World Down Syndrome Day!

Why is TODAY World Down syndrome day?
on 3/21 ?

Well..I'll tell you

because Down syndrome occurs when there are 3 copies of the 21st chromosome

Down syndrome is also called Trisomy 21.


Happy Day! It's World Down syndrome Day. I'm celebrating Max in every way. But wait - I ALREADY do! He is so Fabulous isn't he? Well - I know you already know that!
Some sweetness shared between Papa and Max...Or...Max is trying to escape...you decide.

Max hanging out at Vertical Diner with us. A new favorite place for me to eat healthy and get out of the condo with Max. On this occasion - we met up with my friend Nicole and her son Tyler. Max was enthralled with Tyler. Couldn't get enough of him. So fun to watch him study older boys and their ways of play.

Tyler brought along a few favorite Lego toys. Of course they had their own trophy's he could attached to the wings of the plane or the back of the speed boat. I think all of the mama's out there need some trophy's like this to attach to the wings of their superhero mama cape!
Nicole and Tyler sharing a moment

Caught them in the act of power lounging again!
Jerry and I took Max to Eggs in the City on Sunday. We usually do something called " Seiner Sunday" which is just a day of adventure. So our adventure consisted of trying out a new restaurant. I know - that doesn't seem thrilling but to us - it really is! We LOVED it there and even though the wait was over 25 minutes - we didn't mind. The people watching was great too! Max was studying the menu and it looks like he has his decision made - I'm guessing french toast. ( Side note - He's still not eating much food. But working on it! I WISH he would eat french toast - or ANYTHING ELSE on that menu! )

Max just LOVES to drink out of the grown-up cups - even when they are larger than his entire body. His sweatshirt became completely drenched in water - but he didn't care. He kept signing " Water- Water - Water" and wanted to try again and again. p.s. his sign for "water" looks like a gang sign. I'll have to get that on video for you.
here he is post water exploration - playing with my iphone. We were told by a friend about a cool app that has a cat that "talks". if you rub the cat it purrs. So here is Max rubbing the cat belly! SO cute to watch him learn how to interact with it. It's great for his fine motor skills, and communication and action / reaction learning. Plus it keeps him entertained while we wait for the check and he is starting to melt.

I started to hunt for Pods in SLC. Here was the first Pod I found while driving around Cottonwood Heights. Most of you know how I've been a bit in LOVE with pods for years now. If you don't know that about me - I think I have a portfolio of pods on my website at catherinejust.com
I'm also starting to look for signs of spring. It's amazing to watch things start to transform here.
Tiny bright green buds on trees, Daffodils, crocus, and still learning what Spring means here.

The other news is.......We put in an offer on a HOUSE today. Oh yes we did!
I'd tell you all about it - but I'm going to wait to tell you until TOMORROW. We hear back from them by 2pm tomorrow..........Please cross your fingers on this one! We LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. Not only is it 2700 square feet, 4 bedroom, 3.5 baths, large backyard, great kitchen, open floorplan, attached garage, quiet cul-de-sac, and totally finished basement which will be a GREAT playroom for Max and his buddy's on cold days...but it's in what we have heard is a very good school district for kids with Special needs. It's about a mile away from another friend who has a child with Ds, and we just found out there's another little boy with Ds who lives in the area as well. It's right by the mountains and I could walk to Whole Foods. It's also about 3 miles from that Farm I posted about a few days ago. um........Are you crossing your fingers yet????

Here is a sneak peek inside.







I'll share more photos......TOMORROW! Are you crossing your fingers?? If you're not into that - how about lighting a candle - sending up a prayer - sending good vibes - putting a wish under your pillow - or dancing around the house tossing star glitter in the air while laughing hysterically and listening to music that makes you feel pumped! ( like Kanye West, Eminem, Guns and Roses and mmmmmmmm how about a little Soul Coughing, Tenacious D, and of course NO Doubt mixed in. This selection cracks me up already!! )

You can bet I will be doing ALL of these options within the next 10 hours or so!

Our first few weeks in SLC

ok....Trying to catch up! Here we go! The photo above is of my friend Nicole and her beautiful family. From Left to Right: Aaron, London, Tyler and Nicole. Nicole and I went to High school together and haven't seen each other in about 24 years or so. We re-connected on Facebook just one week before Salt Lake City was even on our minds. And guess where she lives! So back in November when we took a road trip to SLC to figure things out we met up with Nicole and her family. I tried my best to snap a family portrait - but guess what. The only person in focus is Tyler and his soccer ball. hmmmm. I am out of practice!
Tyler and Max playing together back in November.
Once we made the move to SLC I re-connected with some mom's who have kids with Ds. I was invited to join a playgroup the first week in town. Here are all the kids. Max is in the front crying. He actually made it through 2 hours of playgroup without having a hard time with all the noise. That's a first I think. But at the very end when we tried to take this photo.....melting. I just loved meeting everyone in this playgroup and all of their kids. I joined their yahoo group and it's such a supportive, friendly fabulous group! I feel so relieved to find them and to introduce Max to a bunch of new friends right off the bat.
Here is an iphone photo of Max with his friend Max! yep and they are the same age. I think they are going to spend a lot of time together. Max's mom Kristin is the one who introduced me to the group and I am so grateful to her!
I think I mentioned in the last post that we are subletting a condo in the Lower Avenues. When you walk out of our place and you look to the right you see the Mormon temple. It's been snowing and then melting and bright and sunny and then snowing again. So I ran out at 6am to take photos after an all night snowfall.
When you look to the left you see the Catholic Church.
Across the street are these beautiful trees.


