These are a few of my favorite things .....

Well, this marks my 20th post for raising awareness for Down syndrome month. I am going to fall short of my commitment to blog"31 for 21" but I did do my best. I was sidelined for a few days with Zoey's minor scare that she put into me, and quite frankly there were a couple of other nights that I was just too beat. I am going to try and I say try, to finish this week off strong and post daily but ..... don't hold me to it. I might add, that what's to follow isn't exactly exciting stuff either. But it does involve Miss Zoey so I guess that it once again constitutes fitting the bill for spreading the love. I posted some pictures of Zoey with one of, or actually a few of, her favorite therapy type things. Really, all that Zoey "plays" with has the under lying thought and ulterior motive when purchased, to help her along the way on the cognitive, gross and fine motor development areas. These fun things are Oballs. Zoey loves them and they are the perfect thing for her to grab as they are great for tiny fingers (or toes, notice picture #1!) to grasp and they are bendable and pliable. Playing with balls, in general, are one of the only times where Zoey will bring her left hand into play or in conjunction with the right. One of my favorite pictures, if you notice, is the one where she has hold of her RIGHT hand with her LEFT hand. We hardly ever see that. I love it when we do. The video also shows Zoey with a couple of her other favorites. One: Fabric. She loves fabric. The gaudier the better. The more sparkle and glitz and she's all over it. She just recently learned peek a boo using fabric. She cannot do it with her hands but seems to get the idea when we use fabric. The other nifty thing you see, the green button, is an assistive communication device. There are all types of these and this is one of the simplest. We usually record something into it, here it's my shrilly singing voice and the idea is for her to push the button when the song or voice is done and she can hear it again. She is beginning to get the hang of it. With Zoey, it has been trial and error finding things she is interested in. She really lets us know, in her own way, what she does and does not like. So far here is the break down: She definitely does NOT like" bells and whistle" toys. Saves us money there. For instance her Baby Einstein exersaucer, not so interested in that. However, the things we know she loves are: Books, all kinds. DK flash cards, music: lollipop drums, maracas, xylophones, cd music like Raffi, Jack Johnson, Tickle Me Elmo, pie tins with mardi gras beads and well, you get the idea. She is a tough one sometimes when it comes to therapy because she has a definite little stubborn side to her. She flings the unwanted item over the side of her chair the moment she does not want or has grown tired of a particular item. So, we plug a long and try finding things she responds to. Oh and she also loves mirrors. We bought her a 2x2 safety mirror so we can entice her to engage with the "baby" in front of her long enough to work on the next milestone: sitting. She will sit momentarily by herself but the minute she does not sense the comfort of something behind her, over she goes. We are hoping to have her sitting by her 2nd birthday. That would be pretty great. It would open a whole new world for her. I keep telling her that and she doesn't seem to be listening! See, who said she's not like any other head strong, independent child? One more thing and I'll be done linking the heck out of you, if you have a child that needs some extra help in the feeding department I recommend visiting the Equipment Shop. Two things there are: maroon spoons and a great flexi cut cup. Zoey eats really well when we use these spoons and we are working on the cup. That's about all for tonight. Just a glimpse into some things that keep the little love busy throughout the day. If I let her, she would really just prefer to be held all day. Which, I oblige her with...a lot. With all she's been through I find it difficult sometimes to push her very hard. Some may say I am doing her a disservice but I know things will come in time. I continue to try and find the balance with therapy, extra stuff I do and just living life. I am sure it will be like this for some time to come. Balancing or rather sometimes it feels more like a juggling act. Bringing Zoey out into the world, running errands, picking up the boys, stuff like that, becomes therapy in and of itself. It lends opportunity for her and I to talk about things she is surrounded by. Trees, the sky, people... and especially other children. These are everyday life learning experiences that present themselves each time we venture out. Things that traditional therapy can't duplicate. So I am trying to do that more. This upcoming week my posts will hopefully hold info on another family that I have fallen in love with that is adopting , as well as the Buddy Walk stuff. Ours walk is on November the 2nd and team "Little Wonders" has raised $2,840 so far.We are super excited. Zoey and her little friend Annika are the team captains. Annika is her NICU buddy and we are thrilled to be teaming up together for the second year in a row. Six more days of October. I really tried to post interesting, helpful and more importantly, inspiring things here this month. I hope I enlightened some, answered questions for others or mainly was able to just show the beauty and grace that can surround your life, envelop it really, when you open your heart to these incredible people ...... incredible people, who just happen to have Down syndrome. If just one person has been changed, touched or moved in anyway, then possibly I have accomplished what I wholeheartedly and humbly set out to do in the first place. Hopefully that's the case. (As always, pause the blog music first at the bottom of the page)