You What? uKloo!

Friday, 6 December 2013

uKloo (pronounced You-Clue) is a fun, engaging, early reader treasure hunt game for kids ages 4+. It was created by Doreen Dotto who has 2 boys that were reluctant readers and tried to avoid doing reading homework. She wanted to create a fun way to get them engaged in reading with a bonus of being active while doing it!

So what exactly is uKloo and how do you play it? The game comes with 4 sets of cards (3 reading levels and a set of blank dry-erase cards). You set the cards up in various locations throughout the house according to what is on the card. Once they find one card it will tell them where to find the next card and so on. The last hiding spot reveals their surprise.

The surprise can be anything you want it to be. A dollar store toy, a certificate to get ice cream, a sticker, a card from mom or dad, a lollipop, etc. It doesn't have to be complicated at all!

Examples of each level of the reading cards from early readers to more detailed readers:
1) Look beside the milk
2) Find it in your helmet
3) Search on the bed under your dad's pillow

For early readers there is also a poster of all the words that are used on the card. If a child gets stuck on a word they can refer to the poster that has a picture with each word to help them figure it out. The poster is also sorted by verbs, preposition, helper words, and nouns. The words in each category are also listed alphabetically.

My kids love this game and frequently ask to play it. Sometimes I use it as an incentive when Kayla is a bit slow getting ready for school. I'll ask her if she wants to play uKloo when she gets home and that usually perks her up! She even tried telling her aide as school about a game she was going to play at home, but he had no idea what she was talking about.

They both enjoy running around to the next spot and seeing where that card is going to take them ... and wondering when they are going to find their surprise!

Here are 2 quick videos of each of them playing the game.

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A short clip of Kayla. I had a couple more video clips of her reading her cards and finding her surprise, but they've mysteriously disappeared from my phone ... coincidentally after Kayla was looking through the videos!

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uKloo has won 9 awards (3 from Dr Toy categories), is available in Canada, US, and International, and available as a free app.

uKloo2 - Riddle Edition Treasure Hunt Game for ages 7+ was recently released and that is on my to-get list for Lucas's birthday. While Lucas does have fun with the Early Reader game, the Riddle Edition will be more challenging for him and I'm sure he would enjoy figuring out the riddles to find the next clue.

Disclaimer: I received a uKloo game for free to review, but all opinions on the game are mine and my children's!

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Family Resemblances

Thursday, 21 November 2013

I've always thought that Lucas looked quite a bit like my brother Michael when he was a toddler.

I don't have a lot of nice, clear quality pictures of Michael from years ago, but here are a couple.

 A sampling of pictures during Lucas's toddler years...

But then Joe's mom shared this picture of Joe as a kid.

My first thought, "Wow that could be Lucas!"

Kayla and Lucas both thought this was Lucas, "Who am I playing with?"

I showed this to my mom and she said, "Where was this taken and who is Lucas with?"

My sister realized this was an older picture and therefore not Lucas, but her response was, "That's not Lucas! That's Michael!" Ha!

And seeing how I think he resembles my brother, he must somewhat resemble me too when I was a baby.

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Put Some Wiggle in That Ziggle

Saturday, 16 November 2013

Thanks to House Party's Chatterbox feature my kids received an early Christmas present.

The Radio Flyer Ziggle is the fun way to get the wiggles out and provides for outdoor (and even indoor!) fun activities. 

When I first pulled it out of the box I sighed thinking it was going to be cumbersome to put together. By the time Joe got off the couch to help me, I pretty much had it all done. It really was pretty easy to assemble! The seat is adjustable to grow with your child, but unless I missed something, the only way I could see to adjust it was to unscrew it and put it on the next setting. It would be nice if there was something you could click together to move the seat forward/backward instead of having to unscrew it ... but other than that ... no complaints!

The suggested age is 3-8, but since Kayla is a little on the smaller size for a 10 year old she is able to comfortably use this too. Her legs are a little bit long for it, but for now she can still fit without her knees hitting the handlebars.

