Braska Bear

On Sundays now I go to cheer practice after my nap.  This week, Mommy had to work so we went to pick her up from work and went straight to cheer. I did something new this time… I tried the big roll thingy on my back.  I don’t like to be on my back at ALL.  So Mommy and Daddy were really surprised to see me do it. And I did it a few times! After cheer, we went right to the next place, the Magic House !  All my “extra” special friends were there, so I went to see them and play a while.  We got there a little late since we had a long way to drive from where we cheer, but we still had fun. KiKi liked climbing in the GRRRREAT big tree. I found my favorite part of the whole place right at the beginning.  You lift up the letters and see things that start with that letter.  I did some climbing way up high too. Before we left, I tried the big tree too.  But I didn’t go very far because it’s hard! ...

A few weeks ago Daddy decided we should go to see a bunch of big balloons in a great big park.  They call it a Balloon Glow, and it was at night, even past our bedtimes! We got to see some balloons, and then we saw some fireworks! It was a fun night!

It’s late and I’m more than tired, but if I don’t get some of this down now, I’ll totally forget. So bear with me as I document a little.  If I leave something out that’s interesting to you, feel free to ask. Today was Braska’s 3-year appointment at the DS Center at St. Louis Children’s.  We love this place. It is a large part of why we now live here.  If you have a kiddo with DS and you’re anywhere within about 3-4 hours of St. Louis and you’re not seeing these docs for yearly check-ups, you are missing out. I’ll have to talk more about why it’s helpful and important to us later, but really… it’s totally worth a day once a year.  To talk with people who deal with and know DS thoroughly and often.  Priceless. We used to make these days very full, seeing up to 6 specialties in one day, plus labs, but part of the beauty of living nearby instead of 3 hours away is that we don’t have to do it like that anymore.  Today we saw the doc at the DS center, the c...

A couple weeks ago we went to the Walk in the Park.  It’s a day when all of us with the extra cool chromosome get to have a little party and go to a baseball game together so everyone else can see how cool we are.  I think, that’s what it’s for anyway. First we got dressed.  This is always important, you know.  I put on my “bird shirt.” That’s what I call it. (Happy face) (Too-cool-for-school face) I got to wear my super cute bows from Miss Courtney and LC !! Then KiKi and me got in our picture spot and showed our matching cuteness.  Our shoes are the same, our jeans are the same, and our white shirts are the same.  Our red shirts are kind of close.  Both of them have that bird on there. Here’s our whole family that came with us.  It was SO cold!! We had to be all bundled up! KiKi cuddled up to stay warm. I watched everything from up on Daddy’s shoulders.  They had music and eve...

Last Saturday me and Mommy and Daddy went to see a movie called UP!   It was a special movie time.  Kinlee stayed with Auntie Rachel and Uncle Patrick at their house. I saw my friend Z from school, and I got to say hello to her.  It was a really fun time. (Mommy note: A theater near us in St. Louis does a monthly "Sensory Friendly" showing of movies, along the the Autism group in the metro, where they leave the sidelights on and turn the volume down during the movie.  We can bring our own snacks and drinks and the kids can be free to do what they need, whether it's talking to the characters or standing/pacing at the side of the room.  The admission is cheaper than a matinee, too.  It's just a place where parents can know people aren't going to ask them to keep their kids quiet for kids that might struggle with that for whatever reason.  All families with special needs are invited.  We just found out this week, so we thought we'd check...

Last week on Friday and Saturday, my friend Olivia came to play with me for all day both days! Her mommy and daddy and baby brother Hunter were moving to a new house, so she came over to our house while they worked. It was fun to have someone around to play with. We thought it would be fun to take a bath and splash alot, so that's what we did. Olivia can splash better then me, but I got her good a couple of times. Then we got out and dried off in our big towels. After our bath, we watched Baby Signing Time together. We both have poky dot shirts on too! On Monday we were in St. Charles and got to have lunch with Auntie Rachel. She liked my Cardinals outfit, but she should...she gave it to me! When we got back Monday night, Miss Jen came over with Sophie and Alexander. She got a new computer that Daddy was helping her with. We played while they worked. I'm gonna miss my friend Sophie alot.

