Schedule

Do you keep your child on a schedule?  Or just play everyday by ear and just go with the flow?

Or is everyday different than the previous?

Me ~ I keep Jonathon on a schedule.  Now with Andrew and Kenny it didn't really matter if they were taken off of their schedule.  It didn't really bother them at all.  As long as I didn't do it all the time.  But Jonathon is a different story.

Jonathon is on a schedule and likes to be on a schedule and does not like change.  At all!  I have found out over the last 3 years that my youngest loves to go out ~ just make sure it's in the morning and make sure you are headed home by nap time ~ he likes to be home in his bed for a nap, but as long as he can sleep in the van he is usually OK

Do not attempt to go out after he wakes up from a nap.  He is not an afternoon person.  He likes to remain at home after 3p.m.  Some people think this is funny, but it's not any fun when you try to take him out for a quick trip to the grocery store.  He pretty much is pissed off the whole time and believe me lets EVERYONE know how he feels.  So really Why Bother.

This morning after I dropped Jonathon off at school I quickly came home, changed and headed back out the door.  First stop was at the hair salon.  Finished up there and I had an hour left before I had to pick up Jonathon so I stopped off at a local auto insurance to get some information.  Well I was not finished and I had to leave and go pick up Jonathon from school, go home grab some paperwork and then go back to the auto insurance place.

I picked up Jonathon, stopped off at home, grabbed some paperwork, got Jonathon a lunchable for lunch and headed back out.  We arrived back at the auto insurance place at 12:05p.m.  I figured if Jonathon ate his lunch it would give me some time with the agent to go over some quotes and hopefully be done and out of there by 1p.m. to get Jonathon back home for a nap.

No such luck.  It was 1:30p.m. and I still was not finished and Jonathon was getting edgy.  He was tired and bored and didn't want to just sit any longer.  I gave him my cell phone to watch t.v.  That lasted maybe 10 min.  Then I let him listen to animals.  Maybe 5 min.  Then he preceded to pound my phone on the chair and it would make beeping noises.  Ummmm I think you might break mommy's phone.  Then I was standing and holding him.  Now he is bending all the way over backwards, really really annoyed that we are not leaving.  All this time I am still trying to conduct business in a  pleasant matter.  to the point where now Jonathon is almost crying because he just wants to go, so he can take a nap.

Got him out of there and in the van by 2:05p.m.  After a quick hug and apology for taking so long he was out cold by 2:10p.m.

And it wasn't the agents fault at all.  It's just a big mess right now and I am trying to fix it.  I received a quote from some insurance company but afterwards I just didn't feel right. After thinking about it for a few days I decided to follow my gut and not go with them.  So I stopped to ask a few questions.  Same insurance name just different place and OOOH BOOOY!!!  Talk about people trying to make a quick buck!  Needless to say I will not be going with the first quote.

Anyway!  I will remain sticking to my(Jonathon's) schedule in the future.  Best for all!

And after pounding on mommy's phone ~ it took mommy over 30 minutes to get it to work correctly again.  I could not access incoming or outgoing phone calls, no email, no messaging.  I was really worried that he finally succeeded in breaking it.  Nope it works!  I just took the battery out and reset it.  All is good.

New Look

I was really disappointed in the last 2 hair cuts for Jonathon.  Since he turned 3 he hates doctors, haircuts, dentists etc.  At the last 2 hair cuts he literally cried his little heart out ~ so bad that I had to stop the hair cut and leave.

Then there was school pictures.  First set I hated! They combed his hair all forward.  That is not how Jonathon wears his hair.  We technically do not comb it at all.  It looks good without doing that.  So we had retakes taken.  AND I hated the retakes.  With his hair not cut right, his pictures just did not look good.  For $30.00 I want to be happy.  Sooooooo I sent them back also.

Now I want to get Xmas pictures taken.  But not with a bad hair day!

I have been thinking about this for awhile now!  What to do! What to do!

