Communication

We've worked with Ruby since she was a baby to teach her sign language.  By far, the biggest help has been the Signing Time DVDs - especially the Baby Signing Time series, which are even more music-filled.

We started using a few signs with Lil when we were in Ukraine, and more when we got home.

Now, after being home for 6 weeks, Lily has 70 signs.  We counted.  She has SEVENTY SIGNS, in SIX WEEKS.  Also, she has 10-12 words that she speaks ... most in English, a couple still in Russian (Da for yes, is one.)

Isn't that amazing??  What a difference some attention & teaching & exposure to DVDs makes.  We rarely hear her point & growl anymore, which was her main means of communicating with us in Ukraine.

Love this pic of Lil with Ru snoozing in the background:


And Lil wearing Nana's shoes!

Busy Days

Of course my dad gave me grief for not having posted since Wednesday ... sorry, Dad! We've been busy!

So busy, in fact, that this little bird simply crashed on the couch the other day:

We were in between running errands & heading to Ruby's speech class. She slept for an hour like this, and slept soundly through a diaper change, and the half-hour drive to speech - I had to wake her up when we got there, but then she was ready to go!


Friday morning we went to a park playdate with our local Down syndrome group, which is always a good time!

However, Braden wasn't exactly thrilled that his sisters were cramping his style.

See the little hand behind Lily's back? She has a new admirer. Our little friend Noah gave her lots of hugging!

Lil has much more fun that this picture suggests, I promise!

And I promise more posts coming soon ...

Grouchy!

The girls thought it was soooo funny this morning when I signed "grouchy."  I told them if they stand on the chair, that makes Mama 'grouchy!'

Both girls began signing AND saying grouchy - and, of course, giggling.

Ruby whispers grouchy on the video, but Lil didn't say it for the camera.  That's too bad, because her growly 'g' sound is super adorable!

Good grief are these girls cute!

Ru & Mom

I wanted a pic of her cute hair ...



she wanted to see the pic I took, then take one with me.


I love her little 'pose' ... what's that about?

A whole lot of hugging

More & more the girls are hanging out together ... and we see more of this:

Usually, it's Ruby who asks for a hug, but Lil is warming up to her & happy to hug her.

Although sometimes she looks a little confused why they're hugging, again.

Tiny Tot or Tiny Teen?

The other day when I was talking to my mom, Ruby wanted to talk ... I handed her the phone and she ran into the other room.

I found her on this sofa, lying on her belly kicking her feet, jabbering away - and pressing many, many buttons.


She tried to escape when she saw me coming, but she's still got a grip on the phone.

Picture Post

Every morning, I brush the girls hair & put it in ponies.  I'm trying to grow Lil's bangs out, so I clip her hair up, as well.  It starts out adorable & sweet ... and within a couple hours it's frazzled & messy.  So, just a couple pics to prove we start our days adorable & put together:

Cutie girl Lil

Cutie girl Ru

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Yesterday, I had to take Karly to a doctor appointment - a regular, boring, checkup (the best kind of appointment, in my opinion!) and my friend, CJ brought her daughter over to hang out with the other kids.  I was planning on taking Lil with me & Karly, but she was totally fine playing with Emmalee.  

So much cuteness on one little piano bench!

These girls are gonna need a name for their rock band.
"We're Down with Rock N Roll"?

Girls & playdoh

Braden likes this picture - he says, "Lily is so happy!"

This is the way we practice the stairs...

I'm on a mission to have the girls perfect the up & down of the stairs, so we can reduce the use of baby gates.


For our petite girls, we're practicing the 'bounce & bump' method of coming down the stairs - on their bottom!  Lily can walk down using the rail, but this was after several up & downs, and she was tiring.

We even have a big squishy rug we put at the bottom, to help cushion any potential falls.

Background

This picture is the new background image on my computer ... I didn't put it there, Lily did!

Our Family!

Sara, who hosted Lily's party, put some pictures up on her blog, and I was so excited to see this - our whole family, all together at last!

This made my day! 

A Welcome Home Party!

This past Saturday, our friends in our local Down syndrome group held a welcome home party for Lily!  We are so grateful to have such great friends, they really were so excited to meet our Lilya, and it's been so fun to introduce her to them!

Lil's saying, "Up!"
I  know that, because I see this 912 times a day :)

Ru had fun with her friends & playing outside

This one is titled, "Why are you taking my picture again and not getting me more food?"

Braden, overseeing the bubble machine

Karly & her friend, Sam

Ru, getting pushy with Em (and a little help from Dad)

It was a wonderful day, and the rain held off for much longer than we thought it would.  

THANK YOU to all our friends who were able to make it - we're happy to have such a great 'extended family' for our girls!

Pretty Girls

The little girls were all dressed up yesterday for a party! There'll be a post on that wonderful event coming soon - but for now, cute girls ...


with cheesey faces!!


Love them!

Feisty Girl

I love how she crinkles up her nose!

Today

It's hard having 2 blogs. Where do I post stuff? I need to consolidate them, soon.

Today, Braden, Ru & Lily all went to the dentist. My mom is visiting, and thankfully came along to help - but it was so uneventful! It went really, really well, for all 3 kids!

Lil does have at least 1 cavity that he could see, but he'll sedate her to do xrays, cleaning & repair. Great!

Then, Lil & I went to the ENT - and she passed her hearing tests, no problem! She was charming & cooperative - her only complaint was when the ENT wanted to check out her gigantic tonsils. Her tonsils are big, but not causing problems now that she's healthy again (thank you, antibiotics!) So, unless they create further problems or we notice she has sleep apnea issues, we'll leave them be!

GREAT DAY!!

My Little Girls

Little Miss Sunshine

Dance party!

Cheesey face!

Join us!

If you'd like to join us for our local Down Syndrome Awareness Walk, we'd love to have you!  It's our first year putting on the walk (I'm on the walk committee, that's what the 'we' is all about!)

The walk is on Saturday, October 2nd, and Rachel Coleman from Signing Time will be there - along with Ruby, Lily & all their little local friends!  Seriously, can you handle the cuteness?!

If you'd like to register a team, you can  register online, or print out a form to send in.  OR, you can email me & join our team!  Pre-registration ends on September 20, so don't delay!  If you'd like to help our team raise money, pledge forms are online, as well.  If you'd like, you can donate to the Z Crew online, or contact me for where to send a check.

The funds we raise will stay with our local group.  We are really excited by what our group will be able to do with funds - right now, we mainly hold playdates & provide packets of information to new parents of children with Down syndrome at the hospital.  Soon, we hope to expand into offering funding for programs for the children and their families - our main focus is acceptance, awareness & education.

More details about the walk can be found HERE.