A Wetsuit, a runway, and a camera


Tis' the season for backyard fun!  Black Widows have been sprayed, dirt has been swept, and new fun toys fill the backyard in effort to distract dear Sadie from scaling the pool fence.  Unfortunately, this smart little first grader has figured out how to unlock the poolgate... so, outside fun is closely monitored. 

When Sadie was little I heard/or read once that children with DS do not 'do creative/imagination play'.  I'm not sure why (and honestly have not seen that to be the case); but it has always bothered me.  I think it goes back to my homeschooling days when I heard 85% of kids are creative at the age of 5 and by 20 only 5% of the population is creative. Sadie's creative play is always heavily influence by Disney Channel, DVD's, Nick Jr., and the endless youtube music videos she watches... so I'm not sure how much of that is imagination?  Anyway, here's a funny scene - influence by her one of her sister's, and her friends, favorite pastime's (I'm almost too embarrassed to say it)- Rupaul's Drag Race!

FASHIONISTA

Daddy's wetsuit makes for a perfect runway curtain..

Work it Girl!

 Yeah, you got it!

 The ever popular 'Hairflip'

 And again...

 She walked that Catwalk at least a dozen times



It's a bird... It's a plane...

It's a CARPET ANGEL!!

Sadie was so excited about her 'clean room'.  She lead Scott and I, with closed eyes, into her masterpiece and then proceeded to flop on the floor waving her arms and legs. We won't talk about all the things stacked on her bed or the numerous items she threw into other rooms.  For now we rejoice because Sadie has enough room on her bedroom floor for... Carpet Angels!

P.S.  she cleans the greatroom with equal amounts of talent and enthusiasm.  Just don't plan on sitting on any of the couch cushions!

Stubborn Sadie - Day #4

I hate to keep harping on the stubborn side of Sadie; but, it really has started to consume our lives! Last year she lost her snack on two occasions because she decided she didn't want to line up and go in from recess. The first time I was horrified that her teacher could be soooooo mean as to make her sit there and watch all her classmates eat without her. I quickly learned Ms. Katie knows what she is doing and that Sadie would understand there are consequences to actions.

Guess what???? I think Sadie forgot about the "no snack if you don't line up" rule over the summer. We have been in school for 3 1/2 weeks and she has missed snack THREE TIMES already. That's not the worst of it. She has even gone to line up and decided to look Ms. Pam right in the eyes and run off to take another turn at the slide!!!

Also, one day a little boy named Adam didn't like the task they were doing so he decided to throw his book in the middle of the circle. Sadie quickly told him, "No Adam, no throwing!". (This is what they call- "helping classmates keep on task". I call it "being bossy"; nevertheless, it is a new behavior Sadie has acquired this year!) Ms. Pam told Sadie, "I'll help Adam- you go finish your project."

I don't think Sadie liked this to much because she went and got her book, looked Ms. Pam in the eyes, and threw her book in the circle. Can you say stubborn????

I know that this whole 31 for 21 is suppose to be for down syndrome awareness... and I think that means to help others see how wonderful living and caring for a child with ds is. So, know that all of these "behaviors" are exciting, frustrating, interesting, a pain in the butt, but most of all NORMAL 4 YEAR OLD BEHAVIOR!!! And what is more wonderful than looking at your child and seeing beyond the ds?

It's Halloween Time... - Day #3

We were driving down the street right before dusk. It's a beautiful, clear and hot (80 degree) day. Sadie started yelling, "bats, bats, bats mommy". I was a little confused until I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed she was pointing at the seagulls flying around. I asked her, "are you pointing at the birds?"


"No mommy, bats in the sky. That's aweeeeesome!!"



I wonder what they are teaching her at school right now???

Halloween is coming toooo soon and I asked each kid to decide what they wanted to dress as for Halloween by Oct. 1st. No more last minute costumes (Kiersten) and no more changing at the last minute (Hannah). My only problem is I haven't been able to talk Sadie into something cute.... she wants to be "MUNO" from Yo Gabba Gabba. As many of you know- we love Yo Gabba Gabba- but, Muno looks like a giant boy part!!! I am horrified- can't she just be a ladybug or Minnie Mouse??????

"Pets, Mommy Pets!!!!" - Day #2

Let me give you a little background on this story... although I am really enjoying the freedom public school brings to me as a mom- I am a homeschooler at heart. With that in mind I can not count the hours I have spent teaching my children phonics. I have more than a dozen books for each grade on the subject.

So, when I was in our learning program at the Down Syndrome Association of Orange County last month and heard that "our children just don't do well with phonics. It is best to teach whole language"- I just about freaked!!! I've heard this before, but I haven't really thought about it because Sadie was so far from reading. Well, we are getting ready for Kindergarten and pre-reading is a skill we've been working on.

