Wow! I've really been a slacker lately! Time for a new update...
I'm 17 months old now!
I did a lot of fun things last month!
Remember how I finally made peace with riding in a stroller?!? Well, Momma and Daddy took me for a long ride when we did Race for the Cure! It was a really overcast morning, but I was happy all snuggled in my stroller with a blanket. I was so comfy, I took a nap!
The next weekend, Nana V and Grandfather came up to stay with us and to walk with me for my Buddy Walk! I had a good sized entourage this year which included: Momma, Daddy, Grandmomma, Granddaddy, Nana V, Grandfather, "Aunt" Becky, Jillian, Paul, and Hilary. "Uncle" David was an honorary walker. While we were walking over at Centennial Park, he was at Centennial Hospital walking laps around his hospial unit. It was a very very very cold day, but I had so much fun! Last year I was still so litte and I didn't know anyone yet, but this year, I got to see a bunch of my friends! Momma thinks we're SO lucky to have such a wonderful new community to belong to. I have been making friends that I know will be friends for LIFE! After the Buddy Walk that day, we went to Gentry's Farm to take some photos and pick out our pumpkins. We didn't stay long because we were all pretty tired and like I said, it was COLD!
The weekend after the Buddy Walk, Daddy and Momma took me on my very first camping trip!! We only went for one night, but I had a good time out in the woods. I was so cute all snuggled up in between Momma and Daddy in our sleeing bag. One of Momma and Daddy's favorite pictures from that trip was taken JUST as I woke up with my bed head and a look on my face like I really didn't know what was going on!
The weekend after the camping trip was Halloween!! I was a bee this year and I looked SO cute! Momma and Daddy took me to downtown Franklin on Halloween day for their annual "Pumpkinfest". There really weren't very many pumpkins at Pumpkinfest which was disappointing to Momma, but there were a lot of fun activities for older kids, so we'll probably go again when I'm bigger. That night, I got to go to a few of our neighbors' houses and trick-or-treat for the first time! After Trick-or-Treating, I came home and had supper and then helped Momma and Daddy answer the door and give out candy. Everytime the door opened, I tried to make a run for it! I got pretty mad when I had to go back inside.
Then, last Saturday, I had a playdate at a park in Nashville with some of my friends who also have Down syndrome. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!! Sunny and in the low 70's. Hard to believe that it was November. Daddy didn't get to go because he wasn't feeling well. Momma and I took a VERY long nap when we got home that afternoon. When we woke up from the nap, I had a fever! ICK! So, I ran a fever from Saturday night until Monday morning. I never really had any other symptoms besides a fever. My nose was a little congested, but never runny. I seem to be feeling much better today, so maybe I'll get to go to therapy tomorrow.
So... what else...?
I have six teeth now! Four on top all in a row and my two bottom ones in the front.
I have my new braces now for my feet. They should help teach me to walk properly (not on the edges of my feet and not curling my toes). On Friday, I took two steps toward Momma. I was barefoot at the time, but Momma thinks the braces are helping to make me more confidant. We had an issue at first when they gave me shoes that were WAY too big for me! A new pair of shoes come with the braces and my shoe size without the brace is a size 3.5, but they put me in a size 5 extra wide shoe. I was tripping over my own feet and it seemed a little counter-productive. So, when Momma met with my new physical therapist, Ms. Sandra, she told us that she thought we could put my foot (with brace) into a size 4 or 4.5. We had to wait a few days, but then we got the size 4's and they fit! I am so much more comfortable in these shoes. It's still a little harder to walk in them, but I'm not tripping over my own feet and causing bruises on my forehead anymore!!!
I still have therapy all the time and I'm still on the waiting list to get into school at High Hopes.
I've started feeding myself... sorta. If it's something little like a cheerio it will sometimes get lost in my little hand. I've figured out that I need to open my hand to put it in my mouth, but then many times it falls out of my hand. We're working on a pincer grasp so that it's right there between my thumb and forefinger. Momma and Daddy are still mostly feeding me because my food gets very messy and will get squished in my fist or thrown on the floor. They realize that this is just what toddlers do, but I also need to have SOME food hit my mouth and make its way to my tummy! I've learned to hold my straw cup, but Momma and Daddy's hands are never far away because when I'm done with my sip, it gets tossed (usually onto the floor). I still take milk from a bottle, because the liquid is too thin in my straw and I drink it too fast and it makes a mess/makes me choke and cough on it. We're still working on this. Momma really wants to get me off of the bottle! She was trying to skip the sippie cup completely, but we may have to use it for milk...
I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving in a few weeks! I can't wait to get my teeth on some turkey!
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I wanted to also mention a cause that is very close to my heart! Reece's Rainbow is a program that promotes the international adoption of children with Down syndrome. By raising money to offer adoption grants on waiting children, they are able to give adoptive families the extra financial help they need to bring a child with Down syndrome home from a miserable existence in overseas orphanages. Most of the children were born in countires that find it socially unacceptable to raise a child with Ds. Many are just abandoned at the hospital after birth. They are placed in "baby homes" and adoptable until they turn 4 or 5. Then, when their typical peers are graduated into different housing, they are sent to INSTITUTIONS, tied to beds, and left to die. Many don't make it past the first year. It breaks my heart to know that these children are living on borrowed time. So, please, PLEASE consider sponsoring one of these children this holiday season. Money will go directly into their grant fund that will aid in the cost of their adoption. You can find more information at www.reecesrainbow.com
