I Know What I Want! (Communication)

I have invited Olivia's family and friends to send me a blog post this month (to make my 31 for 21 job easier). My wonderful husband, Daddy Peter, sent me this great blog post about Olivia communicating "What she wants!" Thank you Peter!!!!! XOXOXOXOX !!!!!

Olivia is definitely learning how to communicate what she wants and doesn’t want. She has begun to grab our hand or finger and move it to what she wants us to do. For example, she finds it quite funny and enjoyable for us to tickle her feet. If we stop, she will move our hand back to her feet to tell us to do it again. The flip-side is that Olivia knows what she doesn’t want!! If you sit down to read and you pick up the wrong book, she will, in no uncertain terms, let you know. It can be a process of trial and error until you happen upon a book she is interested in. When eating, if you put a piece of food on her tray that she doesn’t find desirable, she will pick it up and unceremoniously drop it onto the floor. It is encouraging to see her develop interests and preferences, and learn how to communicate them.

Peter

Wordless Wednesday!

Visit with Olivia's Birthfamily

This afternoon, we had the wonderful opportunity to enjoy some time at the Lake with two of Olivia's sisters, Olivia's birthmom and her birthdad. We are so blessed to have an open adoption for Olivia. At first we certainly had to learn how to do an open adoption. There are no clear directions on how to do this. I think that the best way to describe how I feel about Olivia's birth-family is LOVE of course, but to be more specific, I feel that they are extended family. And they are the sort of extended family whom one feels very comfortable around, has fun with, enjoys, and looks forward to seeing. Visits always seem too short. When we first thought about adoption, we did not know how it would be to have an open adoption, but we like it. I don't know if all open adoptions are as comfortable as ours is for us, but all I know is that I thank God for the gift of such a wonderful addition to my life. An addition of many people who I now call my family! I also feel such gratitude that they chose us to be Olivia's mommy and daddy. What an honor! We are so grateful and honored! Everyday I think of her birthfamily, and everyday I ask God to bless them abundantly!

Pumpkin Time!

Daddy Peter came home the other day with three pumpkins: A Daddy, A Mommy, and a Baby O Pumpkin! He also brought home this wonderful sensory experience for Olivia. You can tell that his Mother and Sister (and wife!) are all Montessori Trained! We have been working on the sign for Pumpkin and have been working on saying Pumpkin, over and over and over and over and over and over again. Today she saw these sitting on the end table and banged her hands together in a close approximation of the sign and said "PPPPPP". I signed the correct sign for Pumpkin and said Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin as I went to get these off of the table and give them to her. She loved feeling, tasting, throwing and in general having a wonderful sensory experience of Pumpkins and gourds. I would occasionally signing Pumpkin and saying Pumpkin. And occasionally she would say "PPPP" and bang her hands together. The correct sign for Pumpkin is more of a flicking the middle finger on the top of the hand as if one was testing to see if a pumpkin is ripe.

Buddy Walk Hangover

Olivia had a tough time going to sleep for the entire night last night. Between the lack of a nap, the excitement of the Buddy Walk and her teething, it was a tough night. Today she has been a bit cranky from the teething and a bit wild and looking for a party from the Buddy Walk fun. She was more interested in "playing around" and being loud during Mass this morning than being that sweet little baby with Down syndrome. She still was smiling and waving at everyone all during Mass, but she was a bit more "vocal" when no one was interested in "playing" with her. But our dear parishioners were very encouraging after Mass that it was OK that Olivia was a bit loud and that she was welcome there whether she was quiet or loud! Bless them!

Here is Uncle Doug, my big brother, playing with Olivia yesterday at the Buddy Walk.
Here is Olivia doing "Patty Cake" for Mommy and Grandma B. (my Mom!)
Here is Olivia doing "motorcycle" for the crowds.
The Buddy Walk has a band and a stage and after the Walk and lunch the kids with Down syndrome get up on the stage and dance and join in the band. One older man with Ds played the drums, one young lady with Ds sang some awesome Creedence Clearwater Revival!

Olivia is waking up from a good nap. Hopefully that has helped return "happy baby" to our house.

Michiana Down Syndrome Walk

Olivia and her friend. They are two months apart in age. Olivia is older.

