Max - you are 19 months old today!

Family Bed 19 months old today! from Catherine Just on Vimeo.

Decided to do another family bed video this morning.
I do love this morning time together.
The latest things Max is loving are:
1. playing pat a cake - he will do that over and over and over and over and over with us and he signs for it all the time. "more pat a cake" " more pat a cake"!! He will grab my hands and start to do it if I don't act quick enough!
2. Peek-a boo or "where's Max" you see it at the very end of the video when Max puts the blanket over his head and hides. he doesn't need any prompting for it - he just does it - and then I say " where's Max?" and hten he pulls the blanket down and claps while I scream " there's Max - yay!!! " He does that over and over and over too. So cute! I hide too and he comes over and pulls the blanket off. The speech therapist encouraged this so that we are doing back and forth activities together - and he picked up on it right away.

In other news:
Did I tell you that we had a door put into our bedroom that goes out to our backyard?
It was Jerry's birthday present this year as that is all he has been asking for - for about 5 years.
Now that we have that installed - we just LOVE the light it lets in and that - when we lay in bed - we can see the eucalyptus tree, pomegranate tree and plum tree waving their leaves at us as if to say "hello!" Now we have an easy way to get Max outside to enjoy our yard. It's been a long time coming and I'm so glad we finally did it! We plan to build a deck where the temporary step is - but for now - the step works nicely...



Now we need to figure out how to get the backyard baby proofed as we are finding more and more ways that Max can hurt himself as we explore out there.....so the process of creating a safe environment continues!

We are going to celebrate Max's 19th month on the planet by staying in and enjoying our central air! ( It's currently 100 degrees outside - not kidding! )
And then tonight we are heading to Cru restaurant ( yes I'm still vegan if you didn't already know - it's been about 5 weeks now and loving it ) and then to the photobooth across the street from there. Looking forward to that.

In other news - we've signed up for another season of Music Together which will be on Friday's at 8:45 - which means that right after class we will head to Club 21 for his playgroup. ( if you click on that you will see Max and myself at playgroup on their website - so cute in those red shoes of his )

And...I've started taking Guitar lessons! my friend Krista bought me a guitar for my birthday many years ago and I've never learned to play it. Max loves music so much I cannot wait to learn a few songs to play for him. I'm practicing 3 times per day for 5 minutes each ( as the guitar instructor told me to ) so that I can get over the pain and suffering that my finger tips are going through....I cannot describe how painful it is right now...and I am looking forward to the callouses forming - I hear in 3 more months or so....not sure I can wait that long but I am going to try it out.

what else?
Another playgroup is forming for some friends of mine that have kids. I'm SO SO SO excited about that. And I'm looking forward to Max having a even larger tribe around him and with him.

Max is learning more and more sign language and understands even more of what we are saying to and with him. It's amazing to watch him grow and I am so looking forward to seeing how all of the therapies, music classes and playgroups contribute to Max having a rich, joyful and amazing life...although I must tell you - he seems to be having a pretty good time right now!



oh - and on a side note - last week was my 42nd birthday and we explored Sunset Boulevard over in Silverlake. We found a real old fashion black and white photobooth and of course it made my day! I've decided that my 40's can't be anything other than the best years - because I've got two of the best fella's by my side! So much fun!

16 months old and a lot of firsts!

A little sample of sign language from yesterday. We open the video with Max signing " all done"
I love his interpretation of that sign. Perfection.

He turned 16 months on Friday.
SIXTEEN MONTHS PEOPLE!!!

now - he is:
1. using sign language more and more. he loves it. Learning signs a LOT right now.
(Baby signing Time DVD'S are the best!!!)

2. He is trying to walk all the time - he can go about 6-7 steps 9 steps has been the longest.

3. He was just approved for "in clinic PT" so he can work on walking with more equipment.

4. we share food now
he loves sharing peaches, apricots(which he holds and eats himself )plums, apples, bananas, cherries and string cheese and when we go to the Farmer's Market we love to have him sample the fruit there with us.

5. He has 5 teeth - the two top front teeth and one next to it are in - and the two front bottom teeth.

6. He gets 3 bottles and 2 snacks per day now instead of 4 bottles per day. Makes a big difference to his parents more than to him I think. WOW it's a life changer - Thanks to Juli for suggesting it.

7. We are trying to teach him to hold his own bottle. He knows he has to at least put both hands on the bottle before we will help him with it. His new OT and feeding therapist gave us some great strategies.

8. He went to Venice Beach for the first time! And He LOVED it.


9. He took swimming lessons last month. We found out that he LOVES water. And is GREAT at kicking. We are going to start up again after Max has his eye surgery which is scheduled for July 28th. (I'm not really thinking much about that right now but will when it is JULY! )




10. I started to be involved in a photo project called 360 unravelled over on Flickr.com I'm taking a photo per day and uploading it with a bunch of other photographers. We all took an e-course called Unravelling together and wanted to keep in touch and keep on working on our image making. This has been a GREAT way to stay in touch and keep on noticing the every day moments that are sacred and amazing. you can see MANY more photos of Max on the flickr sight.


