Cooling Down and Timing

I sit hear feeling a little bummed out as I write this.  Many of you are probably already aware that Landon & I missed out on a great opportunity to meet 2 of our fellow blogging friends......IN PERSON!!!  That's right folks, we had plans to meet up with Em from Daily Smiles and Anna from Banana Pants yesterday.....AND Landon & I both got sick!!!  Could our timing be any worse????

I have always been so envious reading blogs about families who made that crossover from blogland to reality.  I have enjoyed reading posts and seeing pics of little ones meeting face to face and watching so many wonderful friendships bloom.  AND, Saturday was our turn, and I was so excited about that opportunity.  I even planned on canceling Landon's 2 therapy sessions for the day, just to meet our blogging friends.

And then it happened, Wednesday, July 21st, 2010, Landon got sick.............that date will be a constant reminder of what we missed out on for years to come!!  Landon was running a high fever, had fluid in his ears and a rash.  We were given some amoxicillin to take care of his ears and had been pumping him with Tylenol to help keep the fever down.  I was on a mission to make sure that we made it to our playdate.  AND THEN, once we got the fever lowered, we noticed that Landon now had spots of his feet, hands and mouth.  And to top it off, I woke up vomiting on Friday morning!!!  SERIOUSLY??!!  Isn't there a written rule that mommy's don't have time to get sick??!!  Apparently it got temporarily erased over the past few days!!!

I ventured over to Stephanie's blog this morning as I was sure she would have posted about THE PLAYDATE!!  And what a wonderful post it was.  They had such a wonderful day, and we are so happy for them.  Landon would have been in his absolute glories being surrounded by 2 BEAUTIFUL little chicky-mamas:)  He is definitely a ladies man!!!

Well, the most important thing is that Landon is feeling better.  This timing works as we will be celebrating Elijah's 5th birthday tomorrow!!!  Last year, Landon had double pink-eye!!  FUN.....not.so.much.  And we do have one more opportunity to meet a fellow blogging friend.  Sunday, August 8th, we will be meeting up with Kelli & Colin from Love for Colin!!!  They will be in our neck of the woods as they do some vacation traveling, and we will be meeting up for lunch!!  We are very excited about this get together and I am asking that everyone keep their fingers & toes crossed that Landon will stay fever free!!!

Hopefully Landon & I will be posting about meeting our blogging buddies in person.....SOON!!!

Feeling HOT! HOT! HOT!

So, this afternoon, I came home at lunch time for Landon's OT session......or so I thought.  When I walked in the door, I realized it was rather quiet.  Upon entering my living room, where Landon is usually working hard, I found his yellow service form on my coffee table with the comment, "Landon was not feeling well today.  He was congested & fussed today, definitely not himself.  He appeared very tired & just wanted to be held.  Session ended early".

Hmmm, that doesn't sound like the smiling, dancing, very vocal little boy I left this morning!  NOPE!  Walking into Landon's bedroom, there he was, having his diaper changed and just laying there.....STILL and LETHARGIC!  Definitely not himself.  This is the same little boy that when I change his diaper, I feel like I am a WWE wrestler and I am holding him down for the count to win the championship belt!  It really is quite the sight!!  LOL

Not today!  Today he was feeling extremely HOT!  He wasn't feeling much like eating or drinking.  All signs that were pointing in the direction of his pediatrician's office.  So, off we went.  Imagine my surprise that in just 3 1/2 short hours, my poor baby boy, managed to run a fever of 102.8!!!  WOW, where did that come from?  Well, I'm not exactly sure, but I do know that it was accompanied by fluid in the ears, a major rash, total congestion and YES.....VOMIT!!!

After having some labs run, it was concluded that Landon has a viral infection.  Doctor prescribed an antibiotic and HOME we went.  Poor little guy couldn't keep any food down and was in such discomfort.  Can't a "little man" catch a break??

