157 posts?!

Holy Cow! That's wild. All for hippos and Starbucks? And I thought the hippos were so lame that I just needed to sweeten the deal anyway ;) [No really, they are awfully cute, we just already had a very similar toy]

Well, I'm so glad to have participated in the Fall Y'All Bloggy Giveaway. This has been so much fun - and horribly addictive, so I can't wait for it to end! I have better things to do than sign up for all these prizes...but I can't remember exactly WHAT I'm supposed to be doing...MUST SIGN UP.

(Poor David is talking about something, but I'm trying to type...)

I had a talk with Sam's teacher and the SpecEd coordinator and the Curriculum Coordinator this afternoon. I've been concerned about the homework that's been coming home, whether it meets his adaptation needs appropriately. He is so tired at the end of the school day, that doing homework is just an emotional train-wreck even when he can do it easily. When it involves reading and comprehension and writing, it's a nightmare.

So it was a good talk. Basically, they will check with the reading consultant to make sure the homework is indeed in the correct format, and make changes as needed. The teacher or the reading specialist will make sure to jot me a note on the homework explaining the assignment better and giving me any notes I might need from the class. I will do more of the reading for Sam, taking that stress away (they are doing a lot of reading during school), so that he can concentrate on the content instead of the mechanics of reading.

This came to a head because of this week's homework. The paper had two paragraphs. Before the first, the instructions only said "Write the topic sentence" and after the second "Write the concluding sentence". I had Sam read both paragraphs, but he could not understand the content at all. I had to re-read them before he understood what they were about. So he wrote the sentences, and then the homework was sent back the next night with a note saying that he'd done one incorrectly, and he had no idea what it meant. So I needed to get it straightened out. Whew.

I Love Beverly Beckham

For those of you who do not know her, Ms. Beckham is an award-winning columnist for the Boston Globe. But most specifically, she is grandma to Lucy, who happens to have that extra chromosome like Sofia.

Honestly, I've never read any of her columns that were not about Lucy, but boy, are the ones about Lucy TERRIFIC. Here's the latest.

Today I actually finished my Hebrew 3 Final Exam! I actually did most of it last night, including writing an essay about my life in 10 years (at least I hope that's what the directions said!). So to celebrate, I took the 3 kids off to the Ecotarium, a really fun little science center in Worcester. They have a real polar bear, a nice nature walk, and a choo choo train. We all had a lot of fun. The only "funky" moment was when Micah touched the peeled-off skin of the snake during the demonstration, and Sam practically exploded with nerves - "We have to go wash his hands NOW Mommy!" Nothing like a little OCD to add to the fun.

I took Sam to Tae Kwan Do after dropping Micah and Sofia back home with the babysitter, and then tonight I got to go to a Pampered Chef party. Nice to relax for a moment. But on the way to TKD, I was talking to Sammy about my friend and her new baby, and how they are still upset about the baby having DS. I had to explain to my son about how life with DS used to be so different, and that even now, people still have old ideas about what to expect. Sam was very curious, and I made sure to emphasize the positive changes that have happened in time for Sofia, but I did let him know that when I was a baby, kids with DS were regularly put in institutions, and even today, most people who find out ahead of time choose not to have the baby. Sammy, being the incredibly sweet soul he is, ended the conversation by asking about people who adopt kids with DS, so we were able to celebrate the many people on the DS waiting lists. (Then he asked me why WE don't adopt a kid with DS, and I had to get into the whole "I'm already outnumbered by you guys" conversation!).

On the way to the party tonight, I was thinking again about all the positive things that Sofia's extra chromosome have brought to our lives. The ability to celebrate every little milestone. The ability to meet so many other people in the extended DS family around the world. The ability to move slower, and to appreciate just how each of my kids thinks and learns in his or her own special way. I had talked with Sam about his dyslexia, and told him that, instead of being sad about it, I make sure to give him the tools he needs and then I love to just watch the different way his brain works. He can come up with so many unusual ideas, questions, creations, and comments. It's fascinating to watch his brain in action.

And every kid is fascinating. They are all different. And all so wonderful!

(Mmmmm, I'm getting a shoulder-rub from David now. That's really wonderful!)

I'm so proud of Sam

My older son, Sam, has dyslexia, and he qualifies to attend the summer school program in our town. During the school year, he goes to a our local Jewish Day School, so he's not usually with the kids from our town that much.

This summer, he is having so much fun, making lots of friends. This is his third week, and every week, he's got new friends.

So this week, he's been talking about this girl, C. Every day, he comes home all excited, with something new to tell me about C - something always related to him, such as "she has a brother who will be 6 in October, and a sister who is two and a half". Yesterday, it was "C is coming to my school next year, and she's going to be in my class!"

Now, I'm on the recruitment committee for our school, so I think I'd know if there were any new kids from our town ('cause I'd be expected to contact them already!). Last night we had the school Picnic, so I asked the admissions director. She had no idea who this girl could be, there are no new kids from our town coming to the school this year.

Last night, I had a little chat with Sam, telling him that this girl probably just really likes him and wants to tell him things that will make him happy. He was ok with that.

Well, this morning, I walked Sammy up to school, and I got to meet C. She's a lovely, majestic blond-haired girl of about 11 (he's 8). And she has DS!

I was so proud of Sam. He'd never even registered the fact that she had a little something "extra". To him, she is just a really nice girl in his class who he likes to play with.

I get teary-eyed with pride, just typing this!