Not the Battle I Expected!

In case anyone has forgotten, we have an entire graveyard of sippy cups/straw cups/open cups...I think last count there are 15 different varieties packed away in the basement. 

Here are a few...

Hailey was getting to the point where she would scream and cry if a cup of any sort came near her.  She's used a straw a couple of times successfully for her developmental therapist and her speech therapist, however, never at home.  It was almost as if she just physically couldn't do it.  I felt bad to keep pushing it, but I was done with the bottles.  I know some won't understand, what's the big deal, it's just a bottle.  Brayden's bottles disappeared at 10 months...Ian never had them.  Sippy cups, straw cups...it wasn't a battle.  They weren't work.  I handed them a cup and they started drinking.  They just did it.  I didn't have to ask professionals for help, I didn't need to go on message boards and ask other mothers for tips and tricks (and try every single one of them and have them fail), I didn't google and read every article that I could about how to transition from the bottle to a straw.  Yes, that is what I have done with Hailey.  We have been working on transitioning since she was 9 months old.  Yes, 18 months ago. 

With only two speech therapy sessions left, I grabbed Hailey's straw cup and a juice pouch as I headed out the door on Thursday.  The boys only have a couple of weeks left of school and I was set to take away Hailey's bottles once school was out for the summer.  I was going to start by taking away her bottle after lunch and dig out the dreaded honey bear cup and start again.  Something had to give.  Something had to work.

With Ian and Hailey in tow, we headed downtown for speech therapy.  Hailey loves the waiting room almost as much therapy itself.  Lots of people to socialize with and they have nowhere to go :-)  She makes her way up and down the lines of chairs saying Hi and checking out what everyone is doing (working on laptops, paperwork, using electronics)...she's quite the character!

Playing peek-a-boo with one of the employees.

She found a mirror and started chatting away.

We headed into therapy with Jen.  In case I haven't said it in the last month, we love our therapist!  Jen is the best.  Hailey loves her.  She tolerates Ian hanging out in therapy (he has afternoon kindergarten and sometimes has to tag along).  She works great with Hailey and switches gears as frequently as needed to keep Hailey engaged.

Working on animals and puzzles.

Doing our zips and zooms.

Can't forget our alphabet sounds.

About midway through our session, Jen filled Hailey's straw cup and gave it a few squeezes.  Hailey then drank a few sips on her own.  We moved onto other things.  Several times through out the session, Hailey wanted more to drink and successfully used a straw.  At the end of therapy, we were given our homework until our next session.  This weeks:  continue working on two word sentences, point to items and say "this is ___".   (Hailey's favorite words are "what's this".  We are working on getting her to label items.  Our third task was "continue working on straw".  I decided on the way home to remove Hailey's noon bottle and replace it with the straw and then slowly phase out the other two. 

After lunch, I gave Hailey her straw cup again...no tears, no yelling....

Either I've been conned or it just clicked!

 That experience with the cup went so well, I thought I might try it again after nap time.  This is what I got...a few tears, but she drank almost 3 ounces of milk.

Apparently that wasn't as much of a fight has I expected so, I decided to try again when she would generally have an evening bottle.  This is the look she gave me.....

Well, that look isn't enough to get her mother to give up.  We'd done so well so far, might as well push the envelope.  She drank another 3 ounces at bedtime with a little bribery of a small, not so good for you snack of potato chips.  On Friday, I decided we made it through most of Thursday, why stop then.  I did get a few of her over dramatic "no's" during the day (see photo below), but there were no tantrums.

Day 2 - was AWESOME!

I did let Hailey see me pack up all of the bottles and parts on Friday.  She watched me closely.  I didn't throw them in the trash but she thinks they are gone.  Throughout the weekend, we have let Hailey sample a few other drinks from a straw while we have been out and about.  She really liked the boys' icee , obsessed with my water glass and yes, I even let her try Pepsi.  (To all the people who stared at me at Sam's Club while my daughter tried Pepsi...keep on staring, don't judge...you will never understand this milestone.)

