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.

I'm so excited about being a big brother!

We found out Monday we are having a girl. The fetal echo and ultrasound all looked great...sigh of relief. Bring on the pink!

Fishes

We took Gabe to the Newport Aquarium this weekend. He seemed to really like it. It's been so hot, it's nice to have indoor things to do. On Saturday night we also had a barbque/card party in Gabe's honor. We now have $300 in donations for Gabe's Buddy Walk. We have such great friends.

Happy 2nd Birthday Gabe!

Gabe turned 2 on Friday. We had some family over on Wed and Fri for dinner and cake. Gabe also brought cupcakes to school on Friday and all the kids sang Happy Birthday. He's had a great week.

At two-years-old, Gabe can:

Eating: Yes, we still have the Gtube. Yes, we recently had to increase feeds b/c of some weight loss. Yes, Gabe still doesn't like to drink from a cup. However, Gabe is eating two year old food. He eats Gerber Graduate meals. He eats, regular oatmeal, spaghetti, cinnamon toast, grilled cheese, peanut butter crackers, hamburger, steamed veggies, rice, fish, etc. His jaw tires out from chewing, so we're working on volume, but I am happy we are getting away from soft foods only.

Walking: Gabe likes the Orthodics we got back in the spring. They help stabalize his ankle. He is able to pull up from sitting to standing. He is able to stand with the support of holding on with just one hand. Sometimes you can let go for about 3 seconds and he'll balance. He still does not want to crawl. He dives to the floor on his belly, stretches out, and then pushes up to sitting. He is able to move all over the house this way. Just today we put up some baby gates b/c he's getting so fast. He still walks in his walker. He also walks while we hold his hands. We have Physical Therapy 6x/month. We are really working on bending his knees to help with cruising and prevent the tin man walk.

Talking: Gabe knows about 25 signs now. He is also putting them together (ie: "Help with book please"). It's pretty amazing how much he understands and is able to communicate. He does all the motions to "Wheels on the Bus", "Twinkle Twinkle" and does some to "Itsy Bitsy Spider". Gabe has said "mom" and "dad" and "bye" for awhile, but it is much more purposeful now. Just this week he also started saying "book" k and all, blue, and he tries to say mirror, orange and yellow. Gabe also knows animal sounds for cow, sheep, duck, and he made up one for a scary monster.

Fine Motor: Gabe points at pictures in a book. We are working on him pointing in the air at an object. He is able to point to his hair, ears, mouth, nose, belly, fingers, feet, legs, and is hit or miss with eye. He is getting better with coloring. He'll hold a crayon now and tap it on a paper for awhile before he throws it. He also pokes at playdo.

Potty training: It's still a little early for any boy to really be potty trained, however, we are introducing it without any pressure. Gabe signs diaper when we ask him if he needs to be changed. We're working on him signing potty when he goes. We sit him on his little potty about once a day and he thinks it's fun. He's gone about 5 times on the potty the past month. I'm not pressing it b/c with the new baby coming in Nov., it probably isn't the best time to really push it.

I think that's it for updates. Gabe continues to amaze us everday. He's quite the toddler now...attitude and all. It's exciting to see him grow. Happy Birthday buddy!

Big Boy, Big School

Gabe is doing well overall with school. He did get smart last week and has started to cry when we leave. He gets over it pretty quickly though. He is also eating slightly better. He is playing more and seems less shy with the other kids. They have circle time, arts and crafts, social studies, and gross motor. Today he developed a fever during the day. Poor guy isn't feeling well. At first I thought maybe it was his canines finally coming thru, but it got up to 100.5 which is high for him, so I think he has a bug of some sort. He refused lunch today so I'm thinking maybe his throat is soar. As long as he has Tylenol on board he is okay. Hopefully he gets over it soon. He is "talking" alot more. He is mimicking lots of sounds and is doing really well with his flashcards lately. I'll have a more detailed update next week on all the fun stuff Gabe is doing...he will be 2 next Friday!