9 Month Addendum

Porter turns 10 months old today and I've been thinking all month I need to add onto my 9 months list because he's doing so much stuff... I try to only do one of these every 3 month so I don't overlap, so we're calling this an "Addendum".

*Pictures at the end of this Post*

9 Month Porter Addendum:

• crawls in turbo speed
• will chase us around if we cry out, "Oh..NO!!! It's the Porter Monster!!!" (I'm trying really hard to teach him how to run away but he has no interest, yet.)
• moves in and out of sit without face-planting it or crying. This is a tricky, tricky thing to learn when you have short arms (a common characteristic of people with DS) It's so cute, he walks his arms up as far as they'll go and then throws his weight around to finish the job.
  
• will give you a high-five! It's so fun!
• Says, "Dad". It's officially his first word. He knows the meaning, he says it all by itself, and only uses it for his papa. Did I mention Porter's a Daddy's Boy?
• Has said, "MaMa" once when he wasn't angry and was asking me to hold him. It's a tender memory and one that may never happen again. j/k
• Climbs speakers, televisions (to my horror), tub, anything in reach. His climbing is limited to pulling up his upper body and then walking in on his knees. No lifting his legs to get up the stairs, heaven knows, he tries.
• Has pulled to stand a few times all by himself!
  
• Walks holding onto our thumbs, wobbles and stomps his way forward.
  
• Drinks from a straw but not a sippy.
  
• Says "De-ag" when he sees Syd. I'm thinking this is a pretend word, sorta, it sounds like a babble form of dog and he uses this babble when he encounters his K9 buddy.
• Changing a diaper and putting on clothing has turned into a wrestling match and Porter is pretty scrappy.
• Gives hugs.
  
• If he likes a beat he dances to it! We work sooo hard to see this, but it's very hit and miss.
• has 2 teeth front and center on the bottom. (They came in a bit on the front of his gum line, has anyone else had that happen? I don't know how people get pictures of their kids' teeth!)
• Has an aggressive gag reflex, stage 3 food have been HARD. Sometimes he gags so hard he throws up. Texture aversion for sure!
• Still loves story time, but has found another use for books... chewing on them.
• Is a good sport about every thing. Example: Today the nurse poked him 5 times to measure his iron. I'd just get him calmed down and she'd knock and say, "Sorry it was low we need to try again." Grr... I hate this worse than shots. Porter is a fast clotter so they'll poke him and squeeze the crap out of his toe/finger to get it to bleed. I guess the positive is they finally got a normal iron level!
• Has been called a girl 3 times this week... time for a hair cut. It grew way fast!
  
• Loves other kids, he's a blast to take to Sunbeams with us! We avoid having him in the cesspool as much as possible but when he's there the kids just love on him and he's more than happy to love back.
• Porter is always teaching us new things, how to love better, the real meaning of faith, positive attitude, the meaning of persistence & determination, and how to be better people.

Porter Boy may we just end by saying we love you very, very much! You were definitely meant for us! We have cherished and loved every stage of your life and to see another stage starting to pass us by makes us a little sad, but we're so excited for all that our futures hold in you! Loving every minute with you baby boy!

Love,
Daddy & Mommy

RSV Update and Pictures:

Porter had a wellness appointment today and I'm glad he did because we ended up spending 2 hours there while they decided how to continue to treat this gunk. Come to find out when we were in the ER with Porter, the staff really down-played how bad Porter's X-ray was... how am I suppose to react to finding this out from our Pedi? It totally bugged me that they weren't honest. This really concerned P's doctor and even though I think Porter is on the upswing of things his doctor wants to continue treatment in hopes of helping him get better faster. I can't argue with that. We ended up getting set up with a home nebulizer for breathing treatments.

{Yeah right, you want me to have this on for 20 minutes?}

{Just as I thought, not too hard to get out of!}

{Wahoo, it is a toy!}

{Chew toy that is, yummy!}

He doesn't actually have to wear this mask for his treatment. His father just wanted to see if he'd tolerate it. Let's hope he sleeps better tonight! Thanks for all the love and support. It means a lot, thank you!

Quick Update

I said I'd keep you posted... We found out yesterday that Porter has a double ear infection. :( Luckily the throwing up was only being caused by the gunk from RSV getting into his tummy. He's eating ok now, and we're watching him close. We've reached that, "It will get worse" stage today. He's coughing constantly but it's a much healthier cough and his breathing is fine.

We're 5 days into this so I'm hoping he'll start feeling better soon, but the doctor told us RSV lasts for 10-14 days. Blah, let's kick it, little man!

{Sporting his soccer jersey!}

Never Say Your Child is Healthy...

...and forget about knocking on wood. Wednesday night I was telling a friend who stopped by to visit how healthy Porter has been this winter... Thursday morning he woke up with a cough and I instantly thought it was RSV. Now, being the first time overreacting Mom that I am and the fact that his cough wasn't that bad I told myself to wait and see if it got worse. He did really well until his afternoon nap when he woke up much worse. By then it was 4:30 and our pediatrician had gone home so my thought was to just make it through the night and take him in first thing in the morning. Well around 10 Porter woke up struggling to breathe. I called my mother-in-law to confer about what to do, and as soon as she heard Porter we decided to head to the ER. Poor baby was coughing so hard on the way there he was throwing up. :( The car ride put him to sleep after a minute and he was able to relax enough that he was breathing rather well when we got there, he was just a little wheezy. I'm so grateful we had a Doctor who believed us and quickly tested for RSV and had a chest x-ray done. The lab work came back positive for RSV and the x-ray showed croupe. No wonder he couldn't breath! They gave Porter some breathing treatments and gave us orders to come back if he distressed again. We got back home around 3 and slept until 9 the next morning.

