Louie did brilliantly. Initially I think he thought he was off to his usual toddler group, so upon arrival at nursery he seemed a bit peeved! He’s been here a few times now, so it wasn’t an unfamiliar surrounding for him. The nursery manager suggested I just potter around with him for a bit, so we did just that – outside, inside, toys, other children, staff.
After a while Louie seemed happy enough to be tinkering around with bits and pieces on his own, but I was taking myself on a wretched guilt trip.
With Louie being in the same room as other children of his age, the difference in the abilities & development of the other children compared to Louie, hit me hard in the face. And it hit me hard in the face again that this was because of the Down’s. Then I began questioning why I was putting my son with a developmental age of 2+ years, into an environment for children aged 3+. So when the lovely nursery manger commented on how happily Louie was pottering about, and asked if there were any questions, I just said that I was noticing one or two things……….then that was it!
My overwhelmed emotions got the better of me. I was kindly invited into the back kitchen to gather myself, while Louie was left in the more than capable hands of the numerous members of staff.
I felt like I was crying from my very soul. I just wanted to curl up & sob. I just wanted my Mum to hold me; in fact it was all I could do not to say out loud ‘I want my Mum’. Instead I asked the nursery manager for a hug, to which she said ‘of course’, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to ask for. I felt vulnerable, silly, embarrassed, small, yet I was made to feel embraced, understood, un-judged and supported.
I talked very openly about my emotions, the way I was feeling & why I was feeling the way I was. (One of the many things Louie has taught me is that stuffing down my emotions & squashing them to the back of my throat, won’t help him & it certainly won’t help me. I have to open up & that takes strength, I know I am a strong person – I have to be.)
The nursery manager listened & reassured me that for all Louie is developmentally younger, it is absolutely the right time to introduce him to nursery. She also said that nothing was set in stone, & that I am free to do whatever I feel is right. She quite rightly said that the sooner I start integrating Louie into nursery, the easier it will be to do so.
Everything the nursery manager said was right, I agreed with her & in my head I knew I was doing the right thing. It was just that at that moment I was completely unprepared for the emotions that crept up on me – I was prepared for everything else, but not the Down’s Syndrome bit. This sounds daft, but to me Louie is just like every other child. I am almost blind to his condition now, it is part of the family, it doesn’t play a big part in any of our lives – my conscious had forgotten all about it.
Having composed myself & got back into my normal ‘pull yourself together girl’ mode, it suddenly occurred to me that Louie had been quite happy in my absence, in fact perfectly happy, barely phased at all. So why should I be? I’ll take my lead from Louie, I am optimistic that he will settle ok. He may have a few days when he doesn’t want to go in, but then so did his brother – we’ll deal with those when & if they arrive. In the mean time we have a few more nursery sessions over the next 2 weeks before I go away & leave him. It’s up to me to make sure these next few visits are fun & enjoyable & leave Louie with an experience that he will look forward to going back to.
As for me, well I forgot my Girl Guide code didn’t I? Be Prepared! Was I? No! Try harder next time Mummy please!
Fingers crossed.
Mum 24th September 2010
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Louie is 3 years old, Happy Birthday!
More balloons were the order of the day yesterday, along with chocolate birthday cake & an abundance of pressies! Oh yes, & 3 very hyper children, the 2 eldest going into ‘my little brothers birthday’ overdrive!
We had our painter & decorator in the same week as Louie’s birthday, which left me wrapping pressies, stripping walls & moving furniture, all whilst recovering from a 7 week chest infection! Oh, and Louie’s speech therapist popped in to see us too………….that’s along with the usual cooking meals, shopping, making kids lunches, school runs, homework………….and we were in the midst of buying a new car too!!! So Louie’s birthday week was a nice peaceful relaxing one! Ha, Ha!
Anyway, Louie’s old nursery bedroom is now a lovely little boy’s room, with a trucks & diggers theme, handed down from his big brother. His big brother has also had his room painted, now an older boys room, themed with racing cars & lots of blue! Louie’s big sister, so as not to be left out, has a lighter coloured pink room, with ‘Hello Kitty’ being the chosen new style! So for Louie’s birthday he has his new room, a new bookcase for all his books (that were out of his reach at the top of his wardrobe) books, counting number blocks, some Waybuloo & in The Night Garden toys, money and of course, balloons – his favourite!
After the early morning chaos of present opening, breakfast, clearing his sister’s room for painting & the school run, we headed for Louie’s toddler group. Here we met up with my lovely friend who gave Louie more pressies, including a new sleep suit for bedtimes – brilliant, time to move away from his little grow bags & into the traditional pillow & blanket – all change now! I’d bought a birthday cake to share at the toddler group, so after a sing song of happy birthday, Louie pretended to be very shy & needed help blowing out his candles!
