Since December I’ve been studying and preparing to take the AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) certification exam for primary group exercise. I’m already certified to teach group exercise by Fitour, but AFAA is more highly accredited. And the AFAA exam process is harder.

Yesterday was the Big Day. I woke up on Friday morning at 5, wondering if I should go ahead with the exam. I’d already paid for the test, I had spent two months of my life preparing for the test, and it costs a bit of money to change the date of the test. But on Thursday night as I was studying I had a miscarriage. I had been expecting it; I was twelve weeks pregnant but at a routine ultrasound at ten weeks had learned it was no good. So I’ve been waiting for the miscarriage and worrying it would interfere with a multitude of commitments I considered too important to miss, including my AFAA test. Was I done miscarrying? Was my body able to endure a day of aerobic activity and three exams?

I opted to go and drove two hours in the rain and, later, snow to get to the testing site. The workshop presenter was fabulous with an equally fabulous British accent. We spent hours reviewing anatomy, kinesiology, proper form and alignment, and preparing ourselves for the practical exams. There are two practical exams: One tests your knowledge of strengthening exercises (“Demonstrate at least two strengthening exercises for the pectoralis major…”) and stretches corresponding to each of the ten muscle groups. That test is done in a group setting, so you’re all demonstrating together. I think I passed this part, although I know I made at least one mistake.

The other practical test is an individual presentation where you stand in front of the class and demonstrate a movement (cardio, strength, or flexibility) and teach the class three variations of intensity. You’re encouraged to speak a lot during your presentation about proper form and alignment. This was my favorite part of the whole day; I had fun teaching my cardio portion to the class. I got a lot of whoops and hollers, which to an aerobics instructor is a good thing. I’m sure I passed this exam, even though I accidentally made a reference to table dancing. During the most intense part of the exercise we were jogging and jumping, and I told the class to land softly on the balls of their feet and, to help them do this, to pretend they’re moving on a glass surface. Except I couldn’t think of the word “surface” on the fly and instead said “on a glass table” and added, “Like you’re table dancing.” Just after it came out of my mouth I realized maybe an AFAA examination wasn’t the place to be talking about table dancing, so I quickly added, “The good kind of table dancing!” Thankfully, the table dancing comment got me a lot of those happy-sounding whoops and hollers, the loudest of which came from the examiner herself.

Finally (and by this time the day was starting to feel long) it was time for the 100-question written exam, which we had an hour to finish. The last thing I expected was to be the first one done, but that’s what happened. When I answered the last question I looked around and everyone was still hard at it. I didn’t think I had gone particularly quickly through the test. I mean, either you know it or you don’t. There were a few questions I had circled to come back to at the end that I wasn’t sure about, and I took a few extra minutes reconsidering my answers, but even with that I finished first. That could either be a good sign or a bad one. I have to answer at least 80 of the 100 questions correctly to pass, which I think I did, but I’ll find out for sure in 4-6 weeks when the results are in.

To celebrate the end of my studying days (which made me feel like I was back in college) and the end of my pregnancy, today I am cleaning the house, doing laundry, listening to Harry Potter on tape, and playing with Wesley. It’s a good day to move on.

Wes is doing really well. Slower developmentally than other kids, of course, but for Wes he’s doing great. His physical therapist came today and was happy to see his progress since last month.

He’s squatting a lot more when he plays, and he can go from standing (with help), to squatting to pick something up, and stand back up again. He loves to walk with help. We usually just hold one hand when we help him walk, and she said it’s better to hold his hand lower so it feels more natural to him (instead of way over his head). She showed me how to help him transition from the bear crawl to standing (pull back on his hips till his bum is sticking way out and then help him pull up). He responds well to this cue and stands right up. She said a lot of kids need you to push up their chest, too, before they’ll pull themselves upright. But Wes seems to have good balance.

She helped him walk around the dining room and kitchen, going after toys, for a while, and then I told her that Wesley’s favorite play place is the couch, and that he seems pretty brave in moving around on the couch. She was surprised, since the couch is less stable-feeling than the floor, but we put Wes on the couch and he seemed a little more fearless.

So we’ll keep working on helping him walk, helping him stand, and squatting to pick up toys. She said he’ll probably be an early walker (which in the world of DS is anytime before they’re two). She thought maybe by the time he’s 18 months.

I haven’t posted pictures in a long time. So here are some old ones.

Wesley in his Christmas Santa hat on Christmas Eve:

Wes sitting on John’s lap on Christmas day:

Wes planting a big wet one on me:

And Wes making a quick getaway after being caught in the act:

How can you be mad when he smiles up at you like this?

Wesley loves walking. With help, anyway. His smile is never brighter than when we’re holding one of his hands to help him walk. He just loves it.

Walking with Daddy

He turned 16 months on January 12th. The average age to walk for kids with Down syndrome is about two years. He’s well on his way to getting there before he’s two. We’ve noticed him bear crawling more often now, which might indicate he’s getting closer to standing or walking.

