Typical Tuesday: Royce & Liam

A little over a week ago, I was invited to be a part of a series called Typical Tuesday.  Because I think her idea is brilliant, I decided to start this series over here on The Chronicles of Ellie Bellie Bear. What may be typical in the Theurer household, may or may not be "typical" for another person.   What you will see is that there is no right or wrong way to our daily lives and that raising a child with Down syndrome is not necessarily so very different as raising a "typical" child.  My blogging buddy, Amber from This is Life . . . And This Is Joy is kicking off this series by sharing a typical Tuesday with her adorably, handsome boys Liam and Royce.  Thank you, Amber!

Typical Tuesday by Amber Malmberg

The boys were awake and happy at 7AM,

as was Lance (daddy)!

But mommy struggles with mornings.

I am in NO WAY an early bird,

so I slept in for as long as I could get away with,

which was 7:30AM.

The boys played together for that half hour,

and I heard Lance mediating something that happened between the boys.

Royce was crying and said something that sounded like "bite"

and Liam refused to answer whether or not he actually bit.

Ugh.

It's too early for this!

Or rather, too early for someone like mommy!

After rolling out of bed I hugged and kissed Lance

while sporting some serious bed-head, and I'm sure some nasty morning breath,

as he headed out the door for work.

He really loves me!

Well, 7:30AM is my cue to jump into gear with getting the day going.

SO GOOD MORNING BOYS! 

 

Liam has a new lantern that he sleeps with every night now,

and he LOVES it!

It has helped him with his nightmares,

plus we don't have to hear him constantly asking for his door to be open,

or for the hall light to be on. 

Liam and his lantern are inseparable,

and we are ALL happy about it! 

It's a lot better than a silly glowing night light.

Plus I remember attending a disaster preparedness seminar for families,

and they talked about how every child should have their own flashlight in their bedrooms with them,

and know exactly where it is at all times.

So it also makes me feel like I'm doing something intentionally right!

BAM!

Royce sleeps with his two very special stuffed animals.

Bear and monkey!

If you follow my blog you probably remember seeing them.

They are his oldest treasures!

WELL,

OUT OF BED BOYS!

 

Liam takes off his pull up,

throws it away,

goes potty,

and puts his own underwear on before heading to the kitchen!

I have Royce wait until after breakfast to take off HIS pull-up,

otherwise we'll have to change him all over again

because when he eats it is OH SO MESSY!

  

I made the boys their favorite breakfast (Malto-Meal)

They call it "porridge",

and always ask me to tell them the story of the Three Little Bears while they eat.

Today was no exception.

And I don't tell my boys that their breakfast is less than desirable either

because it's just SO easy to make.

Plus they love it. 

Yay!

It's a Win Win! 

Liam said the prayer today,

and thanked Heavenly Father for the Three Little Bears

and said he was sorry for biting Royce.

Well, at least we know now that that's what actually happened. 

After breakfast the boys wash their hands,

and it's time to get dressed and ready for the bus.

Royce is in charge of taking off his own pull-up and throwing it away! 

 My alarm goes off at 8:20AM,

which is my way of telling myself to get crackin' girl 'cuz you have 10 minutes

to have Royce outside waiting for the bus!

At 8:30AM Liam is in his room playing,

or watching us from his window,

while we patiently wait outside for the bus to arrive.

Today was a BEAUTIFULLY SUNNY day!

MMM MMMM it felt good! 

I use a retractable dog leash,

and attach it to the loop on his back pack.

That way I'm not chasing after him the whole time,

getting anxious over him dashing here and there,

running from me while laughing hysterically,

and I'm not losing my ever-livin'-patience before 9AM has struck.

Plus,

my shoulders are in real bad shape,

so I try to avoid holding him unnecessarily,

as well as try to avoid holding his hand

when he flops down in an attempt to get away.

All of his weight yanking on my arms are a killer!

I find that he's so much happier with this situation. 

He's fine not running when he knows he can't.

Plus, it's almost as though without it all he could think about was:

run run run. 

He's much more agreeable with his new found mommy-approved freedom!

With it he can focus and settle into whatever we're doing! 

The sun is shining,

so we kill time waiting for the bus by playing with our shadows.

One of Royce's favorite things to do!

Our neighbor Charlie was out this morning with his dog Buster,

and they are always happy to see Royce.

Charlie even waves goodbye to him as the bus drives off!

We have the best neighbors!

The bus picks Royce up at the house,

as well as drops him off!

And from 9-noon Royce is gone for preschool!

During that time Liam and I get to have each other ALL TO OURSELVES!

