Busy, Busy

I've been busy destroying my house (well the sitting room anyway). When we moved in it had lovely pink vinyl wallpaper, a very tasteful 1970's brick fireplace/display thing and a patio door that doesn't open and that has been expertly fitted (hopefully you've been reading this in a very sarcastic voice!). So it was time for it to be completley stripped down and made into a room that we'll actually use as an adult sitting room & dining room (has been the kids playroom).





The wallpaper is now gone


The carpet is gone, including the spiky stuff the goes around the room to hold it down and the million and one staples that they used to hold the underlay in place.


The brick monstrosity is gone


and the patio door will be replaced on Monday





We had a gorgeous new fireplace installed this week and I've got undercoat on most of the walls.





We're going to sand and varnish the floor boards, paint one wall a bluey green and the rest a neutral off white/cream with white woodwork.





I wish I'd taken some before photos but here's some work in progress.

Woke up to this

, originally uploaded by * Naomi *.

The garden looked beautiful, I love it when the sky is blue and clear and it's cold and snowy.

Breakthrough!

Okay, I know I've blogged about potty training several times lately, but when it consumes your life for 2 solid weeks there isn't much else to blog about!

Guess how many wet pairs of pants we've had today.....NONE!

Ok we've got another 2 hours to go before bedtime but usually I'm onto my 2nd lot of washing by now and Callum has been through every pair of trousers that he ones.

The best thing was that this morning Callum woke up dry and after being up for about half an hour TOLD me that he needed a wee before he actually started it, woo hoo! He got huge claps for that. The rest of the day I've taken him at regular intervals and after a little bit of persuasion he's gone in the toilet.

We also went and got the boys hair cut today, it was long overdue. Here's the result...

Kieran didn't want me to take his picture

Potty Update

Mima asked how the potty training was going, so here you go. It's still very hit and miss, but we are making progress!

Callum had swimming again yesterday and actually sat on the toilet before the lesson and had a wee in the toilet and I managed to get most of his post-swim wee in the toilet as well! The good thing about the wee before the lesson was that it was a 'wee on command', which is what we're really aiming for.

Little Animals

Click on the pictures if you want to see them in a bigger size

Good News

We got a letter today from the education department to say that Kieran has a place at Callum's school for next year, yippeee!

We now live outside the catchment area for the school so even though Callum is at the school Kieran wasn't guaranteed a place. One less thing to stress over.

Toilet Training

Toilet training is the one area that I feel that Callum is really behind, not just compared with typical kids but also with kids with Down syndrome.

We've tried multiple times and sometimes have had a little success.

As the kids are off school for a little over 2 weeks for Easter holidays we decided that it was time for another concerted effort. We're on day 4 now and I can feel myself about to start bashing my head against a brick wall again! He's worn underpants and trousers each day and only had nappies for bedtime. Here's our statistics

* Approximately 6 pairs underpants (and trousers) each day
* mopping up the floor too many times to count
* Wees in the toilet - 1 and a couple of dribbles, aaarrgggghhhh

I know it's not his fault, he just really doesn't seem aware of when he's about to wee or even sometimes when he has wee dripping down his leg. When we do get him on the toilet he doesn't seem to know how to release. We've tried running the tap, reading books, singing the wee wee song (don't ask!), sticker charts, cheering, clapping, bribing

Yesterday after swimming he started to wee as soon as I took his trunks off, so we ran into the toilet. Get willy over the toilet and everything stops, take 2 steps away and he wees all over the floor, back to the toilet and it stops, back out to the changing room and he turns back into a fountain!!!

Ten days 'till school starts again, hopefully we'll have some progress before then.

Quack Quack Song

I was feeling in a crappy mood this morning, Mark isn't feeling great, finances are a bit tight and I didn't sleep well. Not the best mood for a school event but I have a huge grin on my face now. Just take a look...

Swimming

Callum absolutely adores swimming and used to go once a week as part of his therapy when we were in California. Since we've been back we've been to the pool a few times but not had formal lessons. A few months ago we had a visit from a PT and she mentioned swimming lessons for kids with disabilities, we got his name on the list straight away but were expecting a very long wait.

Well yesterday we got a call to say that his name is now at the top of the list and can we start on Wednesday! Officially he can't start until he's 5, but as his birthday is on Saturday they're not going to quibble over 3 days. He's going to get a 30 minute one on one lesson once a week for the next 10 weeks and we'll review after that. Callum was almost swimming by himself when we were in California so it'll be exciting to see him back in the water.

I think Mark may want to accompany us to one or more of the sessions as the lessons are held at Manchester United's training ground, which are not open to the public.

The only bad thing about it is that Wednesday is also donkey riding day, so it looks like we'll only be able to go to the once a month Saturday sessions for the time being.

Family Portrait

Family Portrait, originally uploaded by * Naomi *.

I love this photo, I think it's my new favourite.

This is my Grandad, the boys great Grandad, and the boys on a recent visit.