Good news! Though I wish it could be that Wesley finally has teeth, it’s almost as good. I got a job teaching Zumba and aerobics at a local gym. The best part is that I will get paid to do something I love and would be doing anyway. My classes start next week. And this week I’m subbing a couple of classes at BYU, which is pretty much the best place in the world to teach. You can’t beat the energy of a gymnasium full of 20-year-old girls.

Also, it looks like John and I will be taking a vacation this spring to Mexico, which will be a nice break. Wesley will get to bond with the grandparents while we’re away. I bet he’s planning to wait for us to leave and THEN break in some teeth while we’re gone. He’ll probably start walking, too, out of spite for leaving him home. But if that’s what it takes…

Wesley has learned how to play Peek-a-boo. At first, I would cover up my face with my hands, say “Where’s Mom?”, then pull away my hands and say “Peekaboo!” I’d do the same to him by covering up his face and saying, “Where’s Wesley?” He really liked that. But this week he figured out that he can do the same thing by pulling a blanket or burp cloth over his face. It’s really cute to watch and it’s rewarding to see that he’s getting it. Sometimes it seems like we work for so long on something, or a lot of things, and he just doesn’t get it. It gets frustrating to try to teach him something for months and months without any apparent progress, when you know other kids get it just like that. But then he surprises us by figuring out something on his own that we weren’t even trying to teach him, like how to play Peek-a-boo.

For Christmas Wes received a few new toys, courtesy of the grandparents. One of them is a Bounce & Spin Zebra that he can sit on and, well, bounce and spin on. The box says it’s for ages 12-36 months. Wes is 15 1/2 months, but I think we’ll have to put it aside for a few months until he gets tall enough that his feet can reach the floor while sitting on the toy. Right now we have to hold him on it and he’s kind of like, “What am I doing dangling here?”

Wes has to gain over three pounds before I can get him out of the backward-facing infant car seat and into the Big Boy front-facing seat. Whenever we take him into restaurants we always carry him in the car seat and we always specifically request a high chair. And the server always arrives with a sling for the car seat instead. When we ask for the high chair again, the server usually says, “Oh, sorry; people who want high chairs don’t come in with car seats.” I didn’t think it was that weird to carry Wes around in the car seat. Is it?

For Christmas John gave me the DVD of Anne of Green Gables. I finished watching it today. It is like a breath of fresh air. And now I’m dying because I don’t have the sequel to it. I might just have to go online and buy it as a belated Christmas present to myself…

And, speaking of movies, I saw Twilight for the second time this week. And it was so much better than the first time. I liked it OK the first time, but I could really get into it the second time around. How much better will it be the third time, I wonder? Has anyone else seen it twice?

Wes has made two major breakthroughs! (And no, I’m not taking about teeth, which we’re still waiting for…)

Friday we went to Tucanos for lunch. Oh, the yumminess. I had brought a PB&J sandwhich for Wes so I could enjoy my own lunch without having to share much. I ripped off small pieces and put them on the (Wet-Wiped) table surface for him to pick up and eat. After a while John pointed out that Wes seemed to be rubbing the table with his hand when his PB&J pieces were gone, like he wanted more. I’ve been doing the “more” sign to Wes for months and months, and although this wasn’t the actual “more” sign he was doing, he appeared to be doing it deliberately. I had ordered a smoothie with mango and pineapple and banana blended with ice cream. I poured a little into a kid’s cup and helped Wes drink it. Have I mentioned that Wes looooooooves ice cream? Giving him this drink kicked his sign-making into high gear. Whenever I pulled the cup away he’d start rubbing the table top like crazy and smiling. I wish we had our camera with us. We were so proud of him.

Yesterday at lunch we gave him more pieces of a PB&J, and although I had to leave mid-lunch for an appointment, when I came back John said that Wes was still doing the table-rubbing. So maybe he’s finally learned his first sign! Even if he did make it up himself.

The other good news is that Wes seems to be getting the hang of turn-taking. His speech therapist first visited him five months ago when Wes was ten months old and asked if Wes would mimic sounds or actions. That answer was a big fat “no.” But turn-taking is one of those skills that kids need to have in order to be successful with speech, so we’ve been working on it and working on it (without much success; he’s really good at staring at you, though). But the other day Wes was making noise and I started making noise back to him. He’d yell, then I’d yell back. He thought this was the funnest game ever, and it made him giggle. He was purposely “talking” so I’d talk back, and he thought it was hilarious. I’ve tried this game in months past, but he didn’t seem to get it like he gets it now.

Several months ago I took Wes to library time where they were learning baby signs. There were babies there six, seven, eight months old who were making the sign for “milk,” and I thought that was amazing. The director asked me if I’ve been doing signs with Wes, and I said, yes, ever since he was about a month old. Then she asked if he’d ever done them back to me, and that answer was no. Never. She recognized his Down syndrome and said that kids with DS get it, but they get it when they want to get it.

So maybe things are starting to click for Wes. Two big milestones this week. Maybe the next one with be a tooth….