Birthdays and Buddies

What a crazy busy week it's been!

Jake had is fourth birthday on Saturday (Wahoo!) and it was surprisingly low-key.  What I love about this age is that there are no real expectations from the little ones.  He didn't care that I bought him a cake.  He didn't care that the gifts never actually got wrapped - he liked playing with the bags for days afterwards.

He LOVED the car we bought him.  It had buttons for him to push that created sounds and flashing lights on the top of the hood, then the car moved forward - fast if he was on the linoleum.  The sounds drove the rest of the family crazy, but I think that was part of the mystique for Jake.

For quiet times, we bought him several small dump trucks, front loaders, bucket trucks, etc.  They're perfect for the palm of his hand and he can carry them anywhere, which is a bonus for him.

And, of course, a magic microphone to help encourage his speech.

Like I said: Low key, but nice.

Tuesday we dressed him up in his knight costume and the little ones went trunk or treating at our church.  He's been munching on candy all week.  I will be soooooooo happy when the candy is gone!












And yesterday, I got to see Josh, Jake's NICU buddy - also with Down syndrome, who was born the day after Jake.  Josh and his mom came to town and we got to spend a little over an hour catching up with one another as Josh had his monthly chemo and check-up.

I am so lucky to know Marla and Josh.  Not only because they're a great family, but how many people have the opportunity to have a child nearly the EXACT same age as your own to kind of guage things off of?  I can look at Josh and realize that he's a much better talker than Jake, but Jake is taller and bigger (probably due to genetics and the drugs from the cancer).  Both of us are going through potty training right now, and have discovered that both boys are doing it backwards from our other kids - mastering pooping in the toilet first, then peeing.  Who knew???

It's been a great reminder that we're all in the same boat, our kids do things a little differently, and sometimes slower than non Ds kids, but we're all getting it.  And, really, would you want it any other way?  Nope.  Not me.  I love Jake just the way he is.  He enriches my life in so many ways that I wouldn't have experienced if he didn't have Trisomy 21.  He makes me a better mother.  A better person.  And that's what it's all about, right?  Being the best person you can be.  Sigh.  Life is good. :)

Potty Training: Jacob Style

Once again, Jacob has defied my expectations :)

Yesterday, I was going about my business and he came up to me, grunted, and pointed to his pull-ups.

I asked him if he wanted to go to the bathroom, and he nodded. Then he took my hand, and pulled me into the bathroom where we have the potty training toilet.

Now, mind you, I haven't pushed potty training on Jake for the last couple of months because of the chaos of school. I wanted things to settle down before I pushed it on him again.

But once we got into the bathroom, he had me help him take his pants and pull-ups off, and POOPED right in the toilet. 

For any of you that have potty trained before, the potty always come first, and then months down the road, they get the hang of pooping. 

Nope.  Not Jake.  He wants to cut to the chase and master pooping first.  

Needless to say, the next couple of minutes were filled with high-fives, laughs, giggles, and squeals from his mother.  I guess we'll be doing some serious potty training these next couple weeks.  Jacob insists on it!  

Boo Boos and Buses

Today is a short entry...thank goodness.  

It's not my favorite, but it's part of life. 

Yesterday was picture day at the school.  Wahoo!  It's always fun to see how much Jake has changed from year to year.  

He chose out his own shirt, we put mousse in his hair to keep the cowlicks at bay, and he was stylin' by the time we were outside waiting for the bus.  

Three minutes before the bus was to arrive, as luck would have it, he was running up the driveway and tripped.  This isn't one of those oops-I-tripped-now-I'm-going-to-get-back-up kind of trips.  Oh no.  Not my Jake.  It was more like a trip over your own feet, skid for 3 feet, and check to see if any teeth are missing kind of trips.  

When the bus arrived, I had a white washcloth that had blood all over it, my T-shirt was bloody, and I was still picking debris out of his mouth from the roadway.  Plus, he had a road rash the size of a silver dollar on the bottom of his chin.  Yeah, school pictures are gonna be fantastic this year.  Not. :|

On the upside, Jake is beginning to really start babbling.  I'm hearing tons more consonants coming out of his mouth, and he's trying to say entire phrases (yes!!!!!).  This morning it was "I did it!" and this afternoon, he said "buh..." as a school bus drove by.  I squealed.  It's the little things when it comes to speech for him.  And progress is still progress.  It's great to finally see some coming out of his mouth!

But, of course, we couldn't leave this little entry on a good note.  Because it's important to see that Jake is multifaceted.  He's smart, he's feisty, he's funny, he's clumsy, and...he's a runner.  

Today when the bus came (and I silently celebrated a no-trip day), I walked four steps to get his back pack.  I kid you not.  FOUR steps. In those four steps, he decided that standing still was not enough.  After all, he saw the bus and he wanted to get on!  So when I turned my back, he put on the gas, and ran out into the middle of the street to great the bus.  GAH!!!!  I don't think I've ever ran so fast as I did trying to drag him from the middle of the road.  Luckily, the bus was still 1/2 a block away and she slowed the second she saw him step foot on the street.  But it's scary nonetheless.  And the driver and her aid had a good laugh about the situation - thank goodness!