It doesn't take much for kids to figure out how to use it - you just move the handlebars back and forth and just wiggle!

It glides smoothly and easily and when you can gain some speed you can drift into 360 degree spins.

Joe and I both commented, as we were watching Kayla and Lucas try this out, that we wished there was one for bigger 'kids' because we wanted to try it out too!

Lucas' review, "That was amazing!" Kayla thought it was pretty easy to use and she liked it too.

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Sticky Love Notes

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Unbeknownst to me Lucas found the "sticky notes" on the computer. He proceeded to type up 2 notes and was excited to show them to me.

I know he's just starting to learn typing at school; he's told me about learning some of the home keys starting with F and J.

So I know he's not adept at typing away on the computer; he doesn't know where all the keys are yet. I wonder how long it took him to type these 2 notes using the 'hunt and peck' method.

I'm glad that he's so secure in the knowledge that he is loved!

 

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The Day After

Friday, 1 November 2013

Another October has come and gone. Another 31 for 21 finished.

Thanks to everyone for participating in the annual blogging challenge for Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

I know some people express that it gets harder every year to blog every single day in the month of October; especially about Down syndrome specifically. I know it feels like you've come to a point where you've said (blogged) all there is to say about Down syndrome.

But please don't be discouraged. From the beginning (Tricia) said that every single day didn't have to be a post that was Down-syndrome related; and that still stands today. The point of the challenge is just that - a challenge to yourself to blog every day. If you miss a few days - it's ok! - the blog police are not going to come get you!

And even if you feel like you've said all there is to say - just remember, you never know who all is reading  your blog. Every day there is a possibility of a new family getting a Down syndrome diagnosis and they might stumble across your blog. You never know who you are reaching. You never know who might come away from your blog that day with a better understanding of life with a child with Down syndrome.

Maybe it's time to change the name to National Down Syndrome Awareness and Acceptance Month. I know there is some consensus in the Down syndrome community that awareness has been raised and we don't need to raise anymore awareness; that people are aware and what we need to be advocating for is acceptance.

I agree about acceptance, but I'm not so sure the intentions behind awareness have been fully met. Yes people are aware of Down syndrome. They know of Down syndrome, but there are still stereotypes. There are still misconceptions. There are still negative and false assumptions about people with Down syndrome.

For the new parent receiving the diagnosis of Down syndrome are they really aware of what that means today? Or do they still have an outdated image in their mind of what Down syndrome was years ago?

Has the right kind of awareness been raised outside of the community? The kind of awareness that paints a more accurate picture of the capabilities of people with Down syndrome? Or are people still not aware about Down syndrome until they have a reason to be - until they have a loved one with Down syndrome in their lives.

I don't claim to have all the answers, but I don't think we can totally stop the campaign to raise awareness either. I think we need to expand that campaign from awareness to include acceptance though. Hmm... should I start a change.org petition to get "Acceptance" added on to that monthly designation?

Since today is also the day after Halloween here are a few Halloween pictures of The Supergirl, The Pirate, The (not-so-bandwagon) Red Sox fan, and The Civilian!

 

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Royal Fairytale Ball

Sunday, 27 October 2013

We have taken the kids to a few plays at Creative Spark Center For the Arts and they have really enjoyed them. They are close to the action and the cast involves the crowd in parts of the play.

I saw they were having a Royal Fairytale Ball and the whole family was encouraged to dress up. I knew this was something my kids would enjoy so I signed us up. I only had to buy one item to complete our Royal Family transformation.

I was a queen. I wore the red bridesmaid dress from my sister's wedding and pinned my kids' dress up king/queen robe to my dress and wore the red headband crown from Kayla's outfit.

Kayla was a princess in a red and gold gown that my mom got her last year for Christmas. My dress matched hers almost perfectly. She wore the tiara that she wore when she was a flower girl in the above-mentioned wedding.

Lucas wore the knight cape with his shield and sword that he got for his birthday last year. He thought it was pretty cool that he was the only knight. (considering there were only 2 other boys, one a toddler and one a little older, odds were in his favor!)

