Tuesday, May 31, 2011

So Many Women, So Little Time

Here's Anthony with his harem therapists.
Betsy is his physical therapist and Sara is his speech therapist. Both are with the Multnomah County Early Intervention Program.
They visit him at home and at daycare.

And here he is with Juli, his Speech Therapist at the Artz Center.

I want to start writing down what we do in therapy so I remember what we're supposed to be working on. 

Physical therapy: Anthony is spending more and more time on his feet.  He'll walk a little bit holding onto our hands or pushing a wagon or chair.  That's good progress!  Today, Betsy worked with Anthony on cruising- walking along while holding onto furniture.  He's reluctant to move from one piece of furniture to another (e.g., from the coffee table to the couch) because he doesn't want to let go, so we'll practice that until he feels more confident.  We're also supposed to have him practice moving all around the coffee table- he has trouble with the corners.  He's getting Sure Steps orthotics this week- we're hoping they will help him feel more stable and get him walking with less support.

Speech Therapy: Juli continues to work on encouraging Anthony to make more sounds, and to pair gestures with sounds.  She gave examples of how to do this when we're playing-- by creating opportunities for him to have to ask for help with working a toy, and waiting for him to ask before jumping in, and so on.  She's also going to create a picture board to help Anthony communicate.  We're supposed to take pictures of things around the house, like his favorite foods, Mommy and Daddy, the bathtub, the backyard, etc.  Then Julie will laminate them and we'll work on having Anthony use the board to tell us what he wants until he can say the words.  I think that's a great idea and look forward to trying it out. 

Of course the best therapy is playtime and fun, so we work on that the most!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

A Nice Place for a Nap

Pooped at Elise's party.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Say What?!

These are all actual things said by actual people to parents on a Down syndrome support board I belong to.  They are too astoundingly hilarious not to share!

"You did NOT just say that."

• Do they know what caused her to be a mongoloid? (From a nurse)
• I just love those Down's kids. They are like really great dogs.
• How long do doctors say she’ll live?
• But you don't even drink!
• These things happen because of the sins committed by Adam and Eve
• She looks like she's 90% normal.
• HE'S DOWNS, RIGHT? (From a stranger on the bus)
• But...but…he's so CUTE!
• They don't have people with Down syndrome in Ireland.
• He's actually really cute!
• If he's missing a chromosome why can't they just give him one and cure him?
• I know he'll be alright because your good genes will balance out the Down syndrome.
• But you were so careful during your pregnancy…You did yoga and everything!

And my personal favorite (from an audiologist in the NICU):
• I like to think of them as little human beings.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Music with Mo Phillips

Anthony likes to keep up on the Portland music scene, so yesterday we checked out Mo Phillips at Posie's. 

A pre-show slice of pumpkin bread, and we were ready to rock!

We liked Mo a lot!  He refers to his audience as "dudes" and, like Mr. Ben, makes sure to sing every child's name.  He has a song called "Robot Rodeo"- who wouldn't love that?!  Along with his originals, Mo also sang crowd favorites like "The ABC Song" and "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain".  He's a funny guy and knows how to make the little ones laugh.  We learned some new hand songs and one about watermelon seeds ("You just ate my mother!").  You can't go wrong with this stuff:

A peanut sat on the railroad track
His heart was all a-flutter
Round the bend came Number 10
Choo, choo, peanut butter!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Mega Blocks

Our neighbor brought over a big box of Mega Blocks the other night. (Their son has moved on to regular size Legos.) Anthony thought they were fun, but he wasn't interested in building anything- he just wanted to take them out of the box and put them back in and then cheer for himself.

















Monday, May 23, 2011

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Fun at Archer's

Perhaps a little TOO MUCH fun?

"Dude, where did you get this s--t?"

How to Die in Oregon

Don't miss this documentary- premiering on HBO this Thursday.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Cuteness from A to Z

We finally got a chance to meet Zoe's baby sister, Zia Louise!  She's a sweetie and we are in love. Unfortunately, the camera's batteries died and so this is the only picture we got of her...

 See- There's her little head over Anthony's left shoulder.

While we got to know Zia, the big kids played on Zoe's super cool Bus-Slide. 


Time flies- here's A and Z in August 2009- the first time we met baby Zoe!
awwwww........

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Don't Tell Arnold!

This afternoon Anthony made friends with Arnold's mortal enemy, Io from across the street. 




 Io even knocked Anthony down twice with his enthusiastic affection!






Eventually, the tail pulling started and even Io had had enough.  "See ya later, kid."