some of Gabe's favorite things to play with

Books
Blocks
Tupperware

Piano
Such a great rainy, lazy day today with my buddy.

Less than 6 weeks left!

I'm very excited about pink and purple. Gabe's new room is below. It's plain, but we'll paint the walls and give it a theme once he is in a big boy bed.
My c-section (repeat section) is scheduled the day before Thanksgiving....if I make it that long. Everything is coming along nicely and I'm beginning to feel as if we are as ready as we can be. I would still like to go through some closets and get rid of some clutter, but the major nesting duties are taken care of.

Look Mom...I'm a fish!

Gabe loves swim class! He splashes and kicks his feet. He floats on his back and glides through the water on his belly. He even likes to jump in and (briefly) put his head under. The only thing he won't do....blow bubbles.

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Many mothers of children with Down Syndrome who Blog, post everyday in October to help raise awareness regarding Trisomy 21 (aka Down Syndrome). I know it would be unrealistic with me being very pregnant and working 32 hours/week to post every single day, but I do promise to post more. This month I will post some info on Down Syndrome, Gabe's therapy, and all the things in life Gabe loves.
Gabe does have significant delays with his motor skills. He is very stubborn when it comes to movement. This is somewhat related to his hospitilization as an infant and lack of tummy time, his heart surgery, and most of all, his lower muscle tone. He has made great strides this summer though. We are currently focusing on getting his ab muscles stronger to help with the upright balancing that is required with standing and walking. Gabe is definitely a two year old and cannot know he is working, or else he will refuse to cooperate. Our physical therapist, Justin, and myself have the challenging task of strengthening Gabe's abs and getting him moving without realizing the effort he is putting forth. We have been able to do this in a couple of ways...check out the pics.

MVP

Poor Gabe got the respiratory bug this weekend. He was breathing a little heavy and working a little hard, so we took him to the emergency room around 4am on Sunday. They admitted him to watch him for 24 hours. We have all recooperated and he is doing much better now. This is the first time in 2 years Gabe has been in the hospital. We saw many nurses who took care of him then and they were so excited to see how good he looked. Before Gabe got sick, he was the MVP at the UC football game. Check out the video attached. Gabe is also making stead progress with walking. He's such a toddler lately it's too cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu2IVDLV74s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P2zfAZB2Zs

Buddy Walk 2011

Saturday was the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati's Buddy Walk. Our team, Gabriel's Angels, raised over $2,240! Many thanks to all of those who donated and walked with our team. It's difficult to put into words how wonderful it is to know that Gabe is surrounded by the love and acceptance of our family and friends. A few families and therapists have made the comment that occasionally those once close to you tend to distance themselves once you have a child with special needs because they either feel uncomfortable, don't know what to say, or feel like they can't relate. We are lucky this has not been a major issue for us. It's wonderful to see Gabe included with his friends and have everyone excited about this special day to celebrate that crazy extra chromosome. Gabe had a great day and kept saying 'buddy' all morning as we were getting ready. The weather was great and we had such a fun day.

splash splash!

Gabe has been doing well lately. We were having some issues with getting him to eat about 2 weeks ago, but we now have a booster seat type highchair (Eurochair) that allows him to sit at the table with ua, and we are doing more of a side presentation of food and he is doing much better. I am waiting for GI to call me back to see if we can back off his tube feed again. We have to make this kid hungry to really want to eat and he is growing just fine, so I think we need to push him some. Gabe also had a sleep study 2 weeks ago. Any parent who has been through one of those knows it is not fun. Gabe had an average of 4 apnea episodes/hour. His oxygenation stayed pretty high however. For Down Syndrome, as long as you are less than 5 episodes per hour, they usually don't do any intervention. So, Gabe will get another sleep study in a year unless we have any concerns....works for me. Gabe got a new walker this week. This walker doesn't have a seat in it and requires lots of ab strength. It definitely is a workout for the little guy, but he enjoys walking and really gets it, it's just a matter of strengthening his abs and building up some endurance.
Gabe and I had a great day today. It was one of those days where I woke up in the morning and realized we had nothing planned (that rarely happens). We ate breakfast at First Watch and then went to the splash park and Woodland Mound. I had never been there before and it was awesome! The water was a little cold for Gabe at first, but once he got use to it, he loved it and was butt scooting all over the place! We will definitely have to go back sometime before Labor Day. We came home from the splash park and both took a nap. It was a great day.
We also had two year old pictures taken thanks to desiraejones.com.