The Ball Game and Wordy Measures

Progress:
My how far we have come!  Just 4 weeks ago, Ellie had the hardest time obeying directions.  She would refuse to sit in the chair and would run after all of the balls.  She would place one ball in the bucket only to pull out the other balls and throw them.  Then there was the time where she ignored the balls and instead  peeled off those round colorful little rugs (and try to put them in the bucket).  Rarely did this little Chicken return to her chair in between each ball run.  Actually, rarely did she sit in the chair at all. Look at her now!  Ellie is defying expectations.  She has proved that it IS POSSIBLE that with lots of patience, lots of repetition, and lots of positive reinforcement, rules can be learned and a game can be played.  Go Ellie go!

A Slue of Words:
If you notice in the video, Ellie was consistently saying "ball" and "bo".  As in ready. set. bo. I mean go.  Didn't you know "bo" is the cool kids' way of saying "go"?

A month ago, Ellie was not saying any of these words.  For the longest time, there were no words.  Ellie was silent.  Babbling was rare.  Then came mama (for Andrew of course).  Later on, dada.  Then nothing else.

I still despaired that my daughter would never talk.  I worried about why so many other children with Down syndrome were saying for more words and signing way more signs at a younger age than my daughter.  WOULD SHE EVER TALK?!  Our speech therapist had no idea why there was no progress.   Our ECI therapist, had no clue either. Then suddenly, in the past 2 months, new sounds and new words began to emerge.  What changed?  I honestly have no idea, but something clicked.  My girl is making progress and I am proud.  Do I still worry?  Yes, but I am grateful for every single sound that pops out of my Ellie's mouth.  Just when my faith is teetering and I am almost ready to give up hope, Ellie surprises me.  She reminds me that she CAN and WILL do things on her own time table and when she does, we celebrate.


Okay, back to the ball game. . . .
This video is a bit longer (which means I don't really expect you to watch it :-), but it gives you a snapshot as to how Ellie behaved when first learning the game. I honestly thought this was a lost cause at first.  I thought it would take months upon months of work.  I mean seriously, this little monkey has a 3 second attention span and prefers climbing and wrecking havoc to sitting daintily in a chair.  Yet, after seeing the above video, my girl proved to me that I need to have high expectations for she is going to surpass them.




Finally, a little shameless plug.  As I type this, The Chronicles is sitting at #26 on the Circle of Moms Top 25 Inspiring Families.  Voting is open until March 7th until 4pm or some other odd time so you have tonight and part of tomorrow to vote.  You can vote once every 24 hours.  Love another blog?  No worries!  You can vote for your beloved blog and The Chronicles of Ellie Bellie Bear.  To vote click here or on the badge in the upper right side bar.  Ellie and I thank you!