Videos

Many people have asked how we do things, so I thought I would put together a video. Today was not the best day for videoing but I am not sure when I will have another chance.

Normally I aim for a time where there are little to no distractions so I can focus on one child at a time and I find a quiet place so they do not keep getting distracted.
That however was not going to happen today. But this does give you a general idea of how we do things.
Keeping in mind that both Veronika and Gavyn are only 2 years old I think they are doing very well.
Yes they can get distracted, and yes sometimes they do not want to do something but, I keep them moving along. Sometimes we have to change things up, sing songs, or do whatever we need to so we can work for up to 30mins-1 hour at a time. Sometimes they get bored with what we are doing so we need to find something new, or sometimes we just need to take a little snack/drink break.

Gavyn has a harder time staying on task and focusing. I am not sure if it is just because that is his personality, or if it a boy thing. Whatever it is, we just work with it and work through it. We know he IS learning, and while it might not be at the pace of Veronika, he is still doing great and we are very proud of him. 

Crazy Busy

So, since my last post we have journeyed to another country, spent three weeks there, and gotten home and have been adjusting to having two 13 year old girls with Down syndrome at home. Our adoption is not complete. We still have two more trips to go, but thankfully they were able to fly home with us on a visitor's visa.
Since they are not adopted yet we are not able to share them with you at this time but by October of this year we should be able to!!

Finding our groove and figuring out when to do things has been interesting, but somehow we make it work.
Here are some of the things we worked on today with Veronika and Gavyn.

 crumpling paper to use as a flower

 using glue

 signing flower, and counting the flowers

 Working on her ABCs matching upper case and lower case letters

 For this, we did not work on recognizing the numbers or quantities, it was just about being able to put the pieces together

 Gavyn was very happy about making his four flowers

Working on reading. Since Veronika and Gavyn are not talking yet, I read the words while they point to the words as I say them. If they get a bit distracted and just want to bang the pointer, I will do hand over hand with them

Here is a video of Gavyn doing some of his signs. I should have asked him to sign cracker last since after that sign he was only focusing on wanting a cracker, lol

Veronika is babbling and saying bye bye now!!