Olivia liked the puppy who gave her a balloon. She knows the word puppy and the word balloon so it was neat to see her with puppy and balloon at the same time! It did not seem to phase her that puppy was soooo big!

We were at Notre Dame after all!!!!! Go Irish!!!!!

Buddy Walk Team! The Cheery-O's!

Grandma B, Cousin Stephen, Uncle Doug, Mommy/ Linda and Olivia, Cousin and godfather Eddie, Daddy/ Peter, Aunt Cindy

It was a chilly windy fall day. Luckily Peter/ Daddy had bought the wind/ rain cover for the stroller so Olivia was very comfortable and napped during the actual walking segment of the day. Olivia wore her hat that she got for Christmas last year from Uncle Jon and Aunt Chris. It was used a lot last year and it still fits! It is a wonderfully soft organic cotton hat that covers her ears! Last week Olivia had an ear infection. We don't want that again! No fun!
I will post more photos and more thoughts later, but here is my post for today! 31 for 21!

The Pre and Post Walk events were held in a multi purpose building on the Campus of Notre Dame. It was LOUD, CROWDED and CRAZY FUN! Olivia LOVED it!!! Hard to believe that this is the same baby we brought home from the NICU who would not like it if we whispered too loud near her. Olivia was truly in her glory! She missed her "real naptime" also, so tonight she is struggling with staying asleep. And Olivia is still teething. I think the current culprit tooth is about to pop through, but each and every tooth creates lots of pain for her and seems to take forever to pop through. One mom told me today that she heard that kids with Ds have thicker gums, so that it is indeed harder for them to teeth. Olivia is working on her 12th tooth currently. 2010 is the year of teething for Olivia. Not the most enjoyable thing!

Why we adopted a child with Down syndrome

On this first day of the 31 in 21 day challenge, I decided to post about the beginning of our journey with Olivia. Above is our first photo with Olivia. She was born at 36 weeks gestation, weighing 4 lbs 3 oz, by emergency C-Section at 4:51 am. When we received the phone call at 8 am that Olivia's birthmom had delivered Olivia that morning, our first thought and first question was, "Is the birthmom alright?" We had gotten to know and love her quite well in the two months preceding Olivia's birth, and the thought of anything happening to her was devastating. Birthmom and baby were fine, and we were able to go to the hospital that afternoon to see them both. It was a relief to see the birthmom, tired and worn out, but smiling and sweet as always. She took us to the NICU to meet Olivia for the first time. I will never forget the awe I felt as she said to Olivia, "this is the other mommy I was telling you about." Words cannot describe the sorrow and joy intermingling in my heart at that moment. I knew that forever Olivia and her birthmom would be in my heart unceasingly.

We were in the NICU with Olivia for 13 days. It was a tough time, but a good time for us to learn from the nurses the best ways to take care of Olivia. Thanks to their expert instructions, when we went home we knew what we were doing to take optimal care of this wonderful gift with special needs.

The second day in the NICU, the NICU social worker asked us a bunch of questions. One question sticks in my head especially. It was " why do you want to adopt a baby with Down syndrome?" Although we had been working on adopting a child with Ds for nearly 4 years, at that moment we could not remember why we had wanted to adopt a child with Ds. It was the most surreal moment! My husband said, "Because God called us to adopt a child with Ds". That is the first time that we had said this, and the first time that we had realized it, but all the many people with Ds in our lives over the years, and all the infertility, and all the joys and all the sorrows and everything in our lives simply made adopting a child with Down syndrome seem to be the most natural step in the world. Before Olivia entered our life, there was always this weird empty hopeless feeling that weighed me down. Hard to explain, but no matter how wonderful things were, something was missing. Now that feeling is gone! No matter how hard the day is as a parent, things finally make sense! For anyone considering adopting a child with Ds, pray! If you still feel that "tug" then pursue it!

The steps to adopt are rugged! We went through it for 4 years, and talk about ups and downs! We experienced adoption nightmares that are unbelievable. And that is the story for many adoptive families on the journey to adopt. But it all is worth it! Olivia is wonderful!!!!!! We love her more and more everyday!