I know most of my Facebook friends are probably annoyed with all the chattering I have had over drinking out of a straw and getting rid of Hailey's bottles.  I almost place this milestone up with walking (and it makes me dread potty training!).  We have worked so hard on this, there have been tears and frustration from both Hailey and me.  It was something Hailey just couldn't get or understand and I couldn't make her.  I couldn't will her to do it.  She had to do it on her own.  I hated that even giving her all the tools to accomplish it didn't help.

Hailey's last bottle was Thursday at 9 a.m.  I haven't given in and honestly, she hasn't given me that much of a fight.  I hope we can call this one a success!  And yes, I shed a few tears when I realized that my little girl mastered it...even if it wasn't when her mom wanted her to!  I also might have shed a couple of tears when Hailey told her daddy "straw" when we were telling him that the bottles were "all gone".

My little girl is growing up and I'm positive she might drive me crazy in the process, but check out those dimples...who can resist that face?!?!?

What Do You See?

After Hailey was born and we were told she has Down syndrome, I suddenly saw all of the physical markers.  I saw the almond shaped eyes, the teeny nose with small nasal bone, and felt the low muscle tone.  For a long time, I didn't truly see Hailey as a person, I saw Down syndrome.  I wondered if there would ever be a time that I would "see" Hailey.  Would I always see Down syndrome?  Why couldn't I see my daughter?  She was mine...part me and part my husband.  Down syndrome didn't define her, it was just part of her, but I couldn't get past the physical features that you could see.  I was frustrated, sad, and felt incredibly guilty.

To all those parents who are having a difficult time dealing with their diagnoses...for the person I was...this is for you.  Two years and two months later, I don't see Down syndrome (and I haven't for a long time).  Down syndrome doesn't rule our life.  Yes, I do write about Down syndrome, but they are thoughts that pop into my mind or things we run into in our daily life.  We don't eat, breathe, sleep Ds.  Who knows, if one of the kids had any other condition, I might blog about that, too.  I'd blog about issues the boys have, but most people don't find sassiness, teacher struggles, children squabbles, or every day athletics as interesting.  Yes, we belong to groups that originally centered around Ds, but these women and families are great people who are fun to be around.  I look forward to getting together with them.  Our daily life, only deals with Ds in the sense that it is a part of Hailey.

So I ask....do you see the same things I see?

A funny two-year old who loves and nurtures her babies...

 Who loves the camera...

Who loves to make a mess to drive her mama mad...

Who makes car noises with her Little Mermaid shell....

Who is now acting more like a big girl than a baby....

Who loves technology....

Who thinks her brothers hung the moon....

Who loves books more than any of my three children...

Who loves to help....

Whose dimpled smile can make anyone's day brighter....

Who loves her food...the messier the better... 

Who has these 3 boys wrapped around her little finger...

Who fits here perfectly....

Who loves to dance....

Who loves exploring her world...

Who recently learned to sign "I love you" because the words just don't come out yet... 

Who is making our world a better place just because she is here...

Special Olympics

Everyone has heard of the Special Olympics at some point.  I did not realize how young the program starts.  Recently Hailey has been participating in the Special Olympics Young Athletes Program (YAP).

"Young Athletes is a unique sport and play program for children with intellectual disabilities. The focus is on fun activities that are important to mental and physical growth.  Children ages 2 1/2 to 7 enjoy games and activities that develop motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Young Athletes is an early introduction to sports and to the world of Special Olympics. The children learn new things, play and have lots of fun!  Parents say their children in Young Athletes also develop better social skills. The confidence boost makes it easier for them to play and talk with other children on the playground and elsewhere."

We meet once a week for 45 minutes.  Sometimes the boys go with us to be her partner, sometimes it is mom as her partner.  Some days Hailey participates, some days she doesn't.  Some days she listens, some days she doesn't.  She is 2 and does as she wishes!   She has fun, gets moving and might pick up some listening skills!