Joe could have went as a king, but he opted for the jester hat that I picked up for him at the store. Every royal family needs a jester.

Joe wasn't alone in his jester-ness!

Twirling and dancing (notice she couldn't keep her tiara on as referenced in my sensory post; nor the necklace she tried on at home or the one they gave her there.)

Protecting the jester and chasing the Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk

Having her palm read.

Also, this family won the best dressed royal family award. One of my kids will be attending a free summer class next year!

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Impressed With Her Flexibility

Thursday, 24 October 2013

Kids with Down syndrome can be extra-flexible. I think this is a result of having low muscle tone/loose ligaments.

When Kayla was a baby/toddler people would often comment on her flexibility. I'm talking about being able to raise your legs straight up in the air almost touching your ears.

Lucas is impressed with Kayla's skills and has commented on this several times over the past few months. If he's trying to get by her in the van she swings her legs around and up for him to go across instead of bending her knees and bringing them to her chest.

A few months ago he was trying to find the words to explain this to me and he came up with: "Disability people can do something that not disability people can do! Watch Kayla, see how far her legs go up? Wow! Mine can't do that!"

(Before anyone says anything, yes, I realize that was not People First Language; however, he's 5 years old. He was trying to figure out the words to use to explain what he was thinking. The PFL will come with time. I modeled it for him by saying, "I don't think it's necessarily that people with disabilities can do that, I think it's more likely that people with Down syn can do that because they can be more flexible.)

I thought it was cool that he thought it was cool that she could do something that he couldn't, because she has Down syndrome.

My kids humored me and re-enacted Lucas trying to get by Kayla and Kayla raising her legs, so you can see that flexibility in action.

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This doesn't have anything to do with being flexible, or having Down syndrome, but Lucas noticed something else Kayla can do that he can't (yet!). She can pick him up and carry him, but because she's still taller than him, he's not able to lift her up. He thinks that's cool too. "I can run faster than Kayla and Kayla is stronger than me!"

And since Kayla had those Shoulder Buddies I mentioned in the previous post about sensory issues, I did a quick video of what she likes about them. 

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School Pictures

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

I'm pretty pleased with how their school pictures came out this year.

My Kindergartener ...

 My 4th grader ...

 

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The Sibling Age Gap

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

When Joe and I started talking about when to try for a second child we envisioned having them relatively close in age. While the age gap between them isn't that large (4 years 7 months to be exact), there are times I wish they were closer in age; like now that Lucas has started school.

I thought it would be nice for them to grow up going to school together, but that's likely not to happen beyond elementary school.

Because Lucas was born in February he didn't start school until this year; because Kayla repeated Kindergarten she is in 4th grade this year, otherwise she would be in 5th and this would be their only year in the same school.

I know that students with disabilities can stay in school until they are 21, or maybe 23 in some states, but I don't know exactly how that looks and I know each state does things differently.

Does that mean when they are 18 and a senior they walk across the stage w/the classmates they've been with for 4 years and then return back to their high school to do it all again with the next group of seniors? And then do it again after that? Or do they just walk across the stage the one time with their classmates but keep going back to school for the next 3 years? To do what? Take all the same classes? Go to another separate part of the school to work on life skills? Take 3 more years for a job-type class? I have no idea and I haven't looked too much in to it since things could be different by the time Kayla is in high school.

But right now I don't want that for her. I don't know what it will be like when she's in high school, but I don't want her to go through the motions of walking with her class at age 18 and then just continue to go back to the school for the next 3 years. I don't know what all the answers are though.

IF she does do something like that, then I guess it would be possible for she and Lucas to be at the same high school at the same time.


But as of right now they'll only have one more year of being at the same school together and riding the same bus together. (Unless we hold her back to give her another year in elementary school before transferring to middle school - but I'm not sure I want to do that either given that she's already repeated a grade and would then be 2 years older than her classmates).


When she starts middle school he'll only be in 2nd grade. And when she's finishing high school he'll be finishing middle school.