Yes - this is REALLY what it looks like the day AFTER it snows and everything melts. Gorgeous. This was the view while driving around looking at houses for sale.
yes I was driving on the freeway and blown away by the mountains. I tried to take a shot as I drove. Don't worry mom, I wasn't looking through the viewfinder - I had my eyes on the road!
yes another photo while driving. this time with my iphone. Heading to Cottonwood Heights to drive by a bunch of houses that are for sale. I REALLY love the view of the mountains from this part of town. I don't think I'd mind if my backyard faced this view! They are so close to the mountains it just feels amazing.
Another snow day looking across the street from our condo. I LOVE that tree.

At Cafe Shambala which we seem to frequent these days since it's very close to the condo and tasty!
We got a membership from family members to a place called the Discovery Center. I think I've taken Max there 5 times already! It's a great place for him to play and walk walk walk walk which makes him squeal with delight. He loves to play with all the colorful toys, get pushed around in the cars, play music and walk up to the parents and wave at them. He seems more interested in the adults than in the kids his age.
playing music with papa
his favorite thing these days.....cars. cars. cars. It must be in the bloodstream or something because we don't really have many car toys at home and don't focus on them when we play. He sees them driving down the street and gets so excited. Anything with wheels. Even other strollers. He wants to follow them down the sidewalk. He loves to touch the wheels and tires. Even at a farm we went to he was more interested in the tractors than the cute bunnies or the sheep.
learning the art of power lounging from papa He just started to be able to get himself up onto the couch by himself.
His new friend Victoria. She is the daughter of Jerry's Sister's friend Peggy. Peggy just happens to also be our Real Estate agent. yes it is a soft focus photo because someone licked the iphone. I wonder who? Max went right over to her and held up his arms so that she could pick him up. He loves her.
And here is Max's first girlfriend in Salt lake City. London. They met back in November and it's been true love ever since. He loves to touch her face and smile at her.
Max and Papa on a tractor at Wheeler Farm
Max meeting a sweet horse
There's Nicole and London looking gorgeous at the farm.
Pretty X 2
Tyler with his Star Wars t-shirt on. Guess what his favorite movie is?
All of us at Wheeler Farm. Nicole, Aaron, London and Tyler took us there. It was great to visit all the animals and guess what, this place is close and FREE. I think Max and I will be spending a lot of time here - especially when it warms up.
One of the many perks of living here is that Max and I have been able to visit Jerry during his lunch break at work and run off to a restaurant for lunch together. This would NEVER happen in Los Angeles. Just getting to Jerry's work in LA took FOREVER. We love seeing him in the middle of the day and how easy it is to get over there.

All of us are really enjoying it here. Yes, you heard right. We like it here! I feel right at home here. I have no idea why that is. But it's been smooth and easy to meet new people, figure out the city and finding my daily comforts - like where to eat - buy groceries - get my hair done - go to 12 step meetings etc.

And - drum roll please - we actually went out on a DATE without Max. Yes. we. Did! Grandma Marty came over and watched Max while we went up the street to Cafe Shambala and had dinner. It felt strange to not have him with us since we don't go anywhere without him. But it was also NICE. Every Tuesday night is DATE NIGHT ! Woo hoooooo! Thank you so much *m.

Much more to say and share but we are off to one of our favorite places to eat, The Oasis Cafe for breakfast. Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

well hello from Salt Lake City!

