He Reminds Me of Calvin & Hobbes

This week we decided it's time to update our pictures in the Living Room.  And, in homage to one of our favorite cartoon characters, Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes, we took these:

We had so much fun sorting through the hundreds of photos we've accumulated of Jacob in the first 3 1/2 years of his life.

Even though I've spent the 12 years prior to his birth around persons with disabilities, I guess living with a child who has Down syndrome is different.  Or, maybe we're just really really REALLY lucky.  Although I doubt it. 

Jake has already taught me so much about never underestimating the spirit of an individual, and to never judge them by their 'label'.

Jacob has been surprisingly intelligent, resourceful beyond belief, and his expressions mimic those of Calvin's. 

Every morning I wake up to see a twinkle in his eye that grows brighter as his discovery of life increases.

Day after day, I notice the frustration he feels, evident in his rare outbursts - not because his mind doesn't comprehend, but because his body won't cooperate with what he's trying to get it to do.

I see pride reflected on his face when he accomplishes a task he has worked hard to achieve.

Then there's the mischievousness.  Oh, my sweet, naughty, little rascal!  He has a special look on his face and inflection in his giggle when he teases me or tries to get away with something he knows he shouldn't.

Then there's the calm patience he exudes.  I often experience this emotion on one of his many sick days.  Although a relatively health child, I think his medical issues early in life diminished his immune system.  It seems as if he brings home virtually every cough, cold, or bug possible from school or church.  Sickness generally means I get to have a precious few moments of quite as I cuddle with my rarely-still son.

When he isn't sick, Jacob is usually HUNGRY!  That means he spends a LOT of time trying to manipulate me into giving him more food.  He takes his time eating, spending several minutes well after the rest of the family has left the dinner table savoring his food.  It's not unusual for my little boy to ask for 2 breakfasts, and snacks before lunch.  "Please, sir.  May I have another?"

Outgoing.  Jake LOVES to get his picture taken.  And if I don't do it, he will!  Thus, one of his first selfies!

Contemplative.  This is one of those emotions he shows that I really didn't expect to see from Jacob.  Especially as a child. But on occasion, I will catch him sitting still, seeming to contemplate the world's troubles and how to fix them.  Before long, he will get up from his little chair and go about his business fixing whatever it is that's been weighing on his mind - usually with one of the above mentioned emotions.

Competitive.  Another delightful emotion I've seen as of late has been Jake's competitive nature.  His big sister is only 18 months older than he, which allows for many opportunities to compete.  His favorite thing is to play basketball and catch, or running (which often results in him catching up to, and tackling his sister - with perfect form, I might add!)

Aside from his endless love and compassion, I must say that my favorite emotion I see Jacob exude is his imagination.  This little boy is no vacuous space housed by a shell of a body.  Oh, no no no no no!  Little Jacob is this treasure-trove of thoughts and emotions wrapped up inside a firecracker of a boy.  Every day I will, after hours of playing with friends or his sister,  find him playing by himself perfectly content playing a game of make-believe that only he understands, or hiding under the hamper in his own private island of mystery.   

Yes, life is good with little Jacob around.  All he needs is a toy tiger to carry with him everywhere he goes!

Are Those Words I Hear?

How can it be that it's been 4 MONTHS since my last post?!?!

Oh, that's right.  Life has a way of seeming to slip through your fingers at mock speed when you're the mother of four incredibly wonderful, but unbelievably different children.  Living life with an over-achiever 18-year old senior, a just-figuring-himself-out 14 year old, a precocious smarty-pants-wants-everyones-100%-attention 4-year old, and ever-curious-crazy-busy-wonderfully-delightful 3 year old sometimes takes its toll on me.  

But I wouldn't change a single minute of it for all the money in the world (don't quote me on that in the midst of the chaos though!)

Jacob is already 1/2 way through his first year of pre-school and the differences are startling to say the least.  Who knew that 2 1/2 hours per day, 4 days a week would make such a difference?  But boy howdy it has!

(Jacob's school picture)

Since school has begun, Jacob has finally begun to say words!!  I'm not saying he's speaking in full sentences or anything, but considering the fact that before pre-school we were lucky if he'd even make a sound, his attempts to vocalize are massive!

Although most of it would be considered merely grunts by the lay man (isn't that always the case when any child is beginning to speak?), he's been generous enough to accompany some of his words with their coordinating ASL sign as well.  Now Jake will not only wave good-bye, but say it as well.  As a fully intelligible word, mind you!  He also says "hi", "mom" (but only when he's mad and can't get my attention any other way), "Elisha" (sounding more like 'la la' - but I'll take it!), "Nate", "no", "dad" and my all time favorite: "three" - which is usually because he is COUNTING to three!!!! Woohoo! 