I don't know why this feels so important to me, but it does make me somewhat sad. I wish that she would have her brother with her through the school years. Just to have that familiar face and someone on her side. And there's probably a part of me that was hoping he would be there to 'watch over her' - keep an eye out for her.


Overall I just wish all this school stuff and decisions and placements and transitions didn't have to be so hard.

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Mother-Son Time

Sunday, 13 October 2013

Since Lucas started Kindergarten I don't get many chances to spend time with just him anymore. I remember the same feeling after Kayla was in school and Lucas was born ... not having much mother-daughter time with Kayla. It was rare to get to spend some one-on-one time with her.

I know it's important for each child to have some alone time with each parent for that undivided attention, and while my intentions are good for trying to schedule that, I often fail at finding the time. Weekends are usually pretty packed doing things together as a family that we don't get much time to go our own ways with each child.

As preschool was winding down for Lucas I was treasuring the last few times we were able to do things together like the occasional breakfast at IHOP which was a treat for him since Kayla can't eat there.

Looking back on my time with Lucas before he started Kindergarten I feel like I didn't take advantage of all the 'free' time we had together. That I didn't get us involved in enough things. That we didn't have enough special days together exploring our community. Although Joe said it seemed like I was always telling him what Lucas and I did over the week; I look back and can't remember much of what we did!

A couple of weekends ago I had planned for us to go, as a family, to Drayton Hall since it was free for Smithsonian Museum Day. We've been to this plantation before, and while the kids aren't too interested in the house tour, it is nice to walk the grounds and take the trails by the river and the marsh walk.

Kayla ended up having a friend over to play that day and when her friend wasn't going to the plantation Kayla wanted to stay home instead. Lucas said he still wanted to go to the plantation and since Drayton Hall is part of the Charleston Explorers Club we could get the kids' passports stamped.

So Lucas and I spent a nice afternoon together; just the two of us, exploring the grounds of Drayton Hall, and counting all the large spider webs on our marsh walk. And it reminded me that I need to make more of an effort to find time for Joe-Lucas, Joe-Kayla, Me-Kayla, Me-Lucas time together!

 We thought it was pretty neat to see how this tree grew around this old railroad tie and eventually lifted it off the ground.

 

How do other families fit in time with each child to have one-on-one time with each parent?

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Buddy Walk 2013

Friday, 11 October 2013

Last weekend we participated in our 11th annual Buddy Walk. It seems odd to say 11th annual when Kayla is only 10, but we walked in our first one the year she was born, 2003, when she was just shy of 3 months old. Technically this was our 12th total walk since we participated in two walks in 2009 when we lived in MD.

From what I can remember of each of the 12 walks ... we've always had a nice, sunny day ... except one time. That cold, rainy day from the Northern VA walk. I'm talking coats, scarves, and gloves kind of cold!

I guess when you've lived in NM and SC the walks usually end up being warm/hot and sunny. And add humid to the mix when you're on the east coast! Last weekend was no different. Although there was some rain that day, it seemed to have rained all around the area ... except Daniel Island where the walk was held.

Kayla enjoyed snuggling up to this sweet baby (and she kept trying to wake him up!) He was born at Holloman AFB, NM ... just like Kayla was!


Our team, minus my mom who stayed under the shade!


Kayla's BFF


At the end of the walk: red, hot, and sweaty!


With the band:
 

Future drum major?
 

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When Lellow Became Yellow

Friday, 4 October 2013

Like a lot of kids when they first start talking, Lucas pronounced "yellow" like "lellow."

I knew that he would eventually start saying it correctly, and as it got closer to him starting Kindergarten I knew I should be correcting him so he would enunciate it correctly. But I was hesitant, because I enjoyed how cute it sounded to hear "lellow" and when he would say it, it reminded me that he was still my little boy.

A few weeks before school started, out of nowhere, Joe asked Lucas, "What color is the sun?"

We both fully expected to hear "lellow" and I knew that we would secretly share a smile over his head.

Instead, also seemingly out of nowhere, he answered perfectly clearly, "yellow." Joe and I shared more of a shocked looked over his head when that came out of his mouth.

