KINDERGARTEN.

Dear Ellie,

You start Kindergarten in five days.  Your excitement level and anxiety level are both though the roof, although you'll only talk about the excitement.  We see the anxiety play out in ways only your parents know.  We will meet your teacher today, and I've been praying for him.  As a teacher, I can imagine that you are fun to have in class but not always easy!

You'll spend most of the school day with your typical peers.  This makes me so excited and so scared.  I want you to have good friends.  I want you to continue to love school.  As hard as your last day of preK was, I hope I again have to drag you away from friends, sad because school is over.  I'll take that over first-day tears any day.

You've done well with school so far.  You love it.  You talk about school every single day, and you have since your first day of school when you turned two and a half.  Kindergarten will be your fourth year in public school, so in some ways you have a big advantage.

I'm not worried about you being gone all day, although I think Caroline will be a little lost at first.  I'm not worried about you speaking up for yourself, other than concern you'll over-do it!  (Last night you told me you would be putting your teacher in time out.... again, praying for him!)  I'm not worried about you running off or getting lost.

I worry about you finding that quality group of friends, especially because you'll be at a different school from all your preK classmates.  I worry about you being away from your best buddy from school after three years together.  I think you'll miss him a lot.  I worry about you trying even when writing or math is hard, and I worry that you'll be overwhelmed with lots of kids and afraid to read in class or raise your hand.  

I worry a little bit about you being made fun of, but mostly I worry about you getting overlooked.

The only concern you've voiced is being away from some specific friends from preK.  I am so proud of how hard you've worked to communicate clearly, but I also know that there are things you don't have the words for or don't want to talk about.  I can tell you're worried about other things, too.  Transitions are hard for you.

But I also know YOU are ready to soar.  You walked into summer school without saying goodbye to me.  You know a few kids from summer school who will be at your school, and I hope in your class.  

Just over five years since your heart was repaired, you're starting "real" school.  My current concerns seem so little when I remember that tiny baby in a hospital bed about five years ago!  

Lately we've been fundraising for your Buddy Walk team, which benefits our local Down syndrome group.  We raised enough to get a sign with your picture on it.  The signs all say "I am ____."  I asked you what your sign you say and you confidently yelled, "I AM SO BRAVE!!!!"

You're going to do great.  I'm sure there will be bumps along the road, because there are for any kid starting kindergarten.  I love you.  I have a feeling you'll bounce into school Tuesday while your mommy sheds a little tear or two.  (And we'll see how Daddy does!)

I love you, Ellie.  Be kind.  Enjoy learning.  Have fun.  And please try to listen.

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Aug 31, 2016 at 1:44pm PDT

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Aug 31, 2016 at 12:21pm PDT

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Aug 26, 2016 at 7:13am PDT

EEEEK! Done with Pre-K.

Just keeping my mom feelings real here.

Ellie started school at 2.5.  I did not think I'd be emotional about the end of preschool or the start of kindergarten.

Her last day of preK is today and I may have teared up a little.

Before Ellie was born, I knew she'd get special education preschool services.  She loves school and cannot wait for Kindergarten, and I have pretty minimal fears for her.  I worry about her making friends who love her for who she is.  I worry because she'll be at a new school next year, away from "big kids" she's known most of her life through church and away from the friends who have shared her classroom for three years.

I just cannot believe how much this baby has grown up.

When Ellie started school, she had just begun to walk.  She spoke about 75 words, many of which were approximations.  She was tiny and had to find her rhythm.

Ellie is now super comfortable at school.  A friend saw her at school recently and commented to me that Ellie has grown up and carries herself with confidence.

The preK chapter is closing.

I am thankful for the start he team gave her.  Now, we're off to Kindergarten.

Buddy Walk Announcement, Sister Update, Etc.

So I'm a crummy blogger.

Forgive me.

School gets out one week from today.  Caroline eats laptop cords, which makes blogging tough.  (And she eats iPhone chargers.  We have seriously gone through like 8 since she's been mobile.  She sucks on them and they get water damage.)