11. Max will take his first plane trip very soon as we are heading to Oregon so I can teach a photography workshop there.
We are really excited and nervous about all that involveed in taking our baby on a flight. Did I mention that I hate flying? Yep - not a great flyer. Did I mention that I don't LOVE driving in the rain? I thought I picked a safe enough date for the workshop - and guess what...it hasn't stopped raining for the past month. Yep. It's going to be an adventure for ALL of us! Please send us really good smooth and safe travel energy! I am inspired by who signed up for this workshop and cannot WAIT to meet them and get started - so once I get there - I will sigh a HUGE sigh of relief. ( and so will my husband who doesn't love being with me as I "deal" with driving in the rain.....I'm learning to "re-frame" it in my head so that I'm calm - cool - and collected.......

12. Right now I'm taking an e-course from Kelly Rae Roberts called Flying Lessons
Which is all about how to take your creative business and make it soar! Kelly Rae is unbelievable. Take this e-course the next time she offers it. You will be amazed.
Right now we are talking about blogs and how important they are to our business.
There was much discussion by the participants about whether to merge or separate family and business/ creative blogs. I thought a LOT about this. Do I give up "hang on little tomato" and go back to my catherinejust blog when I am posting about my workshops, art process, creative tips, and anything else pertaining to my art/photography/printmaking business?
I've decided to stay put - and merge it all here. I love the name of this blog. I love that Max is involved in my creative business as he is the inspiration for my photography workshops. I create them to be in places I want Max to visit and experience. I create my workshops so that like minded people can gather and be in a sacred place and have the time to create, meditate, explore, connect, and be inspired. I create them in places I can travel to with my family. I create them in places that make my heart sing. And if my heart is singing - than the people who sign up will have the experience of me being in the best place of all. I cannot really imagine a creative business where I leave him for days and days. Not right now. Of course he isn't helping me teach the workshop - he is off with his papa playing and exploring while I am at the workshop. But each night we are together. And that's the way I want and need it.

If travelling with my camera gear to meet like minded people and see amazing mouth watering sights along the way while my family comes along with me makes my heart sing
I wonder what makes YOUR heart sing????

Can you leave me a note in the comments about what it is that makes your heart sing?

is it a bowl of ice cream? A gorgeous sunset? laying in a hammock along the beach?
Watching your baby achieve a milestone? Meditation? napping? I'm so curious !


( 16 month family portrait in our backyard )

Max! You Are ONE Year old TODAY!!!

It's midnight.
I just finished this video.
A review of Max's first year.
Max was born at about 7am on Feb 4th 2009.
I cannot believe a year has gone by.
But I have proof here in the images.
I don't have words right now to express all the thoughts and emotions I have.
So this video will have to do.




Planning on spending the day with Max and Jerry today.
Low key - all about celebrating Max -
maybe a ride on the swings at the park
Maybe a trip to a petting zoo
maybe a nap together in the afternoon.
lots of photos - for CERTAIN.
video - oh yes!

stay tuned people....more to come.

Love you baby Max.

You are my precious little angel.

Mothers Day Bliss!

So far my First Mother's Day has been Blissful.
I slept in with my cat next to me in bed until about 10:30.
Husband made me breakfast. Gave me a card that Max "made" for me and a Superhero necklace!
Then Max gave me more smiles and who needs anything else??

After the noon feeding with Max we are heading out to a park for a little Picnic and then for a walk. that's all I wanted. To be outside with my family. Near trees. Birds. Air. I'm looking forward to it - and yes - we are bringing camera gear so more to be posted later.

But for now - I leave you with this video we took this morning:





ok - Just back from our afternoon picnic in the park.
We stopped at Grassroots and bought some pre-made lunches and gluten free snacks and cookies and headed to Nibley Park

It was a nice day - the park was packed with other families with the same idea. Lots of BBQ's happening and kids on swings and the jungle gym thing they have there. We sat under a few trees and ate our lunch while Max slept. It was so nice to get out and do this.

It's been a Perfect day.

All this and a confirmation that my friend Amy is coming to visit from Minneapolis and meet Max on Wednesday is just icing on the cake for me!!!
I can't wait to introduce her to Max and just be with her. hee heeeeee!!!

Tonight we are BBQing in our backyard and by the sounds of the birds still chirping away outside - I have a feeling it's going to be glorious.

Max you are 3 months old! and you love Gwen Stefani

ok - I'm very sorry about the singing. But try try try to live through it so you can see how much Max likes Gwen Stefani - even when sung out of tune.

He's starting to smile and laugh more often which is amazing to see. His neck strength is even better and he is using his hands to reach out and grab more on purpose.

This week he attended 2 playgroups - one in a park and one at Club 21.
He ate dinner at a Farmer's Market with us and another couple - Jen and Ray and their 8 month old Bella.
He went to another sign language class and this week.
He went to a birthday party for his friend Sevi who turned 1 year old.



cuteness...


happy baby with hidden privates ( he's shy )




this is his "power to the people" arm in the air look


Sleeping before the big birthday party at his friend Sevi's house


Happy Birthday Max - Tomorrow - you will be 3 months old. I cannot believe it. It actually feels like a lot longer for some reason since we were at the hospital. A distant memory.
I'm so glad you decided to join us in this life of ours. You sure added a pile of cuteness, love, joy, laughter, happiness, etc into the mix. Plus a bit of worry - but I'm Jewish - it's beyond my control.

I must say I do feel very much myself in the Down syndrome community. more so then most other places I've been, or groups I've joined. I'm not sure why that is. I guess it was all meant to be. Jerry and I are looking forward to the big conference in Sacramento at the end of July. But right now we are just finishing up a BBQ in our backyard on a lovely Sunday afternoon with Max in his little bouncy chair and the chirping birds, nice breeze and perfect temperature. Life is good.