Father's Day and speech therapy update

Max and I yelling for joy on the lawn at the south pasadena library with my dad laughing with us in the background.



Grandpa Rich and Max hanging out on father's day


Max teaching Grandpa what an owl says "ooo ooo ooo"!!



Papa and Max Hanging out


Grandma DeeDee and Max having a giggle



On Father's Day my parents drove up from San Diego to visit Max.
We went to Mike and Ann's for breakfast and then strolled over to the south pasadena library and hung out under a giant tree on their lawn. It was perfection.
What was interesting was to watch Max as he was hesitant around his grandparents. He hadn't seen them since the Club 21 auction which was about a month ago. He gradually warmed up to them and the photos are at the end of our visit when he decided they were ok to hold him and play.

Max is wearing a shirt that says " Dad Rules " and Jerry is wearing a shirt I got him for Fathers day that says " Dad since 2009 ". I found it on Etsy. Everyone he walked past commented on it.

here is a link to go buy one for someone you love

Branded t-shirts


*** I forgot to mention that Max saw his speech therapist on Friday morning and she is thrilled at how well he is progressing. She suggested getting start on weekly Speech therapy which means that Max has gotten to a place where he is signing on his own and understand what he is signing enough to be teachable. He isn't just signing back what we sign. he is "talking" using his hands! HOORAY!!!!!
Regional Center doesn't approve speech therapy until 18months of age ( don't get me started ) so we are going to go ahead and pay out of pocket for the next 2 months.

For those of you with younger babies with Ds..I HIGHLY recommend getting consultations with your speech therapist as soon as you can. We started at about 5 months old and went in every couple of months to get information on what new exercises to do with him to stregnthen his oral motor skills which is SO important for speech. If children with low muscle tone don't get early intervention with speech and oral motor therapy - they can tend to have a tongue that sticks out all the time, and it's harder for them to figure out where their mouth is....because it's been explained to me that it's like they have a shot of novacain in their mouths AND the low muscle tone isn't helping.
Which is why it's hard to understand kids with Ds when they speak. They sound a bit like people who are hard of hearing who are trying to speak. I've seen amazing results with children who were able to get early intervention
and worked with people who had studied with this gal here and her website Talk Tools

We've been using her talk tools since we went to Sacramento and heard her speak at the Down Syndrome Convention when Max was 8 months old.

We just purchased the sippy cups and the chew tubes as per our speech therapists request....

Max has been biting me a lot - on my shoulders, hands, fingers, and my face. He bites so hard that it feels like he is going to take skin with him. Amy ( speech therapist ) suggested I try hard to not have a reaction and just give him a chew tube. Max needs extra sensory input with his mouth so he needs to do it - just not on ME!

Happy Father's Day

©Catherine Just Seiner 2009
taken a few moments ago..

Happy Father's Day!!!

Today I decided to shower my husband with all things that have to do with rest and relaxation.

First stop - he has an 11am massage appointment
and then - he is mandated to sleeping the rest of the day
and I'll make him his breakfast - lunch and dinner ( which doesn't take much since we are both on Jenny Craig right now )
I'm going to head to the Starbucks drivethru in a few hours to pick him up a freshly brewed cup of coffee to have with his breakfast. I'd make it here - but then I wouldn't have the pleasure of getting my darling Max out into the world and into the car which almost always means a nice long nap for him.

Max and I went shopping for his Father's Day gifts this week and found a few things to add to the day
1. Max picked out a book that is all about how much he loves his papa.
2. I bought him a book on walking tours of LA ( we are suckers for a good walking tour and I thought it would be fun to bring Max around and see the sights on " Seiner Sundays".
3. Found a card with tomato's on the cover and I put a pen in Max's hand and he drew his first drawing for his Papa inside the card.

I'm glad he doesn't have to work today - he worked all day yesterday and it was looking like it might move into today. Lucky for him he will get to really enjoy catching up on his much needed sleep.

I may take Max out for a few hours to keep the house quiet.

Max has been pretty vocal this morning - and I was up with him for a few hours last night while he practiced using his vocal chords ( they work )

Dear Jerry,
Short note because Max is over being in his bouncy chair,
I LOVE YOU.
You are a GREAT Papa to Max and I'm so glad we make such a great team.
I appreciate all you do to help raise our boy.
doing the dishes, making bottles every night, taking feedings when you are home, diapering, playing, hugging, kissing, talking, singing, rocking him to sleep, sitting in the back with him when we go out in the car, etc etc - the list goes on and on.

You're the BEST
love
c



Here is the photo I ended up picking for the headshot.
Gail over at DSALA told me that all of them would work because he is looking into the camera.