Ellie has been busy with end of school year activities, learning to ride a very small balance bike, and gymnastics.  Caroline has been busy getting super mobile - pushing a walking toy, crawling at high rates of speed, and climbing.  We've been at the spray park and using our water table and sand table.

In just over a week, Ellie will have her tonsils out.

We've had my mom and my brother in town at various points recently.

My photography schedule is filling up quickly.

Life is good.  We'll celebrate Matt on Sunday for Father's Day.

We're gearing up for our Buddy Walk in October.  You can sign up or give here.

In short, life is life with two little girls.  We laugh a lot.  Ellie's sleep has not improved, although we are hopeful surgery will take care of that.  She's also getting a twin bed tomorrow!

Caroline finally started sleeping five hour stretches at night, got her two front teeth, and since then, has slept five hours exactly one time.

And that's our life.  I clearly am not updating this blog as frequently as I once was, but I'll continue to share glimpses of life with a child with Down syndrome, and continue to direct new moms to the archives!

Here are some photos, since I obviously am just updating on random bits and pieces!

Ride to playground before gymnastics. Slowly gaining confidence. Some things that are fun take ellie so long to learn and enjoy. But watching on her the playground right now, I know she'll get there with the bike. I remember her terror on slides and she just slid down one. now she's playing teeter totter.

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 16, 2016 at 12:05pm PDT

#sprayground

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 12, 2016 at 10:00am PDT

Input/Output: Credit where Credit is Due.

A mom friend recently shared a post that expressed some thoughts on parenting a child with a disability.  The post essentially said, "My kid will be successful because I will make it so."  (I'm paraphrasing.)  My friend said that this rubbed her the wrong way, especially on the heels of a bunch of Mother's Day posts praising those who raise children with disabilities as extra amazing.

Don't get me wrong, I think my friends who are raising kids with disabilities are amazing.  But sorry, friends, I don't think you get to determine your child's success any more than parents of typical kids determine the success of those children.

Here are some lessons I've learned parenting and making a career of work with children.  They're all my personal opinions, but many came from conversations with moms in the disability community.

Doing nothing will get you nowhere.

Okay, so let's start here.  It's a bad idea to ignore your kid, never read to him or her, and just expect them to turn out awesome.  Some kids do, but let's just agree that ignoring your kid is not a stellar plan.

Doing everything is no promise of success.

Guess what?  My kid will never be a great basketball player.  She's been the shortest kid in her class for three years.  I love her.  I think the world of her.  If I spend every day for the next five years teaching her how to play basketball, she will most likely learn the game.  But I can't make her tall.  She won't be a basketball "success" and play Varsity ball or play in college.  She's on track never to break 5' and that's just life.

By the same token, I can pour every resource into my kid but I can't determine how she will respond. Her success is not ultimately up to me, and I can't take credit.  I can try lots of different strategies but I am not ultimately going to make Ellie a "success."

In fact, I can take less credit with Ellie than Caroline.  Caroline is 7.5 months old.  At this age, Ellie had two different therapists working with her weekly.  With Caroline, my husband and I are flying solo (er, duo?).

Your definition of success might be messed up.

Ellie is five.  She can read some sight words and knows all of her letters and sounds, she is working on digraphs and blends, and her speech is beyond many kids with Down syndrome.

The first question is: "Is Ellie a success?"  I'd argue that the above paragraph has nothing to do with whether or not Ellie is successful.  Is she contributing to her community?  Is she in relationships with meaning?  Those determine her success in my eyes far better than a list of attributes.

Your definition of failure might be messed up, too.

Oh, and Ellie cannot draw much that is recognizable.  She struggles to write most letters from ideation (or even trace.)  Her 1:1 correspondence is weak at best.  I don't want to list any more of her struggles here because she will grow up one day and read this, and I want to respect her privacy.  But she has struggles.

