Puzzle Proof

Here is a video of Cooper doing an interlocking 9 piece puzzle. He is really good at it, despite refusing to do even the simplest form puzzle at school. Usually he can do it much faster but a)He was very tired b)He was watching Yo Gabba Gabba at the same time c) I was videotaping it of course he is going to go slow!

Happy Birthday Quinn!

Today was Quinn's sixth birthday. He had a great day and they made it really special for him at school. I thought they wouldn't do anything because they already had the "April Birthdays" party. I was wrong, his aide bought in cupcakes and chips for the whole class and they had another party! I feel like such a bad mom, I should have done that! Oh well. She also bought him a huge balloon that actually sings "Happy Birthday" two toy trucks and a ball! Quinn loved all of his presents especially the balloon. He and Cooper both love the balloon, personally I think it is a tad loud :) They really go all out at his new school, it makes me happy that they work so hard to give him a good life.

Quinn's Birthday Party

He wasn't too sure about presents this year.

He needed help opening them.

But, he really loved playing with all his new toys!

He especially loved playing in his new tent.

If my brother is going to be in there I am out of here.

Birthday Ice Cream!

Forget the singing, give me that ice cream!

Cooper cuddling with Grandma Jan.

Pre-Birthday Boy

Quinn's school had it's April birthday party today. Since his birthday is on Tuesday he was the star of the party. He came home with this huge sticker on his back!

What? Is there a sign on my back or something?

I had to take a picture of the sticker fast because Cooper kept trying to rip it off Quinn's back. Doesn't he look guilty? I have no clue what he is doing with his shirt but it is cute!

Today Quinn went on a field trip to the Columbia Mall. They were supposed to go to the park but changed it because of the weather. From what I gather a field trip to the mall includes walking around and then eating McDonald's. I am sure Quinn loved it! His aide told me that the lesson for the field trip was "using our senses", Quinn "smelled" his french fries and "tasted" his nuggets. Okay? I wish I could have been there when she tried to get him to smell his food before he ate it! LOL! Then after they got back to school they had an assembly and had someone playing the drums. Quinn loved it and danced the whole time, I miss Quinn's dancing he used to do it all the time.... Anyway, I know all this because I went in to pick him up, otherwise I wouldn't know any of it, oy!

After I picked Quinn up we went and picked up his new glasses. He was very good about trying them on at the store. When we got home I put his strap on them and put them on. He kept them on the rest of the day until bedtime without even messing with them! What a good boy! There is a picture of his new glasses below, I think he looks cute in them.

New Glasses

New Bike

The Dentist

We took Quinn to the dentist today. I made Matt come with me just in case, but I really didn't need him there. Quinn was an angel! Seriously, if you go back 6 months and read my post about how good he was at the dentist, he was twice as good this time! Who would have thought. He just laid right down and opened his mouth, no crying...just giggling :) Then when the dentist was done Quinn gave him a high-five! His teeth are fine, no cavities or anything. He does have some gum bleeding because we don't brush his teeth enough. Maybe we would brush them more if he was as cooperative at home as he is at the dentist. The dentist said that in his experience kids with Down Syndrome have less cavities but more gum disease, huh.

Cooper was supposed to have ABA therapy today, but the therapist had to cancel because her flight got in so late last night. Oh well, back to usual tomorrow. Actually, I think he is supposed to start his new KKI study tomorrow, but the girl never called me. They will send a report home everyday so I guess I will find out if it started when I look in his bookbag.

Good Weekend!

