 4 days. Add that to physical therapy, ECFE, and early intervention teacher visits, and we have plenty on the schedule each week. I was so worried about being bored at home, but instead I am busier than I was when I was teaching. Of course, I didn't know I would have a child that needed PT and EI :)

   Connor is such a little character and keeps me in awe constantly. His imagination is crazy. I'm so glad he's able to entertain himself, but some of his creativity has been getting on my nerves the past month or so. I'm trying my hardest not to squelch it, but sometimes I'm just not in the mood to respond to whatever character name he decides to call me that week (so far I've been Timon, Dory, Lightning McQueen, Crackle the Dragon, and the color purple) or say what he tells me to say (so that he can basically have a conversation with himself). I finally told him yesterday when he decided my new name was Dumbo that we are just going to be ourselves for a while. It's so nice to hear that little voice say "mommy" again!

    He is also so stinkin' smart. I really need to start working on reading workbooks with him. He is fascinated by literacy (maybe he has some of his mother in him afterall!). He has loved letters since he was about 15 months old, but he now is really getting interested in putting the sounds together and is actually pretty good at sounding out short, three letter words. It's very cute listening to him try to sound out longer/more difficult words. It really reminds me again how difficult the English language is...."We don't make the 'e' sound in this word", "o and u combined make this sound", etc. We really need to stick to sight words, but he is just so ambitious :) He also knows that we read left to right, pause at periods, etc. It's just so natural for him. I said a long time ago I'd have him reading before kindergarten, and now I'm even more confident in making that statement. As a teacher, watching his language and literacy develop has been the most interesting thing I've ever experienced.

     I have come a long way in my acceptance of Bryce's DS. It still stings a little when I see babies his age or younger doing things he can't do, but I've gotten better at giving myself pep-talks to get through it. When we first learned of his condition and were studying up on it, the struggles these people often have with language was (and still is) one of my biggest concerns. As I listen to Connor's vocabulary grow and watch him learning to read it scares me that Bryce most likely won't get there for a long time. He certainly won't be there when he's three. Language is just such a big thing for me. I just hope and pray that he is able to communicate effectively and that I can accept that it may not be his strong suit.

    That being said, Bryce is doing AWESOME. I mentioned that he's been going to physical therapy for his torticollis. He has gotten so much better! We actually learned that his head tilt is most likely caused by something ocular. He went to the ophthalmologist a couple weeks ago and the doctor noticed a little muscle weakness/misalignment in his right eye. Most likely there is a little blurring or double vision when he looks certain ways, and he has corrected it by tipping his head to the side. Unfortunately, Bryce wasn't being consistent enough for them to tell exactly which eye muscles are the problem, but at least we have an answer. The PT had suspected that was it because his neck/back/shoulder muscles were so easily corrected....the muscle tightness is a result of the tipping, the tipping isn't caused by muscle tightness.

    Our little champ has gotten so much stronger in the past few weeks. He is holding himself up so nicely in both a supported sit and when you hold him upright. I've been waiting and waiting for that head control and we've finally got it! He is also trying to belly crawl already. His little legs have been trying to go for a couple months, and now he is even alternating knees like an actual crawling motion. Unfortunately, he still face plants, though, and his little butt goes up into the air. Our next area to work on is getting him to bear weight on his arms while on his tummy so he can get the upper body crawling movements down. He is doing so well physically that we can start going to PT only every-other week now. I'm so incredibly proud of him and never take his health for granted. I'm sure a lot of kids with Downs have slower development because they have so many health problems to deal with. I can't say enough how blessed we are. He really isn't that far behind the normal curve for motor development, especially when you look at his adjusted age (5.5 months). He is just a rock star.

     I give Connor a lot of the credit for Bryce's development. That baby's eyes are glued on Connor at all times, and whenever Connor is doing something physical, Bryce will start kicking and moving his arms like crazy--he wants to do it too! I'm so proud of both of my boys!