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Celebrating Kyle’s Second Birthday

November 4, 2012 in Kids, Parenting with 5 Comments

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Kyle is probably the baby at the Fun House with the most nicknames….I could probably count past twenty in no time at all.  One of our favorites is “Cowell,” given to him by his big brother and it kind of stuck with everyone.  But I call him “Coco.” Not sure how that one came about, but it’s fitting nonetheless.  Again, I could reiterate everything I wrote from his post about his first birthday:  he is the ultimate baby, we spoil him to death unapologetically and he is truly a joyful little guy.

Kyle is truly a joy!

Not much has changed in a year other than mobility and the word “NO!”  But even the ultimate of all toddlers has to test authority with the word “no,” I guess.  We celebrated his second birthday in early October and Joel put together this video.

Here’s a list of Kyle’s favorite things, in no particular order:

1.  Pappy.  If Pappy is in the room (Em’s dad) nothing else seems to matter.  It’s a funny thing, because out of my three, we think Kyle looks most like my dad.  Even one of my best friends growing up calls him “little Clarence.” Too cute!  Kyle talks about Pappy constantly and everything we read in books or discuss at home somehow seems to come back to Pappy for Kyle.  Like the other day we were out in the yard and saw a big helicopter fly by.  He saw it, pointed and yelled, “Pappy!!!!!”  What on earth!?!

Kyle loves his Pappy

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Haircuts!!!!

September 27, 2012 in Down Syndrome, Parenting with 0 Comments

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Ooooooooooh Haircuts!

Now, I don’t know many little boys that enjoy/sit still for/tolerate haircuts.  And if you have one, I don’t want to know about it.  But, I’m going to put Seth in the category of “kids that hate haircuts more than anything.”  Truly. Haircuts are awful….well, so are trips to the ENT, or any doctor for that matter.  Now, I’m no super-mom-pediatrician like Noah’s mommy and my sweet friend Abbie, so I can’t just grab an otoscope and check Seth’s tube placement at a moment’s notice.  However, I’ve watched some videos online and personally observed several little boys’ haircuts, and I’ve decided that to simplify our lives a little, I can start giving Seth haircuts.

Texture issues: I think Seth hates the clippers more than anything. But there can’t be anything quicker and more fool-proof than a guard and a few targeted swipes up the neckline with a good pair of clippers. So, that’s where I start! After plugging in the clippers, I let Seth touch them while they are turned off, then I turn them on and he goes into a tailspin. I’m hoping with repetition, this will become less traumatic! After we talk and talk and talk and talk about what mommy is going to do, and he continues to scream and peel away from me, I sit him on the floor, wrap an arm around him, lean back and get to clipping! Mind you, we are on the living room floor, watching Imagination Movers, and I’m crossing my toes that it turns out even (enough)! Then, I move to a bigger guard to blend toward the top and after that’s done, we CHEER because mom has finished with the clippers. Seth likes to say, “Bye bye clippers!” I try my best a scissor cutting the top (a small trim) while he is dodging, dipping and diving from my hands and the scissors. I would imagine a trained professional could cut a cooperative little guy’s hair in 5 minutes or less, but Seth and I take our time and I’d say we’re done in about 20 minutes. Let’s just say his hair looks better wet than dry! But all in all, we still think he’s one good lookin’ dude!

Good job Seth! We did it!

 

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Video: Emily Reads for Seth

September 9, 2012 in Down Syndrome, Kids, Parenting with 0 Comments

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Seth has really been making progress with his speech. He’s been going to speech therapy once a week since March and is now back in his half day pre-school program since school started back up.

The kids are loving school and so is Mom

We are working really hard on shapes, colors, and ABCs. Regular readers remember my feeble attempt to make a video for Seth singing the ABCs. Emily stepped up the game big time this week by making a longer, more comprehensive, video where she reads several books. We figured someone else might benefit from this other than Seth so we are posting the video Emily made for Seth. We try to keep learning fun here at the FunHouse.

I also created a video in the past for Ella where I read “Where the Wild Things Are” for her viewing pleasure.

 

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Potty Training Success!

