Etta's Journal

I'm still in Alabama and I'm still showing off my new rolling over skill (be paitient... Mommy is working on the video...)! It finally stopped raining and the sun showed off its rays. Today is Nana V's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA V!!! She took the day off so she could spend it with me and Mommy. We just hung around the house all day and visited. I think we're having steak for dinner. ... Well, I'M not having steak. I'll just PRETEND that my formula is really pureed steak. Sluurp!

Yesterday (Friday), Mommy, Daddy, and I came to Nana V and Grandfather's in Alabama. We left really early (abour 3:45 am) in the morning after I got up for my middle-of-the-night bottle at 2:30 am. This worked out perfectly because I slept most of the way down.

I'm having a lot of fun visiting with everyone!

Wednesday it will be Nana V's birthday. So, we are celebrating this weekend. Be sure to check my photo album frequently because I will be adding pictures all week.

Oh!! I almost forgot!

I ROLLED OVER TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did it twice! I went from my tummy to my back TWICE this morning!!!!!!!! Whoo Hooo!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry there haven't been any updates! Our internet connection at home is down (and will be until the cable man can come fix it on September 2nd). So, Daddy has kindly offered to post this update for me.

I've been pretty busy the last few days!

On Sunday, Mommy, Daddy and I went to Granny and Pop's house in Nashville for a family gathering. I got to see some family members again and also meet some new ones! I meet Great Uncle K.J., Great Aunt Lori, cousins Olivia and Amelia, and Great Uncle Kenny. We also got to visit with Grandmomma Mel, Granddaddy Rick, Great Uncle Stanley, Cousins Emem & Jason and their son Joshua (who is almost 7 months old). Daddy got some REALLY cute pictures of me and Joshua looking at each other. While we were there, I made the rounds and visited with everyone. I even gave out a few smiles. Joshua and I did a little "tummy time" at the same time and we all thought Josh's impression of Superman was really, really funny!! (Sorry, no pics of "superman" the camera battery had died). We stayed pretty late that night and reluctantly went home after supper.

Monday, I spent the afternoon at my new friend Levi's house. Levi is 14 months old and also has Down syndrome. Our mommies meet through an online forum a couple of weeks ago and decided we should all get together. We arrived at their house a little after noon and Levi was upstairs taking a nap, but that was okay because I was napping too! I let Mrs. Angie hold me as I slept while she and Mommy got to know each other. Eventually, I woke up and so did Levi. I had a bottle while Levi had a snack in his high chair. Then, Levi played with his toys on the floor and I watched him. When Mrs. Angie put Levi in her lap, I got a better look at him. We both studied each other for a little while, before Levi went back to playing. We eventually had to leave so Mommy and I could go to Publix. I think I'm really going to like getting to know Levi and his family!

Tuesday, "Aunt" Jill came over! We visited at home for a while and then we went out to Mazatlan for lunch and then to TJ Maxx Home Goods Store up in Brentwood. TJ Maxx actually took most of the afternoon! We were there long enough that Mommy and I sat in a chair and I had a bottle. We also made a note that the store did not have a changing table in the restroom. When we got back to the house, Aunt Jill held me and we talked to each other. I was in a pretty chatty mood and I gave her a bunch of sweet smiles.

Wednesday, my new Early Intervention teacher, Ms. Amy will be coming for the first time. We're looking forward to meeting her. Thursday, I have an appointment with my old friend, Dr. Hunley (the kidney doctor from when I was in the NICU). I hope he doesn't need a blood sample from me. That will make me sad! Then, on Friday, we are heading back to Nana V and Grandfather's home in Alabama to celebrate Nana V's birthday. Mommy and I will be staying the whole week then Nana V and Grandfather will bring us back to Tennessee on the 30th and they will stay a couple of days and head back home on Labor Day.

I'll be sure to update from Alabama (they have internet there)!

Today Mommy and I went shopping at Babies R Us and Grandmomma Mel met us there! She got to hold me the ENTIRE time we were in the store. We even spent some time together in one of the rocking chairs while Mommy did some shopping. I showed her my new smile and I also showed her some fussy faces. She ended up rocking me to sleep (after some protest) and then I slept almost all the way home. By the time we got home, I was awake and HUNGRY!

Anyway, Mommy has posted a couple of pictures of me with my Grandmomma Mel.

Well, it breaks our hearts that I had to come into a world that finds mental disability to be acceptable fodder in major Hollywood motion pictures.

Tomorrow, Dreamworks Pictures will release "Tropic Thunder". The premise of the movie actually sounded funny to Mommy. It's about a group of actors who are cast in a war movie and while on location find themselves in a real war, but they think they are still acting.

The controversy comes with the character "Simple Jack" played by Ben Stiller (who wrote, directed, produced, and is starring in the film, by the way). This character is part of a film within the film. There is a movie poster for "Simple Jack" that has the tag line "Once upon a time... there was a retard". And an entire scene where Robert Downey Jr's character tells Ben Stiller's character that "Simple Jack" bombed because he did the "full retard" as opposed to the "half retard" that Dustin Hoffman did in "Rain Man."

