Pool Party With Ellie and Roman

I'm Down With You!

I'm Down With You is a photography book and documentary project described as "a journey within the Down syndrome community."

The book just came out, and Anthony's buddies Isaac and Anant are both in it! You can read about the project, order a copy of the book, and see an excerpt from the documentary here:

http://www.imdownwithyou.com/

On another note, have you heard about Jennifer Aniston's remark on "Regis and Kelly" last week? And I quote:

"Yeah, I play dress up. I do it for a living, like a retard."

Nice.

For anyone who STILL doesn't get why this is offensive, why it's not just slang, why it's not okay because "language evolves" and "we've become too PC", read this:
http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/2010/08/people-who-are.html

Picnic in the Park with Harry and Claire

Hopkins

Anthony has a favorite cartoon character! Meet Hopkins the Frog, from Baby Signing Time:


Anthony isn't allowed to watch television until he's at least 2 years old, but we do let him watch Baby Signing Time DVDs, to help him learn sign language. He claps his hands every time Hopkins comes on the screen!

Music with Mr. Ben

Whenever we get a chance, we like to go see Mr. Ben play music. This morning we caught a show at Milagros, along with our pals Hudson and Quinn.

Anthony started out politely paying attention, as usual.

Then Hudson joined us in the mosh pit, and well, let's just say things got a little out of hand!

Dancing so fast he's a blur!

Anthony spent some time chatting up this little lady at intermission, but she was only using him for his maracas.

Ah, young love, so cruel!

Some Mr. Ben shows are more successful than others. We hate to say it, but today's version of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" was a little lackluster. Still, overall a pretty good show!

Dr. Gorrill

Without a doubt, if it wasn't for Dr. Gorrill, we wouldn't have our Anthony. We will be forever grateful to her. She gave us hope and encouragement long after most docs would have walked away. She made us feel like everything would be okay - and it was. We hope that she knew how much her efforts were appreciated.

Dr. Gorrill died of cancer last week. Her obituary said she was respected by her peers and adored by her patients. More than anything, she was about the gift of life. Thank you, Dr. Gorrill.

Ride-On Firetruck!!!

It wasn't that long ago that Anthony was a little nervous to ride on the back of his firetruck...

Look at him now!

Fun With Aunt Pat

First Visit to OMSI

On Saturday, we took Anthony for his first visit to OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

Anthony performed science experiments with sand...

water...

... and plastics.

We made some new friends...

And did a bit of rock climbing.

Daddy showed Anthony the ferocious-looking T. Rex

But Anthony wasn't scared. He knows dinosaurs are friendly!

We worked up an appetite taking a walk over the Hawthorne Bridge, so we finished the day with some mac-n-cheese at the Bridgeport.

Hooray for a fun day!!!