Is Ellie a failure?  Have I failed her as a parent?

I don't think so.  I think Ellie has some specific delays that make certain things harder for her.

You see, I know some parents of kids with Down syndrome who have given their kid every possible support, and their kids get cancer, or have autism, or have something making it exceptionally hard for them to meet some random success milestone.  Let's not give ourselves too much credit.  If raising a kid with Down syndrome or another disability makes us a crew of supermoms, what does that say about our kids?

Are they too hard to raise?  Are they burdens?  Impossible to teach?

Let me let you in on a secret.  When I dropped Ellie off for respite care the other day, I said that I felt like I was getting respite for the wrong kid.  

When we make parents of kids with special needs sound like supermoms, we make the kids sound like burdens.

When we make the parents of kids with special needs sound like heroes who make or break the kids' successes, we give the parents too much credit.

Give my kid the credit.  Let me share it.  Let her amazing teacher and assistant and gymnastics coach and therapists share it.  Just like with my typical kid.  She's 7.5 months and cruising.  Guess what?  I have given her toys and tools but I didn't make her ahead in gross motor skills.

Kids are not vending machines.  What I put in doesn't always give me the output I would expect.  (See also: Sleep training failure/Apnea/Low ferritin.)

If Ellie only makes it because I'm her mom, I am doing a grave disservice to my child.  Self-advocacy matters.  Her voice matters.

And she's learning to self advocate.  If you want to test her out, point at her and ask how old she is.  If you really want to test her out, imply that she's a baby.  You'll hear an answer loud and clear.

"I am FIVE years old."

Sometimes I'm Surprised.

Hearing Ellie speak in sentences is normal for us.  Her articulation and syntax can be a bit off, but our girl is a chatterbox.

(I hesitate to even write that because it feels braggy and I didn't do anything special to make her verbal.  It's just Ellie.)

Despite the monologue that Ellie provides nearly 24/7, occasionally she says something that captures my attention and reminds me of how wrong my expectations were.

Yesterday afternoon, the girls and I were getting ready to go outside.  I told Ellie to put her Keens on. She asked where they were.  I told her to check the shoe bin.  The entire conversation was yelled back and forth between the kitchen and living room over a fussy baby.

Ellie walked up to me a few minutes later holding adorable little pink Chucks.  "Do these fit me, Mommy?"

I explained that I'd recently found them for Caroline with her old clothes but Caroline was still too little.

For reasons I don't understand, the conversation stood out to me later that night.  Not because of amazing content (although Ellie has good taste) but because it was an ordinary conversation, the exact type of ordinary conversation I spent my pregnancy wondering if I would even experience.

And as I had that thought last night, Ellie came and snuggled next to me on the couch.

"Hey Mommy, can you say 'FARTS!?'"

Because hey, she's five.

Always in Naples/Photo Highlights.

We vacation about once a year in Naples, Florida.  And without exception, we meet another family who has a child with Down syndrome.  (We often plan meet ups, but I'm talking about chance meetings.)

Easter was no exception.  We happened to sit near a family of six girls and one boy, and the boy has DS.  Ellie was of course delighted.

Other highlights have included the beach, the Children's Museum of Naples, and feeding giraffes at the zoo.  We went to the museum for sensory night, so there were very few children, extra sensory friendly experiences, and and additional staff on hand.  Ellie loved it.  At the zoo, we also met the Easter Bunny and a giant chick.  Ellie was thrilled, and I was grateful.  Caroline was unfazed.

Museum fun.

Baby blues.

We wouldn't let her eat sand.  She was angry.

All Ellie wanted for her birthday was to feed the giraffes salad in Florida.

Easter service on the beach.

The Easter Bunny is holding baby Caroline!!

Video Break!

I am no longer needed around here.

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Feb 4, 2016 at 2:18pm PST

More Snowed in Fun.

First piece of news:

A plow arrived!

Whoohoo!