Before haircut

I decided to cut Jonathon's hair myself!  I cut (shave) Kenny.  Kenny has never been to a hair salon and he is quite happy so I asked Jonathon if I could cut his hair and he said yes.
And surprisingly he did a great job!

I need to trim a little around his ears ~ another day.  But overall he looks great!  And does not look like a baby anymore ..........

The new look!

 

 

Right to the Point

On a business call this afternoon ~ person on the other end asked me how many children I had ~ I said 3.  15, 13, and 3 ~ my 3yr. old has Down Syndrome............

Person on the other end says "Oh I am so sorry"

I then replied "Don't be....I'm not....my son is healthy...he has been potty trained since he was 1 1/2 yrs old.....he is in preschool 4 days a week....he is doing awesome!"  Person then replied "oh that's good"

I come across people all the time that use the word retard, sometimes I am not a good advocate for my son and I say nothing......Sometimes I try to explain and they in return say oh we don't mean him, there isn't anything wrong with him.....but I don't think they really understand what they are doing wrong.  I have told these people that I actually come in contact with alot that this year they will learn all about it!!!  Stop the R word

I can't believe how many people in this world do not have a clue about Down Syndrome!  Why do people think it's a death sentence?  The only concern I had when the inconsiderate Dr. told me that my son had Down Syndrome was OMG is he going to die!!!!  NOT oh great what did we do!!!!!  I love my son and have loved him from the moment I laid my eyes upon him, just like I love my older boys!  AND they all get treated equally.

We are involved in our county ~ We go to our monthly support meetings(well as often as we are able) ~ we participate in the St. Clair County Down Syndrome Support Group Buddy Walk(2 yrs now) and won Grand Marshall both years.  This year we raised $3,341.00 and we are very proud!  But more information needs to get out there.

I don't want to hear I AM SORRY because my son has Down Syndrome!

I am HAPPY!  Jonathon would not be Jonathon without his extra chromosome ~ I would not change 1 single thing about him!  

And this is how the day Started

Earlier this week I was notified that a child in Jonathon's class has Impetigo.  I was really hoping Jonathon would not end up sick.  No such luck.

Thursday afternoon he woke up from his nap crying.  He was extremely hot so I took his temp.  102!  Darn it!  For the rest of the afternoon and evening he was miserable.  I couldn't get him to eat and barely drink.  He screamed taking his Tylenol so I pretty well assumed he had a bad sore throat.  Then the vomiting started.  Which was nothing but dry heaves and a little bit of phlegm because without eating or drinking he didn't have anything in his system.  And his poor little tummy was gurgling and he was gassy.

I stuck him back in a pull up just in case he had an accident and he pretty well just laid in bed and watched movies and slept off and on.  

He did make it all night with no accidents.  I had to rush him off to the bathroom a few times in the middle of the night so he could vomit though.  Poor baby.  I hate it when he gets so sick.

So I called the doc first thing this morning and got him in.  It's not Impetigo.  Thank goodness.  He has strep throat.  Thats why he was vomiting and running a fever.  Makes me think back a few more days.  On Wednesday night I knew something was wrong.  He was snoring ~ he never snores.  He kept smacking his tongue around his mouth like he was thirsty.  He usually only does this if he is thirsty or cold.  But I didn't want to disturb him so I didn't wake him for a drink and he was covered so I knew he was not cold.  But I still knew something was off.

When he woke up Thursday he was fine though so I didn't think anything of it.  I should have trusted my instincts.  I will know for next time.

We went out and got amoxicillin for the strep and Pedialyte for him to drink from vomiting so much.  I picked up some more jello to make him.  Chocolate pudding and juice.  I also bought some pasta noodles and 6 cheeses sauce to make him for dinner ~ he loves it and I knew he was hungry.

He did eat some noodles for dinner along with some orange jello.  Drank a little bit of his pedialyte.... some fruit juice and some flavored water.  Off to bed he went at 6:10p.m. and is now resting.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

 

My little boy

is becoming such a big boy ~ sometimes I don't see it ~ other times I just stop and sit back and take it all in.