August 20, 2012 in Down Syndrome, Faith, Kids, Parenting with 6 Comments

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After unsuccessfully cajoling Emily to write about Seth’s potty training success here at the Fun House, I decided to give my shorter, less compelling recount of that experience.

History

Many of you may remember a post back in July of last year discussing our potty training attempt with Seth. Seth wasn’t ready then and he made that quite evident through his vehement opposition to even the thought of sitting on a potty upon request. (This stubborn defiance, we believe, is about 50% a uniquely Down syndrome characteristic and about 50% Seth just reflecting the personality of his wonderful parents!) Additionally, we weren’t sure he was putting together the bodily output and the feeling that came right before it. Finally, our frustration and expectation levels were way out of sync with where they should have been. But, this is not unusual with Emily and me both being “bottom line” achiever personalities. We aren’t the type of people who typically just “enjoy the process” or “ease our way into things”. We like formulaic (A + B = C) answers and will carefully follow the process to ensure we get to the result on time and under budget, so to speak. I confess that I naturally fall into that camp even more than Emily. Continue Reading…

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The third child

February 5, 2012 in Kids, Parenting with 3 Comments

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Sweet, sweet Kyle.  I’m so sorry, sweet baby, that Mommy didn’t write you a letter about how much I adore you on your first birthday.  It’s not that I don’t think you are amazing or that you’re not as cute as the other two, it’s just that you’re the third child!  I don’t even have a baby book for you.  I can’t remember when you got your first tooth, sat up, crawled or what your first solid food reaction was.  But I do remember that it all happened and YOU, my littlest one, have stolen my heart!

Sweet baby Kyle

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Typical Threes….

July 23, 2011 in Down Syndrome, Funny Stuff, Parenting with 13 Comments

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Ahhhh, the joys of children.  Much particular “joy” with three-year-olds it seems.  Whoever coined the phrase “terrible twos” must not have endured the crafty and mischievious mind of a three-year-old.  And why should a child with Down Syndrome be any different?  I’ll be the first to say that Seth’s latest stunts as a blossoming 38-month-old are nothing more than typically developing….So I give you a few of his best moves, from Seth’s perspective:

I've got some really good tricks up my sleeve

The Grab and Go

I have a growing vocabulary (both words and signs) and some of the ones that my mom started to teach me long before I started talking were “share,” “your turn,” “my turn,” “please,” and “thank you.”  But with a slick move like The Grab and Go, words or signs will only slow you down.  Here’s how it works:  Simply sneak up behind your victim, whether its a self-defending sister or an innocent little brother, and take whatever it is that seems to be captivating their attention.  Then, just go, go, go!  Get the heck out of dodge with your new, fast feet!  Run to another part of the house as fast as possible, play with the object for about 30 seconds, then casually discard the item unless you see the self-defending sister chasing and shrieking behind you!  If that’s the case, start shouting “no” and prepare to hit her with the object until the Fun House referee comes in to break up the “misunderstanding” (right?).  At that point, fall to the ground in a heap of tears, as though you have been wronged by the other party.  Tip:  Good luck convincing the Fun House referee you are innocent.  Just try to shed as many tears as possible.  It helps if you stick out your bottom lip, point harshly at the other party and say, “Mama, Mama!” over and over again. Continue Reading…

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Potty Training Boot Camp Has Begun!

July 19, 2011 in Down Syndrome, Kids, Parenting with 17 Comments

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Today I earned a huge salary….or at least those new appliances Joel bought me for our 10th wedding anniversary.  Potty training boot camp started this past weekend for Seth and let me tell you, this kid is a doozy!  I’ve got my work cut out for me!

If only he smiled EVERY time....

In just a few short days, he’s learned that M&M’s aren’t worth his time to “park it” on the potty chair for a few minutes.  And for that matter, neither are Skittles, raisins, Craisins, chocolate chip cookies, pretzels, Godfish, Kool-Aid (oh yeah!), Chee-tos or ANYTHING ELSE in my fridge or pantry.  He’s done with books, Imagination Movers and even Seth’s favorite Buzz Lightyear action figure was thrown from the bathroom after he demonstrated his best toileting skills to the onlooking three-year-old.  Oh, but Seth CAN do it.  He’s done it already, lots of times.  He just doesn’t want to, and I’m struggling between feeling like I should strongly encourage him to do it and just keeping things light and fun.

