Traveling to Mt. Shasta (all 7 of us!)

This is how we travel   :-)
With 7 people now occupying every seat in my Honda Odyssey, it's great when the 3 youngest are asleep at the same time!  (No, I didn't drug them!  LOL!)  Can you see Luke's reflection in the mirror?

After a 6 hour trip (it should only take about 4 without kids!), we finally arrived in Mt. Shasta City.  John Michael loved playing on the bridge my dad built for my parents' yard. He spent most of his days going up and down this bridge.

 Such a big boy!

My Mom has always had an incredible green thumb.  Here in the front yard, John Michael and I explored and found an old rail car amid the daisies, pine trees and fruit trees.

John Michael and I collected a few apples for the horses on the property behind my mom and dad's place.  He decided to take a few bites out of one of them.  While this one looked good to me, most of the apples are wormy, and this was no exception. Luckily, John Michael was tired of the apple before he got to the "bad" part.

North Shore of Lake Siskiyou.  John Michael loved feeling the rocks and water.

 

Several long logs floating in the water made for some fun water play.

 

The kids were in heaven here -- we thought it was pretty nice, too!

100th Post! -- Major Milestones!

My 100th post! For me, a major procrastinator and non-finisher of projects, this is a major milestone! If it weren't for the all wonderful comments I've received and all the other inspirational Ds bloggers out there, I don't know if I would've continued. I honestly didn't know when I began in July 2008, whether I'd stick with it. It was just an experiment, but it's here to stay. I'm hooked!


I was reflecting this past week on what to write for my 100th post and how to tie it in to John Michael. Since the beginning of my blog, I've been publicly celebrating John Michael's milestones, great and small. For my 3 typical kids, major milestones came without much effort and all happened within the standard timeframes. One day, you turn around and your one year old is walking. We celebrated the big ones like sitting up, crawling, walking and talking. But with John Michael, before each major milestone occurred, many mini-milestones had to happen along the way -- all the little in-between steps. Each victory was a cause for celebration in our home and another reason to post to my blog.

John Michael's newest milestone, at 21 months old, has been standing for 5 to 8 seconds unsupported and taking one to two steps forward. He puts his hands out for me to pull him up, lets go of my hands, and with his hands chest level, feet apart and hips balancing his weight, he takes a step forward and literally falls face-first into my chest. It's hilarious! We do this about 15 times in a row until his legs are too tired to stand again. It's quite an amusing game!


Here, John Michael is actually doing the work himself. Pulling up to stand with the help of the box chair, letting go and then grabbing onto the chair again. Getting a photo was quite a challenge since it all happens so fast!

Another recent milestone that took him several months to figure out is climbing in, turning and sitting forward in a chair by himself. This boy works so hard and doesn't give up easily. I love his spirit and perseverance!

Another cause for celebration is putting John Michael down in his crib for a nap or at bedtime while he's still somewhat awake and letting him put himself to sleep, with the help of his Binky. In the morning, he sits up and pushes the button on his little jungle music toy and waits for one us to pick him up.

Another milestone for me has been making so many wonderful new friends, both in person and online. There is an enormous support network for all of us parents who have a child with Down syndrome. It's amazing! Our local Down Syndrome Information Alliance, blogging, Facebook, Ds forums, NDSC Convention, and our local Ds buddies... they've all been ways to connect with moms and dads and to share each others' joys and trials... to give each other support when things aren't going well and to celebrate the milestones, great and small. It's been an amazing learning curve and growth for me personally. I also no longer "worry" about what other people think about John Michael because the positive experiences we've had far outweigh any negative ones. I now enjoy talking with people about John Michael, his abilities and try to help shape peoples' views about Down syndrome in a positive light.

Which brings me to this... John Michael just received his very own afghan, beautifully crocheted by CJ. We've had the pleasure of cuddling with the official T21 Traveling Afghan and have even given an afghan as a gift, but now it's John Michael's turn. This afghan has so much meaning to us and connects us to all the other beautiful children with Down syndrome who have their very own afghans as well. I chose the yarn and colors, and CJ did a beautiful job putting it all together.

Isn't it gorgeous?! John Michael loves it, too!

i did it

Our local blogging friend, Jennifer of Three's a Charm, came up with a brilliant idea. She made up these darling t-shirts that say "i did it" which have become our mantra for everything new John Michael is doing. For each t-shirt purchased, Jennifer will donate the book Gifts 2, to which she's a contributing author, to a local hospital or pediatrician or genetic counselor's office. What a positive way to spread the news that children with Down syndrome are more like typical kids than different. To learn more about the "i did it" project, click here.