Porter has been doing very well with the breathing treatment. He's sleeping right now and as soon as he wakes up were headed to a Kids Care because we're pretty sure he's got an ear infection and he can't keep any food down. :(

A few pictures from the ER.

{Porter is the biggest Daddy's boy and I love it! They're so cute together!}

{Our little sweetheart}

{This is after the awful torture device they used to get a chest x-ray on babies}

{One of the breathing treatments, Porter thought the tube was a toy.}

{He wasn't a big fan}

We'll keep you posted on our little guy. All things considered we feel very lucky that he wasn't admitted to the hospital and that we caught it early. He's sick, but he's still such a happy baby!

Soul Food

It isn't exactly bad for you, but it's not exactly good either. :) However, sometimes I need a dish of Great Grandma Max's Mac n' Cheese. Noodles, Milk, Butter, and Cheese...simple as could be. It comforts my soul deep down inside.

I know emotion shouldn't be linked with food or eating, but what about memories? Tapioca pudding- reminds me of being little and my young parents. Gelato- Florence streets with Aaron. Cream of wheat- our hospital stay after P's birth; I have a bowl most mornings. I have lots of memories tied up in food.

Do you?

Our Little Yard Guru

{The Yard Guru himself! The Guru's tip of the day is to always do yard work with a good sun hat and don't forget the sunscreen!}

Porter got us up bright and early this morning for some yard maintenance. He knew that our window for the early spring check list was getting pretty small. The first thing he did was take us outside to assess the terrain, he wasn't pleased. He gave both these parents a list of things he expected done by the end of the day.

{"This will never do for my summer time memories." The Guru started pulling the old grass out right away!}

Daddy:

• Prepare the yard for Aeration by racking up all the thatch
• Aerate the lawn
• Open the sprinkler valves, and test for leaks
• Fertilize the lawn
• Spread Soil Prep
• Keep me entertained while you do all that

{"I'm not sure you two can handle this. Maybe I better call some professionals?"}

Mommy:

• Help Daddy with aeration preparation
• Spray the weeds
• Prune the Trees, Bushes, and Shrubs
• Weed the flower beds
• Turn Up Flower Bed soil for peat moss, next week
• Keep me fed and clean while doing your list

After we finished our lists we waited for the Guru's approval...

{We WOWed him!}

{He was so pleased with what we had accomplished he lost his balance.}

{The topple caused a slight hat malfunction.}

{"How embarrassing?!"}

Mom had a few things to finish up on her list so while she finished up her weeding, Daddy and I rewarded ourselves for all of our hard work with a nap in the sun.

What a great day!

A Small Change

Due to the increase of online bullying towards individuals with Down Syndrome, I will be making some changes to our blog. I will be disabling your ability to download pictures of Porter from our blog. I NEVER want to see P's photo being used by a hate group! Makes me teary just thinking about it. Aaron and I were on the verge of going private, even though we try to keep this a low profile blog, but it seemed like the best way to protect P. For now we're comfortable with this solution.

I know that several of you have enjoyed being able to download photos of Porter for scrapbooks and such. If in the future there is a photo you'd like please just let me know in the comments and I'll get it to you. This post is my first attempt. I'll be going back over the last 9 months to disable right and left clicking, ugh, sounds fun right? But really it's a small thing and will help us feel safer online.

Giddy

This is one of my favorite pick me ups. We do the best we can to fill our home with Porter's laughter. Hope this little clip makes you happy too.

It Never Gets Old

Knowing You're Thinking of Me...

The First Year of Marriage

4th year

5th Year (this week)

Aaron is great at notes, these are some of my brief favorites. I'm going to share a quick story because it's special to me so I want to write it down.

When I was going though my level 3 practicum, which was the most intense part of my education, one afternoon I found myself sitting in a faculty room joyful I'd dropped the students off and made it to lunch. I had just transfered to this school, jumping into a group of peers who had already developed friendships and had a routine, one I didn't really fit into. The teachers there were also the type that didn't socialize with student teachers. The point is, I was in a room full of people, yet pretty much alone. I opened my sandwich for the sweet nourishment that would supply me with enough gusto to manage 32 six year olds. There on top of my sandwich sat a yellow note cute in the shape of an M. I was so excited and looked around for someone to celebrate with, only to realize no one cared. BUT, I had a note and everything else faded. I leaned back in my chair and read words of encouragement from my best friend. I'm pretty sure there was some mushy stuff in there as well, because by the time I tapped back into my reality the whole room of 20+ people were silent and watching me. A man realized I had come down from the clouds and asked, "How long have you been married?" Implying I was a newlywed. My reply shocked him, "2 years". All he could say was, "Hold on to him." Aaron's note had made everyone in the room stop and wonder, "Do I have that?" It also made all my peers jealous, which didn't really help our friendship... a small price to pay for a love like ours.

Aaron, I'm so glad you are mine to "Hold on to".

I love you, too!

Free Couch

We need to get rid of this by next Monday. If you want it, come get it. :)

There are 4 pieces: 2 ends, a double cushion middle, and an ottoman on wheels. We also have a spare cushion.

It needs to be cleaned, but otherwise in decent condition. We'll throw in the rest of our leather conditioner if you take it off our hands.