Quick Update

All is good on the Panczyk homefront!

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have sat down at my computer, let alone turn it on. Our weather has finally turned into summer and we have been outside ALOT.

School is going great for Jonathon. He still loves it. This past Wednesday he started working on taking bigger steps and climbing more steps. Our homework is to off balance step. (ex. speed bump in parking lot, one foot on, one foot off, walk down the length of the step) or sandbox square. Anything that has a ledge.

Last week we went and purchased life jackets for Jonathon. I was able to purchase a toddler one for this year and then also purchased one for 30-50lbs. I got both for the price of 31.00. Great buy if you ask me. Now to go somewhere and try it out.

I need to turn in my paperwork for the YMCA. Trying to get a scholarship for Jonathon. Otherwise I have to pay 10.00 per person to be able to go as a non member. Or 800.00 for the year as a member......

We have had our first down syndrome outing for the summer this past Tuesday. We went to a local water park. I was totally shocked(well I shouldn't have been)how well Jonathon did. Last year he didn't like any water in his face. This year mommy was DRENCHED!!!! He loves the water park. He loves all the sprayers. I will post pictures later.

Jonathon loved the water park so much and it's been pretty hot here that I took him again this past Wednesday with his brothers. Another great day because my youngest son LOVES the water!!!!

I also filled Jonathon's pool at home one day this past week so he could play. I had to put on a life preserver suit because he is a wild man. It's a little big and it's an extra small, but just for home it will work. I am going to buy the little suit with the ring around the middle that you blow up and hopefully that will work for pools,pond or the Y.

Besides mommy having some teeth problems we are doing great. Trying to clean up around our home for the big party coming in July.(Jonathon turning 2) Which I cannot believe.

We have a graduation party today and then tomorrow is Bay O Rama for my sister. She rents a pavilion for a breast cancer fund raiser. She is raising money for her 3 day walk in August. We went last year and will be there this year to support her again!!!

And it's time! Sunshine is out and Jonathon is pounding on my kitchen door to get out! AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!

Summer School

Jonathon started his first day of summer school Wednesday morning. At first I was thinking that it was too early for school(8:45a.m.) I guess I got spoiled all year having school 2 minutes from our house and not going until 11:30a.m.

School is now 30 minutes away and we have to leave at 8:15a.m. We are up at 6:30a.m. everyday so that's not the problem......The problem is that we usually watch a movie, mommy drinks her coffee and catches up on the computer.....and take our time to venture into breakfast. (I suppose after a couple of times we will get used to our new Wednesday routine)

Once we arrived at school we were good to go! Jonathon did great. He learned how to kick a ball. We will continue to practice, but he did it....

He walked over some obstacles for the teacher and with the teacher holding his hands, but he lifted his leg and he did it....

He climbed up some steps and down again.....

He walked/took bigger steps over some puzzle mat bones(interlocking puzzlemats)these are shaped like bones....

walked out in the hallway, tried running.....ummmm, no this isn't working, not yet anyway.(Sheeesh, he just started walking May 21st)

Climbed over a bench...(p.t. thought this was amazing, I just thought it was funny)

And he got to play with some toys, but only did these for a few milliseconds...They were the same toys he plays with at school with his O.T. I think he was looking for her to play with not P.T. (so he didn't want to play with toys).

Also got to play with a huge purple ball.

Our 30 minutes of P.T. flew by. He did great and I was dissappointed that I forgot the camera. I will get pictures next week.

New Bed

Jonathon loves his big boy bed and has been doing great with the transition. I still rock him to sleep for his morning and afternoon nap. But every night for bedtime he rocks with me and drinks his bottle for about 20 minutes....then he wants to go to his bed....wide awake. It only takes him about 10-15 minutes to fall asleep on his own.

He is becoming such a big boy.

F.Y.I. I didn't rush Jonathon out of the crib. I would have been content with him being in there until he was 3. He wanted out of the crib. He kept waking up at night and would fall right back to sleep in our bed. That's how I knew, because we never let him sleep in our bed before. And I was correct, because he loves his big boy bed.

Scholarships

I packed Jonathon and Andrew up on Friday and we headed off to our local YMCA. My social worker met us and gave us a tour of the facility. I also picked up the paperwork to fill out to see if we can receive a scholarship.

While we were there, we were able to swim for a few minutes. It didn't last long because Jonathon's little swimsuit was too big in the chest area. If I let go of him he would have toppled right over face first in the water.

Pictures are not very clear;social worker was too far away, but you can kinda get the idea. If you look you can see Jonathons little suit hunched up in the back. I had to keep pulling it down.