Monday was another day with streets covered with nearly two feet of snow, spent perfecting our gently sloped backyard sled run, and photographing Caroline in the dress intended for her baptism, which will not fit come April and the reschedule date.

Ellie coloring early Monday morning.

Blue eyed beauty in her baptism dress.

Sisters.

Sisters.

On Monday, Christina and I took a walk to make sure we could safely transport her to the other side of town, we sledded, we made pancakes, and we continued to make the best of the blizzard.  The girls were sad to see Christina go - they both took naps for over two hours!

Some phone photos:

Caroline fell asleep like this.

Sledding in the yard.

My big girl, so brave with shots and animals, is not usually brave with adventure-type activities.  (Which is weird, because as a baby she loved to swing high.  Those days are done.)  We loved seeing her sled!

#snowzilla #thestormnotthebrother #Jonas backyard sledding

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jan 25, 2016 at 9:23am PST

Back to School.

Ellie just handed me the book "Little Miss Scatterbrain" and said, "It says, 'Bear Down Chicago Bears Illinois!'"

So basically, it's time to go back to school.  Which Ellie will be doing in just over an hour.

Now she changed the words to be about a snake and a beautiful day.

A couple of recent thoughts, and then it's time to bundle up the girls and take Ellie to school.

My girls are totally different people, but I can't help compare in a couple areas.  First of all, they look SO much alike.  Second, their sizes are completely different.  Caroline was diagnosed with pink eye yesterday (sending me into major sanitizing mode and turning our home into a hand washing/sanitizing police state.)  At the doctor, she weighed in at 15 pounds, 3 ounces.  Through the beauty of this blog's search feature, I learned that Ellie was the exact same weight at just over nine months.  Caroline is three and half months old.

Now the book is "Little Miss Scatterbrain lost her sheep."

If you wonder why I am turning into Little Miss Scatterbrain myself, it's because this is the background noise of my life.

So Caroline is sick (again) and Ellie is super excited for school.  And yesterday, she was amazing.

To get Caroline a Sunday appointment involved driving to the office farthest from our home.  Then they were running behind and we sat around for half an hour between Caroline being weighed and seeing the doctor.

And Ellie was great.  I asked if there was anything that would help her.  She suggested a snack.  When I told her that snacks weren't allowed and I didn't have any, she didn't flinch.  "Okay."

I took her to lunch on the way home.  (I took Caroline, too, but Caroline slept the whole time.)

Somehow, Ellie has become this helpful, agreeable (mostly) little girl and I am so proud.

I'm scared to hit "Publish" on this post because I don't want to jinx it!

Yesterday, Ellie randomly looked at Caroline and put her on purple for good behavior.  At school, purple is the best color, reserved for amazing behavior.

My mini-me is posing her Minnie Mouse toy to photograph, and I am hoping to get out my big girl camera more for my own kids in 2016.  I'm also attempting to be more disciplined about blogging here.  I don't have nearly as much to say about Down syndrome, but there's also a sense that parents stop blogging when their kids get older because it gets harder to parent them.

Nope.

I just am running out of things to say.  My kid is playing with a camera, sitting in her new chair, photographing everything in our house.

Happy 2016, readers!  I hope to be around this space more this year!

{31 for 21} Day 31!

A day late, but I did it!  31 blog posts, some about Down syndrome!

Last night, we went trick or treating.

I asked Ellie about it.

What did you dress like?  A tiger!
What did you say?  Rawr.
What did you say at the houses, when you knocked on the door?  I cannot go in there.  Only the people can go in there, but NOT me!  
But what did you say to them? Trick or treat!
And what did they give you? Candy.  But only take one.
We did something else special, too.  I knocked the door.  I'm a tiger!
I meant the bounce house.  I jumped.  No, I bounced!

Are you going to share your candy with mom?  Yeah.  I get one and you get one.
What if I want two?  No, you get one.

{31 for 21} Dreams.

