Monday, October 8, 2007

Birth Control for CoCo

Here I thought I had it all set up to publish posts so I didn't have to log on over the weekend (hence the massive postings with pics and info from Friday). Guess I haven't figured out Blogger all that well though.

Anyways -- another weekend come and gone. We spent a great deal of time on Saturday in the car traveling to and from an Oktoberfest to meet friends. Ended up only staying at the O-fest for about 2.5 hours though because it was just too damn hot! Who would have thought that we would all be in shorts the first week in October??

On Sunday a friend from college came to visit. When she first got there we joked about how domestic she is -- likes to bake, cook, clean, loves kids -- and how she is just missing the husband. Well, I think we might have changed CoCo mind!

L threw one of his glorious temper tantrums that B and I are so used to that we just ignored it and CoCo looked like she was going to freak out. L hits pitches that human ears should not be subjected too, but since it happens so frequently (and I know a lot of it is because he can't TELL us what he wants) B and I just tend to ignore it. CoCo is not similarly familiar with toddlers though.

I will say that CoCo loved R (even though his obsession with her boobs was probably a bit disconcerting) and he acted like his normal angelic self. The neighbor P and B tried to convince CoCo that L was not normally like this, but I don't know who they think they are fooling. L is always like that when B is around (B gives into the whining and temper tantrum-ing a lot more than I do. I am mean mean Mommy -- B is the softy!).

Anyways, I think CoCo has decided that kids may be nice, but in the far distant future, or at least is trying to figure out how to keep a toddler acting like R acts right now. If she figures that out, I want the trick.

DS tidbit: Speech therapy is usually performed because of the enlarged tongue which many children with Down Syndrome have, which makes clear speech difficult. Speech therapy and immersion in social situations where conversation is common and extended can result in excellent language development. Unfortunately, relatively little is done in early intervention programs to foster cognitive development. A good Montessori school may be an excellent environment for fostering learning in individuals with Down Syndrome. Significant work on cognitive development has been done by Dr. Raymundo Veras of Brazil. Dr. Veras worked from the model of early childhood education established by Glenn Doman of the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, in Philadelphia. As a result of his work, he wrote a book entitled Children of Dreams, Children of Hope, in which he recounts demonstrating to Mr. Doman a preschool age girl who was able to read in four languages and play the violin. Children with Down Syndrome often have an enhanced ability to memorize songs, stories, vocabulary, and other language material, which can be capitalized upon.

1 comment:

Rima said...

Yeah, witnessing a toddler meltdown can be kind of disconcerting for someone who doesn't have kids yet. I remember feeling that way. And I still went and got myself all knocked up.