Upon returning home at midday, another dear friend popped over with a pressie & card for Louie, so we sat on the hall floor having a good natter……..yes, we do have chairs to sit on, but we kind of gravitated to Louie’s level & got stuck there! After that it was all systems go again to prepare lunch, do lunchbox’ for the eldest two for the next day, start dinner, put Louie’s sister’s room back together & prepare for the school pick up, homework & part 2 (or was it part 3!) of Louie’s birthday!
The kids piled back into the house, lunch box’, back packs, shoes, coats, water bottles, you name it, being flung here, there & everywhere! Louie’s presents that he’d opened were still in the sitting room, so the kids settled in for some serious ‘let’s play with your birthday presents’ time! That kept them quiet, while I finished preparing tacos, mince & salads for dinner, followed by another birthday cake!
With homework executed in miraculous time, with the minimal of battles (amazing what the lure of a gooey chocolate birthday cake can achieve!), we settled down to ‘a party dinner’. Daddy came home from work half way through dinner & I think was quite grateful to have had the opportunity to forgo the ‘chimps tea party’!
A wee post dinner play, and the obligatory watching of ‘In The Night Garden’ for Louie, then it was bath time, story & bed. Three very shattered children, one of whom was still desperately fighting his sleep, wanting to play with birthday balloons some more!
So, our very contented & loving, gorgeous little angel turned 3 years of age – Happy, Happy Birthday Darling, we love you immensely.
Louie’s Progress Update
Louie continues in good health (famous last words with the winter months on the approach!!) His hearing test in the summer proved absolutely fine. He had his thyroid blood check & check for antibodies done too. His thyroid is fine at the moment however there are traces of antibodies in his blood. All this means is that Louie may be at a slightly increased risk of thyroid problems. Should we notice anything out of the ordinary like lethargy or a slow in developmental progress or slowing of weight gain, then we just need to monitor his thyroid bloods to keep any possible problems at bay. A minor blip in a perfect little body!
Breaking news - (very breaking for Mummy!) Louie starts nursery………T-o-m-o-r-r-o-w!!!! Pass me some tissues! No, I’m cool about it, I’m fine, it’ll be ok, absolutely ok, definitely! My wee boy!!!!
Seriously, Louie has matured considerably from 6 months ago, when I couldn’t even leave him at toddler group to go to the toilet, without his bursting into tears. He seems much more settled now. So fingers crossed his transition into nursery will be a smooth one. We have a number of sessions with me accompanying him, then I’ll start to sit into the background a bit. His official start date without me is October 6th. He will only go 2 mornings a week at the moment, so I’ll review this after Christmas, depending on his progress.
So, big steps for our little boy.
I mentioned above that Louie’s Speech & Language Therapist popped in to see us recently. We are working with Louie at the moment to ensure he has all the support & encouragement he needs to develop his words. Our SLT gave me a form to complete to identify all the words & recognised sounds that Louie is using. Well, I’m amazed at how much I’ve written on this form! Louie is coming on in leaps & bounds. He can mimic the end sound of each word he hears, so play becomes ‘ay’, and sleep becomes ‘eep’, for example.
If he’s watching TV, and he’s in a talkative mood, he will try to copy everything he hears. All I can hear is his bubbly chatter, nattering away to himself very proudly – ay, ee, eep, oh, ap, ook, shh, eep etc! He also has a good number of very clear words now, including bye, bye, hiya, ball, balloon, mum, dad, bubble & oast (for toast!) – to name a few. His understanding is getting stronger too. I still have difficulties getting him to hold my hand when I let him out of the buggy! It’s a case of ‘wehey’, ‘freedom’ and off he goes!!! So unfortunately, he often has to go back in the buggy when we’re out & about – absolutely no awareness of safety & roads!
That’ll come in due course, I’m in no rush, Louie will get there when he’s good & ready & not a moment before!
Mum 17th September 2010
We had our painter & decorator in the same week as Louie’s birthday, which left me wrapping pressies, stripping walls & moving furniture, all whilst recovering from a 7 week chest infection! Oh, and Louie’s speech therapist popped in to see us too………….that’s along with the usual cooking meals, shopping, making kids lunches, school runs, homework………….and we were in the midst of buying a new car too!!! So Louie’s birthday week was a nice peaceful relaxing one! Ha, Ha!