I was looking through my photos to send a post about our move to Salt Lake City. I found so many images that tugged at my heart. So many memories in our home in Los Angeles. It's the first house Jerry and I lived in together, the house I went through my pregnancy, had the baby shower in, the house I brought our son Max home to, The last house my 17 year old cat would share with me, The house that Max learned to sit up, crawl, walk, learn sign language - his first 35 signs, smile for the first time, laugh for the first time, learn to hold his bottle on his own, feed himself finger foods, swing on the blue children's swing we bought for his 1st birthday and put up on the tree out front, ( that tree that I took the year long photo series of ) and met his first therapists: Joe his PT who knew him the longest, Cindi his OT, and Amy his speech therapist. The house I took baths with Max when he was a tiny baby, The house we first started the "family bed", The house I turned 40 in (!), The house Jerry turned 40 in (!), The house with the nice, quiet, respectful neighbors, The house with the pomegranate tree out back. The house I decided to stop photographing weddings and focus on being more authentic with what I wanted to do. The house where Jerry and I celebrated our first and second wedding anniversaries, sang happy birthday to Max for his 1st and 2nd birthday's, The house where I sat in the dining room and started this blog! So many warm and fond memories I could list here. AND so many friends that came through and warmed up our home!



helping Max learn to get past his aversion to the feel of grass - at Huntington Gardens.
Pretty Girl always sat right next to my head purring while Max slept on me in those first few months of Max's life. I told Pretty Girl when I was pregnant that she will always be my first. So this photo is with both of my children.
The view from my car window when I parked in the driveway.
Our last portrait together at the house before we drove off.

Giving that tree out front a hug before we left. I actually got a little choked up thinking about the photo series I did with that tree over a year in my life, and how it held onto Max and his swing - bringing Max so much joy!
The moving Van is bigger than our house!
our cars have shipped, our things are on the moving van and on their way to Salt Lake City, we rented a car and headed to a hotel for 2 nights before we headed to the airport. here I am jumping for joy. Basically my way of saying thank you to that house and moving on to the new adventure.
Max on the plane before we take off for Salt Lake City.
Max and mama on plane.
Our first family portrait in Salt Lake City - at Baggage Claim. Photo taken by a nice local gal.
Looks like Max has his legs in the air like he just don't care!

We are subletting a condo in the "lower Avenues".
Here is a video of the place

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge39SOazqnc

We love it. We will be here for 3 - 4 months while we look for our new house.
It's been snowing overnight here and is very pretty! If I walked outside into the street and looked down the street to the right I would be staring at the Mormon temple. If I looked to the left I would be looking at the Catholic Church. Both are very pretty and majestic with all the snow. I'll take some photos today or sometime this weekend to share with you.

Yesterday Max's Grandma Marty came over with a huge pot of homemade soup, and played with max for a few hours. He was so happy to see her! We've never lived this close to family before. I think Max will get a kick out of it! And my parents plan to visit often so it feels like our family life just expanded by 200%.

I've signed up with a yahoo group that's for parents with children who have Ds in Salt Lake City and they have playgroups every other week. I'm planning on going to one on Tuesday. I already met a few of the mom's and their kids and look forward to reconnecting with them and getting Max out there with other kids his age.

Still trying to figure out how to get him his services ( therapies ) and what part of town has the best school system for Max - and believes in Inclusion, and has a good outlook and philosophy about people who have disabilities or challenges or learn differently. This part is difficult for me. Los Angeles was very easy - they ( the regional center )actually came to us and told us they were there to help Max and give him services. That isn't going to happen here. Mainly because Max wasn't born here so there isn't a record of Max and his diagnosis going to the places that might be of service to him.

On another note........Before we moved we had a birthday party for Max. our friend Kerry took a lot of great photos of the party so I'm sharing the link to his photo album here. Take a peek! And YES Jerry dressed up as DJ Lance Rock from the only Tv show that Max watches called Yo Gabba Gabba. Ok he watches other shows on tv, but he doesn't love them compared to this one. He's a little obsessed!

http://gallery.me.com/kerrynorman2#100062


Max LOVES cars. LOVES them. Here he is with Papa at the birthday party being pushed around in one of the many cars he tried out.


Here is the birthday cake in the shape of Brobee which is another character on Yo Gabba Gabba. And that's Niko looking lovingly at the cake.
A little snuggle in between riding cars, sliding down the slide, running around the playground and seeing his friends.



Here he is a few weeks before the move at his best friend Brady's 2nd birthday party. There they are together. Juli and I met at Club 21 when our babies were so small and young. They are 3 weeks apart and so we decided they were best friends.
I will miss seeing them so much. And so many other friends out in LA. I hope to keep in touch with all of them and watch their kids grow up! Hopefully we will visit and attend the annual conference at Club 21 and gather up some friends.

I'm lucky to already have friends here in Salt Lake. Some new and some I've known for over 25 years! Hope this transition keeps on going as smoothly as it already has so far.....quick knock on wood everyone!

xoxoxoxo
*c

p.s. here is a photo I took this morning from the dining room window.
I'll take more of the views here and post soon!


I'm looking forward to a new list of memories that we start in this new city! The first one will be Max's introduction to ....SNOW!!!

Max you are TWO!!!!!!!

Yep, there you are on your 2nd birthday. Looking gloriously happy and filled with joy from every pore. Yes it's true you turned two on February 4th and here it is Feb 13th. So sorry this is late.

This is what I want to say to you.

Thank you.