I posted recently about the friends I've made in the Down syndrome parent community - the moms slightly farther along the road who bring perspective and hope to my life.  We chatted this week about  the awesomeness of older kids who might not fall into the "really high achieving kid with Down syndrome" box.

Regardless of a child/young adult's skills, life can still be good.  But what about the dreams we have as parents?  So I threw a question on my Facebook wall - what makes life good?

Down syndrome doesn't eliminate most of what was suggested.  The suggestions were made by friends and family of different religious beliefs, some of whom have a direct relationship to someone with Down syndrome and some of whom do not.  Travel, family, wine?  Nothing about Down syndrome eliminates those from a life.  Having children is uncommon (though not unheard of) for adults with Down syndrome, but every other answer my friends shared is absolutely possible for adults with Down syndrome.

The responses from my friends involved relationships with people and enjoying life's small moments.  Sunsets, pets, hugs.

I have those dreams for both of my kids.

Down syndrome doesn't mean giving up a dream.

I don't know anyone with Down syndrome who dislikes their life.

OK, so when Ellie got in big trouble the other day, she wasn't really happy with her life, but it was also totally her own fault.  She was happy again later.

But isn't that normal?  Good and bad days?  Screwing up as well as succeeding?

The great thing about having a baby with Down syndrome is that you have a baby.  A little person who may take on some of your interests or habits or sense of humor.  And regardless of the reading level the little person attains in high school, your child is your child, unique and funny or shy or silly or stubborn or carefree.

Yet occasionally, I hear parents confronted with, "Just wait 'til they're older!"  I've even heard it addressed to me.

Ellie won't always be cute and little.  But the parents I know of older kids have a comfort level with their children that I wouldn't have dreamed possible when we got Ellie's diagnosis.  I do expect Ellie to engage in age-appropriate activities.  I have heard of new parents offered the encouragement, "Your kid will believe in Santa forever!"  No.  My kid won't be a kid forever, and we will tell her the truth about Santa and ask for her assistance making Christmas magic for her little sister when the time comes.  I don't know if Ellie will be a great reader or writer.  I do know that she will be her own person and that she'll be awesome... or a pain in the butt.... or sweet.... or a grumpy teenager... or whoever she will be.  Down syndrome won't define her value to our family or this world.

New parents, if you only ever read one thing I write, read this:

Listen to those who have gone before you.  Listen to those with whom you share a parenting philosophy.  And then live your own life and raise your kid.  No one who has warned me, "Just wait until she's older!" has raised a kid with Down syndrome, so I'm not obligated to listen to those people and neither are you.

Back From Slackerdom: First Day of SCHOOL!

I've been a slacker on this blog.  I literally have zero photos from August on my real camera, stuck with only cell phone photos.

But today, I'm back to celebrate Ellie's first day of school!  This is her third year in our district's special education preK program before heading off to Kindergarten next year.

She was excited.

I mean, up at 4:45 asking for school, spent last night jumping up and down yelling "I'm excited!"

PreK 2, 3 and 4.

Inclusion Matters: A Big, Public Thank You.

Google just failed me.  I have seen statistics about the percentage of special needs families who feel unwelcome in church, and it's a big percentage, but I can't find it right now.

But I know a lot of people who stopped going to church because of their child's needs.

Public schools, sometimes criticized by the greater church community, are legally obligated to include our children in the least restrictive environment, even if our kids have big medical or behavioral needs.

Churches, called to serve all people, certainly don't have to include kids like Ellie.  Some do.  Some don't.

Here's an example.  A policy can state that child must be potty trained to attend certain events.  But some kids require extra time for potty training due to low tone, low sensory awareness, poor motor skills, and being on medication which can cause some.... issues.

That policy might exclude a lot of kids with disabilities.  So can lots of other policies, written or unwritten, that make it a challenge for kids with disabilities to feel included.

So here is my big, public THANK YOU to our church.

The only solo picture I have of Ellie from the week.  I don't have photo releases for the other kids.