Landon is supposed to go to Children's Hospital Boston, tomorrow morning, to see Dr. Lee (his ENT).  I'm not exactly sure how we are expected to travel 45 minutes with a sick little boy who is vomiting & is still rear-facing!  All therapy sessions have been CANCELLED for the rest of the week.  And I am thinking his ENT appointment may have to be rescheduled too!!  I have reservations about rescheduling because I do not know how long it will take us to get another appointment.  We do know, that after the ear infection winter from hell, Landon is well on his way to having tubes put in!

But seeing my poor little guy like this.......

just makes me so sad...........

and makes me want to cuddle with him ALL DAY LONG!!!

And so, I think I will do just that.....TOMORROW!!!

Wordless Wednesday - (Landon's OT session this morning)

Look What I Can Do!!!!!!

Getting Landon off the bottle has been a huge deal for me.  Both Mason & Elijah were off the bottle by the time they were both one.  Although I know that this  may take a little longer for our little kiddos with Down syndrome, I can't help but to "still" have that expectation for Landon.  I have tweaked that expectation a bit, but I am "still" determined to make it happen, even if it is a "little" later!!  I have tried so many things.....sippy cups, honey bear cups, open cups, straw cups, etc.  On occasion we would move 1 step forward and then fall 2 steps back.  VERY FRUSTRATING!!  I read blogs upon blogs, I asked friends and I even got to speak personally (on the phone) to one of my blogging buddies for some much needed advice that actually helped.....THANK YOU, LAURA (Anne & Whitney, Up, Down & All Around).  You see, all along the answer was right under my nose, in my own house and did not cost me any more than a few bucks!!!  Had I known then, what I KNOW now.......I could have saved myself from ALOT of frustration!!!  AND, Landon may have been off the bottle a little sooner too:)  

You see, the problem wasn't that Landon couldn't drink out of the straw rather the fact that his brother's were giving him the good stuff....you know, SUGAR (aka, Capri Sun)!!  Did you see him go!!  That NEVER happened when I was teaching him to drink!!  lol  (BTW, he only seems to communicate with his brother's this way...hmmm, I wonder why??!!)

***NOTE TO SELF***

I guess that "note to self" NEVER made it to my notebook!!  HA!  Because, I am always researching toys to see what will be helpful to Landon, you know, cause & effect, gross/fine motor skills, hand/eye coordination, etc.  I pick & choose each toy I buy for Landon with one thing in mind...... how will this toy help Landon achieve his goals?  Endless amounts of money later, I have a collection of toys that get thrown around the house by 3 boys, (and not played with), only to have to clean it all up at the end of a VERY.LONG.DAY.  And ONCE AGAIN, the answer was right under my nose..........

1 active 4 year old + SUGAR ='s

1 EXTREMELY HAPPY & SILLY LITTLE MONKEY (and endless hours of FREE entertainment)!!!!

All joking aside, I am over the moon happy for my little man!!  He has really been working so hard to reach each new milestone.  Last week, while we were at Elijah's "Day of Celebration", Landon was home with Lauren, his OT.  (A little side note:  I am usually home for ALL of Landon's OT sessions).  For a couple of weeks, Landon has been playing with his toys....on his knees. And on occasion, he would attempt to push off one of his feet to "ATTEMPT" to stand.  Always so close....but never quite made it all the way.  When we got home last Wednesday, Lauren informed me that Landon did indeed "PULL TO STAND", not only once...... but 6/7 times.  Are you kidding me??  Do  you know how much time & effort I put into helping this little guy reach that goal??  I know, not 1/2 as much as he did to ACCOMPLISH it!! 

 That's right folks, LANDON DID IT!!!!!!

Oh Landon, we are SO.VERY.PROUD.OF.YOU!!!!!!!

