Whitney's BIG haircut (aka wrestling an alligator!)

Tonight we cut about 11 inches from Whitney’s hair. When she first was born, her hair was a reddish/blonde color and there seemed to be a lot more in the “mohawk area” than anywhere else. As it grew – the “mohawk” became more pronounced. As it grew some more, the original hair color started to look as though we were bleaching her roots- the hair that was growing in was BRIGHT blonde… and that is the color she still has! Whitney’s hair has also grown very quickly. She is taking after her big sister- Anne donated her hair in January 2011 when she was 4 1/2 yrs. old and Whitney is donating her hair in December 2012 when she is 4 1/3 yrs. old.

We did NOT take her to have her hair cut professionally because she can be VERY grumpy (understatement) when she feels her freedom is being restricted and she flings her head back and forth and all around – it would NOT be pretty!!! I attempted to cut her hair while we sat her on the kitchen table with her favorite person in the world, Rachel Coleman from Signing Time.

I divided her hair into two long braids. Cutting the first braid went great – the second one… she was grumpy and flung her head around in the middle of cutting… so the second cut went shorter on the left side of her head. This was the easy part – trying to even out her hair and make it look decent was like WRESTLING AN ALLIGATOR!!!! She was not a happy camper, to put it mildly, and it was scary for both of us trying to cut her hair with sharp scissors!!! Finally- I had to give up and just go with “doing the best I could”… all things considered – I think it turned out pretty cute :)  It could definitely use some work and fine tuning, but Whitney is NOT going to allow that (not in a million years) – so I just have to give up and be happy with how it looks for now. Here are some pics of the big event:

Happy Last Day of Summer!

We took a few minutes to find the dandelions that had turned to seeds in the field behind our house after school one day this past week... the girls had fun running around in the field and I was able to capture some fun photos! Hope everyone had a great summer - happy last day of summer :)

Whitney's laugh!!!

I just have to share this video of Whitney laughing! I posted it on facebook but wanted to have it saved on our blog - when Whitney really laughs it just lights up everything... she was ASKING me to tickle her last night and was laughing hysterically - here is the clip:

no more training wheels for anne!!!

Anne has been working on her balance bike and practicing recently to ride her bike without training wheels.  (although - with temperatures near 100 for most of the summer, we have not been able to practice very often!) Today was the big day that she finally did it :)  

Daily Smiles: Maybe I talk too Much

Daily Smiles: Maybe I talk too Much

happy world down syndrome day!!!

today is the first time the date 3/21 is recognized by the united nations officially as "world down syndrome day". the date, march 21st (3/21), represents the 3 copies of the 21st chromosome people with down syndrome have (aka designer "genes")

in honor of world down syndrome day, we made a donation to the adoption account for emily (http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=emily)

through the reece's rainbow adoption ministry. it breaks my heart that these children do not have families of their own and we would like to be part of the change and difference reece's rainbow is making in the lives of these orphans with down syndrome and other special needs throughout the world!

happy 3/21 :)

end the "r" word

I posted this on facebook today and wanted to "repost" here in case anyone did not see it on facebook.

Today is officially "spread the word to end the word" day - the "word" is "RETARDED". I am borrowing a quote that I have seen a couple of friends post about their children (hopefully that is ok with them) because I could not have worded it better myself. I am also including a link to a great blog post about the "r word"

"Do you love Whitney or have some sort of special attachment to her? If so,please keep in mind that the word RETARDED will be offensive to her as she grows older. And it is offensive to me, Michael Byron and her sister, Anne and to those around her that love her. Before Whitney was born, I too was probably guilty of using the word to reference stupid things I did. So I am not trying to judge you nor would I stop being your friend if you say it in front of me. My hope is simply to educate you to the fact that it is a hurtful thing to hear someone say. I literally cringe when I hear it now. So, for the sake of Whitney and all of her special friends, please think twice before jokingly using this word. Her self-confidence depends on it!!"

http://pudgeandzippy.blogspot.com/2012/03/no-time-for-tact-or-eloquence.html

whitney is testing her limits with the cat

we are watching my parents cat, bella, and the girls are having lots of fun while she is living with us. whitney has not quite figured out (or maybe she has) that she needs to be gentle with the cat. the cat is very patient with whitney, overall… here is a little video of the girls and bella:

A Superbowl Cheer

"good job, Whitney"

whitney loves to tell herself "good job, Whitney" as she works on her flashcards...