I've never been made to feel like my kid didn't belong in Vacation Bible School.
I never felt like it was "my job" to help my kid exclusively, and I did feel like it was a team effort.
I never felt like Ellie was anything less than a valued child in our community.

That's how it should be.

Ellie has been singing songs from Vacation Bible School (VBS) nonstop since last Tuesday.
Her theology isn't always great, my favorite being "Jesus is at work FOR us" (instead of through us).

She stood onstage with her friends while they sang at church on Sunday, and while she didn't sing all the songs, she stayed more or less with the group and was included.

Truthfully, this shouldn't be news.  The church should be the most inclusive and safe place I could bring my daughter, but I know from other parents that isn't always the case.  Jesus looked at people with disabilities with compassion and viewed them as valuable.  My child's inclusion in church and religious education shouldn't be something special, but it's something for which I am grateful since not every child gets Ellie's overwhelmingly positive church experience.

So this is a thank you to our church community for including a kid who might be excluded somewhere else.  Thanks for doing the right thing and the biblical thing.  Thanks for loving Ellie.

She'll Never....

I have a confession.  When I got Ellie's Down syndrome diagnosis, I thought a lot of, "She'll never..."

She might never drive. (So what?  We live in an urban area with public transit.)
She'll never be a doctor. (Um, neither will I.)
She'll never be a model. (Um, neither will I.)

About that last one.

Ellie was on the local Down syndrome calendar as an infant and is on the cover of a book about speech and language for kids with Down syndrome.

And now, she's modeling for The Crazy Kukla Boutique.  I don't really care if Ellie is a model.  But I care that a "never" was replaced by a "why not?"

Ellie's value isn't in modeling or looking cute or driving or talking or being a doctor.  Ellie's value is in being a human.  Ellie's value is in loving people and being loved.  But sometimes, it's really nice to remember the "nevers" and realize those were a list of my fears, not a list of real restrictions.

Another Medical Post: The Teeth Doctor

I recently posted about Ellie's experience with a Holter monitor.  Well, we are back today with more medical information, following a trip to the dentist.  Here's a little preview from Ellie.

Telling me about the dentist.

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jul 13, 2015 at 2:28pm PDT

A quick search of my own blog showed me that I never posted about Ellie's first dental visit last year. I don't think I wanted to share that with the world.  There were a lot of tears, some wrestling, and an attempt to lock herself in the bathroom rather than return to the dentist.

This year we had a much better experience.  Ellie was fascinated by the idea of a teeth doctor, since she also has a heart doctor, tummy doctor, eye doctor, chromosome doctor, and general Ellie doctor.  She also wanted to know if she can have an eyebrow doctor.

We talked a lot about what to expect.  Although I did this last time we went to the dentist, Ellie was much more engaged in our conversation this year.  She wanted to know if the dentist brushes hair.  (No, just teeth.)

She fell asleep between gymnastics and the dentist, but woke up and was happy to enter the office and play with Legos.  She fed a giraffe to a Lego dinosaur, made friends with the dental hygienists, and had a great time.  When she walked back to the dental chair, she chose to sit like a big girl.  Although a team was still required for hand holding, Ellie didn't fight too much until the x-rays.

At the dentist.

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jul 13, 2015 at 9:04am PDT

I admit, I had fairly low expectations, but Ellie has been calm during medical procedures lately, with the exception of the Holter monitor.   She was "age appropriate," according to the staff.  She wore her protective eyewear, and in the end, she received a rubber ducky and a toy mermaid for her troubles.

Huge progress, Ellie!  We are proud of you.

More Swimming.

Who is this little fish smiling in the pool?  Swim lessons are some of the best money we've spent!  I let Ellie caption these.

"Me swimming in the big pool.  Ms. Meghan.  With the bathing suit on."

"Me!  Scoopin' water.  Ms. Meghan.  On a noodle.  And scooping.  Two noodles."