So, today I took the light and fun approach.

And tomorrow I’ll be going back to the strongly encouraging approach.

I know what you’re thinking and what you want to say (and probably will say) to me, “It’s on HIS time.  He’ll do it when he’s ready.  Don’t push him.  Don’t make him do something he doesn’t want to do.”  And while I partly agree with you on that thought, I’ll argue that I bet you haven’t potty trained a child with Down Syndrome. Continue Reading…

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Basketball Fun for Everyone

July 16, 2011 in Kids, Parenting with 2 Comments

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We do a lot of random stuff at the Fun House to entertain ourselves and the kids.  This day, we decided to roll the basketball around to each other inside the house.  With the sweltering heat in the summer, no one wants to be outside unless it’s in a pool somewhere.  This video is particularly enjoyable because it shows Kyle squealing with joy at the sight of Ella and Seth playing with the ball.  While we are at it, is that Kyle not the cutest little guy you have ever laid eyes on?

Kyle is such a good baby

 

Emily and I have decided that he’s an obvious tenor as you can hear in this video with the squeals he lets out.  Emily and I can’t get enough of him.  He is soooo easy going, which is such a blessing.  I told Emily that if all babies were like him, the world would truly be overpopulated.

By the way, it’s not coincidental that the kids are using a basketball as I’m a basketball junkie myself.  My goal is to get to the point where Emily HAS to learn and understand basketball because her kids love it so much.  In our earlier years of marriage, I used to bribe her to watch a sporting event on TV with me.  Even with bribes, she rarely had the desire to sit through a single half, much less the full game.  So, it is one of my goals to make the TV programming at the Fun House dominated with sports, and my methods of brainwashing my children to this end will be innumerable.  You should also check out Seth’s ballin’ video as well as Ella’s hit off the tee.  The Fun House WILL be a house of sports.  It already is and will always be a house of music and singing.  But, why shouldn’t it be both.  Who’s with me?
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Vacation now, potty training to come

July 13, 2011 in Kids, Parenting with 1 Comment

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Seth and Emily will be starting potty training bootcamp when we get back from our wonderful trip in Colorado. Start praying now!!!

We need your prayers

Here is a shot I took with a cool app on my iPhone called Pano. It allows you to stitch multiple pictures together to create a panorama. We are staying at the Broadmoor. Emily has decided she likes the treatment.

This place is amazing

Joel

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The Flat Tire….(I couldn’t make this up if I tried)

September 17, 2010 in Funny Stuff, Parenting with 12 Comments

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Wednesday had been a great day at the Fun House.  My parents came over to spend the day with the kids and allow me some rest.  Mom helped with lunch, laundry and even got me started on dinner…and at 9 months pregnant, I will accept any and all help!  Joel called around 6:15 and said he was headed home, which was perfect as I was just finishing up dinner (the first time I’d semi-cooked all week).  I was so excited that he’d be able to eat with us and postponed the kids a few extra minutes with pretzels to allow him the time home for our dinner together.

At 6:30, Joel called and said he’d gotten a flat tire on the way home.  Bummer!  Fortunately, he wasn’t far from home, and he did think he’d be able to change it, but he would be home a little later than expected.  Sad times!  So I sat the kids down and began to feed them a mouth-watering pork chop with mashed potatoes and all the trimmings.

At 6:45, Joel called to say that his car had all the things he needed to change a flat except for a tire iron…could I help him out?  I explained that I’d just sat the kids down to feed them and would need a few minutes to finish them off before loading them up.  He was content to wait and seemed certain that my car would have the tools that he needed in the back to finish the job.  After bribing them to eat quickly, I grabbed all the supplies that I thought were necessary…drinks for everyone, snacks for the kids and a flashlight….after all, it would be dark in an hour.  After I changed Seth’s diaper and Ella and I made it through the bathroom, we were on our way to rescue Daddy around 7. Continue Reading…

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