It's big news time--We're moving to St. Louis. Well, actually St. Charles, just NW of St. Louis. It's where I lived before we got married 7 1/2 years ago and I moved to Champaign. It's where M got a new job, just finalized yesterday after a whirlwind process that only began late last week. It's a bittersweet time, as we will miss Champaign a whole lot. This is the longest I've lived anywhere in my life, and that's something. It's been very good to us, and sometimes it's been a little cruel to us, but that's life in this world. All in all, I will think on my time here very fondly. We are excited about being close to family, close to friends in that area, close to Braska's doctors, eliminating the trips down for appointments and such, trading a 3 hour drive for about 30 minutes to downtown. The new job is very good, and it seems like it will be an easy transition for M to slide right into. He starts in 2 weeks, so the chaos will be overwhelming...

This weekend when we were in St. Louis, I got to learn some about the game that Grandma and Grandpa, Daddy, and the uncles play alot. It's called P-nuckle or something like that. I really like to sit up on the table so I can see good. This time I sat with Uncle Levi and helped him play. Uncle Levi is a really good p-nuckle player. He taught me some good tricks. And sometimes he even taught me to make faces like him so the other ones didn't know how good our cards were. I think I look a little like him, and that's good because I have handsome uncles!

Last week, Mommy and I packed up to go back to St. Louis so I could get my glasses fixed and pick up my new glasses that Mommy calls the backup pair. Since I have been getting tired of riding in the car sometimes these last few trips, Mommy decided it would be nice if she could find a friend to go with us who could play with me and put my glasses back on when I throw them in the car while Mommy is driving. So we found our friend Zoey and she said she would go with us. She's 13 and is really nice! I like her alot, and we had such a good time in the car. I like having someone right there to talk to and play with. Zoey took good care of me when Mommy needed to work and when Mommy had to go talk to people at the doctor's office. It was really fun to have a friend along with us. We left on Wednesday morning, stopping at one of Mommy's offices on the way so she could work for a while, then we went to Children's so I could have a test. They stuck me with a needle to get some ...

I'm in trouble, so I have to tell you quick. I take my glasses off alot because they get in my way. A few days ago I rolled over on them and bent them funny. Mommy was not happy with me. This afternoon, I pulled them off again while Mommy was trying to take a picture with a funny hat we found. She said no, again. And she put them back on. We went to the other room, and I played on the floor. When Mommy came back in, she saw where I threw them...again. But when she picked them up she got upset with me. She saw that I broke my glasses. I messed them up real bad. She's not very happy with me, so it's time for nap. She is packing our things so we can go to St. Louis tonight and get appointments to get new glasses tomorrow. We had to go later this week to see Dr. R for my button check-up anyway, so we'll just get to spend the whole week. I still don't think she's very happy. I think I'm in trouble for not listening when Mommy and Daddy tell me not ...

Today Mommy and I were in St. Louis at the kids hospital where I go to see my doctors. First I'll let Mommy tell her big people part of the story, then I'll show you some pictures of what I did. Mommy note: We started with ears--audiology and ENT--as you probably read earlier in the post below . In the afternoon, we went to see Dr. S at the Eye Center. I had received a call early this morning that Dr. R was ill and asking if we wanted to see Dr. S instead, as the caller mentioned that she knew we were coming from "far away." I said, "Yes, please," and thanked her for not just bumping us to another day. Turns out, Dr. S is great, so we'll continue to follow with him anyway. He is the optometrist that works closely with Dr. C, the ophthalmologist, who we saw initially and is the head of the department. In summary, Dr. S said the glasses were doing what they were supposed to, the eyes were doing what they were supposed to in response to the glasses, and tha...