"Me swimming.  And Ms. Meghan."  (I asked how she feels there.) "I'm HAPPY!"

Needless to say, swimming has been a success.  Although we had rain most of yesterday and our time at the pool was gray and gross, Ellie had a blast and didn't complain too much about the cold water!

Her swim teacher happens to be a reading specialist who is teaching ESY this summer, which means that she is uniquely in touch with Ellie's specific needs.  And she got a kick out of it when Ellie busted out a Dr. Jean song in the pool.

If you have a preschool or Kindergarten aged child and you don't know Dr. Jean, you are a lucky, lucky parent.  In case you missed it on Instagram, here's a sample from Ellie.

Just a little #drjean serenade at the pool from Ellie.

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 29, 2015 at 12:09pm PDT

 Also on Instagram - you can follow my photography business here.

#Ellieflips End of Spring Gymnastics.

A few shots from instagram of Ellie's last gymnastics class of the season.  We'll be waiting impatiently for the next season to begin on July 6!

Gymnastics has been wonderfully inclusive and Ellie has thrived in class.  She's gaining great skills and it helps her direction-following, too.  Ellie's natural flexibility is an asset in gymnastics, and she's gaining more strength and balance.

#Ellieflips #overgram

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 21, 2015 at 10:46am PDT

#Ellieflips bling

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 21, 2015 at 10:39am PDT

#Ellieflips

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 21, 2015 at 10:37am PDT

#Ellieflips forward roll.

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 21, 2015 at 10:23am PDT

#Ellieflips she did tiptoe and heel walk warmup with only verbal cues. Crazy! When she started gymnastics she had barely learned to walk. Thank you, Sonja.

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 21, 2015 at 10:06am PDT

Final Countdown/Summer Learning Goals.

We are in the final countdown... One more week of school for Ellie and me, then summer vacation is upon us.  You can catch my countdown on my photography Facebook page.

No big travel plans await this year, and days stretch out wonderfully ahead of us.

Ellie didn't qualify for extended school year (ESY), and I didn't sign her up for summer school.  Instead, Ellie and I will be doing "Mommy and Ellie summer school," a.k.a, staying home and doing some learning activities.

I figured that posting this publicly would be good accountability.  Here's what we're working on.  Please ask how it's going so I stay on track!

MATH:

Ellie has been in love with this Rainbow Number set recently.  Of course, half the time she uses the dots (counters) to build a snowman, but the rest of the time, she tries to count and she identifies the numerals.  I love the visual and it's cheaper than Numicon, which I would love to invest in at some point.




The link above is from Amazon, but I got our set on Zulily.  I just don't know how often it's up on Zulily - I usually find it in a special needs type collection.

Other early math skills include sorting and of course 1:1 correspondence.  I've been counting everything.  Ellie has, too, but her 1:1 correspondence and even rote counting need some help.  We often watch letter and sound videos when I do her hair, but we may switch to counting songs.

"More and less" is an early math concept that I think Ellie is developing, but I want to be more intentional this summer.

LITERACY:

I've dropped the ball on the DownsEd materials, but I still love them and the concept.  Ellie has the readers and can "read" and point to the words in some of the books, but has trouble identifying the words out of context.  I also printed up a bunch of readers from DSFOC in both English and Spanish for some of my students who don't have Down syndrome, but who are visual learners.  I'll be bringing those home this summer to read with Ellie and work on sight words.

In terms of phonics, Ellie knows her letters and sounds, so we'll just keep building words with her favorite flashcards and making the sounds for each letter.  She loves that activity.  I spell a word (i.e., "CAT") and we make the /c/, /a/, and /t/ sound.

Here's the uppercase version of the flashcards.  They also have sight words.  Again, I've found cheaper on Zulily (but you have to pay shipping, so it's kind of a wash unless you have Zulily credit).



Ellie LOVES her flashcards.  I think the textured letters help keep it interesting.  We won't use them for handwriting as our school district uses Handwriting Without Tears and I love it!

