Teething pains = perfect timing

Cora has spent the last few days, including today, fighting the fever that comes and goes with teething.  She continues to be different from my other kids and unique even in the cutting of her teeth.  Instead of trying for the simpler gentler method of cutting front teeth she is bringing in another molar.  These are the hardest and biggest of the teeth to get to break through and despite the discomfort that she feels , she remains in good spirits and with smiles at the ready.

I was feeding her lunch today and she signed "medicine".  I asked her "You are signing medicine.  Do you really want medicine?"  She nodded her head yes and patted her cheek while putting two fingers together.  Two index fingers tapping each other is the sign for "hurt".  I stood there amazed at this little girl (yes, sadly she is leaving behind the baby stuff) and then felt her forehead and took her temperature.  She was again with fever so I relented and gave her a small dose of medicine and put her down for a nap.

It was exhilarating to know that Cora can get her point across and let me know what is going on with her.  The fact that she just used the sign for "medicine" was no surprise as I have been using that sign steadily during all her regular med intervals.  It was the point of her telling me that she was hurting and could use something to make it feel better that really got my attention.  It continues to acknowledge that Cora is learning even when it is not a concentrated effort.  She learns from everything we do around her as a family.  It acknowledges that the videos are being absorbed and learned from.  It reaffirms that she is a child eager to learn and thrive in a environment that encourages her to speak in whatever language she can use.  It keeps us looking up new signs to add to her ever growing vocabulary.

If I hadn't listened to my gut instincts and prepared her for a non-hearing world (remember that she was born deaf) right from the start with the sign language, how would she have told me today that her pain was great enough to need a little help with the relief?  I could have stopped using sign language when I found out that her hearing was restored and working.  I didn't though. 
Despite being told that I didn't need to use the sign because she would be talking fine by the time she was five, I still used the sign.  Three months later following that gut instinct, following that push to keep working with Cora payed off, she signed her first question to me!

In this journey with Cora I continue to receive answers...maybe not in my time, but they do come eventually.  She showed me this today.  She showed me that by following my heart and standing in faith of her abilities the reward would, and did, come.

Creator is like that with his blessings and his rewards, with his answers and his comfort.  They come in his time, not in my time.  It is up to me to stand in faith on this journey and remain patient for the blessings that he and Cora have worked out.  Cora has her own way of doing things and with that comes her own time table.  Creator is like that as well.  He works on his own timetable that we can recognize once we can take a step back and become open to see the blessings.  Today, his timing was perfect...the added blessing was that Cora delivered the message.

 

Little Punkin

The weather was to cold for Cora and the stroller this Halloween, so she spent the time watching her brother Trick-or-Treat.  She had the better end of the deal though because we followed along behind Phoenix in the warm car!!  It was a great night and Phoenix was kind enough to offer her a sucker without her having to ask.  Although the little stinker asked for "more" when he gave her the sucker as she reached for his candy bag.  Good thing he finds humor in most of what she does.

I hope you all had a blessed Halloween and were able to spend some time with your kiddos and made it a fun night.  Its the moments that we take time for our children that they remember more than all the things we could buy for them.  

 Before Trick or Treating...

After Trick or Treating and she just saw Phoenix dump his candy on the table next to her!!

Continued Awareness

Being a parent of a child with Down syndrome is a continuing learning experience.  Cora found another word to add to her verbal skills and it is "Me".  A great new success for Cora as it is really amazing to watch her sign and speak the "Me" word when it is needed.  I, however, could have waited for this new word to become a part of her vocabulary.

We have reached a point in Cora's activities where nothing goes unseen by this baby girl!  No more sneaking chocolate muffins or ice cream.  Cora will crawl right over to you, point and say "Dat!" and then sign "eat".  I tell her that mama is eating ice cream and ask her if she wants some and to this she replies..."me,me,me,me" and again signs "eat".

Gone are the days of reading a book while she plays content in her surroundings of toys and stuffed animals.  While I read my book I will feel a tap on my knee and find Cora has dragged one of her books over to have me read to her.

