This summer I signed Wes up for VIP Special Needs T-Ball. It’s just six games (no practices) and it’s for kids ages 5-22. For $15, including a t-shirt, trophy, and time for Wes to run around and hit balls, I thought it’d be worth it. It’s Wesley’s first experience with an “organized” sport.

The best part is all the volunteers. The teams are completely made up of kids with special needs–some physical, some mental. I just love that so many people are interested in spending an hour helping people who need help to participate in something like t-ball. As soon as we arrived some buddies grabbed Wes and took him over for batting practice. Wes was all smiles. He had a blast.

Someone’s mitt caught Wesley’s eye, and the family played catch with him a little bit. That was nice. The mitt was huge.

Meanwhile, Carissa sat on a blanket and nibbled chocolate chip cookies that she insisted on bringing from home and holding (the bag was open and cookies were being nibbled before we even left the garage).

And she took some pictures of herself, the sky, and many blurry things.

Elizabeth hung out.

Wes is on the Yankees team. His coach’s name is Bridger, and he’s great. He even confided in Wes that they’re going to name their next son Wesley. The games are split by age, so Wes is on the younger team.

Wes gave his buddies (and his dad) a terrific workout by running all over the field and letting them chase him. He had a fantastic time until about 40 minutes in, when he was clearly pooped and just sat on the field. But overall he enjoyed t-ball. In this picture Wes is on the right in the navy blue shirt, standing next to his coach Bridger, who I think is trying to tell him not to run away while they wait for the next kid to hit the ball.

This is a video of Wesley’s first turn at-bat. This is what the whole game went like. Hurray for volunteers! Hurray for programs for kids with special needs!

In March (I know! I’m so behind on this blog) after our Easter Egg hunt at BYU John and I took the kids to BYU’s spring football game. Wes was in heaven.

Most common words from his mouth:

“Touchdown!” (no matter what was happening)

and

“Oops, try again!”

March 21 was World Down Syndrome Day (3/21…get it?). Cold Stone offered a free ice cream for every person with Down syndrome, so how could we not take advantage of that?

In March we had the opportunity to take Wes and Carissa swimming at the BYU pool with the BYU Down syndrome support group. Wes LOVES swimming. LOVES LOVES LOVES it. So we made sure we went. Both kids were excited to get in the pool.

Until they got into the pool, which was kinda chilly. Wes has still really happy, though.

But Carissa clung to me in the water like a baby monkey. I kept asking her if she wanted to get out and she said, firmly, no. So we hung out in the pool for an hour together.

On a rare date night John and I had dinner at Spark in Provo. I got the macaroni and cheese with chicken, which was actually delicious. But overall we thought the place was overpriced and not our favorite. Nonetheless, a date is a date!

In March Elizabeth turned four months old. She got a little better at rolling over, which she did once in a while. She got really good when she was five months. I’d usually get up with her once a night in March, and in April she started sleeping through the night without eating. She’s a happy baby, very interested in the world around her.

A couple weekends ago there was an activity at a local “Fun Center” for families with kids who have special needs. It’s nice to have activities like this where the entire facility is open to just these families. Wes gets let off easily sometimes as having an excuse for his behavior because clearly he has Down syndrome. His disability is obvious, but not every kid’s struggle is so easily labeled. You see kids sometimes having meltdowns in crowded places and you may wonder what’s wrong with him, or with his parent, when really he has a disability such as autism that is harder to identify. At activities like these, everyone understands and accepts and is patient. It’s nice.

We took Wes and Carissa to the roller skating rink first.

Wes was excited by the idea of it, but not by the actual skating part.

Carissa was acting very put-out and sad.

So we didn’t spend long at the rink. I would’ve loved more time to practice my skating and go a few rounds with John, who is an excellent skater from his days on the ice hockey team in college.

Next we went to the area with the bounce houses. Wesley’s specialty! I always forget how fearless and boundary-less he is with physical activities like this. He climbs the highest bounce houses, even the ones that make me nervous with their height. I usually climb right behind him to make sure he’s safe, but I’ve never seen him in danger of falling. Here he is in action:

Carissa was still out-of-it and only played a little. I took her down a few slides.

Wes had a ton of fun and was perhaps a little over-excited. Carissa wanted to go home. So we finally left. We were able to get away without a total meltdown from Wes by promising him ice cream. Carissa was asleep before we even got to the drive-up window that was only a few blocks away.

Later that afternoon Carissa threw up a few times and had a fever. So that explains her sad morning. Poor kid. It just wasn’t her day. But we’re still glad we had that time together as a family.

Because what are beds for?

What happens when ice cream becomes paint and Mom’s not around.

Carissa trying to jump rope in a toy store.

Warm weather means no pants!

Letter Soup. Carissa is a master chef.

The cutie Elizabeth is four months old and getting quite good at many things like holding her head up, gnawing on her fingers, and I even caught her rolling over once from tummy to back. We’re not sure but think she may be getting a tooth. She is still the sweetest baby girl we’ve ever met. We count her as a great blessing every day.

Wes likes to hold his baby sister. When he hears her cry he’ll go up to her and replace her binkie, or play with her feet and say endearing things like, “Oh goodness!”

Well, this was Carissa’s doing.

Carissa painting with water on the backyard shed. Those are leaves in her hair. The rocks in the water table are Wesley’s.

Miss Happy Face.

Carissa’s favorite place to be.