You brighten my life every single day.
You are amazing, breathtakingly joyful, talented, strong, funny, fun, kind, sweet, adorable, dear, darling, cute, I could go on and on!

The best part of my day is when we wake up and you are snuggling with me, and when we go to sleep and you are snuggling with me. Basically you are so into wrapping yourself around us. I love that. I know this might end as you get older so every time you do it I try my best to be very present for it.

ok - stats:

Sign language - these are all the words I can think of that you sign:

1.more
2.all done
3.milk
4.cracker
5.cereal
6.water
7.ball
8.train
9.rain
10.wind
11.tree
12.friend
13.day
14.night
15.thank you
16.please
17.apple
18.phone
19.diaper
20.signing time
21.play
22.plane
23.stop
24.car
25.mama
26.papa
27.grandpa
28.grandma
29.dog
30.yo gabba gabba ( he made up his own sign for this )
31.sleep
32.bath
33.book
34.shoes
35.bubbles

Not sure if I missed any here. I'll add them if I think or see more of them...
You're starting to use two signs together like
more bubbles
more ball
etc.

Now if I ask you where your nose is you will point to it.
You do this with your belly button, ear, foot, hand and teeth.
You'll also point to them even if I don't ask you to. You are really interested in showing me your nose and bellybutton. over and over. And then you clap and smile really big because you are so proud you know where those body parts are what they are called.

This blog post has taken me 2 days to write - in between all the packing for our big move I will write a little as I pass by the computer....It's much more difficult to write when so much is going on - and it's all for YOU! This big move will give you a gerat life ( not that you don't already have one! ) but papa's work situation will be much more balanced. He will be home at a decent hour at night so you will see more of him which will make mama even more happy as well.
He can't wait to teach you how to ski and I can't wait to stay in and watch it snow while sipping hot chocolate! ok - I'll go inner tubing with you and I'll show you how to make an angel in the snow with your body and how to make snowballs to throw at papa. You'll also get to see your cousins regularly and your grandma, grandpa and aunt and uncle! Grandma DeeDee and Grandpa Rich will fly out to visit you regularly as well! Loads of family close by will be so much fun.

I hope to show you Los Angeles again - actually every year there is a Down syndrome conference in Pasadena that Jerry and I want to take you to so you can see all of your old friends and we can pass by the house you first lived in, take you back to the hospital you were born in and bring you to Huntington Gardens where we spent so much time these first two years of your life.

Today was your last Physical Therapy Session with Joe and it was so sad for me to sit and watch and know you wouldn't be with him anymore. He was so so so good at helping you become stronger, more balanced, gain ab strength and all around support you and love you for who you are. We will miss Joe so much! I'll post photos soon.

ok
your favorite foods right now:
Formula ( News flash - you can hold your own bottle from beginning to end!!!!!! This is HUGE! )
Cereal ( wheat free cherrios type of cereal. )
Barley teething biscuits
fruit ( cantalope, watermelon, banana, apple )
french fries
sweet potato fries
and um...that's it.
Yep - you are very very picky and not interested.

Sometimes you'll eat scrambled eggs.


What else???

Well you are very vocal and starting to really give me your opinions about everything. You get pretty upset if you can't do something. You HATE being in your room with the gate shut.
You LOVE being in the bathtub as long as we DON'T wash your hair.
You love going to the park but HATE being in the car seat all day ( I would too )
You LOVE opening and closing cabinets, drawers, doors.
And you love walking around the house
you can just go go go go go go go go go
you love to investigate your toys. You pull things around, flip them upside down, turn them inside out and are so curious about it all.
You love to have books read to you.
Your favorites are " Peek a Who"
and " Whose in the Garden "
You love music and rock out to all types. You love to bang on the drum, play keyboards and dance.

Did I mention that your favorite TV show is Yo Gabba Gabba
and you watch that and your Signing Time DVD's while sitting in your travel high chair or right up at the tv so you can push the buttons "on" and "off" over and over and over and over again.

You have Speech therapy, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy once a week each and when you are up we go to the park to see your mom's club friends or on Friday's we go to Club 21 for your playgroup there. But you miss those a lot because of naps.

Mama stays home full time to be with you and make sure you get to therapy during the week and get out to see different sights, meet people and play and learn. Mama LOVES being home with you and feels SO SO SO LUCKY to have this time with you.

Well, this was a long post but I wanted to share where you are at right now so when you are older you can read about yourself and learn what you were like when you were TWO!

Your mama and papa love you so much it actually makes our hearts BURST with joy just thinking about you. Seeing you, watching you grow, learning all about you as you express yourself and expand your understanding of the world is THRILLING!

And that smile.....
leaves me speechless.
It's contagious
and you are such a gift.

Thank you Max for another amazing year being here with us.
I am looking forward to each new day with you.

Love
Mama