One step at a time...

We had a big day today! We had an appointment with the high risk doctor for the level II ultrasound. I went in there confident and happy and left with a little nausea...lol. We are prepared for whatever comes our way, but sometimes the way the techs and doctors are, it makes you feel like there is going to be a "but" after everything they say. In the end, it turns out that all is well with Baby #2, but that was after feeling so up and down during the appointment. We know the markers they look for, so when they wouldn't provide more information over a specific part of the ultrasound, it made us feel like we were on the brink of something.

Well, that's over with....and we were extremely happy to see the baby (and to still be left in the dark as to the sex). We picked Colin up from school early, did some grocery shopping, got to visit our new little friend Miles (congrats to Keith and AnnMarie!) and went out to eat!

Someone was really into his chocolate milk and did really well with the standard straw. In fact, I think that is the most amount of milk Colin has drank successfully through a straw at one time. Maybe the trick is chocolate milk? Hmmm....

We had to return Colin's costume (since we had 2 of them) and got some new PJs from the Disney store in return. We had a nice family afternoon! Needless to say, Colin was a little sleepy on the way home!

Proud Moment

We are extremely proud in this house today! Colin pulled to stand all by himself! We have been working on this for awhile now and even though he has been successful on pulling to a kneeling position (and 1 kick pull to stand in the bathtub which we don't count) he hasn't quite been able to pull all of the way up.

Until today!

Unfortunately, I missed the proud moment in person, however, watching the video made me feel as if I was actually there...

Way to go Colin!! :)

Colin's Stats

Colin will be 18 months old tomorrow...can you believe it?! In some respects, time feels like it has gone by so fast with him, but in other ways, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every minute with him, so I don't feel as though any time has been wasted.

Change has happened in so many ways from when Colin was born, but one change I am most proud of is learning how to throw certain things to the wind. I want Colin to be healthy and happy, but I have learned that numbers don't always count and matter. It does not matter what percentile he is in for height and weight, because he eats, he drinks and he is active. It does not matter what his test results show, because he is working hard and improving every day.

But, needless to say, I still love to see how Colin has changed from the beginning. We had Colin's 18 month checkup today and Colin was such a good little boy despite the fact he had to get two shots. When we got there, he just wanted to be free so we let him crawl around in the waiting room (I know, I know, please don't judge, but do you know what it's like to hold a baby who wants to throw himself from your arms and the chair?).

He was saying hi to all of the patients and throwing kisses to anyone who dared to look his way.

I am so disappointed with myself for forgetting to take a picture of him on the scale since we have pictures of almost every weigh in from the beginning! This one will have to do, even though Colin wanted nothing to do with my after dinner picture taking shennanigans.

The stats (all on the "typical child" growth charts):

- 22 lbs. 8 ounces: 10th percentile (at least it's improved from the 5th!)

- 30 inches long: 50th percentile

- head circumference of 46 1/2 inches (oops! centimeters!!): 50th percentile

Everything that was checked looked great and Dr. Uma was very happy to spend some time with Colin. She hasn't seen him since his 12 month visit! We are very lucky because we don't get to see her very often since (knock on wood) Colin has been very healthy in his 1st 18 months of life minus a few minor colds and an extremely short bout of croup.

More of Colin's "stats":

- Favorite thing - Mickey mouse: the show, the doll, the song, and snuggling WITH Mickey (please note, we did not stage this picture...we walked in to find this scene already in progress)

- favorite toy: anything that can roll like balls, trains, cars, trucks, etc. This DOES include things that can't roll, even though Colin thinks they can.

- Signs: more, hi, bye-bye, milk, grace (not sure if this is a sign, but colin will fold his hands when we say it's time to say grace), book, and occassionally shoes.

- Gross motor: just started commando crawling and pulling to kneeling

- Speech: ma, da, ooo, and aaaah sounds; receptive speech has drastically improved in the past few months

- fine motor: still working on pincer grip and strengthening the muscles of his hand

- he's a lover: loves to give hugs (and even pats you on the back when he is hugging you) and kisses (he will smooch up to anyone)

- Cognitive development: recognizes putting objects in the correct place ("in" buckets, cups, holes, etc) and the not correct place (like shoving as much as he can under the couch); starting to recognize different animals from one another, following directions, directed play, etc.