Good Morning

anne and whitney would like to say “good morning” to you… *disclaimer – anne is NOT drinking coffee… she is warming her hands on her daddy’s coffee

 

good morning

Pat-a-cake

Whitney recently started “singing” all of the time – she has always loved music and finally can sing along with a lot of songs.  She also loves to “sign” along with the songs she is singing.  In addition to singing, she is very into playing with dolls.  Here is a little video of Whitney and Anne doing “pat-a-cake” with their doll “Stella”

“pat-a-cake” with “stella”

GREAT awareness video

this is exactly what we hope for Whitney's future - this mommy and her daughter Maddox say it perfectly!!!

Happy 2012!!!

SNOW!

Well... we did not have snow on Christmas... but 2 days after Christmas Day is still fun! It is also my Dad's birthday (happy birthday Dad!) We were able to go outside and play today. This is the first year that Whitney has been able to walk around and play in the snow. The last couple of years she has tolerated being out in the snow for a little bit then was not too happy about being bundled up and getting wet and cold from the snow. This year she had a great time sledding down the little hill behind our house, walking in the snow and eating the snow. Anne had a GREAT time playing, making snow angels, snow balls, sledding and eating the snow. Here are some fun pictures from playing outside today:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Angel Tree 2011

Reece's Rainbow is a Down syndrome adoption ministry and they have a fundraiser called Angel Tree during the Christmas season to raise money for the adoption funds of some of the children who are available for adoption. If you make a donation of $35 or more to one of the children featured in the Angel Tree fundraiser you will receive an ornament with that child's picture to have as a reminder of the angel you helped to find a family of their own. We can't wait to receive our ornament with Emily's picture.

http://reecesrainbow.org/25299/emily-15h

http://static.reecesrainbow.org/angeltreekids/

happy heart day Whitney!!!

We are still alive! I have been terrible about uploading pictures for the past couple of months and our computer has been running very slowly and I just haven't wanted to deal with it - so I apologize for the complete lack of updates. Anne and Whitney are both doing very well and are healthy!

We are celebrating Whitney's 3rd heart day today - this is like a birthday for us because without her miraculous open-heart surgery on December 1, 2008 we truly believe we would not have Whitney with us today! If you saw her 3 years ago today you would never believe she would be as healthy and full of life as she is today! We are so lucky!!!

She’s perfected her technique

Whenever I put Whitney in her chair at the kitchen table and forget to buckle her she has taken the opportunity to climb over the side and get down all on her own.  At first it wasn’t pretty and luckily I have been at the table and able to stop her or help her down.  She has used this method (going over the side of her chair) to work on getting down by herself and has perfected her technique.  She did it this morning and I was able to capture it on video… it is funny to see her just hanging there from the side of the chair.  At first she would hang until I came to get her down… now she waits a little bit and then drops to the ground all on her own  

first day of school

today was the first day of preschool for anne and whitney. this is anne's last year of preschool - it truly seems like each day is going by more quickly than the one before and i know she will be having her first day of kindergarten in just the blink of an eye. whitney is in her second year of preschool. she made the cut-off for the 2 year old class last year by 6 days. she was by far the youngest and on top of it did not even walk until february... this year is a different story. we are so excited to have her in class with the same teacher again this year! she went just one day a week last year from 9-11:30 a.m. and this year will be going 2 days a week. both girls had a great first day! the director even found me in the hallway and said what a difference the summer had made for whitney. she knew just what to do, was listening and following directions. we are also working on potty training, so keep your fingers crossed that she will continue to do well and that i will have the courage to make the gigantic leap to underwear soon. i learned about the foxx-azrin toilet training method at the July parent meeting sponsored by Down syndrome Indiana. we had already been working with whitney on going on the toilet and trying to get her to recognize when she needed to go to the bathroom. we have been saying "go toilet" and she now says "go toilet" and signs "toilet" at the same time. this has been a "slowly but surely" type of training so far... but after learning about the Foxx-Azrin method I think to put us over the edge and make the leap to underwear we are going to need to dedicate 2-3 days of staying home and wearing underwear and trying to get whitney to drink drink drink! hopefully soon.... yeah and agh! at the same time!

here are a few pics of the girls from just before school this morning: