Fun at the Park

While our family was here, we went to the park. Nichole had a lot of fun. I thought we would sit on a blanket but she was excited to go slide and climb. Looking forward to this summer and playing outside!

Ellie loves the park!

Easter

Here are a few pictures from Easter. The really good pictures were taken by my sister-in-law :)
Ellie had a lot of fun with her cousin Mikayla. They died eggs and we also had an Easter egg hunt.

She is 18 months, what can she do?

Nichole is a sweet and smart little girl. She is able to do so many things! Sure, her gross motor skills are behind, but Nichole is not motor driven, she is an observer. She has very good muscle tone, but she is not one to take risks.

She pulls herself up all the time. Sometimes, I will get her to come after a toy, I will slowly move it away from her, getting her to walk the length of the couch. However, if I put the toy at the opposite end of the couch, no way, no steps, she will sit down, crawl to the other end of the couch, and pull up to get the toy.

She stands behind her wagon. I move it ever so slowly, she takes steps without realizing what is going on. I say "let's walk" and she sits down, no can do.

She can sign...many words.
baby, mom, cracker, milk, eat, all done, dad, more, dog, please, book, hat, ball, thank you, sleep, brush teeth, sorry, shoes, bath, telephone, me, music, play, up, down.
Sure, some of them are not perfect, but she gets it, and we do too!

She tries to imitate sounds.

We were at speech therapy and there were some blocks. She grabbed the block and started stacking them! Believe it or not, we do not own wooden blocks, I had no idea she could stack! But she did it! She is all about stacking right now! When she takes a bath, there is a small cup, she loves getting a spoon in it and "mixing" the water. Her fine motor skills keep getting better and better.

She is silly! She will cover her head with a blanket and take off, giggling along the way.

Her daddy is her favorite person. She cries every day when he goes to work. When he is home, she is as close to him as possible.

Nichole wants to be just like her big sister. She wants the same cup, the same food, the same crayon, the same toy...you can imagine how well that goes :)

She loves music. She will dance, bounce and giggle.

Nichole can identify some body parts. Eyes, head, mouth, and her favorite, the nose :)

Pretty good for a "delayed" baby, don't you think ;)

T21 Traveling Afghan is Moving On

We have enjoyed the afghan and played with it. Today we will be sending it to the next family. We are honored to be a part of the T21 family. The bond that we share is indeed very special. Once we were strangers, now we are friends, all because of our children. We share in joys and frustrations, we celebrate milestones and support one another.

This afghan represents that unity, that special love, that connection. One blanket going around different countries (yes, countries! can you believe that!) to be held by a child with T21, somehow, the love is passed along too, and is wrapped up in the blanket.

If you want to join and receive the blanket, let me know, or click on the T21 Traveling Afghan link on the left column.

T21 Traveling Afghan is Here!

That is right, the T21 Traveling Afghan has made its way to our home! Amazing how a simple afghan can bring our families together and celebrate our children that have an extra chromosome.

Here are the girls, excited to open the box and see what is inside!

Nichole has fun with the afghan.

And the afghan goes with Nichole to the Library for story hour.

More Fun

Most of the time Ellie is very sweet to Nichole. She is all about hugs and kisses and playing together. However, if Nichole has any desire to do the same thing Ellie is doing (like playing with dolls, coloring, etc.) all of a sudden, Ellie is not that sweet and loving anymore :) Sisters.

Nichole is also very sweet to Ellie, unless she takes Ellie's toy of choice or pulls hard on her hair.

I came into the play room one day and Nichole is sitting on the chair!

"How did Nichole get there!" I asked

"She climbed there mom" Ellie replied

She is a climber! If she sees stairs, she is gone! she is climbing up those stairs and if she knows you are running to catch her, her giggling prevents her from going as fast as she wants to go.

My attempt at doing Nichole's hair.

She is a silly baby.

Ellie is so good at putting puzzles together. she always has been good. We got her a 100 piece puzzle. She needs help, but it is amazing how much of it she puts together all o her own. She has a 75 piece puzzle that she puts together no problem. Pretty amazing.

Ellie and her friends.