Our local DSG (Down Syndrome Guild) is fabulous and puts on many events for families and individuals with down syndrome each year. They kick summer off each year with a carnival at one of our local parks. The girls almost napped through the whole thing but, we woke them up in time to catch the last hour. Although in retrospect, neither one woke up to enjoy it enough to warrant the wake up call. However, we enjoyed catching up with families we don't see often enough and big brother had fun and made sure the girls had a few smiles and giggles.
Alayna stood and watched all the kids do the bounce maze for a long while and Aidan finally convinced her to go.
They made it about 3 steps and she laid down on him. LOL But, as always our persistent and patient boy coaxed his littlest sister through the whole maze with success.
Finished at last!
Our sweet little Ukrainian princess skipped the whole bounce house experience and went for the pink lemonade, again and again and again! Can you say like?
Aidan showed the girls how to play the games.
And trust me my two cuties know how to work their magic and win each game.
Shopping for carnival toys is the best (unless you are the mother who ends up with your pockets full of said junk precious treasures.)
Beautiful afternoon in the sun and a fun start to our summer.
Thanks DSG!
As the boys have been in England since May 18th, the single most asked question has been, "how is it going?"
The girls overall have done fantastically. It has actually been a good bonding experience for us. Alayna usually opts for daddy whenever he is home and Dariya is a total mama's girl so this was good for the two girls to have share one parent.
We had lots of fun visiting the zoo...Dariya enjoyed visiting EVERY.SINGLE zoo bathroom she could find. We celebrate that she made it through the day with a dry pull up! I cut her off her potty breaks when she leaned in and licked the toilet seat. Really, who does that? (I see a new IEP goal Juanita LOL)
We had a lunch play date with some fantastically sweet friends who welcomed the Cannon chaos over even though the girls were tired and hungry, just shy of total grumpiness.
We played in the sprinkler! I have one who loves to get wet even if the water is cold
and one who would play in standing water all day but attach the hose to a sprinkler and you can't convince her to run through it. This is as close as she got folks.
We had a great time attending church. Very thankful to friends who helped me wrangle these two during the service. Sometimes they are like chasing cats!
And just so you don't think our lives are all roses and happiness.
Here is a middle of the week surprise for me.
One morning both girls had to use the toilet so Dariya went upstairs (still had her night diaper on) she didn't make it to the toilet before she pooped but then scooted down the stairs to leave this lovely snail trail. As I scooped her off to the shower I come back downstairs to find Alayna mopping the floor with the toilet brush that she had been dipping in the toilet that she had just used.
Oh yes, we have our fun days too.
But, I wouldn't trade these two for anything in the world.
We are thankful that our boys will be home tonight!
Hope you had a wonderful Memorial weekend.
As we celebrate our boys homecoming we remember those who aren't coming home, who gave their lives for us.
After weeks of one or two comments I figured something was up with our blog (or all our bloggy friends had disappeared off the face of the Earth). Then a couple sweet friends FB'd me and let me know that they couldn't comment anymore.
A HUGE thanks to our sweet friend, Becca over at the Bates Motel helped me figure out what the problem was and now it is fixed so feel free to leave us a comment and while you are at it jump over to Becca's blog and check out her absolutely amazing and beautiful daughter, Sammi!
If you don't already follow Becca you will want to as she is a great blogger. Her hubby is English too and with her beautiful daughter to boot who can go wrong?
This is the last week of school for our kids. We are so blessed with great schools, teachers and therapists. All three kids have done extremely well this year and learned so much that it has been hard to keep up with them or document their rapid growth and progress.
The girls will have 5 weeks of extended school year this summer, 3 mornings a week in their same preschool setting. In the fall they will remain in the same preschool setting (we will review Dariya at semester and see if she is ready to move up to the prek). Aidan will enter the 4th grade in the fall (did I just say 4th grade?)
Here are a few things that each child has accomplished this year.
"I'm cute I know, 47 chromosomes do that to you"
Alayna- While Alayna continues not to use all her language skills at school she is slowly coming out of her shell and talking more there. At home she uses sentences and carries on conversations routinely. She knows her ABC's (name and sound), colors, shapes, can count to 20, can use one to one correspondence up to 5 (maybe a bit more), knows her first and last name, can spell her first name, knows her age, knows her parents first names, knows the days of the week, can dress and undress herself with minimal or no help (minus socks and shoes), knows emotions, can walk up and down stairs using a rail, sight reading many words and short stories, enjoys coloring, just began stepping up a 5 inch step without holding on
Things we continue to work on: Riding a tricycle, jumping, climbing steps and curbs with no support, fine motor skills, speech and language skills
Dariya - Dariya continues to amaze us at how fast she is picking up language. We knew she was a smart cookie and could count in Russian and knew things like her body parts but, we assumed that it would take her a while to master those skills in English.
Dariya knows ABC's (name and most sounds), can count to 10, knows her colors, knows her first name, can dress/undress herself with no support (besides putting on shoes and socks), she is speaking (at home) more than signing, can use two words to make a phrase (trying to get her to do this more often), knows her body parts, loves books (this is huge, in Ukraine she had no idea how to open a book or what it was for), starting to make circular shapes when scribbling, enjoys playing with her family, can walk up/down stairs using rail, starting to step up small steps without assistance, she is adding more sounds to her word approximations making them more understandable, she is stopping when I say stop on walks or when at a park (this is HUGE as she loves to walk and walk without fear of traffic or getting lost!!!) that rocking with mommy before naps and bed (and most mornings when she gets up) is pretty awesome!
things we are continuing to work on: riding a tricycle, steps/stairs without assistance, jumping, playing with peers (not just side by side playing), fine motor skills needed for writing, speech and language skills
Aidan- His academic skills continue to soar, he is an avid voracious reader, his nightstand holds 5 books (including his Bible) that he is reading at this time, he scored in the exemplary level on all his standardized tests, he continues to excel in piano and amazes me with his great ear, he loves riding his bike, riding his scooter, climbing trees and playing with friends, he loves his sisters but like any 9 year old they preschoolers can be a bit annoying now and then. He is excited to be flying to England with Jason this afternoon to visit our family there until Memorial day. What a way to end 3rd grade!
Please say a prayer for my boys that they have safe travels, wonderful bonding and family time while in England. Feel free to throw one or fifty in for the girls and I. I have a feeling that Alayna is going to be one grumpy girl when she figures out daddy is gone for that long:(!
The girls both can maneuver stairs but haven't been able to step up and down without holding on to the rail or someone's hand until just recently.
Aidan showed the girls how to play the games.
And trust me my two cuties know how to work their magic and win each game.
Shopping for carnival toys is the best (unless you are the mother who ends up with your pockets full of said 
Beautiful afternoon in the sun and a fun start to our summer.
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