31 For 21 - #3

Look how early I am today! My ds fact today has more to do with me than Jack. Babies with ds are just that, babies. The dx of ds is so scary, it's easy to forget that this is still just a baby. A baby that will need diapers, and little sleepers, and yummy-smelling baby soap, and lots of love. I knew we would love Jack. There was never any doubt about that. But all the baby-ness kinda took me by surprise, which is really silly. I find myself constantly comparing him to the other 3, and really, there are so many more similarities than differences. Even in the way he looks. All my boys are blonde with blue eyes. Jack gets into stuff and I remember the others doing the same things. As he wobbles around the house, I remember seeing the others wobble like that too (sometimes even in the same outfit - Jack wears lots of Ty's stuff). Yesterday, Jack was wearing a pair of shoes that Andrew and Tyler wore too. And I can't wait to hear Jack say "Mommy". I'll just melt! And right now, Jack is upset because everyone else went outside and he didn't get to, so I'm remembering how the others went from oblivious little baby to toddler who lets you know when something isn't going their way. I guess we're there. Hello 2 year old!

Here's a pic of "Jack in the Box". Another of my sad attempts at humor.

31 For 21 - #2

I don't think I'm gonna make it, but for the record, I'm starting this post BEFORE midnight!

Okay, let's see, a ds fact. There are 3 types of ds, including mosaic and translocation (which I'll discuss later), but Jack has regular ole Trisomy 21. This means he has an extra 21st chromasome in every single cell in his cute little wiggly body. Some people are just convinced that extra chomasome adds cuteness. I may be one of them!

I bought some pants for Jackson the other day, seeing as it's starting to get cooler. One pair of pants is a little pair of Levi's, size 18 mos. I put them on him this morning, and even though they're too long and a bit big in the waist, oh my gosh - too cute! I was so excited seeing him walking around in those tiny jeans. I meant to take a photo but the day went fast and Daddy put his jammies on him before I remembered this evening. So, maybe the next time. Instead, I'll post this:


This is my sweet little pumpkin, after we found out about the hole in his heart, and all of the problems it (they) were causing. We called the oxygen tent his "cake plate". (My sad attempt to cope by using humor.)


And this is a pic of Jack's HUGE amount of hair! I know it may not seem like much but both our other boys were real baldies so we were surprised by how much Jack had!

I Got a Blog Award!!

Heidi Marie over at henry's mommie gave me an award! How cool is that?! Now, this is just for fun, I won't get to be on the Today Show or anything like that (good thing, I'd flip out!). So there are rules to this award. They are:

1. The winner can (and should really) put the logo on his/her blog.
2. The winner must link to the person from whom they received their award.
3. The winner must nominate at least 7 other blogs for an award.
4. The winner must place links to those blogs on their own blog.
5. The winner must leave a message on the blogs of the people they've nominated.

Now, my only problem with these rules are that I don't read a WHOLE lot of blogs, and the ones that I do are (some of them) the same as the ones already nominated! So let's see who I shall nominate...........

1. Erin at http://zacanderinharlan.blogspot.com/
2. Kim at http://charlies47.blogspot.com/
3. Kathy at http://katvirgo.blogspot.com/
4. Pam at http://rhettsjourney.blogspot.com/
5. Amy at http://theflegefarm.blogspot.com/
6. RK at http://www.justrk.blogspot.com/
7. and last but not least, my friend Lori, who seems to be having blog issues right now, and will get back to me soon!

So Thank You Heidi Marie! Oh how I can't wait to meet you and your adorable Henry some day!

31 For 21 - #1

Okay so this means 31 blog entries for Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome).  Yep, I'm already a day behind but in my defense, I fought a migraine all day yesterday and finally gave up and went to bed.  So I'm starting a day late but I'm gonna do my best to make it up.  Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for me as I'm going to try to post a ds fact daily.  Today is an easy one - Down Syndrome is another name for Trisomy 21.  And for a cute Jackson ancedote - one day, after the kids came home from school and greeted and played with Jack, they went downstairs to play.  Jackson was quite miffed that they dared leave him with me, so he went to the stairs and KNOCKED with his little fat fist on the door!  When I opened it, (trying so hard not to fall on the floor laughing) he turned his little self around and crawled right down those steps!!  Was I proud or what?!

Here's a shot of Jack (pre-birth, of course):

And here he is on his original birthday!

Too funny!

Yep - I'm a bad blogger! Can't seem to find the time to sit and do a proper post. I have lots to say, too!Let me try to start here:Last weekend, Jack and M and I went to a meet-up of moms and dads and kids from a forum I belong to that's about Down Syndrome. These are people I "speak with" on a regular basis but most of them, I've never laid eyes on! I consider all of them friends though, so I was really excited to go to this event. Oh my gosh, I was NOT disappointed! So fun! We spent several hours at a rec plex, where we had space to let the kids walk, or crawl, or run around and play on soft "equipment" while us grown-ups talked. There was even a pool so some of us swam for awhile (yep, M and I took Jack and let him splash!). Then we all had dinner together and afterwards, sat in the lobby and chatted away while the kids had planty of room to play on the floor. My friend Adrienne and her 3 kids drove up with us, and we split the cost of the hotel room too. Worked out great! Here's a couple of photos:

M and Jack and a couple of friends:


The HUGE play area we got to use:


A group shot of SOME of the families before we all left Sun. morning:


Adrienne's lovely daughter Regan took some amazing photos, and those 2 framed a couple of special ones for me and M - I hope to post a pic of those some day soon.

Also, we have some really special news! A few weeks ago I realized I hadn't seen Jack crawl in a couple of days! That's right - he's officially a walker!! I'll try to get a short video of that but my computer has trouble reading this memory card of videos so I'll have to try a different one.

I'm sure I have more news but I'll post again later so I can stretch it out a bit!

Giveaway!

Hey go check this out:

http://mamamonkmee.blogspot.com/2008/09/give-away.html

It's a give-away for Down Syndrome Awareness. (And check out her blog too, cute boys are on there!)