Last week we had playgroup at the park and I remembered my camera. This is the first time Wes didn’t try to eat the swing, and he was game for letting me push him in it, but he wasn’t especially, shall we say, excited.

In other news, today Wes had his first visit from a speech therapist. Apparently a lot of normal-type baby skills are good indicators of how they’ll do speech-wise. The lady, Donna, evaluated him using a system called PLS-4 (Preschool Learning something something to age 4?). She checked things like how he handles toys, what sounds he makes, interaction level with other people, etc.

She said Wes has great eye contact and is very aware of things around him. She also said his tongue control is pretty good. (It helps a lot that Wes hasn’t been as congested as many DS kids are; when you can’t breathe through your nose you tend to hang your mouth open to breathe.) Apparently the palate is soft and forms around your tongue, so the more the tongue stays in the mouth where it belongs, the better your speech will be later on. Hopefully Wes won’t be too bad off in that area.

I think her primary concern is that he doesn’t make a sufficient variety of noises yet. He rated really low in that area (”expressive”), but better in the “auditory” area. Overall, he scored in the 32nd percentile (9-month equivalent) for “auditory” and 1% (4-month equivalent) for “expressive,” which averaged out (and don’t ask me how the math works here) to the 4th percentile (6-month equivalent).

Which made me want to ask for a re-take.

During her evaluation she asked how many vowel sounds he makes and I said that I wasn’t sure, but the one I hear the most is “Uuungh,” which he makes when he’s mad. So she put him down for one and I guess that weighted his score badly because he should be making multiple vowel sounds by now.

But anyway. Setting aside my parental bitterness, the gist is that he’s doing really well in some areas and needs improvement in others. Some of her suggestions are:

1. Practice turn-taking with Wes. I do something, then let him respond either by mimicking me or reacting (like laughing). Wes isn’t a great mimicker yet (but he’s great at staring), so this will be something to work on. The lady said she can’t stress enough how important learning turn-taking is, so I hope we get good at it.

2. Help Wes become more aware of his mouth region. She said to man-handle him a lot. Touch his mouth, massage his cheeks, anything that will help him become more aware of his mouth area. She suggested patting his mouth when he’s making noise (like an Indian call), get him used to that, and then try patting his mouth when he’s not making noise. Eventually he should learn to make the Indian call spontaneously.

Who knew parenting would involve so many things to learn? Wes is so capable, sometimes I worry I hold him back because I don’t know how to push him well enough, or just don’t push him enough. Thankfully, he manages to progress anyway.

Today I made a couple loaves of Amish Friendship Bread. You make it from a sourdough starter that sits in a Ziploc bag for ten days before you can make bread (the fact that it sits out, unrefrigerated, for ten days really grosses John out; but I didn’t hear him complaining when he was eating a warm slice of the bread today).

When I was adding the final ingredients I realized I didn’t have enough sugar, and I didn’t feel like trotting next door to borrow some. I substituted brown sugar for what I was missing, and I had to completely forgo the cinnamon-sugar coating on the loaf pan.

While the bread baked I bemoaned my sugar problem to John, but all he did was look at me funny.

“What?” I said.

“Hon, we’re not out of sugar.”

I thought about it. And, sure enough, he’s right. We’re totally not out of sugar. There are about fifty pounds of sugar in big tin cans in our basement that I not only helped can but also lugged downstairs to our basement single-handedly. Surely I should have remembered that.

It’s OK. The Friendship Bread turned out tasty anyway. And if anyone who lives in my area wants a Friendship Bread starter, let me know. I have four in my freezer, waiting to be given away.

My friend Alicia shared on her blog some of her amazing finds at garage sales (and they were pretty darn amazing). I haven’t been to many garage sales since I moved to Utah, but I gotta admit–I am a sucker for a good deal.