What an absolute blessing that those days are gone and have been replaced by Cora's interaction.  Cora's patience is building again and it is so much fun to watch her sitting in her yellow chair and watching her signing videos or "my baby can read" videos.  She mimics the signs that babies are doing and will mimic the sound of the word that is being displayed on the screen.  During this half hour learning time she is a real joy to watch.

She is developing her love of music.  While music plays softly in the background during the day she can be seen stopping her playing of toys and starting to do her booty dance when a song has grabbed her attention with a snazzy beat.  Although she does seem to favor the classical songs.

Yes, our little Cora is growing up and prospering in her life.  Changing rapidly and gaining ground as each day passes.  As this month of Down syndrome awareness comes to a close don't let the awareness end.  Remain Cora's champion and a champion of a loved one who might also have Down syndrome.  Stand firm and solid on this journey with us as she continues to pass  milestones markers along the way.  Raise you arms and shout with happiness "ME! ME! ME!" when Cora looks around for those that continue to support her journey and love her the way Creator made her...in his image and blessed!!

Cora stands up

Cora stands up for her rights to be treated as an individual.  Her right to be treated as a child first and a child with Down syndrome second.  She stands up for her right to be recognised as an individual, not seen as Down syndrome.  Then again, she just stands up because she can!

These past few days Cora has achieved a couple of new milestones.  She was playing with her rocking horse and with other toys on the floor when she decided she wanted to see what I was doing in the kitchen.  At that point, she merely climbed up and over the back of the rocking horse and into the kitchen.  To do this, she had to get on her knees, stand up on her toes and then crawl over the back of the horse.  I was so excited to see her do this that I asked her to do it again and again.  It soon became a game with laughter from both Cora and I.

Then, a few days later, she really wanted to  see what was on the wall behind me as we were sitting together on the couch.  She was in my lap, facing me, and she leaned forward while putting her hands n my chest and stood up.  Simple and easy as can be.

Early on came and worked more on this skill with her and gave me pointers to help her continue in this direction while not hyper extending her knees backwards.

She has also started saying "DAT?" when she is pointing to objects that interest her.  There are times when she says "WAT DAT?" as well.  Her language skills are blossoming as well as her signing skills.  I still look at her in amazement and wonder at her growth.  Cora has become a skilled master at getting her point across because if you don't look at what she is pointing to and asking "DAT" about, she will grab your face and turn it to look in the direction of her pointing!

Yes, this week has been a wonderful adventure on this journey and a week full of more firsts and passed milestones for beautiful Cora.  Cora stands up for interesting things as well as learning how to keep on surprising those that enjoy this walk with her.  I am so thankful that I get to stand right there beside her and continue to watch her milestones...

The rain makes things grow

Cora has spent the last few days in the house because we have been getting so much rain.  Sometimes it has been raining so much, I have made jokes about reserving a suite on the next Ark that is being built.  With the rain comes growth.  The rain nourishes the ground and readies it for spring.  It supplements some of the moisture that has been lost over the summer, it gives way for rapid moving water in the creek that allows the beaver to move their logs for the dam.  I enables things to grow and expand.

In keeping with the time of year, Cora is also growing and gaining momentum.  The last few days have been a blessing for Cora and her desire to stand and support herself.  With added interaction of the siblings who are also stuck in the house, this means added playtime for Cora.  During one of these play times the girls had put one of the toys that Cora was incredibly interested in on the back of the couch cushion.  They helped Cora  to figure out that to reach the toy meant standing up on Emily's knees and getting the toy.  Once Cora realized that she could reach further and if she stood up the world looked different, she was into trying over and over.  Eventually she gained so much confidence that she was trying to climb up onto the couch.  Huge muscle improvement, tone and coordination for Cora.

With the rain we receive blessings.  Sometimes they are obvious and stare us in the face and sometimes we recognize them after they happen.  Either way, a blessing is the result of living in gratitude.  I am grateful for the rain.  The rain caused the older sisters to be in the house.  The older sisters being in the house gave Cora more playtime with people other than mama.  Other people playing meant there were several different approaches and ideas to achieving the goal of Cora standing up on her own.  The result?  I was gifted with  the blessing of getting to see Cora learn a new ability, achieve another milestone and watch the fascination on her face as she grasped the whole concept.

