Preschool Christmas Program

Nora came home with her preschool Christmas program script: she was a Narrator with about three lines - ! You don’t understand - that’s a LOT for this little play. Most kids who even have a line have only one.

I was worried and then proud - I mean, those teachers had to have a lot of confidence in Nora and her speech abilities!

Let me tell you - ol’ Christine Batty back in high school was quite the speech student. Won myself a contest or two :: puffy chest :: Haha!

My Dad is also a lector at his parish - a very good speaker - so I kind of see Nora as taking the Batty Family speech baton : )

We practiced with Nora a lot at home and thankfully the school practiced a lot. Nora’s memory is amazing, so she had no trouble memorizing those lines. Except for the word “registered.”

Nora was very comfortable up on stage [big surprise] and delivered her lines very well - except for “registered.”

Special Nativity

Happy heart but watch your mascara! ; )

He Came Down

Christine: A Hair Story

Hair History:

Grew up with a pageboy cut. Oh you don’t know what that is?

High school - long, straight, limp hair. I have my Mom’s hair - lighter brown, thin. The little sisters received the luscious dark, thick wavy hair.

Enter the movie Sliding Doors with Gweneth Paltrow and entry to the design department at DAAP:

So this haircut, in variations, was basically it until Nora was born. At this point, I was more serious about running, running longer distances, and wanted a ponytail. So I started growing out around Nora’s 1st birthday. 

Then from about my pregnancy with Hannah to just this past October, it was long. I didn’t particularly like it down and it was hard to work with because it was just limp. I preferred it in a ponytail, but sometimes it felt a bit harsh with my face.

After this past Queen Bee half, I chopped it a bit [see photo #5 in the lineup]. Then just two weeks ago I went back full “Stine hair,” and am so happy with the result. I feel like myself ago, more confident in my hair and feel it just flatters my hair type and face shape/features better! Just go with what works! My hair will never work beach waves, and that’s okay. 

(Click to enlarge if you so care)

Five!

Nora is five?!

Five feels so BIG... she doesn’t quite feel like a preschooler even though she is. The words and phrases out of her mouth are becoming more inquisitive with slightly larger words... 

Awwww little Nora!

 

Birthday morning with her new Calico Critters house

More independent but more opinionated.
More dramatic but funnier.

We finally had a “real” birthday party for Nora with six girlfriends. The poor kid has only been celebrated at Thanksgiving gatherings! 

I refused to go into “Pinterest” mode, and simply laid out some crayons and coloring pages. Because guess what? Kids. Don’t. Care. (In my opinion) They just run around and play and could care less if the napkins coordinate with the cups.

We also had snacks and drinks for the adults because 1. They’re our friends and 2. We all deserve adult beverages.

*On party “rules” - I’ve noticed a trend now that kids don’t open their gifts at parties sometimes. One instance was that there were SO many kids/presents it’d take too long. Or to avoid the dislike/duplication of certain gifts I’ve heard. 

We did open, which was fine until Nora didn’t want to share. Blergh!

The “lovely” gift of karoke with Trolls movie songs! Wheeeee! Haha!

Otherwise, I think it was a successful birthday party. 

*Edit - I forgot to add photos from Nora’s annual movie & lunch with Nana & Papa. Trolls movie [the start of it all!] and Steak & Shake:

Hear & Say & Eat

Hearing:

Littles with Down syndrome need routine hearing exams on top of all the other routine care : )

Hannah had her third hearing test about two weeks ago. 

She cooperated quite well while sitting in my lap. One audiologist was behind a window with the monitors and equipment while another audiologist sat in front of us with toys for distraction and to focus Hannah on a neutral position before she was signaled. 

Various sounds from various speakers came on and Hannah would turn to respond. 

Based on our observations, she hears well. 

Well, Hannah didn’t hear great at her exam. She missed some low tones and her eardrums had no movement - which means she had fluid in her ears. And she HAD just got over a cold. However the tool to measure the bone behind her ear did have movement. We were recommended for an ENT follow-up - * fists to sky *

Bah! We just dropped one specialist [G.I.] but now pick up another. I’m really really hoping it’s simply fluid in her ears [that maybe will be gone] and this doesn’t become another upkeep. We’ll find out early Jan. 

Saying:

On the upside, everyone is impressed Hannah’s communication continues to improve parallel to her improved motor skills - typically speech falls to the wayside when motor takes off. Also Hannah’s communication skills are actually on par with typical 21-24 month olds which made me feel good [she’s currently 27 months]. Her emotional-social [?] skills are around 18-21 months which sounds about right. 

Eating:

We are also working on self-feeding. Hannah can somewhat feed herself. When she wants. She’s a toddler and just isn’t interested a lot. She tries really hard with a fork, but just can’t. Quite. Pierce. The food. Scooping with spoons is a little trickier and takes more dexterity. We were recommended to buy curved toddler utensils, however we’re finding Hannah seems to favor her LEFT hand. Can you guess how easy it is to find left-handed curved utensils for toddlers? Right. $$

So Hannah is doing very well overall while we continue to work hard with her!