No one had been coaching him to pronounce it "yellow." No one had even brought it up to him. It just naturally flowed out of his mouth as if he had been saying "yellow" this whole time. Except he hasn't.

We asked him again, and again, what color is the sun? And he kept answering "yellow." He didn't realize what the big deal was; he didn't even realize he was saying it differently than he was previously saying it until we pointed it out to him.

Joe and I shared another look - one that said we were going to miss the sound of 'lellow' and that this was just another sign that he was growing up.

He still has a couple of other things that he says that I'm going to miss when he grows out of those as well.

He got 'scented' and 'sensitive' mixed up at one point. Kayla gave him a scented marker for Christmas last year and he got some on this thumb and said that his "thumb is sensitive now." So when talking about something that is scented he says sensitive. He, in turn, gave her a scented pen for her birthday, but it's "see Kayla? It's sensitive, just like the sensitive marker you gave me."

When something is confusing him he says, "Oh I'm confusing!" instead of "I'm confused."

Contents became mixed up with continents. "Where are the Table of Continents in this book?"

I need to start writing down more of his little language quirks before he stops saying them...and before he grows up too much.

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Story Behind The Picture

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

When we went to Disney last month one of the restaurants we ate at was the Biergarten Restaurant at Epcott.

They have "communal, biergarten-style tables" and you're asked if you mind being seated with another party. We didn't mind and we were joined by another family of four who had two boys about the same age as my kids. And, coincidentally, the husband has a brother who has Down syndrome. Neat little connection that we were seated with that family!

This restaurant also has a live band and a dance floor. We were seated right next to the railing that circled the dance floor. The first opportunity there was to dance I told Kayla she could go out on the floor to dance; she was more than happy to be able to do so.

I tried to get a picture of her and managed to get this photo as the lady in the background went down. She went down hard; hit her head hard.

Kayla came back to the table and she was very concerned about the lady; kept glancing over to see if she was up yet, kept saying she didn't want her to go to the hospital ("no hospital, no blood!"), she was worried for her.


She was down for quite a while with different people checking her out (security and medical). She was down for so long that when she finally got up people clapped for her as they do when an athlete is injured. I was surprised she wasn't being escorted out on a stretcher or wheelchair since she was down for so long.

We continued on with our meal and eventually the band started up another round of songs. Kayla took off for the dance floor but was back sooner than I expected. She told me she 'gave a girl a hug.' I usually play 20 questions with Kayla to try and get the whole picture of what she's trying to tell me.

"You gave someone a hug?"
K: "Yeah, the girl."

I turned to look at the dance floor to see what kids were there, but there weren't any. I tried asking her again about who she hugged and she finally gave me a better description.

"That girl fall, I give her a hug."
M: "You hugged the lady that fell down?"
K: "Yeah!"
M: "The lady that fell down on the floor over there? You just went over there and gave her a hug?"
K: "Yeah, I hug that lady."
M: "Where is she?"

She pointed across the floor to the other side of the railing where there were tables and I scanned the diners sitting over there ... and sure enough ... the lady was sitting at the table. I knew Kayla had been concerned for her but I didn't know she paid that much attention that she would be able to pick her out of a crowd.

I told Kayla how nice that was of her to give that lady a hug. A few minutes later Kayla and I walked to the buffet to get dessert and on our way back she wanted to bring me over to their table and show me the lady that she hugged so I could see that she was ok. I still wasn't 100% sure if Kayla did what she said she did.

An example of why I don't always believe her: yesterday I asked if she went to the library at school (yes). So you returned your 2 books? (yes). Both of your books - Bobby's Zoo and Snow Day - you returned to the library? (yes) And you got new books? (yes). When I opened her backpack Bobby's Zoo and Snow Day were still there.

So I asked this lady if Kayla did in fact come by her table and give her a hug and she confirmed that she did and she was really touched by it.

Lesson from my daughter: Sometimes it's ok to hug a stranger, because sometimes they really need a hug. 

My kids closed out the night with some more dancing:

 Grab This Button

 

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