I did find some regulation lifejackets online at Dicks Sporting Goods. We will be taking a road trip sometime this week to check those out. Hopefully it will work better for him.

Another year gone......

Today was Jonathon's last day of school. He is on summer vacation for 1 week and then we will start summer services with P.T. Summer services will be every Wednesday til sometime in August.

I was a little worried how well he would do today. We are usually at school for 1 hour. Today we were at school for 2 1/2 hrs. Suprisingly he did quite well, especially since he got up at 5:30a.m. instead of 6:30a.m. and did not get a morning nap because we were at school.

The teacher had different activity centers inside and games outside. Jonathon got to pick a sticker book and add different stickers to it~he let the teachers son put a tattoo on his hand~he got to get some huge sidewalk chalk~bubbles with a nonspill proof container to keep them in~a little story book~notebook with crayons for scribbling~juice box and snacks.

Outside some of the games were Go Fish(of course Jonathon seen a pool with water and decided it was for swimming) Yep, good thing we had along a change of clothes. Ring Toss game and bean bag game. That was fun.

The teachers and I had a quick meeting at the end of the day. O.T. explained to me that when school starts in the fall that Jonathon might not be with her much longer. He is doing very well and pretty much on track for main stream school.(I am a very very proud mom). She also explained that if services are stopped with her, she will continue to stop by and check on us and if she or I feel that he needs to see her again she will set it up. So that makes me feel pretty good knowing that if I need her she will be there. She has been a great teacher for Jonathon. He really likes her alot.

P.T. also agreed that he might not be with her much longer after school starts up in the fall. This one I don't know about. I have mixed feelings here. I have read somewhere(down syndrome group or a blog) to never stop your P.T. services. I explained this to P.T. Her response was that usually by the time the children are in school(preschool) she doesn't see them any longer. Of course my long term goal is for Jonathon to be in main stream school and not need any services, but I don't want them stopped early if for some reason he still needs them. She also told me that even though children with Down Syndrome have low muscle tone, Jonathon is not that bad. Like I said this one I don't know about. She has been a good P.T. this year, but she is not like our previous P.T. we had last year. I am much more comfortable with my previous P.T. The first part of summer he will see P.T. we have now. The second part of summer he will see previous P.T. At that time I will let her know my concerns and see what she has to say.

Teacher was impressed with Jonathon today. She said she was going to say he needed to work on sitting still for 10 minutes or more focused on one thing. But he was doing great today. He was walking all over with no problem. He was going up to other children to make friends. He was playing peek a boo on his own with some adults. He was sitting and playing alone with some pegs and a peg board. I explained to her that Jonathon does very well. It's when we are at school and they insist he do this or do that on demand that irritates him. If they would just give him time and sit back more they would see that he is doing very well.

Our goals for the next 3 months are as follows:

To eat one meal independtly.(mac n cheese, apple sauce, nuggets etc) Right now he is just starting to feed himself oatmeal.
To continue to work on puzzles
To continue to work on coloring(lines and circles on the page)
beads on a pipe cleaner
go up steps alone
jump on a trampoline
jump up in air
and of course our hardest one TALK

Overall I am happy. I hope that Jonathon and I have a great summer and we get some more of our goals accomplished.



O.T., Jonathon, P.T., Teacher, and our Social Worker

ENT Appointment

Great doctor ~ Great bedside manner ~ Great results ~

Typanogram Reading ~ Type A ~ Normal

We go back in August for a recheck. Jonathon will continue to take 1/2 tsp of over the counter Claritin daily. He will receive Little Noses Saline Drops in the morning and at nightime before bed. Hopefully this will help out with his allergies and keep him from getting another sinus infection.

Needless to say we were very pleased with new Dr. ENT. He did great with Jonathon. Jonathon LIKED him and that is what matters most.

I am really glad that I decided to get a 2nd opinion. I sit and wonder "what if" The previous Dr. ENT did not give us any advice. Pretty much said " If you want surgery I will do it" "If you want to wait I will wait" What if I had scheduled a surgery that Jonathon did not need? Would the previous Dr. ENT see that the fluid was gone and not do the surgery? Would he just put the tubes in anyway? I thank God that I did not do that and that my mommy gut said Find another Dr.

It's Official

We have a walker on our hands AND we are PROUD PROUD PROUD!

I have been waiting for this day to come and it actually came on Thursday May 21st. He just decided that he didn't need or want to crawl any longer.

He is still a little wobbly and stops to put his hands down to regroup, but he is doing awesome.

I wanted him to walk by July 16th and as always "My Sweet Angel Amazes Me"