In addition to the awe-inspiring phenomenon we dub 'speaking' I've noticed that Jake has mellowed.  Yes, MELLOWED!  This is the little boy who wakes up and hits the ground running full-speed from area to area creating disaster faster than a Level 5 tornado.  If you take a moment and watch, one cannot help but marvel at his efficiency.  It's quite impressive, actually, how someone so little can create so much destruction in such a little time. 

This too, has diminished significantly over the last few months.  When we left Children F.I.R.S.T. one of the goals they had for him was to have Jacob sit at an activity for 3 whole minutes before losing interest.  To date, I have seen him "read" books, color, sit for an entire meal at dinner, and, as I write, he is sitting at the back sliding glass doors staring out at the newly fallen snow covering our back yard.  - Oops!  I spoke too soon.  He's now pushing his chair to the cupboards to see if he can pour the cereal out onto the floors!...and now into the living room where he's knocking off all the throw pillows (sigh).  OK, he's not PERFECT!  But his attention span (for things he's interested in) has increased from a minute or two to as long as 10 or 15 minutes for the truly engrossing activities. 

Yes, I would dub pre-school a success.  :)



(Our favorite family past time is listening to Jake laugh!  It's the best sound in the WORLD!)

Now...if I can only motivate myself to get him potty trained.....

An introduction to School!

It's hard to believe that our 'baby' Jacob turns three TODAY!

Turning three means many mile stones for our little boy. Not the least of which is the fact that he transitions from Children's First, the therapists he's been using since birth, to the care of our school district.

I've spent months fretting over the fact that my little boy will be picked up at our doorstep by a giant school bus, whisked into the arms of strangers, and off into an unknown school with new, much older and larger classmates.  It's been nerve wracking to me to allow my toddler to branch out into the big new world on his own. No longer will I be driving him to his therapies, signing him in, washing his hands, walking hand-in-hand to circle time, opening the door, and making sure he is settled before I scurry away to revel in my 2 hours and 15 minutes of relative silence twice a week.  Now, I will be waving to him from my porch as they lift him into the bus (he is too short to climb the stairs himself) and close the big glass doors behind him.  From the time he leaves my home until the time he returns into my arms, Jacob will be gone a whopping 4 hours and 15 minutes, four times per week.  Thursday will be his last day with everyone he's known all his life, and on Monday, he will be thrust into four times more work/play time than before.

Honestly, I've spent months freaking out about this scenario.  Finally, last Friday, I got the opportunity to go to Jacob's new school, meet his therapists and his teachers - at the Middle School.  Crap.  Really?  The middle school?

As soon as we hit the parking lot and I unstrapped Jacob from his car seat, he was pulling at my arms, trying to make it to the sidewalk.  His face lit up as if he knew where we were and he wanted to explore.  The second his tiny little feat hit the asphalt, he was in a run, heading for the sidewalk, which he stepped onto before running again.  I hustled to keep up with him, and herded he and his big sister through the entry way filled with glass doors.  He giggled loudly to hear the echo of his voice in the brick walls and linoleum landscape, causing several faces to turn to the source of the noise and break out into impulsive smiles at his infectious grin.  As we waited for our escort, Jake ran from chair to chair to pile of papers, to the window, then more papers, systematically exploring every square inch of this new space with interest.

Soon Shannon arrived with a grin on her face, only to be greeted with an excited grunt from Jacob.  He managed to obediently hold my hand until we were half way down the hall before all the brightly colored doors, lockers, and artwork got the best of him. He yanked his hand from mine and ran as quickly as he could, giggling and yelling with excitement with his big sister hot on his trail.

After a few moments, we managed to wrangle both children into the correct room.  When Jacob crossed the threshold into his new learning environment, he didn't even stop.  Instead, he increased his cadence from excited to hyper as he darted from toy to toy before settling on the items he preferred the most.

After almost an hour long meeting with the staff, it dawned on me that Jacob had been relatively quiet in his play and discovery time of the classroom.  Success!!

But it wasn't until it was time to leave and he was running away from me, tears streaming down his face because he didn't want to leave, that I realized that all those fears and concerns that had eaten away at me for the past several months were a waste of time.  Jacob is going to be juuuuuust fine.  The only thing that's going to upset him in this transition? Coming home to mamma.  :)