When I was a teenager my grandma would take me to bag sales on Saturdays. Bag sales are like yard/garage sales, but they’re usually held in church basements. And if you’re wondering how that works since churches don’t have basements, you’ve lived in Utah way too long. My hometown is heavily Catholic and the churches held bag sales to raise funds. You take a paper grocery bag with you, stuff it full of whatever you fancy, and the entire bag of treasures costs just $1.

My grandma was a seriously thrifty person and I think we, though two generations apart, were made from the same cloth. Every time I descended into a pale, musty basement lined with folding tables piled with used clothes, books, and knickknacks, I felt like I was walking straight into heaven.

Since the stuff for sale was donated by church members, and many of the active donors were rather ripe in age, sometimes shopping a bag sale was like browsing a vintage shop. I think I was the only teenager in my ward (and maybe in the whole world) who wore nylons to church with a seam running down the back of the leg. Apparently that was considered stylish about fifty years ago. But I figured, nylons without holes in them, and practically for nothing! I wore those bag-sale nylons for a year until I wore them through.

I love getting a good deal so much that if people comment on something I got a deal on I can’t help but blurt out how much I got it for. One time in college my brother complimented my button-up yellow shirt and my reflex response was, “Thanks! I got it at DI.” Because I was really proud that I had found such a great shirt at the thrift store. But my brother gave me a weird look and said, “Maybe you should consider keeping details like that to yourself.” Apparently he wasn’t impressed. I’ve tried to quell the impulse, but it still spills out. The other day my sister complimented my new shirt and without thinking I said, “Thanks! I got it on clearance at Wal-Mart.”

I’m sure I probably come across as completely classless. But I can handle that if it means I have more money in the pocket in the long run and still end up with some pretty decent stuff. Besides, half the fun of buying is the thrill of the hunt.

Last Saturday was the fundraising 5K for Best Buddies. My friend Alicia, who is a much finer runner than myself, ran it with me. She’s training for a marathon, so for her this was an “easy run.” For me, this was my Super Big Mega Run. I had planned to go with Wes in the stroller, but the night before our stroller sprung a leak and John got to hang out with Wes instead on the sidelines.

I actually enjoyed this one more than my first 5K, probably because this time I had someone to talk to during the race. I ran it faster by almost a minute, clocking in around 28:40. In any case, considering I just started running in March I’m happy that I can keep my legs going for more than three miles without keeling over and dying.

Wesley’s favorite part of the race was probably sitting in the lawn afterwards playing with some toys we brought. He’s ten months old now (!). And still smilin’.

I felt like such a grown-up mom today because when I got ready to take Wes to the store with me I popped a little Tupperware into my purse filled with munchies for Wes. That’s right, he’s starting to eat finger foods!

Not heavy-duty ones, but little fruit and veggie puffs that dissolve easily in the mouth. The package says the baby should be able to crawl and pick up the puffs himself before he’s able to eat them, but I don’t give him the entire puff at once; I break off little bits and pop them in his mouth for him to suck on.

His therapist introduced the puffs to me last week when she came (otherwise I never would have thought he was ready for them). She wanted to see how his mouth handled munching on solids. It’s common for kids with Down syndrome to have a hard time working food in their mouth. Their tongues are often large, their mouths small, and low muscle tone causes their mouths to hang open a lot. Wes seems to be doing well in this area, though. When you put the cereal puff in his mouth he munches on it with his mouth closed. His therapist said that he’s doing great and has good mouth and tongue control.

Wes totally digs finger foods. Then again, so far Wes hasn’t met a food he doesn’t like. When he sees my hand moving toward his mouth he instantly drops his jaw to make room for the puff. Also, he recognizes the word “more” and when I say “More?” he’ll open his mouth for it. What a smart kid.

Here’s a video I took of him the other day eating finger foods.

7808-eating-finger-food

I decided that I am going to run in the 5k that’s this Saturday in Orem to help raise funds for the Best Buddies program in Utah County. I feel like it’s one small thing I can do to contribute to Wesley’s future. I’ll probably run this one with Wes in the stroller, though, so he can be part of it.

Call me a softie, but I couldn’t resist making this shirt for me to wear especially for the race on Saturday.

