8 Year Old + Robot = Happiness Overload!

Kaden is like all little brothers, he thinks everything Travis does is so cool, and can't wait to be big enough to do some of them too.
I think it is a bit harder for Kaden, because there is a 6 yr difference in their ages, so it isn't a mere 1 to 2 years he has to wait it is many.

Travis joined First Robotics this year and loved it. It is exactly the kind of activity he needed, and the fact it will open doors and provide amazing opportunities for him now and in the future only makes it better.
Kaden would always ask about the robot, how they were building it, and so many more questions. Travis always would try to explain and show him pictures and videos of it while they were building it.
When the time for the competition came Kaden was so excited to see them all in action, and was on cloud 9 when Travis took him down in the "pits" to see the robot close up.

Kaden has been keeping track of how old he has to be to join First Robotics, and to say he is excited is an understatement. Imagine his excitement when I told him we were going to a end of year team potluck last night & the robot would be there to see up close.

So last night was the night, Kaden had the biggest grin on his face when he saw the robot, and even asked questions about it. He kept his eye on it while we ate, and then they demonstrated it, explained how it worked and then gave out awards to the team. But then he heard the words he thought he would never hear and about went nuts with excitement: If anyone wants to try driving the robot, they could!!!

Needless to say Kaden was in that line and waiting as patiently as an 8 yr old could.
When it was his turn, I snapped this picture:

Could he smile any bigger??

He was so happy. I don't think I have ever seen him smile so big, and look so proud of himself. It is moments like this that melt my heart, not only is he so happy, but  for a brief moment he felt as big and as important as Travis.

8 Yr old + Robot = Happiness Overload!

Am I Doing Enough? Why Can't My Kid Do That?

I have been thinking about this for a while now, and when I announced here and on facebook that Tessa was walking at 15 months, I knew it was time to write it.

"Mom calm down, I will do things in my own time, just enjoy the little things!!"

When Tessa was born I had no clue what to expect. I had been told to not get my hopes up too much, that typically DS children walk between 2-4 yrs, with 2 being early.
I then started finding blogs, and Facebook pages of other parents of children with DS and seeing what their kids were doing, and how much PT,OT, Speech, and other therapies they were doing and all I could think of was " Oh my god, I am a crappy parent, I am not doing enough for her & oh no, my child is so far behind"
I was seeing other kids close to her age that were rolling over, sitting up, all kinds of things. I would see where parents had multiple therapy sessions a day & every day of the week. I would wonder if Tessa would ever do any of it.

Her Pediatrician would tell me to take everything with a grain of salt and remember she will do it all, in her own time. She would reassure me that even when I was pregnant with Tessa they had a feeling she was not as low tone as most due to her constant & strong movement. Even at birth Tessa was incredibly strong, she has always had very strong legs.

But still I worried. But finally she had a growth explosion and new milestones were met almost every couple weeks. She met most of her milestones close to or shortly after the normal time. Now that she is almost 16 months, she is right on track or past on many things. She doesn't talk other then a few words, but I am not to worried.

I worried about posting about her walking on Facebook and on https://www.facebook.com/#!/NoahsDadcom  because I understand how early she is walking & I also worry that others might wonder if they are doing enough to get their little ones walking.
I have seen some parents post what they have done to help their child achieve their milestones and offer advice.

I am going to be honest about how we got Tessa to walk. It is what worked for us, but every child is different, their amount of tone is different, and I think walking at this young age is rare for DS children.

Tessa never crawled like a regular baby, she spider crawled. Because of this it is easier for her to pull up to stuff, also it made it much easier for her to stand up on her own in the middle of the floor.
Tessa has only had PT, OT, and a Teacher come to the house through the Birth to 3 program, we have not done outside therapy. We tried 2 times when she was 9 months, but she screamed and was scared so we stopped. I take what the PT/OT say and do it to some degree, and then I do what feels right & how I did with my other 2 kids. I have never treated Tessa any different then I did them at her age. I did push her to try, but made it fun as well. I found what motivated her and used that. ( paper, and tons of cheering and clapping)

I hope that other parents don't compare and judge their child's progress or lack of based on what Tessa is doing. Believe me I am so guilty of doing that, I did it for the first 9 months of her life. I would get very sad that she wasn't doing something others were doing.

There are many things she isn't doing, and I still some days wonder why she can't master those simple skills.