BOOKS:

Although books fall under literacy, I need to add this as a separate section.  Ellie has already gotten ahold of baby sister's books and is memorizing them!  I'm going to encourage this so Ellie can "read" to Caroline!  Her current favorite is "10 in da bed and the little one said ROLL OVER ROLL OVER and they all roll over and one fall out OUCH!"  (Which is almost what the book says.)

"Reading"

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 13, 2015 at 3:27am PDT

LIFE SKILLS:

Ellie is continuing to take gymnastics this summer and is also signed up for four 1:1 swimming classes.  Wish us luck.  She isn't always agreeable in the water, although she seems to be turning over a new leaf this summer!

In our spare time, we need to get our house ready for baby sister, and Mommy wants to learn more about using a speedlite for her camera.  So I have a feeling this summer will fly by!  We also have yet to hit the spray ground, which I plan to correct very soon!

Happy Summer!  What great learning do you have planned?

P.S.  There's affiliate links here, and everything is a link to a product I own and like.  

Christmas {Some Photos by Ellie.}

Despite minimal time off to prepare, we had a fantastic Christmas.

Christmas Eve, Ellie was still a bit under the weather and I spent the morning in the kitchen doing the prep work for Christmas dinner - cutting veggies, slicing apples for pie, and making a lasagna for Christmas Eve.  Ellie was an angel in the church pageant.  In dress rehearsal, she was a lost angel.  In the real service, she was asleep.

But she was adorable and the rest of the angels got to proclaim "Glory to God in the highest!"

We came home to eat dinner and get ready for Santa's arrival.  Ellie left cookies for Santa.  I tried to convince her to leave carrots for the reindeer.  Nope.  What about just for Rudolph?  (She loves Rudolph, but maybe just didn't realize the other reindeer were coming?)  Nope.  Finally, she grabbed one of those plastic candy canes full of M&Ms and proclaimed "THIS is for Rudolph."  Apparently, Rudolph only eats chocolate.

Rudolph gets m and ms!!!!

A video posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Dec 12, 2014 at 4:37pm PST

Cookies only for Santa. "Does Rudolph want a carrot?" "No!" "What does he want?" "This!" "M and ms?" "Yes! M and ms for Rudolph!"

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Dec 12, 2014 at 4:32pm PST

Rudolph and Santa left a thank you note.  Christmas morning featured a whole lot of gifts for a certain little girl who is very loved by her entire extended family.  Santa brought a guitar and Mommy and Daddy bought her a camera.  Santa was pretty stoked with the $30 deal he found on zulily a couple months ago.  It's a bit too big for Ellie but she loves it and it looks like Daddy's guitar.  And it's quieter than a piano or drums.

Ellie and I went on our first photo walk together on an unseasonably warm day.  She learned some guitar basics with Daddy.  She wore her new boots and new hoodie.

Here are some highlights of her first photo walk.

My new Facebook profile pic!  Photo credit: Ellie.

Photo credit: Ellie.

Photo credit: Ellie.

Reindeer antler closeup.  Photo credit: Ellie.

I crouch down for a lot of shots, because my subject is often a very short three year old girl.  When that three year old girl got out her camera, she crouched too, making her perspective even lower.

For dinner, we hosted our friends Kelly and Kyle and their two kids.  We did a turkey breast, cranberries, mashed potatoes, pie, rolls, lots and lots of cookies.  I love an excuse to use my grandmother's silverware and our good china.

Putting this away and posting for my aunts.

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Dec 12, 2014 at 5:34pm PST

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Dec 12, 2014 at 4:35pm PST

The kids table was a little less breakable.

Setting the kids table.

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:19am PST

And perhaps the strangest Christmas miracle of all?  Ellie slept until 6:15 this morning.

Contrary to popular culture, the Christmas season has now begun.  We still have twelve days to celebrate now that Advent is over.  Enjoy this season, my friends.

Associate links above.