We had a pretty good weekend here. On Saturday we took the boys out to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. They were both very good and Cooper only cried a little when I got up to go to the bathroom at the end of the meal. Sigh, maybe I should start wearing diapers like they do? Oh well. After that we drove back to Catonsville to take the kids to the playground. Once again that pesky bladder got in the way and we made a quick pit stop back home for a potty break. We were only going to be a minute so we left the kids strapped in the car. Matt went first and Cooper was a little whiney and not happy, but then it was my turn and Cooper started crying hysterically! I rushed and fully expected him to still be crying when I came back out of the house. Nope, his daddy had cleverly handed him a copy of Consumer Reports that was sitting in the car, and Cooper was very happily flipping through it like it was the best thing he had ever seen. Like father, like son, that is all I have to say. LOL! So we finally made it to the playground and the kids both had a great time. Cooper was too busy running around and going down all the slides to get obsessed with the swing, yay! Quinn did a really good job climbing up the steps to one of the smaller slides and sliding down all by himself. I was really proud of him :)

Today Matt put together a leftover Christmas present that was waiting for better weather. I got a great deal on this Radio Flyer tricycle that the parent can steer until the kid learns. I wasn't sure either boy would like it, but it was too good a deal to turn down. Well, Cooper loves it! We were all still in our pajamas so we haven't taken it outside yet, but Cooper has rode it round and round our living room/dining room/kitchen circle. He figured out right away to put his feet on the pedals and he has actually been pedaling on his own a little! He loves to ring the little bell that it came with and put toys in the storage bin in the back. He sat on that thing all night long, even when it wasn't moving! I have to keep telling him it is a bike because he keeps saying "horses", I guess it is a little similar but not really :) Quinn liked it too for the split second Cooper let him ride it. He isn't into the pedals though.

Today I took Quinn to a glasses place in town to get him his backup pair. I wanted to get him a pair that he could wear at home and I wouldn't have to worry constantly about him pulling them off and destroying them. So I decided on Flexon metal frames, after hearing some negative stuff about the all plastic flexible frames. Flexon's can (in theory) be twisted and squeezed and they won't break or be destroyed, they just pop back into shape. We shall see.... Anyway, I took Quinn and they did have a cute pair that actually seemed to fit him pretty well (even though they are much larger than his current glasses). He was a really good boy and let me try them on his twice without even having anyone have to hold his arms down, good thing since I was there alone :) Then he actually decided to cuddle with me and was in the perfect still position for the lady to get the measurement. She told him to look at her nose and pointed (thank god) and he actually did it! I have such a good little boy! He was so good that I can overlook the fact that he grabbed at every pair of glasses he got near and tried to escape when I went to pay. Oy!

On Wednesday the kids finally got to get out of the house and we went to horseback riding. It was a beautiful day which was such a relief after two horrible rainy days. I helped get Quinn settled on his horse and then went into the building to check on Cooper. Grandma Berta took him in there to get his cookie and wait for his therapist. Well, they were out of cookies so Grandma gave him some potato chips that they had out. When I came in he was really enjoying the potato chips and I noticed they looked like they were flavored, not plain. I went to check the bag, thinking it was surprising that Cooper liked sour cream and onion potato chips so much. Well they weren't sour cream and onion, they were dill pickle flavored! No wonder he liked them so much!!! The boy does love his pickles. Both boys had good sessions at horseback riding, but Cooper had a substitute therapist so he didn't say as much as usual.

This morning I took Cooper to Kennedy Krieger for more testing. There was just a little bit of pre-testing that he needed before he can start on his new study. This was all play based testing which he isn't as familiar with, but he did great. He is such a good boy and his tester was certainly impressed with how patient he was. We could hear other kids screaming from other testing rooms the whole time we were there. Most kids who have Autism are not as good about testing as Cooper. Although, he did pretty good considering everything, he obviously needs some help with his play skills. The good news is that he will get that in his new program. They are going to start with him on Tuesday and it will be an hour of one on one therapy five days a week. They are going to be pulling him out of his classroom for now. I asked about summer since the study lasts 6 months and they will come to our house when school is over! I am so glad I put him in this study!!! Yay!

Quinn is having a good week. He has been a bit calmer and getting into less trouble. It makes me wonder if all the sugar he gets at school now is affecting him. They give him at least one chocolate milk and one juice everyday there. At home he just gets water and whatever juice he can steal from Cooper. I am going to ask his teacher to stop giving him the sugary drinks for a while and see what happens. He will probably be just as happy with plain milk or water. Still waiting on the ADHD drugs, 20 days until he is six!