It's the first week of school...

....and all through the house....

Okay, I was going to try and do a whole post in the rhythm of the Night Before Christmas, but, well....it's late and I used up all my creative energy planning and prepping for school this week!   Maybe next post.....

We did start full days of school here at the Circus this last week - we'd been doing half days (math and reading, really) for the past two weeks as a bit of a trial.  We are a homeschooling family, and with all of the changes in our home over the past few months, I wanted to kind of experiment with our schedule and routine to try and find the best fit for schooling with the new additions in the family!   By this past week, I felt confident enough to add in the rest of the subjects (to give you an idea, Rascal #1 studies 9 subjects, so there was quite a bit to work in!!) and start the school year.    It went well - even Theo had a blast with his little school routine.   I'm working with him on just preschool basics and motor skills, really.   We've got an appointment for evaluations at a local preschool that specializes in Down Syndrome, but that's not for another month, so until then, I'm doing what I can at home with him.   Our ultimate goal is to bring him home completely eventually, but for now, he needs the therapy options they can offer him integrated with his academics.  

Theo's settling in really well.  We had our first virus since he's come home (due to his medical history, illnesses will probably be a regular occurrence, although we're hoping his immune system will eventually re-build itself), so that kind of knocked us down for a few days.   He was a trooper, though, and didn't get as sick as I was expecting him to get.  Very grateful for that!  

This little boy has made our home so much happier - he's so much fun to have around.   He's picking up ASL like crazy, and communicating is really going well.  His receptive language is really good, so it's really just when he's trying to tell us something that we run into stumbling blocks.   Even then, though, as he's picking up the signs things are getting much easier.  

Bonding is still seeming to be going really well.  He's totally turning into a complete Mama's boy.  I think he knows that he melts my heart completely and is using it to his advantage, haha.  

Alright, tomorrow is a big day here with lots of things to do, so I need to sign off and get to work on preparing/packing our things!   One of these days, I'll write up all of the things I have swirling around in my brain about this experience and Theo himself, but for now.......will pictures suffice?  

Enjoy!

It's blueberry season in Maine, so we took a field trip and picked just a few (10!!) pounds in a bout 20 minutes, haha

finger painting and enjoying the beautiful weather

He insisted that this was where his legs belonged today while we were enjoying the sunshine

Matching colours and practicing his fine motor skills (two-finger pinching/picking up)

He's decided the little dog (a puggle) is his new best friend.  The big dog (an Old English sheepdog) is still not allowed to get near him, although I caught him petting her earlier today, so we're making progress!

another school time project - he threads the pipe cleaners through the colander (and he also has large pony beads to thread on the pipe cleaner, they're just not in this picture)