UGH!

This latest habit is driving me CRAZY!!!! Any suggestions to make it stop???

Burning Down The House

I debated all afternoon whether or not to take Addy to a Parents as Teacher/Preschool group meeting tonight. It is sooo cold out! This morning when we went to school it was 6 degrees and the wind chill was -2! I knew that Addy would LOVE going, so I went ahead and bundled her up like an Eskimo and off we went! It was actually warmer tonight than it was all day! I was right! Addy LOVED LOVED LOVED tonight!!! She loved all of the songs that Mr. Berns sang and danced to. Addy followed along and did all of the hand motions and even the feet, sort of. She would stomp her feet along with the other kids marching and running. It was so cute! Addy really responds to music, she loves it! I'm going to pursue Music Therapy for her. There is a lady that comes to Marshfield for therapy so I need to get in touch with her, I know Addy would benefit greatly!

DSGO Christmas Party

This is Addy with our friend, Sigel. His daughter, Laura, is a big reason why we wanted to adopt a little girl with DS! We have been friends for since Laura was not quite a year old, now she's 15! Below is a picture of Laura with TJ. He is also a fellow Marshfieldian. I got to work with him for several years, he is a hoot! He's going to be 21 in January! He works at McDonald's and still manages our football and basketball teams!

Working on a few little crafts.

Hi Santa!

We had our annual DSGO Christmas party today. We were missing Jarika and Jake since she is finishing up finals next week and Jake had a birthday party to go to in Branson. It was really sweet, he wasn't sure which thing he wanted to do more! The lighting in the gym was horrible so we don't have very many pix. Addy sat on Santa's lap with no problems. We couldn't get a smile out of her but at least she wasn't screaming!

I'm Raising an Addict

I informed her she was too close.

But Mom, Elmo's right there!

I think Addy is a little too addicted to Elmo.

Feeding Therapy Update

I haven't blogged about Addy's feeding therapy because last week was the first time she was able to go in three weeks since she was sick!!! This girl is doing fabulous!!! We have found that she does better with Beech Nut baby food over Gerber. Nothing against Gerber, it's just that the Beech Nut is a little thicker and she is doing better with thicker puree. We have also discovered that she likes mangoes! Last week she ate half a jar!!! So, Ms. Kelly decided that this week we would start pushing her some more. Addy wasn't too thrilled about that at first! However, she did fantastic!!! She eventually got to the point that she was opening her mouth without some forceful entry needed! She even used her tongue to clean off her lips!!! She has NEVER done that!!! She usually just uses her bib to wipe it off of her face immediately. Major progress today!!! So Ms. Kelly thinks it is time we all up the ante for Miss Addy. She also wants her to be fed at school during snack. She usually just has one of her pretzels that she may lick on, but that's a thing of the past. Addy is going to need someone to feed her but that should be okay. It's not like she'll take in a lot, but it needs to be encouraged everywhere. So from now on we are going to be presented food at every tube feeding. She won't like it at first, but that's okay, she is showing that she can take in food and swallow safely so it's on girl!


Yes that is food on her face and shirt!!! Yeah! We don't usually see that since so little is usually used!

Home Alone

Guess what Addy's favorite part is???

Breakfast with Santa

We went to our annual PTSG (Parent/Teacher Support Group) Breakfast with Santa this morning. The boys' Junior Jays Honor Choir performed a little of their Christmas program. We get to enjoy the entire thing on the 16th. They are always so amazing! We had a fun time and got some pix of the kids on Santa's sleigh. Naturally Addy signs "smile" when we tell the boys to smile. She's so funny. We didn't have Addy see Santa since she gets to see him next week at our Down syndrome group Christmas party. Addy had on her adorable little pink squeaky shoes that she walked all over (with hands held of course!), she loved making them squeak! I was really hoping she'd be walking by Christmas :( That really doesn't look like that's going to happen, guess we'll start hoping for Easter!