Before I had Wes I went to a great aerobics class four or five days a week. It was a super fun way to keep fit. After Wes came I had to say goodbye to the aerobics class because I couldn’t get through a class with Wes with me, and I had to take him with me.

I decided I’d better find something else to do, so in March I took up running and decided I’d run a 5K this summer.

I took my friend Miss A’s advice and followed the Couch-to-5K Running Plan. It was great for someone like me who had never run before. It starts you off slow, alternating running 60 seconds with walking 90 seconds for a total of 20 minutes, and as the weeks pass you run for longer intervals. I could totally run for 60 seconds at at time, so I felt encouraged. After about a month I could run for eight minutes at a time, and then ten. About halfway through the program you’re supposed to be able to run for 20 minutes without walking, but I could never do that. I kept running anyway and signed up for the July 4th Freedom Run.

Before Wes, aerobics was “me time.” Now I have to go running with Wes in the jogging stroller, but I was happy to discover that running, even with a companion like him, can still be “me time.” It’s something I do completely for myself and no one else.

I still miss aerobics. Running is not as fun, not even close. But they’re both forms of exercise, and both make me feel good. Aerobics is just a lot more fun during the process. I hope that when Wes is older or when John’s work schedule changes I can return to my favorite aerobics classes.

Anyway, back to running…I worked out 5K routes using Google Earth and tried them out. I found I could go 3.1 miles with only a little walking. Pushing a stroller, it took me about 33-34 minutes (I always had a hard time discerning my exact time because of my analog watch–I’d be squinting at the minute hand, trying to tell which little mark it was on, and usually ended up guessing). I’d always wanted to be able to run the whole 5K without walking, but I decided that even just finishing my first race would be great and that I’d shoot for under 35 minutes because that seemed doable.

Fast forward to race day (today). I got up at 5:30 and John, the baby, and I were out the door by 6:15. Over three thousand people showed up for the Freedom Festival’s 1-mile run, 5K, and 10K. I waited in a mass of tank tops and T-shirts on 800 North until the gun went off at 7 a.m.

John took Wes with him as a spectator, so I got to run sans stroller. It was actually a little fun to run down University and Center Street, which were lined with families waiting for the parade to start later in the morning. I skipped the first water stop at mile 1 because I felt fine. Halfway into mile 2, I wished I had some water, so I think I started to drag a little. But I kept running. Amazingly. I glanced at my new pink digital watch (Timex Ironman Triathlon; I think I might marry it, I love it so much) after mile 1 and 2 and saw I was running about a 9-minute mile. Way better than the 11-minute mile I averaged with Wes in the stroller.

The water stop at the start of the third mile was like manna from heaven and boosted me right up for the final, slightly up-hill stretch. I was still running! I found a niche where people around me were going about the same pace and stayed with them. John and Wes cheered me on from the sidewalk about halfway through the last mile. Near the end I had to slow twice to draw a deep breath, but I had my eye on a girl in a green tank top who was a length or two ahead of me, and after I got my breath I pulled back into place behind her.

It’s funny where your mind goes while you run. I brought no music with me, so I was relying on my thoughts to get me through. During the third mile, when I realized I was still running and actually doing OK, I thought back to the fifth grade when I came in dead-last in the 1-mile run. I heard kids whispering behind my back, wanting to know my time (over 15 minutes). I was the chubby girl who couldn’t keep up with the rest of her gym class. It was humiliating.

Today I finished the race at 29:34. I kept a 5:55 pace per kilometer, which I think is about 9:30 per mile. I placed 39th in my age division for women, 180th overall for women, and 564th overall (out of 3400 runners).

Next weekend is a fund raising 5K in Orem to help bring the Best Buddies program to Utah County. Best Buddies work with kids with intellectual disabilities (like Down syndrome) and help give them important one-on-one friendships. I’m considering running it because I’ll want Wes to have a Best Buddy to hang out with when he’s in school, and this would support that.