Well, I slacked off all weekend on getting my blog posts done, so now I have to do some catch-up.
FAQ Friday: RESPITE CARE
What is Respite Care?
Respite Care is child care provided for little or no cost to parents of kids with special needs. On Friday, we took the kids to a Respite Night in Kennesaw, GA at a play place called BounceU. It was hosted by Corrigan Care who provides lots of volunteers to give individual attention to kids with special needs and their siblings. They hold these Respite Nights once a month in Kennesaw. So Reid and I went to a movie and a quick dinner on Friday night. It's really nice to have a long break and the kids have a ton of fun too. They get to stay up really late playing with other kids and new toys.
Speech Saturday: MCKENNA FARMS FALL FESTIVAL
We took Gwyneth to speech therapy Saturday morning at McKenna Farms where they were setting up for their Fall Festival fundraiser. We went out to breakfast, then back to the Farm for the festival. The main attraction was definitely the pony rides and we wanted to let both kids ride. Gwyn of course was happy to have a ride on the horse since she has been doing hippotherapy. Ryker loved watching the horses and even liked wearing a helmet, but as soon as he was lifted up onto the horse's back he started crying and said "no!" So he wasn't ready to ride yet this year -- maybe next year. But we had fun watching Gwyn ride, watching the mini horses run and jump in an obstacle course, listening to the live music and people-watching.
Sibling Sunday: BEST FRIENDS
There was a super sweet sibling moment on Friday at the Respite Night. When we arrived to pick the kids up, they were in a small room watching a movie with other kids and the caregivers. When we opened the door, I got to see Gwyn and Ryker interacting before they saw me. They were rolling our unopened sleeping bag back and forth to each other and giggling (Ryker was standing and Gwyn was sitting). They were having so much fun being silly together. It made my heart melt to see that they are best friends.
Another sweet thing about Ryker that night was that one of the caregivers told me he had made a new friend. There was a little boy who had Down syndrome who was probably around the same age as Ryker. But this little boy was sitting while Ryker was walking around. The caregiver said that Ryker was drawn to the little boy all night and was patting him on the head gently and saying "Baby" and both boys would laugh. I got to see him do it again while she was telling me the story and it was so cute. I like to think that in Ryker's entire life he will be very tolerant of people with differences and open to friendships with people who have disabilities.
Milestone Monday: GOOD!
This is probably not much of a milestone advancement, but for the first time today, Gwyn gave more than a one word answer to my question "Did you have a good day at school today?" I ask her everyday when she gets home from school and she happily says "Yeah" every time except once last year (when she did get in a tiny bit of trouble for not paying attention one day and her answer was "No"). But today her answer was "Yeah, GOOD!" To me this was big because it showed a definite understanding of the question and her own answer. She has been giving a little more to us speech-wise in recent months. She's been saying "Okay" a lot as a response instead of only repeating the last word that was spoken. She still does the repeating thing (and Ryker is in this stage now too) but I feel like both kids are comprehending my words more and more each day based on some of their reactions.
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