Tessa can not:
Drink through a straw
Drink from a regular sippy cup, hers is closer to her bottle nipple. ( that dang tongue gets in the way)
She can not use silverware to feed herself, she still uses her hands so has to be fed the messy things. ( applesauce, yogurt)
She only has 2 teeth on the bottom
She only signs a few things and not correctly, we have learned to interpret what she really means

I hope that I can learn to not compare her to others anymore, I am getting better, but their is still a small part of me that gets jealous when I hear of others mastering the skills she just can't.
I hope others don't feel the same way I do, and have felt in the past.

I am slowly learning to let things go, and really see the beauty in the little things, because in Tessa's world the little things really are BIG!
It is so easy for me to get excited and celebrate other DS children's accomplishments, then to see how far Tessa has come in such a short time.
I will admit, I sometimes see their accomplishments as Tessa's failures.

And before anyone gets all worked up, I don't see Tessa as a failure, I feel more like the failure because I wonder if I did more she would do more.
I feel guilt that she has to work so hard and struggles sometimes.

But, I am learning to not be this way. Tessa is amazing, strong, stubborn & so very determined to do everything. I am so proud of her, and I am learning that I am doing enough for her. What is enough for her might not be enough for another child, but that is because they are all their own person, with their own strengths & weaknesses.
I will continue to "brag" about her new milestones & accomplishments, celebrate them for the wonder they are, I hope everyone else celebrates with her too.
I will also continue to celebrate and cheer on all our new DS friends with each and every new milestone & accomplishment they have too. I feel great amount of happiness & amazement at all our little friends are doing.

What Just Happened???

When I started this blog I said my life can be funny, and some days I wonder if I am on a hidden camera show.

Today is one of those days. Actually my day was fine, it is this evening that has me shaking my head and laughing cause I don't want to cry in front of the kids.

I have waited for the day Tessa would be mobile, and since that day I have learned to be careful what you wish for. She is a little wrecking crew, and leaves a path of destruction everywhere she goes. I am constantly stopping her from knocking crap over on top of herself. She has been to the ER once for tipping a TV tray over and it landed on her face. She was just fine.

Tonight Tessa is cranky from not taking a nap. ( her choice not mine). Travis was sitting at the center island eating a bowl of cereal ( just started) and Kaden was upstairs, I was right next to the kitchen on my computer, and Dennis is working late.
All of a sudden I hear Travis say "Tessa, NO!" and then I hear a huge crash! I look over at the Kitchen to see Tessa on the floor, the 3 tiered cart full of school supplies & a Texas shaped basket that was on top of it all on top of Tessa (almost, Travis caught most of it). I run into the kitchen to see Tessa fine, I grab her, call Kaden down to play with her while she is in the Pack-n-Play.
I go back into the kitchen to see little yellow things on the floor, not sure what they are, Travis is picking stuff up, and then I see it.....


Yes, that is the Texas shaped basket, and yes, that is also milk!



See the milk is almost all gone from the bowl, and it is all over the stuff I should have cleaned off of there a long time ago!



More mess, and that is the cart she tipped over!

When Travis was jumping up to save Tessa, he spilled his cereal all over the counter, floor, mail on the counter. I knew I should have gone through all the crap on the center island. All I could do was laugh, because I wanted to cry.
So while cleaning it up Kaden is playing with Tessa, she is completely unharmed and oblivious to what has happened, until........
I hear Tessa start crying and I ask Kaden what happened, he won't answer me and is backing away from the pack-n-play! Uh-Oh.. Kaden tells me he accidentally dropped a toy on Tessa's head.

I think if this is how my mothers day weekend is going to go, I might just want to make a quick run to the liquor store right now.
Life around her is never boring.

Tessa Has A Surprise For You!!!

Tessa has been an amazing fighter since the day she was born. She is so full of spunk and is going to do what she wants when she wants. I always joke that someone forgot to give her the memo that she has DS.

She has always met her milestone close to when she should have, and always did it in pure Tessa style. I always wanted her to be walking by the time we take her to Disney World in October of 2013, she will be 2 1/2 by then. I had told PT/OT this was my goal with her, and I became saddened and a bit discouraged when they said  "most children with DS walk between 2 and 4 yrs. That I shouldn't get my hopes up." I felt crushed because I had never heard that, and the thought of her not walking till then was hard to accept.
We had PT/OT and I did most of the things they said to do, but I also just treated her like I did the boys, and did what I did with the older 2. She sat up when she was ready, she never crawled like babies do, she had her own way of doing it, and she didn't care what others thought. She eventually learned to pull up to things and walk along them. Then one day she stood up in the middle of the floor, I was so surprised!! She would also take 2 to 3 step, and we have been working hard to get her to do more. Sometimes she would do a few more, and I couldn't wait to be able to say she was walking.
Yay Tessa!!!


Little did I know my little girl had more big surprises up her sleeve.....

PT/OT came today, and they officially declared what I have dreamed about and wished for since Tessa was born.

TESSA IS WALKING!!!!!!!

It brings tears to my eyes to even type it. Tessa is only 15 months and 1 week old. She walks across the living room, she stands up, sometimes with toys in her hands and walks. When she is feeling stubborn or is tired she does her version of crawling, but she is walking more and more.This just started to be a constant thing in just the last week or so.




 Watch out world here I come!!!



15 Months & Rude People

Tessa is 15 months!! I don't know what day we are to say she officially is seeing as how April only has 30 days and she was born on the 31st. But it is now the 3rd so we are good!

First some stats on Miss Tessa.

She was born 4 weeks early weighing a whole 4 pounds 7 ounces, and was 18 1/2 inches long. He tiny little head was only 11 inches.

She is now 17 pounds 12 ounces, 29 inches and her head is 16 1/4 inches. She has gotten so big, yet she is so very tiny still. She is the size of a typical 9 month old, in fact her brothers were this size at 9 to 10 months.
She is doing great, but she did lose some weight since her last visit. We are not concerned since she has become very mobile since then.
Tessa is meeting all the milestones of a 15 month old without DS! And she is exceeding a few. They have said she does not have low tone in her legs, and is very strong. She showed the Nurse Practitioner how she stands up in the middle of the floor, then squats down to pick up something, then walks a few steps to the chair or where ever it is she is going.
It really isn't long before she is walking, she does it more and more here at home and goes farther each time.

She is doing great, we have her totally off Zantac, and she is finally able to handle whole milk without formula mixed. We have to start giving her a vitamin, and will be giving her a My First Flintstones, but I have to crush it up since she only has 2 teeth. Poor baby got her 3 shots and was a bit mad that they did that.

Now for the Rude People part:

I had Tessa in her stroller and she had her glasses on when we walked in the clinic. This is a Pediatric clinic, so it is all kids ( and their parents). There was a woman and her daughter checking in, in front of us. They girl looked to be about 10 and was a very sweet girl, her mother however needs to learn to not say exactly what she is thinking out loud.
I walk in the mom turned around looked at Tessa, and Tessa smiled at her, the mom then does a double take, starts laughing very hard and loudly and says to her daughter, "oh my god you have to see this baby, I haven't seen anything so funny in my life." Her daughter doesn't turn around so she again taps her daughter and says, " oh my god you have to look at this baby, I have never seen anything so funny."
By this time I am ready to say what I am thinking and punch the woman, but instead I give her a very dirty look, her daughter looked very embarrassed by her mom.
I then went up to the desk to check us in and said "Tessa is here!" the receptionist said oh my goodness, Tessa you just keep getting cuter and cuter, to which Miss Tessa smiled about.
I have been going to this clinic for aver 14 yrs, and worked there for 3 1/2 yrs, they all know me there, and I think they knew I was a bit pissed off at this woman

I am so surprised at this woman, how would she have liked it if someone said that about her child?  I don't for a minute think she was trying to say Tessa looked cute, I have had parents come up and say they think she is cute. I have had people stare, whisper and turn away when I look at them because I can see them staring, pointing and whispering.
I think perhaps some people look at Tessa and think "oh god, I am so glad that isn't me" or "poor baby". I understand this, because before I had Tessa I would see a child with DS or another disability and think "oh god I am so thankful my kids are fine." To some, and I was one of them at one point, Tessa is their worst nightmare. There are not many or probably any moms that while pregnant say " Oh I really hope my child has DS or is disabled in some way."

I do get it, but I don't get how some people think it is OK to stare or worse laugh at my daughter to her face & mine!!!
I will either have to get thicker skin or perhaps on occasion speak my mind to them as well.