*****Landon did his "first" pull to stand over a week and a half ago.  It took a few days for me to get this on video.  Landon had another OT session with Lauren this past Wednesday (once again, I missed it, as I had to go and pick Mason up from Summer School).  When I returned home, AGAIN, Lauren informed me that not only did Landon pull to stand (numerous times) at our coffee table, TODAY (while I WAS NOT THERE) he took his very FIRST step while holding on to the table.  I am speechless and a little disappointed that I missed "that first" too:(  I am however, so very grateful to Lauren, for all her hard work with Landon and for believing in him.  Those disappointing moments pass rather quickly when I look at the BIG picture........my little man IS reaching new milestone's (and all his hard work is paying off)!!!*****

KEEP.REACHING.FOR.THE.STARS.SWEET.BABY.BOY!!!!  YOU.CAN.DO.IT!!!!!!!

The "ANSWER" & Summer Fun!!!

.........you may want to turn the music OFF at the bottom of this page before watching this video......

Are THEY still here?????!!!

Seriously people, didn't I tell you that dreadlocks are way more work than they are worth?!  These are the crazy things the kids and I see on a daily basis!!  I gotta give it to my husband though, he really knows how to buy himself some time.  So, with that said, this is the latest!  Apparently, Scott has decided that it would be FUN to make a fundraiser out of cutting his dreads off.  AND, are you ready for this........all funds raised will be donated to our local Ds support group, 21FrienDS.  Isn't he a "sly" one??!!  lol  Now how can I compete with those sweet little angels??!!!  So, I will grant him a pass on this one.  Boy does he owe me big time!!  I have to tell you, Scott wasn't exactly "THRILLED" that I posted this video.......let's just call it PAYBACK.......can I get a WOOT WOOT!!!!!!

OK, enough about the DREADS, and more about that cute little munchkin in the video!!  As you can see, Landon took his first summer dip in the BIG pool, and he LOVED it!  Hey, Lisa (Landon's PT, Water Therapy), did you see those little legs go??!!  Something tells me the trick is that Daddy needs to be in the pool!  Or maybe Landon was trying to get away from that crazy looking guy holding him!  I'LL.LET.YOU.DECIDE!!!!!

So, this past weekend was a hot one for us here in Massachusetts.  And the boys kept cool swimming in the pool!  What a great way to kick off summer vacation:)  We also got Landon his own pool.....and he couldn't have been more happy.  Getting him out was not an easy thing to do.  So I had to refer to rule #20:  when your skin shrivels up like a little prune, you MUST exit the pool until your skin goes back to being as soft as your cute little baby bottom!!!!!

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!!!

How to Answer the Telephone!!!

HELLO?!!!

And THIS little boy............

........is officially a KINDERGARTNER!!!!

Yesterday, we went to our local ZOO for our city's day of celebration, "Smooth Sailing Into Kindergarten", in honor of all the little kiddos heading to "BIG BOY/GIRL" School!!  The guests of honor, and their families, are treated to a fun day of musical entertainment, arts & crafts, lunch, admission to the zoo and a great opportunity to get to meet other children who may be heading to the same school this September.  A great day to celebrate all that they have learned in preparation of kindergarten.  After all, learning the ABC's, identifying shapes, colors and numbers AND being able to write your whole name is REALLY.HARD.WORK.  Another wonderful milestone definitely worth celebrating!

Here are a few pics of the day!  Unfortunately, Landon was unable to accompany us as he had a date with his OT!!

(Elijah running around to the music!  Oh the energy this boy has, if I only had a 1/4 of it!! lol:)

(Big brother Mason, giving Elijah a pep talk and letting him know that he will be there to show him the ropes!)

(Mason introducing Elijah to a couple of his friends....it's always nice to know the upper.class.men!)  

(And finally, some pizza for lunch, to help refuel all that ENERGY!!)

I must confess, we did not stay as long as I had anticipated!!  Elijah was sure to point out that seeing it was HIS day, he got to call all the shots for the day.  So off we went, back home, to play the Wii!!!

Gotta love this kid!!!

And this little munchkin was waiting to hear all about Elijah's big day!

And by the look on his face, I would have to say,  that he was quite IMPRESSED!!

Elijah is so "SUPER" excited about heading to kindergarten this fall.  I just hope his energy level drops a bit.  Lord knows, I can't keep up with him, and by the looks of it..............neither can Landon!!

(HELP ME!!!!!)