 Tuesday is garbage day,

so Liam gets to watch the big trucks go by!

After they leave he joins mommy in her bathroom to do his "makeup"

 He loves this time

because he gets to play with the fun light-up mirror,

and use all of moms cool brushes,

and he gets to look at his beautiful self,

make faces,

and check out any "owies" he might have!

I keep repeating myself, but today really is a GORGEOUS sunny day,

a rarity for us indeed,  

and when you live in the Evergreen State,

YOU DROP EVERYTHING AND ENJOY THOSE HAPPY LITTLE SUN RAYS!

Off to the park we went!

When I walk with Liam I don't use a harness or leash,

but I DO use this handle.

Instead of holding hands we both hold onto the handle.

Or if I want to be hands free I clip it to my pants,

and he walks beside me holding onto it the whole time.

That way he can walk independently,

and still needs to be a good listener,

but I can feel where he is at all times.

It's PERFECT for us,

especially for when I'm walking with both boys.

I'll even use it in the grocery store sometimes

when he REALLY wants to walk beside me like a big boy!

At 11:30AM we're back at home,

and I throw dinner in the crock-pot while we wait for Royce to get home.

 

When Royce got home today Liam was so excited to see him!

He ran up to him and gave a HUGE hug!

Moments like these make motherhood so rewarding!

I love my boys! 

 We ate our lunch in the yard,

and had ourselves a lovely little picnic,

so that we could soak up a few more of those rays before heading inside for naps!

From 1-3PM my boys have naps/quiet time.

Liam goes to his room,

and quietly waits for mommy to get Royce to sleep.

This is when I get all of my Royce snuggles for the day,

and where he plays with my hair

(hes had an obsession with hair since birth)

and it's also the time where I read Royce his book from school!

 Royce has to sleep on his tummy.

If he's laying on his back that means that he has every intention to stay awake,

and be a little stinker for mommy.

So I have to tell him to lay on his tummy,

and I lay down beside him,

lovingly hold him down with my arm.

He tries to resist for a little bit,

but quickly settles into rest-mode,

and off to sleep he goes!

Liam was obviously tired from our walk

because when I went to his room he was already sound asleep

under the heater with his special "barn blankie" and new lantern!

SCORE!

So all I had to do was carry him to bed,

and the house was still and QUIET!

I love quiet!

And it feels SO GOOD to have a clean house!

At 3PM I wake up my boys.

Yes, I'm one of those "mean moms"

but I do it because there's a NEED for it.

If they sleep past that then they'll be up ALL NIGHT LONG.

Then they're cranky,

mom's cranky,

EVERYONE'S CRANKY.

There's a need for it.

Trust me!

From 3-4PM my boys get to watch a movie,

and eat a snack.

From 4-5PM I Home-school Royce while Liam plays independently in his room.

This is what Homeschooling looks like for us:

OPENING SONG (he repeats various words along with me)

PRAYER (he gets to say it, with help from mommy)

SCRIPTURES (he repeats every word after me)

We're working up to 1 chapter, and we're currently able to do 2 verses before losing interest)

SING A "WIGGLE" SONG

ALPHABET 

SPELL HIS OWN NAME

And then we work on a number of different concepts depending on the day:

colors, counting, shapes, small/medium/large, same/different,

basic concepts like: over, under, next to, etc.

Today we did:

COLORS

 COUNTING

SAME/DIFFERENT

AND HE DRESSED A SOLDIER

(working on those basic concepts/body parts)

It's his favorite part to the lesson.

He redressed the soldier probably 5 times!

ARTICLES OF FAITH (we just do a couple, and he repeats every word after me)

CLOSING SONG

CLOSING PRAYER

And then from 5-6PM I Home-school Liam while Royce plays independently in his room.

It works best for us when I teach them separately.

Otherwise Liam wants to do EVERYTHING,

and Royce lets him.

At 6PM we have dinner

Today the boys wanted another picnic,

and that was fine with me.

Picnic on the kitchen floor...

less clean-up!

Next I brush their teeth,

let them do it themselves afterwards,

and then they get fresh pull-ups on,

and it's off to bed!

 

SURPRISE!!!

Daddy came home from a long day at work,

so I got the boys out of bed,

and they yelled and danced and snuggled their daddy over and over again

before it was eventually off to bed again!

It's always a party at our house when daddy comes home!

ZZZZ... 

 Goodbye friends!

Thanks for joining us for our Typical Tuesday!

If you want to see more of us

check out our blog!

( www.malmbergjoys.blogspot.com )