Below is our recent list of "i did it's"...


i did it #1: John Michael climbed into my rocking chair using a footstool. He has been working hard on this skill for a long time now and last week, he did it! When he gets in, he carefully turns forward and begins to rock back and forth. The look on his face is too funny.

i did it #2: John Michael (and his family) makes friends. Here's John Michael with our local blogging friend, Jennifer's, "i did it" twin, Joaquin. Through blogging this past year and the NDSC Convention last month, we've met some wonderful families and all because of an extra chromosome, the connections are very deep. I'm amazed at how John Michael and his little friends with Ds seem to bring the best out of all of us. Yes, that's the T21 Traveling Afghan on their laps. :-)

i did it #3: John Michael loves to go to the park and swing. He's starting to go down slides, too. When I ask him to "swing", he rocks the swing back and forth. His receptive language skills are really good.

i did it #4: John Michael can climb into his music therapist's box chair, turn around and sit forward all on his own now. He's been working on that for a long time. Before, he was able to stand up and climb onto the chair, but couldn't figure out how to turn around and sit forward. Last week, he did it!

i did it #5: John Michael can blow into a harmonica and make sounds. This is a difficult skill to learn. He's been vocalizing into a kazoo for a long time (over a year) and recently started blowing air into a recorder. The harmonica takes a lot more forced air to make a sound. Last week, he did it!

i did it #6: John Michael plays well independently. He loves to pull out his xylophone and play either with the attached mallet or with two drumsticks. Last week he started really paying attention to the different sounds the keys make and play different sounds, e.g., striking the red and then the dark blue to hear the contrast in sounds. I'm so proud of this "i did it".

While I could go on about his cognitive and motor skills growth spurt, I think you get the point. John Michael seemed to be at a standstill for a couple months, even retreating backwards in verbalizations while his gross motor skills were in the forefront. I guess that's pretty common. These past 2 weeks, all of a sudden, it seemed like a lightbulb lit up in his brain and he's doing so many wonderful new things. Even some not wonderful things... like climbing up onto a chair and then onto a table and sitting there. OK, it's a wonderful motor skill, but not great for safety purposes.

I have some cute videos to go with the post, but I've been so behind lately that I wanted to share this. Cheers!

T21 Traveling Afghan! + John Michael and Joaquin "did it"

Today was our day to pass on the love of the T21 Traveling Afghan to our local blogging buddies, Jennifer of Three's a Charm and her precious Joaquin.

If you don't know about this project, click the link above. It's an afghan that is traveling the world (literally!) to be shared by families who have a child with Down syndrome. It's like the tie that binds us together -- one family at a time. We are honored to have been a part of this and look forward to hearing the many adventures of the afghan for years to come.

We had the afghan for 10 days and it was very loved in our home. Mostly, John Michael cuddled with the afghan during naps and bedtime, but it also found its way on our living room floor to play hide and seek and offer cuddles while he was teething last week.

I have to say, CJ did a beautiful job crocheting this afghan. It's very cozy and durable, which is great since it has so many more families to touch and be touched by.

There is a journal that travels along with the afghan. It's so cool to read what others have written before us and to recognize some familiar bloggers who share this connection with us. Here's what I wrote. I also attached some photos.

Joaquin is now the lucky recipient of the T21 Traveling Afghan.

Doesn't he look like he's happy to have it?

Finally, we didn't plan this, REALLY, but John Michael and Joaquin are both sporting their "i did it" shirts. I'll post about JM's "i did it" separately, but what a great photo op to get our cute boys together with their shirts AND the T21 Traveling Afghan. LOVE IT!

You can jump on the "i did it" bandwagon over at this post: Three's A Charm. The t-shirts, designed by Jennifer, are $21 (for Trisomy 21) and for each shirt sold, she will donate a copy of the book, Gifts 2, to a local hospital, genetic counselor's office or pediatrician's office. I think pregnancy counseling centers and OB offices would be great, too.

How awesome is that?

Guess who has the T21 Traveling Afghan now...

Could it really be the official T21 Traveling Afghan? You bet!

Our little buddy, Sheridan, and his mom, Lisa, brought the official T21 Traveling Afghan to our house last Friday for a playdate. We didn't actually get to keep it over the weekend, but I wanted to include pics. Lisa officially handed over the afghan to us today at the park.

Not actually being able to open a box that came in the mail, John Michael, upon seeing the blanket for the first time, put his head right down on it and cuddled up with it...

then paused to examine it a bit closer. I'm guessing he really likes the muted color scheme and the stitches :-)

Knowing that this afghan has already traveled to many states and has been loved by many of our blogging friends and their chromosomally enhanced children is a wonderful feeling. And knowing that this very same afghan will be loved by more children in the rest of the states and other countries as well is amazing. A lasting connection being made, like a spider building her web one strand at a time.

John Michael is going to have some great cuddles with this afghan as we patiently wait for CJ to finish our own afghan.



Today at the park we officially received the afghan to take home for a week! I hope you don't miss it too much, Sheridan! I'll post some more photos when John Michael is alone with the blanket. :-)

John Michael also made a new friend today. Jase is 10 months old and son to another Lisa. I met Lisa at the mom's sharing session at the NDSC Conference last weekend. Her little guy is such a cutie! John Michael, at the ripe age of almost 21 months, is going to teach him all kinds of new stuff!

Even Jase got to hang out with the afghan for a little while in the park today :-)