Why is she so flexible?

I was asked this regarding a recent post and I think it's a very good question.

Not everyone that reads here knows the nuances of Ds and I forget that sometimes.

Playette can sit and chew on her toes if she wants, which she's tending to do more often now that she in super-teething mode. [Why not one of the many items we've purchased for this specific purpose? Who knows. She wants the toes.]

She can also fall asleep sitting up, with her face on the floor...if you can picture that. Like, face on shins.

Here's a great explanation of why she's so flexible:

Ligamentous laxity: Children with Down syndrome also have increased flexibility in their joints. This is because the ligaments that hold the bones together have more slack than is usual. Ligamentous laxity is particularly noticeable in the hips of infants with Down syndrome. When lying on his back, the legs of an infant with Down syndrome will tend to be positioned with his hips and knees bent and his knees wide apart. Later you will notice it in your child's feet. You will notice that when standing, his feet are flat, and he does not have an arch. This increased flexibility tends to make the joints less stable, and it is, therefore, more difficult to learn to balance on them.
-- Patricia C. Winders, PT
For more info, click here.

This is part of the reason why it has taken her longer to sit, crawl, stand, cruise, and walk than many of her typically developing peers. We go to PT and OT to help her learn how to do these things properly, instead of opting for the path of least resistance.

Not that I blame her. How often would any of us do things the easy way if we didn't have someone there telling us how it should be done? Ever tried lifting weights? In the beginning, you may try lifting more than you should. It's difficult. And then because you want to accomplish the goal, you make jerky movements. Yeah, the weight is up, but what damage have you done? What if you did that every time? Once you bring in a trainer or a knowledgeable partner, you learn and start to see better results.

The therapists are the trainers, while BD and I are the "knowledgeable partners."

I hope I didn't totally just make a craptacular analogy and that you kinda get what I mean.

Ever have a question? Let me know and I'll tell you from my perspective. I'm not a by-the-book expert, so please take what I say with a grain of salt and know that I have one kid with Ds and that every child is different.

And since we're on the topic of accountability...

I got on the scale this morning.

I knew I had been gaining wait since Boot Camp and the subsequent month I spent with a trainer. I was doing so well! Traveling for a month did me no favors, for sure.

But I had no idea, specifically, why type of damage had been done.

Until now.

I now weigh just about what I did when I gave birth to Playette 18 months ago. Ugh.

That's a damn shame.

So, yeah, feel free to ask me what I'm doing about it.

I did go to the gym today.

Go, me.

Pffft.

Your Baby Can Read: Day 1

When we arrived home from Mexico, there was a box. It was a gift from my father and his wife for Playette. I had mentioned being interested in the YBCR program and they went ahead and purchased it, for which I am very grateful. (I no longer can find our particular set on the web site, but I'll take a photo for reference later.)

On Sunday, I sat down with Playette to check it out. The first scene on the DVD is Dr. Titzer explaining a little about how to complete the program. According to him, Playette should watch the starter video twice a day for the first month. We watched it just once on Sunday. Then, on Monday, she saw it twice. Let's count Monday as Day 1.

Now it's Tuesday morning and SHE CAN READ!

Just kidding.

BD is off from school and Playette's daycare is closed (grumble grumble) since the two places follow pretty much the same schedule. He'll have her watch it during the day (running time: 20-ish minutes) and I'll do the same this evening.

Apparently, we should be showing her the flashcards too, so I'll start that this evening if I don't get the chance to ask BD to do so earlier than that.

The starter DVD has music, including a verse of "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" I've never heard before, along with children talking and various animals just animaling. When a new word is used, the screen displays the word in one color on a contrasting colored background and a triangle scrolls along the bottom of the word from left to right.

I'm not one that wants Playette to watch a lot of TV, but I'm still willing to give this a try. I want to get her started on this now with the hopes that school won't be as difficult for her later on down the road. I want her to have the desire to read books upon books upon books like I did when I was a child and not to be discouraged from doing so out of frustration. I don't know if it's a pipe dream or what. I know she'll face challenges. That's a given. But I just want her to have tools that will allow her to face them head-on and overcome. Perhaps this is one of those tools. I'm willing to take a chance. It will take dedication and lawd knows I'm lazy, but I need to get over that, and fast.

I'll keep you posted from time to time on our progress. Feel free to ask questions and generally hold me accountable during this part of our journey.

Hey, Ortho!

Stop bending my kid’s thumb back until it touches her arm. She’s not here for that.

I’m wondering…Did they teach you that in “Ortho school”? Like, the professor’s all, “If you’re lucky, one day you’ll get a patient with Ds and then you can try and do this .”(Class goes “Ooooohhhh!” and scribbles it in their notes.)

I get squicked out every time. And it has happened on 100% of the Ortho visits we’ve been on. I wanted to think that the first time was a fluke and it happened so fast that I didn’t have the chance to say anything. Then it happened again.

Stop it, you guys.

You’ve been warned.

I Exhaled

What a week. You may not know this, but we were gone.

I didn't really announce the departure, but gave a little hint here and there. BD thinks I'm crazy paranoid, but hey. Maybe if he'd just let me get bars on the windows already, I'd relax some.

Seriously, I grew up in a place where window bars were common so I thought they were pretty and gave the houses character. It wasn't until much later that I realized they were for safety. Because I lived in what some called "bad neighborhoods". Oh. Whatever. I still like them.

Anyway. So off we went on Monday to Mexico. Ahhhh. Just typing it out feels good. I can hardly believe it wasn't all just a dream because here I am doing what I always do in the place I always do it. Did we really take a break?

According to the photos, we did. Wanna see some?

I woke up at around 6 am on Christmas morning, determined to snag a great spot for the day. The best ones get reserved fast. As a matter of fact, many folks just get up, stake their claim, and go back to bed. No fair, I say, but check out what they missed by doing so.















Our cabana for the day.

I had some time to kill before the fam woke up and came down to join me, so I created a Christmas tree for my own enjoyment.

More to show and tell later. For now, there are groceries that need to be purchased and tomorrow? Eh, tomorrow. I guess I have to go back to work and make the donuts.

Oh well. I guess it wouldn't be "vacation" if you did it everyday, right?

Many thanks to Cristina for helping me out while I was gone. I love those perspective posts. If you have an idea for one, please do share. It would be great to keep it going. People learn a lot from those, I think.

To: You...From: Us

A Christmas Tribute

We moved here last November, arriving the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The holiday season was in full swing.

Part of learning the area is finding a radio station or two that you like. We only had one car at the time so I was in it a lot...dropping BD off at work, taking Playette to Parent's Place, grocery shopping, picking BD back up, blah blah blah. I needed some good music to keep me going so this was a big deal to me at the time.

I was in the process of testing this one station out when I heard a song I had never heard before. It was catchy and cute and festive. It instantly became a favorite. I wouldn't get out of the car if this song was on. I sang along every time. I sang it when it wasn't on the radio. I told other people about it.

In case you're like I was and the song is new to you, I'll share it with you here, but first...another tale.

I looked up the song on YouTube, hoping to learn a little more about it. Was it old or new? Did other people like it as much as I did?

I found a homemade video with a little boy singing along and watched it several times. He made it even better!



When I read the info, I found that he had passed away earlier that year. I'd like to take a moment to thank Jason's family for sharing him with all of us. Every time I hear the song, I think of his adorable face, knowing that he enjoyed the song as much as I do.