31 for 21 - Letter to Connor

Dear Connor,

A year ago today I wrote my first letter to you and I have decided that I am going to write you a letter each year. I am amazed at how much you have grown and accomplished over the past year. You teach me so much every day about working hard and never stopping until you figure out whatever it is you are trying to do. You work so hard to communicate with us and I am so proud of how many new signs you have learned over the past year. You have learned to stand on your own in the middle of the room and clap along cheering for yourself with everyone else in the room. You have learned to take steps and I really think if you stopped laughing so hard while you walk, you could probably walk a lot further.

You are so funny. You make me laugh every single day with your unique sense of humor. You have a different laugh for every occasion. You find the strangest things funny. As annoying as it is at times, I love it when you shake your head no at the most random moments when we ask you a question.

I love the way that you blow kisses and the way that you have learned to actually give a nice kiss on the cheek. You give the best hugs and squeeze so tight with a big giggle every time. I love the way you start tapping your feet and dancing everytime you hear the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song. That song used to make me sad because it was Makayla's favorite show when your heart defect was diagnosed, but now it will always make me smile because of how happy it makes you and reminds me of how perfect life turned out!

I love our daily storytime together. You refuse to sit in my lap, but snuggle right in next to me and rest your head on my shoulder as we read your favorite books. You love any book about a train and will request train book until we read one. We can never read less than 3 books. That is unnacceptable to you.

You have enriched my life in countless ways and I love learning new things with you every day. I look forward to each and every day we get to spend together and cannot wait to see where our journey leads us.  I am so happy that you are going to be a big brother. You are going to teach your little brother so many amazing lessons. I love you Connor!

Love,
Mom

31 for 21 - Splashing in the water

Connor loves splashing in the water. He was very sad when Pa had to close his pool for the season, but still has a great time splashing in the bathtub. We try to do a bath every other day due to Makayla's eczema and dry skin from water in general, but someday's Connor will not allow us to not give him a bath. He just loves that part of his day. He will splash, play with boats, but his favorite part is filling cups with water and dumping the water over his head. He has also been known to dump the cups of water outside of the tub, but knows that mommy is not very happy with him when that happens!

Over the summer, he made some great progress in the pool. He has always loved swimming, but last year that mostly involved sitting ont he steps or floating in a tube. This year he would "jump" off the side into someones arms. He would even go under water with his jumps and come up very happy. He kicked and moved his arms to make the water splash and loved every minute he spent in the water.

Connor, Makayla and Uncle Andy

 

 

At the water park...Connor spent the entire time by the fire hydrant!

 

 

P.S. I don't know what it is about October, but this is the 2nd year in a row I am trying to post the last few days without power. Last year I drove around with the kids in the car trying to find a parking lot with working free wi-fi. This year I am fortunate enough that the internet still works once we turn on the generator for power! 

 

31 for 21 - Fire Station

Connor's dad is a Fire Leiutenant on the Atkinson Fire Deparment. His Pa is the Fire Chief and his Uncle Andy is on the department as well. Connor loves to visit the fire station and is lucky to be able to go as often as he wants. He does not always like it when daddy has to leave for a fire call, however, and makes it very clear. As soon as the pager goes off he points to his ear telling us to listen, but then cries really loudly so we can't actually hear what the call is. It is sad, but Makayla usually tries to explain to Connor that daddy won't be gone long and he is leaving to help people. The strange thing is, even if it is during the day and daddy is at his full time job, Connor will still cry when the pager goes off because he associates that noise with being sad. Hopefully soon he will realize that his daddy has to leave to help someone who may be hurt.

Today was the open house at the fire station. Connor and Makayla got to go for a ride in the fire truck and tour the fire station again. Connor was not too thrilled with the truck ride, but was happy crawling around the open space since all of the trucks were pulled out of the station.

"Cheese" face

 Helmet weighs more than Connor

Pa, Makayla and Connor

Daddy and Connor

Family photo

Connor in his firetruck

Future firefighters

31 for 21 - What I look forward to...

When Connor was born I had no idea what to expect for the future. No one can ever really know what the future holds for any child. However, there are many things that I look forward to. I look forward to Connor going to school and making friends. I look forward to him going on playdates and attending Birthday Parties. I look forward to him learning how to read and write and play sports and anything else he may desire to learn. I look forward to Connor going to high school and possibly learning how to drive (although that is a scary one considering how he rides around on his fire truck now!) I look forward to Connor attending college and finding a great job. I look forward to him falling in love and the possibility of him getting married someday. These are the same dreams that I have for Makayla as well as our new baby. Just because Connor has Down Syndrome does not mean that my dreams change for him. He is my little boy and I hope that he gets everything he ever hopes for. I used to be worried that Connor would live at home forever, but honestly now I kind of selfishly hope he does. Of course I want him to go out on his own and experience life, but at the same time I am not sure I will ever be ready for him to leave us. We have so much fun together and I look forward to all the fun experiences ahead!



 

 

31 for 21 - Reading

One of Connor's favorite times of day is storytime! He will not take a nap or go to bed at night without signing "book" and then "more book please" until we have read at least 3. He will also spontaneously request to read stories throughout the day as well. Anytime we are upstairs he will go over to any one of the 3 bookcases and take books off to read. He points to familiar objects in the books when asked, but really just loves to listen to the story and turn the pages. He is starting to have favorite's and will request specific books by signing "train book please" for example. If I choose one that he is not in the mood for he will shake his head no until I get it right!

Signing "Book"

Snuck into Makayla's room to attack her bookcase!

A recent favorite (thomas the train)

Daddy and Connor reading a bedtime story

31 for 21 - York Beach 2012

Every summer we spend a few days at York Beach in Maine. My aunt and uncle have a great house within walking distance from the beach and let us use it for a few days during the week. Connor has always loved the beach, but this year he had so much fun digging in the sand with his trucks and shoveling sand into buckets to build sand castles. He was not a HUGE fan of the cold water, but did enjoy spending a few minutes splashing around. The cold water encouraged him to stand instead of sitting which was nice! The girls always have a great time at the beach and just hanging out at the house. Jeff and my brother, Mike joke that the only reason we go is to take pictures and sometimes the kids just don't want to cooperate! We got some really funny faces this year.

About to throw wet sand over Connor's head

Bathing Beauty

Sand goatee

Huge fake smiles from Madi and Emma =)

And another from Makayla