Will's Way is Back!

We have been offline for a month but have been very busy otherwise!  We rehabbed the house, moved into the house, celebrated Easter, cleaned up the yard, went to the zoo and many other fun things while we were away.  Will has been a great helper in the house and yard and has enjoyed seeing grandmas and grandpas and anuts, uncles and cousins a lot while we moved.  It is so fun to see him explore all the new spaces and especially to watch him have fun in the yard.  He finally has somewhere to get his hands dirty!

It was a long and challenging road for us, but as with all things in our life we just had to be patient.  Which is hard to do.  God must have thought I was the most impatient person in the world!  He did make sure that we had the most supportive family in the world to help us get through all of this.  We are very lucky to have a strong support system that not only helps us get through challenging times with Will, but helped us get into our house.  They cleaned and painted and tiled and helped us move.  We would be no where without them.  They really are our foundation.


So enjoy some before and after pics of the house and some of Will at Easter, in the yard and at the zoo.  He is doing well overall and making small progress with speech each week.  He has school for about another month and we are looking for summer therapy programs for him.  We found some funding for more signing videos and for summer programs and hope to take advantage of that.  He is as ornery as ever but keeps us smiling!

We have lots of big plans for larger renovations, but this house was in pretty bad shape, so we had to do a lot just to move in.  The biggest changes are clean paint in all the rooms, refinished hardwood floors and new floors in the kitchen and bath, since they were down to the subfloors when we took possesion.

Kitchen before and after...

Living and dining room before and after...

Bathroom after...

I didn't get a good before picture, which is unfortunate because it was the worst.  No floors and a really bad vanity.  Not to mention old gray tile on the walls and a painted tub:(

Will's room...

his room mostly just got paint,

 but I thought I should show it since this blog is really about him!

Some of our helpers...

Easter!  Will loved the easter grass and the chocolate covered peep! 

He also liked his books and bubbles!

Will reading his elephant book before Easter morning mass...

 

Visiting the real elephant at the zoo...he signed 'elephant' over and over!

Will by the tulips:)

Will and Daddy attempting to fly a kite...

The bubbles went much better!

Playing in the backyard:)

More on the adventures of Will in his new backyard to come!

Will's Day

Will had a great WDSD!  He had a fun day at school and they celebrated the day with playing and cookies!
He went to lunch with Gaga and his cousins and had a fun night of wrestling with daddy.

Will playing with his speech therapist at school.  Silly boy!

Having his snack and cookies with his friends.

Petting the therapy dog that visited his class today.  He was not a huge fan and clung to his family therapist!  She finally convinced him to pet the dog.

I asked him to smile...

Eventually he did!  Will's terms...Will's Way!

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

Today is World Down Syndrome day because it is 3.21, which represents the 3 copies of the 21st chromosome that Mr. Will has.  He and his extra chromosome are amazing and surprise me everyday! 
Share my blog with someone today or tell them all about Will and Down syndrome.  You can also go to the Will's Way Buddy Walk page today and sign up to walk with Will on September 23, 2012.  Happy Day!
http://www.columbusbuddywalk.org/

Will chillin in his 3:21 shirt!

3:21 cookies for Will's class!

Big Helper

We got our keys to the house and started getting busy right away!  Here are just a few pictures.  Will has been lots of help so far.  He loves all the tools and paintbrushes.  He has paint all over his face and hands since he got into the paint and he has spackle all over his shirt.  I love that this is how he gets dirty now!

Our house!

Helping daddy screw in cement board.

Who is more tired or has more paint on them...Will or Gaga?!?

Boxes are Fun!

Boxes aren't just fun at Christmas and birthdays...moving boxes are fun too!  Will is enjoying coloring in the cardboard boxes and also taking things in and out of them.  Will really loves to take toys in and out of boxes and bins.  He loves hiding things too...which makes my life interesting!  He has hidden my keys several times.  So the next time I am supposed to meet you and I am late, that will likely be my excuse!

Closing day is tomorrow and moving days the next couple weekends!  Yipee!

Signing Time

Will's signs are really coming along!  We borrowed a different Baby Signing Times video from Will's buddy at school and he likes this one even better than the one we have.  http://www.babysigningtime.com/

  He is signing more and more everyday and has started signing with the videos.  He is signing now upon request including 'please' and 'thank you'.  We are working on adding more signs but also on stringing 2 signs together.  So far we have mastered 'more, please'. 

Here are some of my favorites:)

He is doing so well in speech therapy too!  He really likes his therapist and signs even better for her than he does for me.  He still really doesn't have any words that he uses other than 'no', afterall he is 2, but he is trying to imitate more sounds for us.  His receptive language continues to be strong as he can pick out most objects on command.  His animal sounds are getting better too.  I will have to get the 'moo' on video because it is funny!

World Down Syndrome Day Video

I can't wait until World Down Syndrome Day to share this...we made the video!  Enjoy!

3.7.12 is Spread the Word to End the Word Day!

Go to the website to take the pledge to stop using the most hurtful word there is.  There are many other words you can use in its place.  I use the word silly a lot:)  Whatever you use, just stop using this word!

World Down Syndrome Day Tshirt

Will needs this tshirt...don't you think?!?

Getting Bigger

Will had both ophthalmology and endocrinology appointments this past week.  The eye doc said his eyes look great and she does not see glasses in his near future.  Which is great news since it wouldn't surprise me if he did need them because I have had glasses or contacts since I was 5.  He must have got daddy's 20/20 vision!  Endocrinology is always an adventure.  Basically any place that even remotely looks like a place that might hurt is hard on Will.  He screams his head off when they just try to weigh him.  His doctor saw a good increase in both height and weight and we were all happy to see that!  Getting his blood drawn every 3 months is the hardest part though.  They can't ever find his vein and he screams so hard he turns as red as can be!  I have to hold him down and my blood pressure goes through the roof.  Lets just say he and mommy both ususally end up with a Frosty every 3 months after that appointment!

Doesn't he look longer:)

And we have great news...Will is getting a house!  It has a driveway and a backyard and we are so excited !

Piano Man

Will is a little piano man.  I am sure our neighbors love this!  Between Will and his ballads and Ron with his new banjo, we are going to get evicted:)

Lefty

Will loves to color with Ava!

We may have a lefty on our hands though...

Which is only unfortunate because he is going to struggle with coloring and writing anyway and adding the lefty factor could make it even more difficult.  But Will will be Will and unlike the nuns back in the day I am not going to force him to be a righty:)

He also likes how they taste!

Silly Will!

Joan of Arc

Great post by Kelle Hampton. I love her! Like we don't know life is going to be hard for us.  And what good does acting like we do know how hard it is going to be for us do for our children.  Negativity serves no purpose.  Positive thinking makes everything easier.  Positivity is contagious and if I stay positive, I have noticed others follow suite.  I adopted that theory when Will was about 2 weeks old and never looked back...though I have tripped and fallen several times...I still didn't look back:)  Just like... Joan of Arc .

Here's a couple of pictures of Will in the bounce house with his cousins.  Great physical therapy by the way!