Tracey 的个人资料The Delrosario Family Sa...照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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12月24日 more family pictures.Some pictures disappeared from my last post so here we go for try number two.
  family picturesWe had our family pictures done last weekend. They didn't turn out as well as I had hoped but some were cute anyway. I'll attach a few here to see and put the rest in the photo section.
  12月17日 SnowIt is snowing! It hasn't snowed in over five years. It is certainly making up for it now. It has been snowing constantly for nine hours and we are only half way through the storm.
 This morning when it all began.
 .....A few hours later
 Later Josh came out to see.
 "Snow makes ma happy and cold"
 Stay tuned for more...... 12月8日 oh wellWell, after going in the potty four times in a row over two days Ella has decided enough is enough and once again refuses to try. Even the promise of candy from Gramma wasn't enough to entice her to try. Back to the drawing board. 11月24日 BREAKING NEWS!This just in.
Breaking news.
Ella has peed the potty!
WAy to go Ella
we knew you could do it!
11月19日 a cooking storyIsaiah was sick the other day. He's 12. He wanted to make himself some grits. He calls me while I am picking up Anna from school. He says we don't have one of the ingredients. Anna asks him which one are we missing. It only calls for grits, salt, butter and water. She told him salt and butter were optional ingredients. He says no we have those. "We are missing something called "yield" where do I find it? We need one cup" Anna and I just bust out laughing. He read the yield: one cup and thought he needed a cup of yield. How cute is that.
11月15日 Katya's birthday and more Yesterday Katya had a nice long nap. Unusual for her. She woke up wired for sound. She was quite hyper and very happy. It was nice to see her in such a good mood. She was bouncing everywhere laughing. We came home from our date night just after ten and she was in her room awake. Ella was asleep. She heard us and yelled for daddy. (a common occurance if they are awake when he gets home). We let her come down for ice cream (we brought some home for everyone still awake). She was so happy. She ate her ice cream then the big boys took turns playing with her. At 11 Gio and I went to bed. I told the boys to put her in bed when they were done playing with her. This mornings report was they went to bed at midnight and she was still awake and wanting to play more. She slept in very late this morning. We all appreciated that.
We had cake finally. She blew out the candles while we were singing. She was pleased with herself.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATYA!
cute I dressed Katya yesterday and she stood up and said "pretty" then ran off to show Anna. It was the first time she cared what she looked like. She is starting to want to wear pretty clothes instead of running around in her diaper. She used to yell at me when I would dress her. Or promptly undress herself. She still loves to be dirty but at least she starts out clean. 11月11日 a cookieAnna and Katya were playing obstacle course when Noah came outside with a cookie. Anna convinced Katya to finish the course and then eat the cookie. After every event Katya would ask for the cookie finishing each event faster and faster. Finally just before the end she finishes the event and runs to Ben, who was holding the cookie for her, and she says "cookie Now" plain as day. After getting her cookie she wanted to finish the course. When Anna was all done playing Katya kept trying to drag her back outside to play some more. Physical therapyWe've been doing physical therapy type excercises with Katya at home all summer. Today Anna made an obstacle course for her. She had a trampoline, a balance beam, some steps, something to step over, something to step in, something heavy to carry, and something to crawl under. It is great excercise and a ton of fun. Both the girls and all the boys love it. All of it was made with just some scrap wood and milk crates plus a heavy ball and the trampoline of course.
Now they are inside stretching and doing summersaults.
Too bad the batteries in the camera are dead. It really is cute. 11月9日 TomTom the guniea pig died on Friday morning. She lasted three days longer than Gerry. We thought for sure she was going to pull through. Good bye Tom. It was a fun five years. may you rest peacefully. 11月5日 Guniea pigsWe had two guniea pigs. One died yesterday. They were both just laying in the cage looking so pathetic. They didn't even startle when you opened the cage like normal. The one wasn't drinkin or eating. Tom, the one that is still alive was drinking a tiny bit. We wondered if she would make it through the day. She did. Then we wondered if she would live through the night. She did. Today we thought for sure she'd be gone. Well, Tom the piggie is still alive.
and Jerry
have all gone on before her. Katya's eyesKatya had her eye exam today. Her eyes have become more nearsighted over the last year. The eye doctor said that is common in kids with Down Syndrome. Due to their low muscle tone even in the eyes. So a new Rx for her. She wasn't happy about the appointment. She kept telling the dr. no when he would ask her questions. After the appointment and it was time to go she grabbed her glasses off the table and said bye bye. She wasn't happy when I made her give the glasses back and leave without them. Poor girl. I kept telling her they'd give them back next week. I'll have to take the other pair to Wal-Mart and get new lenses in them too.
Ben and Isaiah had a consult with the orthodontist today. I am shocked at how expensive it is. I knew it would be alot but I was still surprised. Oh well.
Noah is such a funny boy. Have I told you what kind of books he checks out from the library? THE MISSISSIPPI FLOOD OF 1993, DAVINCI, ALBERT EINSTIEN, THOMAS JEFFERSON, JEFFERSON DAVIS, JAPAN, HELEN KELLER, JOHNNY APPLESEED, AND ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL. I tried to get him to read a normal story and he just wasn't interested. Even the story the library was going to show a movie of after you read the book. History is easy for this boy but Literature will be a pain. the only stories he is even remotely interested in are Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. the reading level is still to high for him though. Maybe in another year or two...
It's time to go to counseling at the college to pick out Josh and Anna's classes for the next two years. Priority registration starts soon. I hope they have better luck this time.
10月23日 Katya is smartWho says Katya isn't smart? Just because she has Down Syndrome doesn't mean she isn't smart. Here is an example.
Ella gets new shoes all the time. Katya's little pudgy foot is hard to fit so she doesn't get new shoes as often. We finally found some cute little dressy sandals for her a few weeks ago. Ella was very upset that she didn't get any. She refused to wear shoes to church that Sunday because she wanted Katya's. It was our turn for nursery duty so we were fine with that. During service Katya took the prized shoes off. Ella runs from the other side of the room snatches up the shoes and says "I won the shoes". She refused to take them off all that day. She even fell asleep in them that night. I took them off her while she was sleeping. Katya found them Monday morning. Ella saw her pick one up and started yelling. Katya took the shoe and ran to the laundry room and shut the door. The laundryroom has a child lock thing on the outside of the door but it is always open. She knew she could get in, she could get out when she was ready, and Ella couldn't get in. Josh went in to go get milk from the garage. She tried to push him out yelling "No". It was really cute to see those wheels turning in her brain. It worked out so well, she now runs there every time Ella is chasing her for something.
As an aside, Ella is ususally chasing Katya because Katya took something from her. It goes both ways. They are such good sisters. They take things from each other, they chase each other, they yell at each other, but they also hug each other, kiss the other when they are sad, take turns covering each other up with blankets, wrestle with each other in a non-combative way, laugh together and get into mischief together.
Here is a picture of mischief. They got out the suntan lotion and lotioned each other.
Just an updateThe summer was a busy time for us. The older two had theater the entire month of July. Ben was in Europe for all of July. Isaiah and Noah had camp a few times. They did soccer camp in June and camp Faith in August. We did a baseball game and had the memorial for my father in August too. My sister came and we went to the zoo and the beach with her.
The zoo was an interesting experience. The little girls were excited to go. We pushed the strollers up to the first animal exhibit. Katya stands up to see and starts yelling "no no no" She did not like the animals. She hated them all. Ella didn't seem terrilby impressed either. We had a nice time walking around though. We ate snacks and took breaks. The older kids were divided up into two groups to go around by them selves. Josh and Anna went with Becca, Anna's friend, and took Noah with them. Ben and Isaiah took Trevor, Isaiahs friend, with them. That was an interesting group. They had fun and behaved themselves though. Gio and I walked with Heidi, her girls, Levi and our girls. Heidi's girls had never been to a zoo before. they don't have any close to where they live.
Mom and Fred went with us to the beach. Ella sat on her throne and preferred to not get dirty and definitely not wet. Katya on the other hand loved the water and the dirt. She had a blast.
A few days later we went to the beach again with some friends. Ella was a little braver and would play in the sand. She still wanted nothing to do with the sand though.
We went to the Fair in August too. It was get in Free day. We watched a diving show with the little kids. The older four went to watch a concert. We went to the kids magic show but it was too loud for Katya so we left. They had fun with the stick your head in the picture boards. Katya would try and pull Ella out so she could put her head in. Then Ella would pull Katya out to put her head in. Funny. We couldn't find any food worth the price so we left when we were ready for dinner. The older kids had money for food but even they couldn't justify the price of the food so we drove them through In and Out when we picked them up.
In October we went to the San Diego Zoo for founders day. Ella had been asking for weeks to go back to the zoo. It took me a few days to figure out what she was asking for. She kept saying "go shoe see anmuls" Ohhh Go to the zoo and see the animals. She had a blast. She walked the entire day. No stroller for her. Katya was happy and pretty well behaved all day too. We let her out a few times. she didn't want to get back in but didn't put up too much fuss about it. she rode in the baby carrier a few times too. Then Ella would want it and we'd switch. She did run off once but she came back when we called her. It was scary for a second. We had gone with some friends and their little girl ran off all day. We decided she was a cross between Ella and Katya. Ella has a fascination with KungFu Panda. She hasn't seen the movie but she has seen the toys. She also calls Panda Express Fu Panda. She got to eat there one night with her daddy. She was so excited to eat at Fu Panda. We hope to see the movie soon. We went to see the Pandas at the zoo. She wasn't as impressed with the live ones. she did like the Panda Mural though.
At the end of the day when we were leaving the zoo we were all exhausted. Ella noticed we were by the parking lot and started crying "no we not done yet. go back zoo" It was so cute. I explained the zoo was closed now (true) and we had to go. she cried "no I not done yet. go back zoo" she got over it quickly. She decided to hug Katya while Katya was in the stroller. They hugged the entire way to the car. So cute.
9月26日 A difficult weekThis has been a difficult week. This week makes six years since I delivered Sam. He would have been five and a half now and starting kindergarten had he lived through pregnancy. Jonas would have turned one this week. It was also the week my friend would have flown home with little Andrew. A lot to grieve in just one week. Three little boys who are no longer with us.
It was also a joyful week. On the very anniversary of Sam I got to go back to the labor and delivery ward of the hospital and be with a friend as she gave birth. Little Brianna made her entrance weighing 6 pounds 10 ounces to a very happy mama, daddy, and four siblings. Her Gramma was there too. Gramma used to be my Sunday school teacher when I was a very little girl.
So now we are back on track and moving along. Katya is getting so tall. She is looking like the almost four year old she is. Ella has been particularly annoying this week. She has forgotten how to speak in a normal voice. She can only scream. She resorts to speaking when I whisper at her and remind her to speak quietly. Why am I surprised that an eighth child feels the need to scream to be heard? 9月16日 EllaSo you know you live in the desert when your almost three year old says " mama, I want to go play in the sky with the dirt in the sky." Poor girl didn't know what clouds are. She thought the sky had dirt in it.
Yesterday Ella told me it was going to snow tomorrow becuase "snow makes ma happy".
She says such funny things. 9月9日 PreschoolWe've been doing preschool activities with the little girls the last few days. Normally we just do those activities as a part of life whenever but we felt Katya needed more intentional learning and experiences. I have found a few books I really like. One is called Active Learning For Threes. The other is Gross Motor Skills in Children With Down Syndrome. I loved both of these books. Now I am reading Fine Motor Skills for Children with Down Syndrome and Active Learning for Twos.
The Threes book had a ton of activities for Ella to do. Many of them seemed way too hard for Katya right now so I ordered the Twos book. From the two books I've finished I have over 120 activities for them. I am writing them all down by classification on index cards so I can pick a card from each group each day. I have Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Music, Art, Math, Cognitive Development, Games and Stories. So far we have ridden bikes, kicked balls, read stories, sang songs, played bean bags, learned to pass, painted pictures and played play-doh. Neither of the girls had played Play-doh before. They both thought it was very gross at first. I gave them each a paper plate and a plastic knife. They cut and cut and cut. Katya stayed there for about 20 minutes. Ella stayed there for 30 minutes. Today was paint with water. Ella stayed 20 minutes and Katya stayed for half an hour. I was very impressed with thier attention spans. Katya especially. Usually her attention span is about 30 seconds. It is five minutes if she is interested. I am really enjoying it. I thought I would hate having to do preschool. I guess I just needed a good reason to do it.
School in general is going well this year. We have encountered some I don't want to do it attitudes but for the most part it is going well. Noah is loving history. We are studying the presidents. He has asked if we can do vice presidents next and has informed us he wants to be Secretary of State when he grows up. Levi is making great strides in learning this year. He is beginning to read quite well. Ben is doing well staying on top of his subjects and keeping his work organized. Isaiah is adjusting to the demands of jr. high. He isn't happy about the amount of work required but is plugging along and making progress. Josh and Anna love college and are beginning to make plans for their futures.
Gio is busier than ever this semester. It is a hard adjustment for all of us. He is very tired. Hopefully it will just be the one semester with this schedule. I don't think he should take much more than that.
I've been busy driving people around, doing school, reading up on preschool activities and physical therapy type activities, and the regular stuff.
Bowling and city players began this week. Now we are officially in the school schedule. All activities included. Oh, except Awana that starts in two more weeks. All eight will be in AWANA this year. Katya and Ella are big enough for cubbies. Levi is a sparkie, Noah is in TNT, Isaiah is a jr. higher (Trek), and the other three are in Journey, the high school program. My brother is getting married next weekend. We are planning a zoo trip to San Deigo Zoo for Founder's Day (Free entrance for everyone). Birthday season part two hits in November. Three of us had birthdays in August plus a few cousins. In November three of our kids and two cousins have birthdays plus Thanksgiving. They are spaced so there is a "holiday" of some sort each week. Busy, Busy, Busy.
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