My Journal - Week 100 (28Jul11)

UPDATES, UPDATES!!

One thing I noticed when Hunter was born was how quickly time flew by.  It appears when you have a second child, time flies by two times as fast.  I can hardly believe that Hayleigh is 6 weeks old as of this Wednesday.

Website updates:  My website www.welcometoourhouse-ds.com is up and running and has been doing well.  It appears many people are visiting and using my resources.  I have also added an Icon to the tabs to show how unique my site is.

Durham Down syndrome Association updates:  28th August is our Family Picnic date!  Join us at WindReach Farms 12-4pm for loads of fun, activities and BBQ.  Hayrides, Petting zoo, Farm Animals, Stables, and Sensory room - plus family acitivities!  How could you not want to come!  All DDSA members can enjoy the event for free (entire household) and guest adults pay $4 and children outside the members household are $10 each.  Feel free to bring other family or friends.  RSVP to me before 15th August if attending.  Also, the next DDSA General Meeting "Meet & Greet" is 14th September 2011 at 7pm (Iroquois Sports Complex Garden Cafe, Whitby)

Hayleigh updates:
She now weighs 10 pounds!  What a cute chunky monkey!  She no longer needs supplementing (that's for sure...).  She still suffers with gas - I could call it colic... but what's the point.  Let's just call it what it is.  I'm used to it, having gone through it with Hunter, it makes me believe my breast milk has higher than normal amounts of Lactose (which foremilk is naturally full of and both Hunter & Hayleigh would fall asleep before getting the rich (less Lactose filled) Hindmilk).  Gripe water seems to be our best friend these days along with Oval.  Not to mention both my children are lactose intolerant as is our whole family including Daddy....
A red mark I noticed on Hayleigh's upper back (which I thought was a scratch/mark she aquired in the NICU somehow) turns out to be a birthmark (which I figured after 6 weeks must be) called a "stork bite" or more medically known as a Infantile Hemangioma.  These marks usually are superficial and do not require any treatment and are not health issues.  Luckily, Hayleigh's mark is so small and looks more like a scratch AND is is a location that is not obvious (on her back) that it wont cause her any grief.  Many Hemangiomas can appear on the face and extremities and as a result can cause life long emotional scars.  The good news is, (not that she really will be affected by its location though) is it can disappear by the time she is 18 months old BUT sadly the flip side to that is, it can grow to a larger size - which would happen from the 3-9 month time frame.  I will have to keep a diligent watch on it.
Hayleigh's stork bite (Infantile Hemangioma) oddly enough looks like a swan!

Hayleigh smiles everyday!  While Hayleigh (like Hunter, smiled and laughed at the age of only 2 days old) she continues to smile on a more regular basis now.  When she gazes at me and I smile at her, she will smile in return and coo.  She loves to do this, when she is not gassy and fussy upset.

Big toothless grin for my Mommy!

I smile when Mommy or Daddy smile at me!

Hunter updates:
Swimming is going really well.  It would seem that we are back on track.  The return to a more normal state (given that there is a new baby in the house) is showing at swimming.  Bonnie (Hunter's swim instructor) noticed this in his last lesson and has advised us that she will be starting him on his stomach next lesson!  How exciting!  I wonder how he will take that progression.  I had decided that a private lesson every other week with Bonnie (where Hunter doesn't have to be removed from the pool to wait until his turn and have 15 minutes straight with her) would be beneficial and it would seem that I was right.  He has had one lesson so far (private) and it was from that he seemed to make the most progress and was the happiest.  I am posting his last group lesson where Bonnie decided that he will move to his next progression.
Speech is coming along but is confusing for all of us at the best of times.  Hunter has his "clear" words which there is no doubt about what he's saying but then he also has his baby babble which he uses in long sentences with hand gestures and all!  On top of that there's his sign language, which he can be very lazy about using.  With the onset of running around, I know his language has somewhat taken a back seat - as it's far more interesting to run and explore the world around him rather than focusing on speaking.  I'm not worried yet about any delays per say but after his last EI visit with Jenn, there are definitely many things we can do to help him (not to forget) what he can do.

Things to encourage speech (and lessen his frustration):
1.  Set up a photo album with photos of his favourite or recognizable items (such as his shoes, ball, book, cup, juice, milk, food, favourite toy etc.)  Set up a second duplicate photo album with the same photos but labelled.  Ask Hunter to point to a specific photo.  Ask him to tell me what it is.  Post the photos on the fridge.  Ask him to point and tell me which food item he wants, or for example - Milk versus Juice. 
2.  Give Hunter new signs (sign language).
3.  Be patient and encourage him to speak or point out what he wants, discourage the negative reactive behaviours (like grunting or slamming hands down on tables etc.).

These are just some of the ideas Jenn gave us to encourage Hunter's speech along.  I keep in mind his private speech pathologist Jill, advised that Hunter is fine and needed no help at the time he had his assessment.  We do however have a group assessment coming up in September through "Grandview" which is covered by the Government, thank goodness as private speech pathology is quite expensive.
I am curious what they will tell us at Grandview and also curious what they will add or suggest to help if he needs or requires any at his next assessment.
Jenn and I are drawing on my report!

I'm just having too much fun to pay any attention!

Daddy and I are walking with Hayleigh at the park!
More to come - keep watching!


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