Andy and Clare have posted more about their “American Adventure“!

Go over and see what they have said!

All over the place, actually!

Do you like?

I have to admit, with all the blogs popping up, I can’t keep up! I try. If I haven’t commented on your blog in say, weeks, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been there. I keep up with all these precious children, I just don’t always have time to comment!

So, I still love each and everyone of my blog buddies, I am a blog junkie, I’ll pop by soon and let you know I have been there!!

In the meantime, where can you find me?

MySpace.com:

http://www.myspace.com/knoahsarc

Facebook.com:

http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1034130389

And, as always, here!

Knoah had his 1st day of school and I have to say, mom is dispensable!

I sat there like a lame duck while he walked around the room playing with this toy and that toy. Coming over to me to “check in”.

I am so thankful he is personable! He took to everyone there. There was one incident where a little boy took the toy vacuum cleaner from him and boy did he get mad! He walked around letting out bursts of screams, venting his frustration. He would look at that little boy and point and hoot. Throwing his arms up and hooting again.

I think this will be good for him. He has Jacob and Hannah at home with him, but they don’t routinely take away a toy he is playing with. He needs to learn to share, but at the same time, he is going to need to learn to stand up for himself. All of the kids there we a lot bigger than he is, some of the were twice as big as he is. So, he has to learn to fend for himself.

Not that I like the thought of him having difficulties, but I am hoping I am helping him understand, especially when he gets older that just because the other kids are physically bigger than he is, that he still has to stand up for himself. He has to express his displeasure with a situation. I think we have that down.

Now, we have to focus on the physical aspect that comes with being a toddler. We all know some toddlers like to push or hit when they are trying to protect their domain. Knoah is no exception, however, he’ll do this with me. I don’t know if he’ll do it with another child. We have talked to him about not hitting, but I have to assume other parent’s have talked to their kids too. Not that it makes a difference, he’s only 21 months old, like he gives a lick what I am saying to him and the importance of keeping one’s hands to oneself.

How am I going to handle myself if another child pushes him? He’s going to get pushed down, I know this. I am more concerned with the pushing and hitting the head issue. I know he’s not fragile and he won’t break, but fact is, these kids are bigger than he is and their hits could be harder than his.

Oh the joys of schooling!

Jacob and Hannah had their 1st day of school!

What a treat for mom! Six glorious hours of doing whatever mom and Knoah wants to do! I can actually walk around the mall without hearing “Mom, I want that” or “Mom, your not a good parent, you ALWAYS say NO!”

Oh, that’s alright, I’ll be the bad parent. This moring went off without a hitch! Sort of….

My dearest Hannah… well, we’ll just show you.

This is Hannah the 1st day of school last year….

This is Hannah the 1st day of school this year….

Notice anything…lacking…say in the eyebrow department?

Right. She decided to “shave off” her eyebrows and she told me last night…

“I am going to finish them tonight, I am going to shave them ALL OFF!”

So I have had to hide all the razor’s in the house because Hannah is apparently wanting them drawn in.

Tomarrow, Knoah has his 1st day of school! Actually, it more of a play group/PT/Speech/whatever other issues ISD deems needing addressing.

He will be attending Early Intervention. Which allows us a chance to be with other kids his age! He will on go once a week for about 3 hours and then later in the week, he will have PT.

Knoah is doing so well, medically and physically!! He is so active and people are starting to notice his personality. Wherever we go, people will just come up to him and talk to him. It is really funny. He babbles and points. Smiles and coos. Soaking up the attention he is getting.

Speaking of attention…I am trying to decide on what he’s going to be for Halloween. If you have any suggestion or websites with really cute outfits, post them!!!

Over the next few weeks, Andy and Clare Dungey will be posting about their visit in the states and what they think of our country.

So far, they have posted twice and I must admit, their stories and pictures are amusing! Everything from a “should have been $3.00 hat” to extra large Alabama Mud Pie, I am looking forward to hearing more about their holiday!!

http://littledungey.blogspot.com/

Well, the Presidential election is well under way!

I must admit, before today, I was not as excited about the election. Our choices were Obama or McCain.

Well, today, that has all changed. In my wishful thinking, What is Normal? has made the presidential spotlight!! Oh yeah!

Presidential hopeful, John McCain has chosen his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Gov. Palin gave birth to her son Trig in April of this year. Born with Down’s Syndrome, she recalls hearing the news as many of us have about our unborn child.

JUNEAU, Alaska — The results of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s prenatal testing were in, and the doctor’s tone was ominous: “You need to come to the office so we can talk about it.”

Palin responded, “No, go ahead and tell me over the phone.”

Receiving the Down’s diagnoses, Gov. Palin admits her world went bleak for a moment or two, but quickly she recovered to see the miracle present to her.

“I’ve never had problems with my other pregnancies, so I was shocked,” said Palin, a mother of four other children. “It took a while to open up the book that the doctor gave me about children with Down syndrome, and a while to log on to the Web site and start reading facts about the situation.”

Later, when telling her husband, he said:

“We shouldn’t be asking, ‘Why us?’ We should be saying, ‘Well, why not us?’ ”

Now, like many parent’s faced with an uncertain future with a child who has a disability, Gov. Palin tells people how she sees her son.

“I’m looking at him right now, and I see perfection,” Palin said. “Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?”

I am SO excited now about this election. Rest assured, we parent’s of children with disabilities will be justly represented in the White House the next four years!

I won’t make this a political blog or anything of the sorts, but November 4, 2008, I am asking you to support John McCain and Sarah Palin for the United States presidency!

So, What is Normal? has made Presidential history, even if Gov. Palin didn’t know about this blog!

I’ll still take it!

