Spread the Word to End the Word....

Spread the Word to End the Word is a National Awareness Day to raise awareness of the hurtful effects of the word “retard(ed)” and encourage people to pledge to stop using it. Today, 31 March 2009, young people across the country are leading local efforts to raise awareness and collect pledges from peers and the community to vow not to use the R-word. Actor and activist John C. McGinley, of the hit show “Scrubs,” is helping with this effort by making national media appearances on behalf of the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign.

http://www.r-word.org/

We had J's school conference on Monday. Met with the teacher, PT, OT, and ST. Sounds like things are going well at school. Since the class has gotten bigger (it started out with only two kids and is now up to 9), J is hesitant to interact with the other kids. He plays alone quite a bit and "skirts" the outside of the room. I see that at home too sometimes, he'd rather play alone than with Jameson.

We talked about having J participate in summer school again this year. I'm all for it, I think anything that we can do to keep him chugging along is a good thing. We also discussed next year. J is supposed to head into the junior kindergarten with the "typical" 4 yo. I'm concerned about the class size and that J would find it overwhelming and get lost in the shuffle. Sooo, I think what we're going to do is keep J half in EC and half in JK in the mornings. This way, if things get to overwhelming, he can go back to a calmer, familiar environment. We'll gradually increase the time he spends in JK as the year goes on.

Object Du Jour: My scrapbooking punches. Each one has a big and little version of each shape. We punch them out and then talk about which one is big and which one is little. I'm also practicing counting with one to one correspondence with him by counting the shapes we've punched out. He's sorta getting it, but often doesn't go past 3.

All college basketball and no Ellen makes Jackson a cranky boy. Poor kiddo. The last two days there has been no Ellen. He asks several times a day; I wish I had an episode saved, but at least there's You Tube.

We have a beast of a cat. She's not a fan of the kids at all (or anyone else for that matter), but what I find interesting is how how tolerant she is of J. She will let him lay on her, pull her fur and poke her nose. If anyone else tries those things, she hisses and spits. I wonder if she has some "6th sense" about J? Jameson loves her, but she doesn't go near him at all.

Jameson was looking out the window and I heard him yelling, "titty, titty!" and "ow-ow!" (meow), I look out the window and there's a squirrel sitting on the lawn. Hey, it's got fur and a long tail, right?

J is continuing to make nice gains on the eating front. He absolutely loves Cheerios. For the most part, he's actually nibbling them and swallowing them! He seems to do much better with foods that don't shatter into crumbs when he bites into them (like graham crackers). We have to keep the Cheerios box on the table and he labels the letters and numbers on it. He's even noticed that when the box is open, the word Cheerios on the flap is upside down. J's still stuck on Sweet Potatoes and Bananas, but I can get him to try other things if I tell him we're out of the other two.

Object du Jour: A pair of 3D glasses that came in the People mag. J looks through each lens separately with one eye to color things in the room.

We're back from our tour of the state! Jackson loved hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's (much better than the Kalahari!)

Follow-up eye clinic appt today. Jackson whined and cried through the whole thing. He had to keep his stocking hat and glasses on the whole time. (Oh, sure. Now he wants to wear the glasses!) We've decided to not push the glasses and re-check him in 6 months.

J's new thing is to announce to the whole room when he's crying. He'll yell "crying" at the top his lungs. Too funny, like we couldn't tell.

Object du Jour: A random blue block and the baby laundry basket. Everything old is new again!

We're just finising up our 3 day stay at the Kalahari and getting ready to head to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Jackson wanted nothing to do with the waterpark, but Jameson liked it. Jackson had a lot of fun in the arcade putting "pennies" in the machine to get tickets. We have to go down and spend the rest of our tickets before we leave. I'm really surprised how well Jackson handled all the noise and people. Aside from not wanting to go in the water, he did really well overall.

Jackson did just ask to go to Barack Obama's to see his microwave. I bet he has a nice one!

Object du Jour: The orange level and his Wiggles figures. Poor Greg is missing an arm, a leg and an eye. :(

Everything circular is now a toilet. (Figuratively!) Hopefully, this will lead to potty training for J.

Jameson has had a small burst of language lately. He's saying, "Mama, Dada, kitty, banana, cheese, hot, hi, ball, all done, sit down, uh-oh..." I'm sure there's more, but that's all I'm remembering off the top of my head. He's also signing "more" and pointing to what he wants more of. This child is a complete and utter tornado. In the last two days, I've found him on the top of the desk, on the dining room table and on the end table. I will be so glad when this climbing phase passes. It never occured to J to do half the stuff Jameson does. Jameson has been quite the learning experience for Mommy and Daddy.

Object du Jour: The "orange level." J found a small level of Daddy's and played with it for a long time. When he lost interest, Daddy put it back in his toolbox. J was looking through a book of tools and saw a "purple level." That triggered his memory of orange level. He asked for it non-stop until Daddy when and got it out of garage.

Regardless of your political views, I think we can all agree that this a great thing and a step in the right direction for trisomy awareness:

Trisomy Awareness Month

WHEREAS, trisomy is the presence, within a person’s cells, of an extra set of chromosomes instead of the regular two.

WHEREAS, the most common trisomies in newborns are trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), and trisomy 13 (Patau syndrome).

WHEREAS, trisomy pregnancies can present unusual complications and can be more at-risk than non-trisomy pregnancies.

WHEREAS, the life of every child is precious, regardless of the number of chromosomes he or she may possess.

WHEREAS, parents should take advantage of the local support groups and online communities that offer education, encouragement, and counseling for those managing trisomy pregnancies or raising trisomy-affected children.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the state of Alaska, do hereby proclaim March 2009 as: Trisomy Awareness Month in Alaska, and give full support to raising awareness and education for all forms of trisomy, as well as efforts supporting families experiencing trisomy, and to helping people with developmental disabilities achieve their full potential.

Dated: February 25, 2009

http://www.gov.state.ak.us/proclamations.php?id=1676


How cool is that?

Object du Jour: The baby doll I bought J when Jameson was born. I asked him what her name is and he told me "Stickers." :)