Budding Self-Advocate

Today was busy (something new?).

Kate's morning report from her CPAP duties was not encouraging. After getting up with Hannah seven times she took the whole mask off and they slept the rest of the night. I'm starting to think that maybe I should research melatonin...

We blew off school this morning, and went shopping for a Graduation dress for Katie. Success, and on sale! I hope it's warm enough in Minnesota at the end of May for this dress....maybe we should hunt up a sweater too. We did find some lovely hats...

And here's the dress....do you think the hat is just enough, or should we consult Aretha?

Hannah had some money burning a hole in her pocket (from her job as her brother's keeper i.e. laundress, and from the old men who paid her for dancing for them at the Moose Lodge last week. Yes, I did not feel quite right about old men hugging and slipping my pubescent daughter a few bucks. I know they were trying to make her day, and contribute to the cause, so it wasn't really that disgusting, but it did make me think twice!). We headed to Target to look at the toys. But she was a shrewd shopper and ended up buying a Scooby Doo DVD on sale.

We hurried home to drop off Kate and the loot before Hannah's piano lesson. Hannah's teacher, Mrs. Hughes, is always so very kind and encouraging to Hannah. Today Hannah worked on her newest piece, "The Lonely Goatherd" (from Sound of Music).

Then Hannah was off to her first ever public speaking event! Not really, she was more of an interactive Exhibit A for my short presentation to a Psychology class at the University of Richmond. This upper level psych seminar was studying short-term memory and how it impacts learning. So I was asked to come in and talk about how individuals with Down syndrome are impacted by smaller digit spans (a digit span is how many pieces of information can be held for the short-term). I did a 10 minute talk, and some show-and-tell with Hannah, showing the types of techniques we use for homeschooling (presentation of new information, flash cards,
spelling techniques, etc). Then Hannah had her turn in telling the class about herself. At first she was a little shy. She had a list of things to tell the class ("I play piano" , "My brother pays me to do his laundry", "I like to cook my favorite food: Pasta", etc), so after a little help getting started, she was off and running. She ended with some of her favorite jokes, which were heartily enjoyed. She did a terrific job!

We battled the rush hour traffic to meet the rest of the family at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Yum! We drove into the parking lot. Hannah saw James' car and said, "Oh great, there are those meddling kids!"

And now we're home! Scooby is playing downstairs and I'm ready for some quiet mindless activity. Or sleep. Or maybe that's the same thing.