I knew if I was ever going to get on board with this philosophy I needed to understand the reasoning behind it. They explained that because of the hearing and articulation problems our children most likely have it makes it difficult to really work with phonics. OK... that sounds understandable. I'll try whole words; but, I'm not giving up on phonics!

This month we worked on word to word matching. We have two boards with six words each- Foods and Pets. We also have a book that has a title page just with the word and the following pages have a picture and corresponding word. At the end of each book there is a vocabulary or word building page with all the words listed without pictures.

Let me just testify to you right now- IT WORKS! Sadie was able to match word to word successfully (except a few times when she matched dog and frog- most likely looking only at the ending of the word). She was able to read the books and even sight read a few of the words without pictures in the back of the book. But, here is the real test...

The other day while in a parking lot I heard Sadie repeatedly telling me, "Pets, mommy pets. Pets, pets mommy!" After a few times of hearing her chant this I looked back and noticed her pointing. She was pointing at the Pet City sign. What???? Yes, I have taken her in there and there were pictures of animals on the windows. But, she wasn't pointing at the windows and I never say, "let's go to the pet store". I do say let's go see the animals, dogs, cats, get bunny food, etc. Never Pet Store. I think "Pet" is just a weird and formal word.

Sadie saw the word and recognized it as the word she read in her book. She read a whole word. Could I have taught her phonics to read it... yes, it would take awhile but yes. Do I think phonics are important? YES, YES, YES! Did this experience make both Sadie and I excited to work on reading... YES, YES, YES!!

Just a cute P.S. to this story. Sadie knew how excited and proud we were of her when she read "Pets"-- so the other day she took my hand and lead me to her teacher and said, "Pets, mommy, pets". She wanted me to tell Ms. Katie and Ms. Pam! Good job Sadie!

Day #1- 31 for 21

Today is the first day of blogging of 31 days for awareness for Trisomy 21 (or ds). I don't have much time and I can't make this life consuming- so I thought I would start with a quick story.

Today, while sitting at the computer Sadie decided she would paint her nails bright green. She was able to unscrew the bottle and paint her nails, hands, legs, and skirt. Before daddy could see what she was up to, she went into the bathroom and unscrewed the nailpolish remover- splashed a little on her hair and clothes, then turned on the water to wash down a little.

After cleaning herself up a bit, she walked to daddy and said, "I'm wet!". Needless to say, we aren't sure if we are more scared that she was able to get into all these toxic things... or proud that she was able to problem solve all by herself.

Don't worry... all toxic chemicals are now in the top cupboard away from little Sadie!!!!!!

Our First Wordless Wednesday- Take 2

The Many Faces of Sadie

Have you ever gone to download some pictures and realized the kids were playing with the camera? This is a regular occurrence in our home. I've found some pretty funky things (ie- bathroom signs, a toe, nostrils, etc)... but the other day they must have had a little photo session with Sadie. I almost peed my pants seeing all the things they made her do- so I thought I would share some. There must have been a hundred pictures- so I just chose some of them in the same clothing- except the last two.

Everyday after getting dressed, Sadie runs into the office and poses for Scott.


I love the way her feet are up in the back!


Her American Idol pose


Behind the back


Someone commented to me about Sadie always having a big smile in her pictures... I think I just love that big grin so I always show those!


Who me??


This has to be a copy of Madison's "model pose"


Yeah!


I'm tired... can we stop??


Hello fans!


Kisses!

Sadie's Summer Speech

I saw Sadie's speech teacher today and had to tell her the great accomplishments she has made in speech this summer... this is where I chuckle- cuz, the other day when she wanted to swim and I told her no- she gave me a dirty look and said, "AWE MAN, YOU RUDE!"

Now she's been saying 5-8 word sentences for a long time now- but her tone and attitude have grown immensely this summer!!!

Sweet or/and Sour???

When Sadie was first born everyone would comment on how kids with ds are always so "sweet and kind". Well, I've since learned that there is another face to ds and Sadie has fully embraced the "stubborn" part of her extra chromosome!

However, she knows how to work it. While on a trip to Temple Square she decided she wanted no part of what our group was doing. When I wouldn't cave to her demands she sat down and pouted. I'm not kidding when I say she had a full on "ds pout". I thought I could capture her "naughtiness" so I whipped out the camera and took a shot....

this is what I caught- needless to say, she knows how to turn on the charm when needed!!

Madison & Sadie

Two peas in a pod.


I guess I now know where Sadie gets "IT"!

Some Sadie Funnies!

Kiersten was babysitting... and I got into permanent marker!



I'm not looking!!



Sadie in Grandma's new dog Stella's cage... Sadie loves to share- especially when you share with her!



Superstar!