Etta's Journal

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I was dressed in my ghost outfit all day today. It was a chore for Mommy to make sure it stayed white long enough for a few photos. Then, when it was dark, the trick-or-treaters came out! I changed into my "pea-in-a-pod" outfit (aka "edamame"- we did this for you, Jill!) and helped answer the door. I was really very, very cute! I was a good sport and greeted the neighbors, but after a while, I started getting tired and hot. So, I changed in to my pajamas and Daddy gave me a bottle while Mommy manned the door. I fell asleep at about 7:30 (which is normal bedtime for me).

Be sure to check out my Halloween photo album! There are some cute ones in there!

I VOTED!!

Daddy took a comp day today so we decided to take advantage of early voting this morning!

I liked voting because they gave me a sticker!

;)

My First Hike

This morning, Daddy and Mommy took me on a short little hike in Henry Horton State Park. The trail followed a small creek and the Duck River. It was a cool morning, so Mommy made sure I was bundled up! The walk was neat! I saw LOTS of trees and some of them had leaves that were changing colors. I also saw a few white butterflies, some flowers, a grasshopper, and a Tufted Titmouse (which is a type of bird). I also got to feel some moss that was growing on one of the trees.

Mommy and Daddy made sure we stopped to take a lot of pictures along the way. We found some interesting ways of propping the camera up for the family shots!

Wow! It's been a while!

So, I went to my first Buddy Walk last Saturday (the 18th). HUGE "thank you" to everyone who contributed to our fundraising!!! Nana V and Grandfather came up from Alabama to walk with us. Grandmomma Mel and Gaddy Rick were also there! And so was "Aunt" Becky and I also got to meet some more of my family! GMM's cousin Mark and his wife, Cynthia came out and walked with us!! "Etta's Entourage" was a nice-sized group! There were LOTS of other families there supporting people they know with Down syndrome. It was a little overwhelming and the different groups tended to stick together. So, Mommy and Daddy only actually met a couple of families. Next year we'll know more people and I'll be bigger and maybe we'll make our own shirts (like some of the other teams did).

After the walk, we went to the pumpkin patch and picked out our Fall pumpkins. We have a Daddy pumpkin, Mommy pumpkin, and an Etta pumpkin! They look cute on our stoop! We also took a few pictures in the pumpkins while we were there!

Sunday, Nana V and Grandfather headed back to Alabama after brunch at Cracker Barrel (*sniff, sniff*) and Daddy and I went to Kohls. I *heart* Kohls! I got a couple of new cute outfits!

On Tuesday, I go to meet my Great Aunt Marianne. She's Gaddy Rick's sister and I liked smiling at her! GMM made dinner and brought it to our house and when Daddy got home, we ate and visited.

I got to meet Ms. Jennifer on Thursday! Mommy and I met her for lunch at Blue Coast Burrito (yummmmmmm). I fell asleep in Mommy's arms while she was eating, but when I woke up, Ms. Jennifer was holding me and I didn't know WHAT was going on!?!?! I really spent a long time trying to figure out who that person was! You can tell in one of the photos Mommy took that my eyes are really big!

Then, today (Friday) Mommy had a Dr. appointment up in Nashville. So, I went and hung out with GMM and Gaddy for a few hours. They gave me lots of hugs and kisses while I was there!

I've started to (more often than not) sleep through the night!!! I'll go to sleep somewhere between 7:45-8:45pm and sleep until 5:30-6:30am!!! One morning last week I slept until 7:00. Mommy thought that was THE BEST!

I'm reaching for my toys more now and have even grabbed and brought them to my mouth to explore once or twice.

I'm also trying to figure out how to suck my thumb. Mommy's not sure how she feels about this because she doesn't want to have to break me of the habit later, but everyone agrees I look really cute doing it right now!

YAY!! Daddy's home again!! Except, I couldn't give him a hug because he caught a cold while he was gone :(

Oh! But he DID hear me laugh this morning!!! I'm starting to do it a little more often and it's the cutest sound evah!

Yesterday, Mommy saw me *start* to roll over from my back to my tummy (I can go the other way already). I've almost got it... just a little more practice!

Ms. Amy comes today. I can't wait to show off for her! In the last week, I have started reaching for toys/objects in front of me AND I've started trying to roll over (from back to tummy)!!

woot, woot!

Buddy Walk 2008!!!

Hey everybody!

I just wanted to send out a reminder that the Buddy Walk is next Saturday (the 18th). October is Down syndrome Awareness Month and the walk is to raise money and awareness for the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee. http://www.dsamt.org/

If you would like to meet us out at Centennial Park on Saturday for a short one mile walk, please, please do it!! Registration is free. You can register through the link on the hompage of this journal.

Also, if you can't make it to the walk, but would still like to help out, you can help sponsor our team by donating to our FirstGiving webpage. The link to that is also on the front page of this journal.

Thanks!

One Year Ago Today.....

A year ago today Mommy and Daddy found out they were going to have me!