And most importantly, he loves his mommy and daddy. We are lucky to have such an amazing little boy, no matter what his numbers and stats tell us. The most important thing is that he works hard every day and he is improving!

Rubber Ducky

You're the one!

Colin had a great time in the bath tub tonight. Usually, I am being water conscious and only fill up his small tub, but tonight, I decided to give him some more freedom and fill up the big tub. Oh boy did he show me which he prefers! There was water from one end of the bathroom to the other! It's not exactly like we have a big bathroom, but big enough to have water everywhere!

I can just see Colin here saying "dad, I'm in the bath tub!!"

He was so happy with his newfound freedom!

Oh boy did he splash!

In the video you can see Colin using lots of different skills like trying to pull himself up and saying more when he wanted to splash some more. I can also see that he is ready for more swim lessons because he was constantly sticking his face in the water to try and blow bubbles! Unfortunately, he was inhaling more water than he was blowing out, but he didn't seem to care!

Special Visit

What a great way to wrap up our weekend with a visit from Uncle Timmy! He flew up from North Carolina for the weekend, so we all headed into the city to visit. Unfortunately, Uncle Pat couldn't make it because he had to work, but we had a great time visiting. We haven't seen Uncle Timmy since he came up in the summer so it was nice to have a special visit.

Colin was really happy to see Uncle Timmy and spend some time with him...

THIS little boy was such a flirt in the restaurant! There was a very pretty waitress from Russia working there and Colin was incessantly waving and smiling at her. We even caught him blowing some kisses her way. She finally came over and you could tell that Colin was smitten, especially when she started speaking to him in Russian. It was adorable and there was only one way to sum it up...he was in love.

Since it was Colin's 1st time in NYC, we had to get a classic picture in Times Square together...What a great way to end the weekend!

Fun Day

Today was a fun day! Colin and I had the opportunity to participate in a local buddy walk in Belmar, NJ. Apparently, this is the 3rd year of the buddy walk and I didn't even know! My dad works with the Aunt of the woman who organized the event, so we were honored to participate. Colin was so excited to meet so many new people!

I got pretty choked up walking to the gate at the entrance because I really felt like we were a part of something. It was nice to meet so many people who had children with DS as well as young adults.
The event started with a young man with DS who beautifully sung the National Anthem and the tears were streaming down my face...

The organizer of the event, Kerri Walsifer, did an amazing job rallying the community for such a great cause. She has a little boy, Nicholas, who led the pack and for the 1st time in 3 years was able to walk! The walk was led by a bagpiper, which I am a complete emotional sucker for, so it was beautiful!
It was a beautiful day aside for really strong winds that Colin was not a fan of.

Later in the day we met up with Aunt Kimmy, Meredith, and Mo for apple and pumpkin picking! It was Colin's first time going and although it was nap time, he was able to rally to have a good time (except for when we tried to get a picture of him in the tree). Overall it was a GREAT day! :)

All We Need is Love

You know that feeling where you just love someone so much that it compels you to just reach out and hug or kiss them?
I've been having a really hard time tonight after reading a post on someone's blog about a 5 year old girl with Down Syndrome overseas who passed away. She had been waiting on Reece's Rainbow for her forever family. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this little girl after reading accounts from families who had the fortunate experience of meeting her. She was essentially left alone in a crib for her entire life.

Can you imagine a life lacking any sort of stimulation, love and kindness?

Colin and I spent our night alone together because Chris was working. We were snuggling on the couch together before bed and giggling because Colin thought he was funny biting the hair tie on my wrist and trying to pull it off using his teeth. After every attempt he would look at me with the most adorable look and giggle at himself. Out of nowhere he just leaned over, puckered up and kissed me.

My heart melted. Colin is thriving because he lives with a family who loves him more than they could ever describe. He has grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who spoil him with love. He is healthy, he is happy, and he is loved.

Can you imagine what life would have been like for this little girl if she had just had someone to love her?

I remember when Colin was first diagnosed all I could think about was "what are we going to do" and "how are we going to be able to take care of a baby with special needs". It didn't take long before we realized he just needed love.

Isn't that what we all need?