I was running the vacumn and Jonathon went over and unplugged the cord from the wall ~ I started to yell to tell him it was dangerous and then he just looked up at me with those sad eyes like.....sorry mommy ~ I felt so bad ~ I grabbed him and hugged him and told him thank you for helping me.  Then I explained to him why he should not help mommy with that and he should just wait.

I moved some furniture today ~ I was attempting to pull/push desk across living room ~ Jonathon kept walking around desk and clapping and touching ~ again at first I told him no ~ but then realized he was helping mommy move the desk and once again I had to apologize.

I was trying to put the tower(computer) back into its cubby after moving the desk and Jonathon kept trying to close the door on me ~ of course I was irritated, I was trying to hurry and finish before nap time ~ but then I looked over and those sad eyes and tears were coming again ~ telling me that he was just trying to help ~ more hugs......more sorry's!

Jonathon loves to help with the laundry ~ he has been helping fold and put away towels for over a year ~ big brothers say that I am running a sweat shop LOL.  

Jonathon loves to unload groceries and help put everything away.  

He is doing awesome at school on the playground ~ when he first started school he didn't really want to climb on the play scape, but he would at home ~ now he flies up and down the slides like he has been doing it forever.  If I arrive early I still let him stay and play ~ I really enjoy just watching him from a distance and sometimes I join in too.

There is so much that he is doing and saying lately ~ I am so proud of him and everything that he has accomplished so far ~ I sit and think O.M.G. I only have 1 1/2yrs more and then he will be gone all day ~ the time is going to go by so fast ~ I don't want to miss anything ~ or take anything for granted.......

This is why laundry may not be done on time......beds may not be made daily......dinner may be just sandwiches some nights.......flowers may not be weeded like they should......floors may not be swept and mopped as much as they are supposed......paperwork may not be filed daily.....dusting may need to be done........my baby will not be a baby much longer.....actually he is not a baby.....he is my little man.....that will soon be big enough to go to school all day..... kindergarten is not that far off.....I am enjoying my last little one and the rest of the crap can just wait for me!!!!!!!

Our next big move......over Christmas vacation he will be moving out of my room ~ out of his toddler bed ~ moving into bunk beds ~ sharing a room with big brother Kenny!

I love you Jonathon!  I needed the reality check today so thank you for reminding mommy to have patience!  And for reminding me things will get done.  There is no reason to rush......

Wordless Wednesday

Redneck swingin ~ playing his drum

Wordless Wednesday

not much

happening around here.  I went to school this morning for a quick visit to Jonathon's classroom.  Jonathon and I walked down to the P.T. room to see Miss Jen and Cameron.  Cameron was at school to check Jonathon's braces for me ~ I was concerned because he has been tripping a lot lately.  We will be making an appointment to see Cameron at his office so he can do an extension on the bottom of his brace to make it a little longer ~ then we will see if he needs new shoes.  Otherwise everything looks good.

Miss Jen thinks that it is just a stage that Jonathon is going through ~ now that he is able to run she thinks that he is purposely falling down ~ sometimes this is very true I will just keep an eye on him.

After school I took Jonathon to Target to get the new Toy Story 3 movie ~ then we stopped off at Kmart really quick ~ nothing good there.  Picked up big brothers from school ~ came home grabbed a snack and watched the new Toy Story movie together.  It was pretty good and Jonathon enjoyed it.  Now he has 2 and 3.  I guess I should get him the first one too.

We decided to do Subway for dinner ~ Jonathon ate part of his ham and cheese sub ~ and some yogurt.  He is getting really good at eating sandwiches.

Now he is playing ~ maybe we will get some puzzles out.

All in all good day!

Trick or Treat

Jonathon had a blast going out trick or treating this year.  This was really his first official time going as a big boy(we missed last year) and I am so proud of him....... He walked almost the whole time.  We did not get many pictures, but here is a few to share.  Oh and we changed costumes too - no more hippo!

Lightning McQueen Pit Crew

Excited to go!

Trick or Treat Uncle John

Uncle John and Jonathon

on our way

Bundled up