Lindsay's Birthday

Somehow, my little girl has turned 4. I don't know where the time

has gone! Lindsay has completely changed our lives. I love how

she looks at the world. She's also changing how the world looks

at her. I love that she is changing the world's expectations of what

most people think of people with Down syndrome.

At four years old, Lindsay:

*loves going to school-She says hi and bye to her classmates. One typical

little girl said that Lindsay was her best friend. We love her school. Her

vocabulary has shot through the roof. She has so many people that

are looking out for her.

*still has a limited menu. I have promised (threatened) her that we

will be working on this issue during the summer.

*mimics her brother's every move. This often takes my breathe away

with the daring stunts that she performs, but she always thinks

she's hilarious.

*is still a good sleeper. When she's not sleepy, she will dump out

her dresser so that clothes are scattered all over her floor.

However, she always helps me pick them up and put

them back in the drawers.

*is starting to use 3 words together. I know this is way behind

where other 4 year olds are, but it's progress for her.

*understands just about everything you say to her. She doesn't

always act like she understands, but she does. She has a stubborn

streak in her.

*still loves her music. She HAS to listen to her CDs in the car. She

knows all the words and sings along. I'm so tired of hearing the

same songs over and over, but I love that little voice.

*thinks getting into trouble is funny. She will do things that

she knows she's not supposed to do. She'll look you straight in the

eye, do it and then laugh about it. She loves to tease.

We took the family to the Lazy Five Ranch to celebrate. Lindsay

was hesitant at first about the animals, but she finally got into

feeding them.

Children's Museum

We took a little drive to Greensboro to the Children's Museum

and the kids had a blast. Lindsay especially loved the market.

She filled her cart with all sorts of fruits and vegetables

she refuses to eat, but she loved pushing that cart around.

Alex was a "bad boy".

He drove a package delivery truck

We became anchors and reported the news.


Lindsay drove the firetruck.

Halloween

I saw this costume and knew it was for Lindsay.

Lindsay went trick-or-treating as Abby Cadabby from

Sesame Street (her absolute favorite character).

She loved the wand and kept her wings on the

entire night.

Alex dressed as Harry Potter. He has been reading

the books this fall and has seen a couple

of the movies.

We actually let Lindsay walk this year and collect

her own bag of candy. She did well for awhile.

When she got tired, we loaded her up in her wagon

and she sipped milk while her brother filled her bag.

Only a few idiots told her she had to say "trick-or-treat"

before getting candy. I told them politely that we're

working on it. I was very proud of my self control!

My sister and her family walked with us. The

boys were super cute as Superman and a cowboy.

The gang!

Buddy Walk 2010

We had another great Buddy Walk. We raised $625 in Lindsay's name to support people with Down syndrome in our area. Thanks to everyone who donated or came out to walk.Lindsay didn't get a nap until the actual walk. Kristin was sweet enough to carry her the entire walk and even got drool on her shirt.

Alex is 8!

My little boy is getting so big! I remember when we found out we were having a boy. My first thought was "What do you do with a boy?" because we only had girls in our family. Alex has taught me what you do with boys:

• wrestle with them
• try to convince them that you actually know what you are talking about and how they don't know everything
• feed them
• remind them over and over to brush their teeth
• freeze/sweat at soccer games
• spend hours outside playing with balls, riding bikes
• remind him that soccer isn't an inside game
• remind them to wash their hands!!!
• give them a hug and kiss when they skin their knees
• convince them that burping and farting are NOT funny

For his present this year, we decided to give him something he has been wanting for 2 years. We are taking him to the Great Wolf Lodge for a night. It is an indoor water park that is only 5 minutes from our house. I'll post pictures when we get back.

Instead of the traditional birthday cake, we had a chocolate fountain. We had a lot of fun dipping strawberries, cake, marshmallows, pretzels...

It has been a joy to be Alex's mom!

Tweetsie Railroad

We took a day trip to Tweetsie Railroad, a western amusement park build especially for kids. We had a blast. I can't wait until Lindsay can ride more rides. She loved the trains and riding in the cars the best. Watch out world, Alex is at the wheel!

We learned our lesson from the Tilt-a-Whirl. Lindsay does not like twirling around and around. She loved it at first, but it got going too fast and she started signing "all done". I couldn't make it be "all done" so she buried her head in my arm and waited for it to be over. She ran right to Dan when we got off and attached herself to him. She swatted at me when I told her I was sorry and tried to hold her. She eventually forgave me.

Alex is getting old enough to start riding the "big kid" rides. He loved this one even though it made his cheeks hurt.

Lindsay loved riding the train. We are practicing making the "toot toot" sound--always working on those speech skills!

First Day of School '10

I sent two big kids off to school this year. I'm not quite sure how that happened.

Lindsay started at her preschool on Monday. She'll receive all her therapies at the school during the day. She absolutely loves it. She runs into school and doesn't want to leave at the end of the day. At first, we thought we'd be putting her on the bus to and from school, but we decided to enroll her in the before/after school care. It is offered only to Cabarrus Co. School employees so we lucked out!

Alex started school on Wednesday. He is now attending the school in which I work. I've missed being in the same school so it is really nice to see him now and then during the day walking down the hall with his class. He is adjusting well and making friends.