This boy is a solid 50lbs! One look at him and the doctor could tell he has a strong build and remains high on the growth chart, especially with the Down Syndrome. He still loves basketball and 'swimming'. He is the most enthusiastic cheerleader you will ever find. Our homeschool coop has a few boys that will shoot baskets. He loves to watch them and often yells his enthusiasm or claps whether they make a basket or not. He's already learned that the effort is worth cheering for. Most of the times he is my little runner and I hope he'll be my partner on my early morning runs someday. This is a mixed blessing for me and has definitely kept me young!
Bubby couldn't wait to get out of his church clothes before jumping into the pool.
His time in therapies has shown us that Bubby does much better when his sensory needs are taken so Kent built a swing in a our room that is wide enough to allow us to sit with him and work on writing or puzzles. He absolutely loves it and will drag either us or our respite worker, Mary upstairs, pulling activities he likes from the book shelf to work on. He knows all his letter sounds and we have begun some reading activities with him. I suspect he will better at reading sooner than he will be at clear speech and I hope it opens another world to him.
He wants to be just like everyone else and gets extremely upset when we don't give him that chance. Lately he's wanted to help make the smoothie in the morning or unload the dishwasher. This always has a little panicked as he picks up the glass blender casually and swings it around. Even when Brother limits him to the plastic ware he isn't satisfied and wants to do everything else. Thankfully amid all the broken glassware and plates, he has never cut himself so far. I have to remind myself that as 'young' as he looks, he is growing up and I need to give him the opportunity.
Finding something that Bubby turely loves is hard. We decided that since he loves raisins, nuts and apples, I would bake him a cake with all of it in. The spice round the flavor nicely and we made it a second time for our Easter feast. It didn't come out of the bundt pan the way I hoped but he sure enjoyed it.
Bug bought a large amount of cookies as a gift and we bought some puzzles that will help with pronunciation and spelling. The cookies were the definite favorite for him but he has since grown to
Since homeschooling he has begun to interact with us more, both in actions and verbally. He will often drag Bug to the swing out back and sign 'swing'. She'll guess it correctly and he will enthusiastically yell and jump with delight. If she declines he is quick to slump into a pile and cry plaintively which always softens big Sissy's heart and she relents to his wishes. He shows his affection more often, with his head tilted into your body, or a gentle pat or a funny tickle with his fingers. When he climbs into your lap with a book it's a clear sign he feels secure with you and it's a huge complement.
He has his favorite routine at night and it has become a treasured time for us. He climbs into bed and I lay down beside him, covering him with our family blanket (which is now his!) and laying softly on his backside I sing him his lullaby. Often he reaches back and pats me gently or tilts his head to touch mine. When the song is done he sits up to lay on my backside as he hugs me and pats me in his funny way. I often tease him and tell hhim it's his turn to sing me a song which he yells a negative to and pats me a little extra as if to say, "You don't need a song to know I love you!" If there's time there is giggling and games where I pretend to snore and he wakes me up, or we play peek-a-boo with his blanket.
Love to read your post Flo! Happy Birthday to Bubbykins! Hope are you doing great my dear. =) Happy Belated Mother's day!
ReplyDeleteThanks Abby! Miss you guys!
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