I have been MIA in bloggy land for the last several weeks. It's probably hard to imagine since I have birthed six children, but I am not a fan of pregnancy. Those early weeks are difficult on everyone in the family. So, I have spent much of my time away hugging the toilet and fighting off the frequent migraines that accompany this blessed condition. I wish, at 13 weeks, I could assure you that I am well past that, but I can't. I keep thinking I should be feeling better and I am, but still not great.
I was truly spoiled in my pregnancy with Eon. I felt great the whole time. After going overdue with all of his siblings, I was amazed and blessed when he even gave me the gift of showing up a week early. He's such a great kid! :)
Speaking of Eon, one of my biggest fears for him is that he will be nonverbal. It is really important to me that he become an effective communicator. Probably because this family is full of gabbers and I want him to fit in, I'm worried that speech will never come for him. His oldest brother, Ben, has mild speech apraxia and two of his other siblings also needed EI for speech therapy, so it's kind of at the front of my brain. His speech therapist remains unconcerned and I wish I could adopt her attitude.
Because of that, whenever he learns a new sign, I am thrilled! But, right now, I am even more thrilled because, at 15 mos., he has added two spoken words to his "momma" and "dada" repertoire! He started signing "dog" a while ago and then started saying, "goggie" with it a few weeks ago. His newest addition is "book" which sounds more like "ook". He is very consistent with both of them. Earlier, he was out of my line of sight, but I heard him repeating "ook, ook" and I knew he must be looking at one. Sure enough, he had found his sister's book of sea creatures.
I know he will be behind in language development, but it gives me hope that one day, we will have meaningful conversations with this kid!
In other news, we should be receiving his SMOs early next week. The PT is confident that he will be walking behind a push toy shortly. I'm unconvinced, but we'll see. He is starting to cruise around furniture, but it's a little awkward and slow. He's also starting to let go after pulling up to stand and pause in midair before crashing to his diapered bottom. Makes me cringe, but he thinks it's great fun.
We have taught him to rely on a bedtime routine that is just ridiculous and it's beyond time to teach him to fall asleep in his crib, but I don't have the stomach for it. Isn't that sad? Any words of wisdom or encouragement on that front would be greatly appreciated.
Now, it's time to sign off here so I can spend some time catching up on the many blogs/lives I have been neglecting in my hiatus.
I hope you feel better soon! 2nd trimester is supposed to be the happy, perky, energetic stage... hope you get there soon! :-) As for Eon, he's only 15 months old... he's already saying some words, which is awesome! Wow, at 15 months, I'm not sure John Michael said anything besides Dadadadadada. It can be frustrating and you feel like he'll never get it, but it also sounds like his gross motor skills (walking!) are taking precedent. It is so common for our kids w/ Ds (and typical kids, too, we just don't notice it as much) to slow down in one area (speech) while focusing on gross motor skills. He certainly doesn't sound like he'll be non-verbal at all, especially if he's already saying a few words on his own. That's very encouraging. Just give him a couple months to get this walking thing down and when he doesn't need to focus so much on that, his speech will pick up again. He sounds totally NORMAL :-) As for sleeping, we've always been routine-focused. It's better to get him used to his crib now than to wait or else his "non-routine" will become etched in and difficult to break. We do the usual teeth brushing (total struggle!), diaper/PJs, read a book and let him know it's almost time for bed. He goes down awake with his stuffed animal and a pacifier and eventually falls asleep. Hang in there... there's so much happening right now for your little guy, but he'll get it.
ReplyDeleteHi there...I just found your blog through Bill & Ria's. My daughter Emily is not that much younger than your son and she has DS as well. I love that you have 6 going on 7 children...I wish I would have started having kids earlier in life, they will enjoy each other so much when they get older. Looking forward to getting to know your family! Hope you feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteKelli @ http://livinglifewithes.blogspot.com
Hi there. Long time no talk. I hope you feel better. I must have missed a few post. Congrats. Just to let you know I think Eon sounds like he is doing great. Wysdom is around the same age and says mom or mamma, dad, hi and babbles. He signs more and drink. We are starting to look into Communicating Partners by James MacDonald. ( I hope I got that right)Anyways he focuses on getting into the child's world and matching what the child does. We just started it and Wysdom seems to really enjoy it. There is even a yahoo group that you can join that focuses on communication. However like I said he sounds great!! Please a bedtime routine... Ha Ha What's that I say? Hugs
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better soon! Yay for Eon adding more words too!
ReplyDeleteSo good to see/hear from you! Been missing you girlie! Im so thankful for the new bits of communication. I wish I could tell you to relax but that would be the pot calling the kettle black. So I will just tell you its okay to be concerned.
ReplyDeleteHope you're feeling better soon. Eon's talking sounds amazing- soon you'll probably wish he talked a bit less! As for the sleep thing, I have got better with it with each child. I have decided that teaching children to sleep well is a gift they will have throughout their lives. I like the "Baby Whisperer" method as I don't like my babies to cry. Good luck :)
ReplyDeleteHey Tara, sounds like Eon is doing great! My little guy with DS is 17months and although he babbles a great deal, he doesn't sign at all. He's also not interested in cruising or standing much. He is crawling all over and getting into everything. I finally had to child proof :o) So, don't stress. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, Tara...I can't believe that you can't keep up your blog while being pregnant with you 7th child...what kind of slacker are you? =) (kidding, of course!!)
ReplyDeleteEon sounds like he is doing really well with his speech. Anna is over two and still has no spoken words...tons of signs, but verbal words elude her.
And good luck with the SMO's. Anna is so much more stable, and appears so much more confident with her orthotics. Hope they work well for Eon!
I hope you start feeling better soon!!
I was not sure where to respond, so here! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, feel free to link my last post. Also, are we friends on facebook?