Anyway, Louie’s old nursery bedroom is now a lovely little boy’s room, with a trucks & diggers theme, handed down from his big brother. His big brother has also had his room painted, now an older boys room, themed with racing cars & lots of blue! Louie’s big sister, so as not to be left out, has a lighter coloured pink room, with ‘Hello Kitty’ being the chosen new style! So for Louie’s birthday he has his new room, a new bookcase for all his books (that were out of his reach at the top of his wardrobe) books, counting number blocks, some Waybuloo & in The Night Garden toys, money and of course, balloons – his favourite!
After the early morning chaos of present opening, breakfast, clearing his sister’s room for painting & the school run, we headed for Louie’s toddler group. Here we met up with my lovely friend who gave Louie more pressies, including a new sleep suit for bedtimes – brilliant, time to move away from his little grow bags & into the traditional pillow & blanket – all change now! I’d bought a birthday cake to share at the toddler group, so after a sing song of happy birthday, Louie pretended to be very shy & needed help blowing out his candles!
Upon returning home at midday, another dear friend popped over with a pressie & card for Louie, so we sat on the hall floor having a good natter……..yes, we do have chairs to sit on, but we kind of gravitated to Louie’s level & got stuck there! After that it was all systems go again to prepare lunch, do lunchbox’ for the eldest two for the next day, start dinner, put Louie’s sister’s room back together & prepare for the school pick up, homework & part 2 (or was it part 3!) of Louie’s birthday!
The kids piled back into the house, lunch box’, back packs, shoes, coats, water bottles, you name it, being flung here, there & everywhere! Louie’s presents that he’d opened were still in the sitting room, so the kids settled in for some serious ‘let’s play with your birthday presents’ time! That kept them quiet, while I finished preparing tacos, mince & salads for dinner, followed by another birthday cake!
With homework executed in miraculous time, with the minimal of battles (amazing what the lure of a gooey chocolate birthday cake can achieve!), we settled down to ‘a party dinner’. Daddy came home from work half way through dinner & I think was quite grateful to have had the opportunity to forgo the ‘chimps tea party’!
A wee post dinner play, and the obligatory watching of ‘In The Night Garden’ for Louie, then it was bath time, story & bed. Three very shattered children, one of whom was still desperately fighting his sleep, wanting to play with birthday balloons some more!
So, our very contented & loving, gorgeous little angel turned 3 years of age – Happy, Happy Birthday Darling, we love you immensely.
Louie’s Progress Update
Louie continues in good health (famous last words with the winter months on the approach!!) His hearing test in the summer proved absolutely fine. He had his thyroid blood check & check for antibodies done too. His thyroid is fine at the moment however there are traces of antibodies in his blood. All this means is that Louie may be at a slightly increased risk of thyroid problems. Should we notice anything out of the ordinary like lethargy or a slow in developmental progress or slowing of weight gain, then we just need to monitor his thyroid bloods to keep any possible problems at bay. A minor blip in a perfect little body!
Breaking news - (very breaking for Mummy!) Louie starts nursery………T-o-m-o-r-r-o-w!!!! Pass me some tissues! No, I’m cool about it, I’m fine, it’ll be ok, absolutely ok, definitely! My wee boy!!!!
Seriously, Louie has matured considerably from 6 months ago, when I couldn’t even leave him at toddler group to go to the toilet, without his bursting into tears. He seems much more settled now. So fingers crossed his transition into nursery will be a smooth one. We have a number of sessions with me accompanying him, then I’ll start to sit into the background a bit. His official start date without me is October 6th. He will only go 2 mornings a week at the moment, so I’ll review this after Christmas, depending on his progress.
So, big steps for our little boy.
I mentioned above that Louie’s Speech & Language Therapist popped in to see us recently. We are working with Louie at the moment to ensure he has all the support & encouragement he needs to develop his words. Our SLT gave me a form to complete to identify all the words & recognised sounds that Louie is using. Well, I’m amazed at how much I’ve written on this form! Louie is coming on in leaps & bounds. He can mimic the end sound of each word he hears, so play becomes ‘ay’, and sleep becomes ‘eep’, for example.
If he’s watching TV, and he’s in a talkative mood, he will try to copy everything he hears. All I can hear is his bubbly chatter, nattering away to himself very proudly – ay, ee, eep, oh, ap, ook, shh, eep etc! He also has a good number of very clear words now, including bye, bye, hiya, ball, balloon, mum, dad, bubble & oast (for toast!) – to name a few. His understanding is getting stronger too. I still have difficulties getting him to hold my hand when I let him out of the buggy! It’s a case of ‘wehey’, ‘freedom’ and off he goes!!! So unfortunately, he often has to go back in the buggy when we’re out & about – absolutely no awareness of safety & roads!
That’ll come in due course, I’m in no rush, Louie will get there when he’s good & ready & not a moment before!
Mum 17th September 2010
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