Mommy had spent the night before packing for her quickie trip to Panama for her Grandpa "Sweetie" Homa's funeral. She had finally climbed into bed (sometime after midnight) and she thought she felt a little "off". So, she took a pregnancy test. She waited a few minutes and it was negative. She had become pretty use to seeing a negative pregnancy test after over two years of trying to get pregnant. So, she went back to bed.

Soon after turning out the lights, our dog Ferris told Mommy that she wanted to go out. When she and Ferris came back inside, Mommy peeked at that pregnancy test again and she thought she saw a shadow of a line. She told Daddy about it, but both decided that since it had been longer than the five-minute allotted time, it was probably a false positive.

Out of excitement, Mommy didn't sleep too well. At about 3:00am Mommy took two more pregnancy tests (two different brands). She saw a line on each test that indicated pregnancy. So, it was in the wee hours of the morning that Mommy woke Daddy to show him the faint "positive" lines. He was still skeptical and went back to sleep.

Mommy, of course, could NOT sleep! She went upstairs to the computer and looked at photos of positive pregnancy tests and drank a bunch of water so she could have enough pee to take another test.

Sometime after the sun came up, Mommy took a couple more tests. The lines were a little darker and Daddy was becoming a believer...but STILL skeptical! Mommy called Nana V and woke her up to tell het that she thought she was pregnant.

Mommy and Daddy left early for the airport so they could stop at Wal-Mart and pick up a digital pregnancy test.

They got to the airport, Mommy checked in, and then she headed to the restroom to take the digital test. It said the word "Pregnant" right there on the little stick!!

Mommy skipped out of the restroom and hopped over to Daddy waving the stick in the air. Daddy FINALLY believed it! They had about 45 minutes together to revel in the news before Mommy needed to go through security.

Daddy kept the positive test with him and he waved it at Mommy as she went through security. Then, he headed straight over to Grandmoma Mel and Granddaddy Rick's house to tell them the news.

When Mommy's plane landed in Atlanta, she took ANOTHER pregnancy test! (She STILL couldn't believe it!). Mommy told Nana May over the phone and she cried. Then, she went over to meet Aunt Deanne at her gate. Mommy told Aunt D that she had something to give her. Then, she handed her the positive pregnancy test. It took her a minute to figure out what she was seeing, but then she burst into tears! Then, Mommy and Aunt D went down to meet Aunt Kimi at her incoming gate. Once again, Mommy told Aunt Kimi that she had something to give her and showed her the positive test. Aunt Kimi screamed and got very excited!

It turned into a very long day. Their flight to Panama was VERY delayed and they didn't get into Panama until after midnight. By the time they made it to Lito and Lita's house it was VERY VERY late. So, everyone went to bed (remember, Mommy had been awake since 3:00 that morning!). At about 6:00 the next morning, Mommy and Aunt D went into Lito and Lita's bedroom and woke them up to say that Mommy was pregnant. Lita cried and Mommy thinks Lito made a tear, but the room was dark...

It was an interesting time in Mommy's life. Her grandfather had just passed away, but inside of her, she was growing new life. My life. The first great-grandchild of Bill Homa.

Whew! I'm feeling A LOT better today! Yesterday was pretty rough! I ran a fever all day and I didn't feel well at all! Mommy and Daddy felt so bad for me! I hope it's not like that EVERY time I have immunizations.

Last night, I got my first taste of very soupy baby cereal from a spoon. We took a video, but it's long, so Mommy's going to try and edit it down so she can post it. I had a hard time understanding that I should swallow the cereal... I kept spitting it back out!

Yesterday was Mommy and Daddy's four-year wedding anniversary! Daddy came home a little early and grilled dinner for them.

Oh, and last night I slept through the night again (for the first time in about a month or so). I went to bed at about 8:30 and didn't wake up until about 6:15 this morning!!! Mommy was VERY grateful for a night of uninterrupted sleep!

This morning, Mommy put a Sister Hazel CD on and danced around with me and sang to me. This made me let out a bunch of big smiles and one (short) giggle!

Tonight, I'm going to go hang out with GMM (Grandmomma Mel) and GDR (Granddaddy Rick) while Mommy and Daddy go to Troy and Jen's rehearsal dinner. Daddy's going to be in their wedding. So, I'm going to my first wedding tomorrow!

Today I am FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!

Mommy wants me to stay little forever and Daddy wants me to hurry up and get bigger so I can go canoeing with him!

I think Daddy gets to win this one!

Today I had my four-month well-visit with my pediatrician. I weigh 11 pounds (50th percentile) and I'm 22 inches long (25th percentile)! The percentiles are adjusted for people with Down syndrome (who have a different growth curve).

Everything went really well. I'm hitting my developmental milestones!

Then, of couse, things turned BAD! I had to have three shots in my thighs! It made me very very sad.

I've been pretty fussy this evening and Mommy thinks the shots are making me feel yucky! She gave me some Tylenol, and I evenutally went to sleep without taking my final bottle of the night. I guess I'll just wake up earlier to eat....

So... Mommy's off to bed so she can get *some* sleep before I wake up starving!