To read this article in full, please click here.

In an escape from my reality, I took the kid’s down to Luna Pier.

Luna Pier is a lake side community with a quaint town and even better people!

Our friend Dave and Mayor Mary, live in Luna Pier and Dave who we affectionatly call LunaPierCook (LPC) runs the Luna Pier Doghouse. A lake side grab and go, if you will.

Head over to LPC’s blog to see what we did yesterday!

Thanks for the GREAT lunch!!

Then don’t read ANY further, you’ll thank me later!

Yes, I am NOT sleeping well!

Last night, I found one of these nasty little critters flying around Knoah’s room!

AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I had been sitting in there with the lights on while he was sleeping and had just turned them off when this thing came out from God knows where.

Will managed (my knight in plaid pajama’s) to get rid of it and then, THEN, tonight, Jacob was going down stairs and he and Hannah came running back up yelling “BAT, BAT, it’s in the parlor!!”

I told them to shut the center hall door and looked at Will.

3 minutes is all it took!!

Now, once again, I won’t be able to sleep.

See, when I was pregnant with Knoah, about the time we found out he had Achondroplasia, the four of us had to under go the PEP shots. PEP shots or postexposure prophylaxis vaccine is used when there has been a suspected exposure to a mammal that may have rabies. About this time 2 years ago, we found a total of 3 bats in the house over the course of 4 days. Don’t know how long they had been sleeping in our rooms, but I freaked!

What fun that was! NOT! 5 shots, in the arm to prevent us from developing rabies.

So, needless to say, bats and I DO NOT GET ALONG!! I, at this point am half tempted to gather up the kids and sleep in the car.

Don’t think I won’t.

My personal message to the bats finding their way into my house:

Please, PLEASE, stay away!! I don’t like you! My kids don’t like you! I don’t crawl up a tree to roost where you roost, do I? Please respect my domain and I’ll let you eat all the mosquitos in my backyard! Promise! You can have them ALL, I don’t like them either!!

Watch out Hasselhoff!

Here comes Knoah…

We live on the banks of Lake Erie. We are lucky enough to have Sterling State Park within a mile of our home, so we can go camping and such. This year we opted for taking the kids swimming. The kids loved it!! Here are some pictures of our adventures!

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Every once in a while, I like to “compare” Knoah’s activites to what is common in other children his age. Even though I know better, I just want to see how he fares…

Month 21

Most toddlers should be able to . . .

Start to learn up to 5 or more words per day

5 or more PER day!! WHAT! I am still trying to teach him “milk”.

Walk up stairs with some assistance

Nope, ain’t happening. He can crawl up them effectively enough, so I’ll pass him.

Make structures out of toys or blocks

He does this WELL!! He can stack five or more blocks during play! Good Job!

Some toddlers will probably be able to . . .

Start to learn up to 10 or more words per day

See above remark!

Show good signs of bladder control

If by bladder control you mean he realizes he’s peeing on the floor when he is diaper less, but makes no effort to to let me know he did so until I walk in the room and he has his hand in it…like he did it on purpose, sure.

Throw balls overhand

He throws them side handed, he passes!

Open doors

He does very well! Open, slam shut, open, slam shut, open, scream because his finger got caught in the door while slamming shut. Check!

Some toddlers could possibly be able to . . .

Name people and pets when shown a picture

Actually naming people? I can’t even get him to say “mama” voluntaraly, but the kid will scream for dada before dada even pulls into the drive….”scuff” Semi check.

Form short but complete and understandable sentences

Understandable? No. Screaming at the top of his lungs because he’s upset he was to no, yes.

Walk down stairs with some assistance

There will be no “walking” down anything just yet. Tumbling, falling, rolling, maybe, but walking, I think not.

Open and close doors

He will open it if it is cracked open and he will close it. Check!

Not bad Knoah!! Not bad! You look like your doing well!

Of coarse, no one expects you to be super toddler, even though taking a giant leap off the couch won’t get you any closer to that goal, your doing well!!

Which brings me to my other boy, Jacob. He’s starting to posture. I mean, if he is with his friend’s, he’ll come at me with chest pumped out, acting all hard and tough, thinking he’s going to tell me, in front of his friend’s how it is.

Um! No!

So, yesterday he did this. His little buddy was watching though the door and Jacob comes walking through the house saying “MOM! We NEED to talk!” As he is stomping through the house.

So, I meet him half way with a smile on my face and bent down in-front of him and said in my quietest, sternest voice:

“Jacob, listen very carefully, because I am only going to repeat this ONE TIME. First off, don’t you EVER think your going to approach me in that tone of voice and think I am going to respond kindly. Secondly, I understand your friend his here and to save you the embarrassment, don’t you EVER think you are going to TELL me what I NEED to do. Lastly, do not EVER think you are to big for me to insert choice phrase , because trust me, next time, I will make sure you and your friend’s know you were taught how to respect an adult. Your little friend’s may talk to their parent’s that way, but you sir, will not. Have I made myself clear?”

Jacob proceeds to tell me something about what he wants to do in a week, it has nothing to do with him playing with his friend. He apologizes and he goes about his merry way. Unscathed and untouched.

He is almost as tall as me now a days. A foot more and he will be eyeing me! I told him from from the time I popped him out of the womb, he will not be disrespectful to anyone! Including me! I just don’t think it has sunk in yet.

You know and it wasn’t even the what he wanted to tell me, it was the way he came at me. Like, he’s a man and he will control the situation. I think not. I do not take lightly to someone, especially a man, approaching me thinking he’s going to be disrespectful. I will not allow my son’s to grow up that way.

It has to be the hormone’s. Tell me it’s a phase!