Anyway, I know this is a major summer movie and much of the content will probably be legitimately funny, but finding humor in the disabled is just disgusting.

Please don't go see this movie. And please educate others.

Here are a couple of links about the protests:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Story?id=5560702&page=2

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/12/film.tropic.thunder.protest.ap/index.html

Well, I didn't do it last night, but I've been randomly sleeping through the night! Last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights I went to sleep sometime between 8:00-9:00pm and didn't wake up until 6:00-6:30am!!!! Now, if only Mommy could learn to go to bed when I do!

We had a pretty busy weekend!

Yesterday, we went over to "great aunt" Becky and "great uncle" David's house to celebrate "Uncle" Matt's graduation (and new job). We were there for a really long time and I was a little fussy because I never got to take a really good nap that day. That being said, I enjoyed visiting with everyone. Daddy played pool and did "boy" things and when I wasn't being moody about the whole lack-of-a-nap situation, I let a few people hold me. Everyone just LOVES me!

Today, I took it pretty easy for the first half of the day. I even took my first nap in my swing (I used to cry in the swing). Then, around 5:00, "Aunt" Lauren and "Uncle" Dustin came over for dinner and to visit! They ate ribs (which Daddy had grilled) and I slept on Mommy in my Peanut Shell. After dinner, I decided to wake up and visit with everyone. I also spent some time on the floor playing and doing "Tummy Time". I *almost* rolled from my tummy to my back and everyone got REALLY excited! It won't be much longer before I can do that!

Then, I had a bath and a bottle while we all watched Olympic Gymnastics. After I ate, Dustin got to hold me. Then, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Dustin and gave him a birthday card (his birthday was on Thursday). Everyone got to eat cake... Dustin dropped a few crumbs of the carrot cake on me. I guess he wanted me to taste it too! MMMmmmmMMmmmm....

Mommy will post pictures tomorrow. She left the camera downstairs and doesn't feel like getting it right now. ;)

Today Mommy and I met my cousin Rylee (and her mommy, Nancy) for lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Well, I didn't have any chicken, but I pretended my formula tasted like a delicious nugget! I slept for a bit when we first got there, but eventually I decided I'd wake up and say hello to everyone.

After we sat around and visited for a while, we all went over to the mall. Mommy bought me a few new outfits and then we went to the little play area and I ate while Rylee played. Then, they needed to go to Barnes and Noble and Mommy and I needed to try and have a passport photo taken.

So, we walked all the way down to J.C. Penney to see if they could take one in their portrait studio... EXCEPT that our JC Penney doesn't have a protrait studio! So, then Mommy thought we should walk to the OTHER END of the mall and see if Sears had a portrait studio. On the way, we passed a Wolf Camera Store and we went in to see if they took passport photos. They DO, BUT they don't do infants, the lady suggested Sears (Mommy thought that *might* be the case)... SO, on we went to Sears.

When we got to Sears, Mommy had to find the portrait studio and when she finally did, they were closed (for lunch... at 2:30pm!). The sign said they would re-open in about half an hour. So, we wandered around the infant clothing department while we waited. Then, while they were still closed, Mommy walked over to look at their brochures and a lady came up and asked if she could help us. That very nice lady clocked in early from her lunch break to take my photo because the next available appointment was going to be an hour and a half away!

15 minutes later, we were headed back to our car with photos in hand! Mission Accomplished!!

On Monday, we'll head out to the post office in Franklin to apply for the passport...

Mommy's added a few new pictures to the "Trip to Alabama" album and the "First Smiles" album. Enjoy! :)

Gotta go... I'm so hungry, I'm trying to suck on Mommy's arm!

Well, I did it!

Late last night (around 11:00) I gave Mommy a true, genuine SMILE!! Actually, I smiled at her twice! I just melted her heart!

She'll try to catch me smiling in a photo...

Today we learned from TEIS that I will be having a "teacher" come once a week to work with me on general development until I'm bigger and we know which specific services I may require.

After our meeting with Yolanda, Mommy took me to the Opthomologist. Dr. Hood gave me an early referral because of the family history (Mommy had glaucoma when she was a baby and Lito and Great-Grandpa Homa both have/had eye problems). Dr. Morrison was very nice until it was time for him to check the pressure in my eyes. This made me pretty MAD!

So, basically everything looked really good. No signs of glaucoma and no signs of having crossed eyes (a problem for people with DS sometimes). He did note that I'm a little far-sighted. Mommy and Dr. Morrison also talked about my blocked tear duct. He says it may not clear up until I'm ten months old! It really hasn't bothered me too much in the last couple of days, though... So, yay for that. He wants to see me again in six months for a follow-up.

This evening, Mommy, Daddy, and I spent some time on our patio enjoying the flickering fire. Well, Mommy and Daddy enjoyed it... I just slept....

Happy weekend everyone!