Rain definitely washes away the old and brings in the new and fresh.  Is the rain washing away some old stuff in your life and bringing in the new and fresh blessing?  If so, live in gratitude with Cora.  Because right now she is standing up by the couch and smiling in gratitude and achievement to anyone who will look her way!  Yes, the rain is definately a blessing.


Cora taking a break from the standing exercises and relaxing in big sisters lap.

Cora's first horse

I wrote on Facebook, to all my girlfriends, that I had a confession to make.  The confession involved a Christmas present and Cora. I decided to share that confession with all the blog followers.

 You see, I had bought a rocking horse for Cora for her Christmas present and it arrived earlier than it was suppose too.

I let it sit in the box and looked at.  I walked out of my office and did house chores.  I looked at the pony again.  I left and worked outside with a client.  I looked at the pony again. My next thought was that I should give this wonderful first pony to Cora today and let her enjoy it right away.  I looked at the rocking pony again and thought how sad it must be inside of that box, waiting for its new owner to ride it and play with it.

I mentally argued with myself, eventually losing the war of keeping the gift for Christmas and unwrapped it from the box.  I pulled the horse out and realized it needed the stickers added to it.  Time to call in a big sister, and that is exactly what I did.  Emily came to the aid and placed all the stickers in their appropriate spots and then the pony was ready for its new owner.

Cora had sat by us and watched with fascination at it all.  She kept pointing to the pony and saying "horth", "horth" and then clapping her hands.  Finally she was sitting on her very first pony and they were indeed meant for each other.

The pony smiled a silly grin and Cora, after being shown how to move her upper body a few times, was rocking her "horth" and clapping her hands and losing her balance and sliding off to the side onto the floor.  Always landing on her butt and then pointing to me or a sibling and patting the seat of her new pony.  It was very obvious that she liked this new toy.  At one point Cora was sitting in front of her pony and just looking at it.  I asked her if she liked her new horse and made the sign for "horse".  She looked at me, pointed at her pony and signed "baby" then leaned forward , grabbed his face with her little hands and kissed him on the nose.  No question about it, she loves her new "horth".

I felt a little remorse in giving Cora this present early because this year the kids and I have a two present limit for each other this year.  But I have a feeling that the older kids will completely understand if Cora still finds two presents under the tree as she has gifted all of us with many presents.

The biggest present of all?  Her very agreement with Creator to take this journey within our family.  Have I mentioned her smiles, laughter, hugs, funny faces, jibber jabber, baby signing, gaining weight???  You get the idea.  Life itself is a present and a gift, the other stuff just makes it fun while we travel along on this journey.  And apparently, rocking horses are a definate grin maker!

 Cora saying "horse" (horth)

 A happy girl!

Cora declares joy and simplicity

Early On came and left a little yellow chair to practice with.  They want her to get up on her knees more and when placed in this chair backward, with me behind her to help brace her knees, she can raise up on her knees and use her hands to push up her upper body.  Now, for Cora, this was fun!  For the Early On team it was all in a days work. 

They showed her how to do this a couple of times and all of a sudden she was doing it and reaching for toys that were held up to encourage her moving in the right direction.  Cora thought this yellow chair was the absolute most beautiful toy in her whole play yard and the Early On team was kind enough to leave it with me to help Cora gain strength and practice.

To see the most simple of things bring Cora such joy reminds me to look around and find joy in things that I might be taking for granted.  Yes, this past 18 months has been difficult and a huge strain on my finances, but in all we are incredibly lucky.  I still have a roof over our heads, food on the table and heat in the house as the winter fast approaches.  I have a chair to sit in and a table to sit at for meals with my children.  

As I write this today Cora is again in her play yard playing with the yellow chair.  At the moment she has her feet underneath it, her head in the corner of it and she is singing with all the power her lungs can muster.  She likes the echo sound it is making, I like the joy I hear her singing with.  Today Cora's theme is gratitude and joy in the simple things.   What is your theme?  Is it simple and full of gratitude?  If not, let Cora share some of her joy with you....but first you need a chair!!