Brothers

Summer is here, we are in a new house with plenty of space for the boys to play both inside and out...I've been off for a little over a week and while the days are not restful, its been great being home to work on the house, work on learning our new school system (hello Canvas), and work on some skills with Jackson.  The best part so far is witnessing Jackson and Grayson's blossoming friendship.

Grayson was convinced the chimp was going to eat his soft pretzel.

Jackson's bus driver gave us this bus/slide in hopes that he would play with it and remember them.

Jackson did fine until the water sprayed him...then it was downhill from there.

 Grayson only wants to sleep in Jackson's bed now.  So bed time has become a bit of a battle lately.  I think its adorable, but I think Jackson would prefer to have his bed to himself.  So...soon we will have Grayson's own big boy bed.

During mealtimes we are doing a program called Gemiini. Its a program originally designed for children with autism, but has been found helpful in kids with DS.  We are giving it a shot this summer.  We decided to start from the beginning even though Jackson does have some words/phrases.  Its recommended to view the videos twice at mealtimes (so 3 times a day x 2 for a total of 6 viewings a day).  They aren't lengthy and easily fit into a meal sitting.  I'm getting pretty tired of viewing the same thing every day for multiple days, but both boys like the videos and both participate while watching them.  I'm looking forward to progressing to the next video (we are on QSL 2.0 - which is animals/sounds Part I).  The videos involve tons of repetition of words/phrases while zooming in on the mouth for the formation of the words and  incorporates ASL (american sign language).

"What does the bear say?"

Grayson has been actively seeking out Jackson's attention.  And Jackson is participating with Grayson more often than not lately.  Sometimes they have their own little language that Grayson seems to use to get their interaction going.  Its pretty bizarre and ultimately is some form of yelling/gibberish followed by a raspberry.  Its funny, but can drive you crazy after awhile.

 Even when they aren't directly interacting, there is a lot of side-by-side playing...most of the time in Jackson's room.   They have gotten pretty physical with  each other which I ultimately chalk up to being boys.  Most of the time its harmless fun.

sour cream face

 Grayson's big boy bed arrived and became a quick play toy for them.

Today we took a ride over to Freedom Park.  It was definitely a nice park...only downside is its not enclosed.  I'm a big fan of parks that are gated since Jackson "elopes".  I only had to race after him twice so that he didn't get hit by a car (luckily there was not a ton of cars driving through, but both times he was booking it there was in deed a car coming).  

I am impressed by the moms who feel extremely comfortable with their kids hanging from any part of the playground...I am not saying this to be judgmental...I am seriously impressed (and jealous since they could sit and monitor from afar while I had to try to control my urge not to be everyone's spotter on the playground...seriously, I had to call over to one of the moms and ask if it was okay that her son who looked to be Grayson's age wanted to climb across the monkey bars...turns out it wasn't, but I didn't know what was the proper etiquette when her son started crossing them while I was standing there).  These kids were completely fine and were quite the little monkeys...I'm just used to Grayson who is sooooo not a daredevil and Jackson whom I am constantly monitoring just in case he gets off balance while on the playground.

This picture makes me laugh.

Jackson loved the moving bridge. 

And then there was Grayson. 

The boys have been doing a lot of mimicking of each other.  Jackson will mimic Grayson's weird language that he's come up with and Grayson wants to do whatever Jackson is doing.  He is sometimes Jackson's shadow as if he's playing a game of follow-the-leader.  For example, if Jackson steps on the grass, Grayson steps on the grass.  If Jackson sits down, Grayson sits down.

And let me tell you...I love it.  I love everything about their developing connection and ultimate bond that only siblings can have.