November 1, 2013 by Jolene

An entomologist and his ladybug

We don’t do Halloween up all that big around here – all the macabre is a bit much for us – but we do like a good excuse to dress the kids up. A work party last night was just the thing, but the weather was so atrocious that it took a re-shoot this morning (and a candy bribe for our resident bug scientist) to get decent photos.

November 1, 2013 by Jolene

October in the Smokies

Of the things I inherited when I married into Jon’s family, one of my favorites is the tradition of regular trips to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. The Geary/Sharp clan has the outing to a science, finely-honed over more than 30 years. Truthfully, Gatlinburg falls into the… quirky category of vacation spots. Much of what you find there would kindly be labeled kitsch. But there’s no doubt it has character, and this family has found the gems. These mountain vacations have come to mean as much to me as they always have to Jon. So much of what we love about the area is wrapped up in years of family tradition and memory. Now we find great satisfaction in passing all of that along to our own kids.

This year’s trip found Corin enthralled with every aspect of the vacation, from the cabin to the mountain trail to the always-bustling streets of Gatlinburg. Lina also seemed to enjoy all the people watching and outdoor air, and she made it a true vacation by sleeping in until after 8 a.m. every morning. We ate ourselves silly, turned pruny in the hot tub and relaxed in ways that just don’t happen at home. This year, we also keenly felt Grandma Geary’s absence, which made us all the more thankful for the addition of family we see far too seldom: Aunt Nelda, Cousin Veronica and her son Colin.

It was back to reality with a vengeance this week, but we have our memories of this October in the Smokies carefully tucked away, the newest entry in a priceless compendium.

October 23, 2013 by Jolene

Watch out, world…

Lina is on the move!

October 21, 2013 by Jolene

Buddy Walk!

I intended to have lots of fun photos of our first Buddy Walk to share. It turned out, however, that taking the camera out to shoot photos would have risked water damage. So much for that perfect weather we expected… (Friday and Sunday were 65 and sunny, for the record.)

So the only photos from the day are the cell phone variety and… damp. Which is an accurate representation of the event.

We did have a few stretches of slightly drier and warmer weather. The event was celebrity-themed, so each person with Down syndrome got a chance to walk a little red carpet, which was surprisingly touching. The walk itself is a short parade around one end of Nashville’s Centennial Park. Cheerleaders were stationed along the path, and we enjoyed seeing the signs with pictures of so many adorable kiddos.

After the walk, we bravely soldiered through a soggy, chilled picnic lunch as temperatures dropped further. (I was the chicken. After scarfing enough food to stave off starvation, I rushed my unjacketed and half-numb self and the baby to the Jeep, where we waited in relative warmth for the real troopers to get everything packed up.) As soon as we got home, we started a fire in the fireplace and made ourselves some hot chocolate.

Even with the less-than-hospitable weather, we had a lot of fun. I want to say a special thank you to my sweet friend Rebecca, her husband Kirk and their brave kids, who hung in through the wet and chill to show their support. We’re already looking forward to next year, when we can put into use some of the fun ideas we got from other families who know how to do a Buddy Walk right.

And I want to say another thank you to every person who donated. Your contributions have gone to a truly deserving organization that does so much for people with Down syndrome in this community. Because of you, Lina’s first Buddy Walk was a definite success.

October 18, 2013 by Jolene

Goal Met!

Thanks to some very generous people, we have met our Buddy Walk fundraising goal! The walk is tomorrow, and we have raised $1,240 for the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who contributed. Your donation matters to us and to all the families who benefit.

So tomorrow we experience our first Buddy Walk. The weather should be gorgeous, and we are excited. If you would like to join us, there is still time to register online, or you may register at the event tomorrow. (I believe there may be a charge for day-of registration?) And of course, there is still time for donations for anyone who wants to contribute.

Again, thank you to those of you who supported our first fundraising effort for the DSAMT. It means a great deal to us. Looking forward to sharing pictures of the big day!

October 12, 2013 by Jolene

That sweet face – 1 year

Eline at one year:
(Okay, she’s actually almost 13 months, but I’ll be posting these less often now, so it’s close enough!)

Gets on all fours and scoots herself forward in an almost-crawl.
Can pull to standing in some situations.
Enjoys a great variety of babble, seems to say “mama” and “dada” with intent, and listens carefully to anyone who talks to her. We’re working on encouraging imitative vocalization, but we’re not there yet.
Loves, loves, loves to eat a huge range of real food. She greatly prefers to feed herself and has less patience for spoon feeding, although she is happy with it for favored foods, like spaghetti or beans. She also loves bread with peanut butter or hummus, cheese, bananas, Cheerios, bits of casseroles or veggie meats, potato, butternut squash and sweet potato. She will also eat most green veggies, although the other foods on her tray are likely to disappear first.
Bottles are still a struggle, but she is eating enough calories that her need for liquids has decreased and we have just dropped the last night feeding. She currently takes around 3-5 oz. of formula just before meals and then around 6 oz. at a 9:30 p.m. dream feeding. We have met with a feeding therapist a couple times to help us get started on transitioning to a cup, which is going to take time and practice. The goal is to have her proficient enough to drop the bottle by 18 months.
Still takes two naps – shorter in the morning and 2-3 hours in the afternoon – and sleeps 7 – 7:30 p.m. to around 6:30 a.m.
Is back to happily tolerating anyone who wants to hold and play with her. She loves to interact and will happily snuggle, but she’s also on the move and wants to explore. She does not sit still unless she is sleeping!
Has four teeth – top and bottom front – and a molar half in on the top right. She seems to be working on one or two others.
Weighed just under 19 pounds at her one-year doctor’s visit and is wearing a combination of 9 month and 12 month clothes and size 2 shoes.
Is scheduled to get a bone-anchored hearing aid next week. Also saw the ophthalmologist recently, who said she is slightly nearsighted and has some astigmatism but does not currently need glasses. (Whew!)
Tested at 12 months for fine motor skills and just a slight delay (around 10 months) for visual motor skills at her occupational therapy evaluation. We will be starting therapy twice a month to support continued progress.
Has a real thing with pulling hair.
Adores Corin and laughs more easily all the time. Loves to be read to. Loves music.

October 9, 2013 by Jolene

Wear your Team Lina pride!

The Buddy Walk is fast approaching, and Team Lina T-shirts are now available to anyone who wants them, whether you’ll be walking with us at the event or not. If you do plan to walk with us, order SOON to get them in time!

Adult Ts in snazzy orange

Kid Ts

Toddler Ts

Infant Ts

We’re still raising funds for the big event. We are 42% to our goal of $1,200, with 10 days to go. Many thanks to the very generous souls who have donated so far! Click here if you would like to donate or register to join us at the walk.

September 27, 2013 by Jolene

This and that, here and there

This post is mostly a photo dump. First, a few more random pictures from Lina’s birthday weekend, pulled from my camera.

Grandpa Sharp’s endless stores of energy came in handy for hauling the cousins around the neighborhood.

I couldn’t let Lina’s birthday completely pass without saying more about the caramel apple cake. It took three tries to get the caramel sauce right, but it was worth it. This recipe was YUMMY. Also probably the most unhealthy thing I’ve ever made.

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My parents suggested we take the kids to an apple orchard last Sunday, so we headed to Jackson’s Orchard in Bowling Green. I was disappointed they don’t offer a self-pick option, but they have a lot for kids to do, the weather was incredible, and we had a lovely day.

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This week has thankfully been relatively quiet. (Our barometer for these things has changed. We had three appointments this week, but none required the Vandy trip.) The big development for Corin was the switch to an honest-to-goodness big boy bed now that he is finally nighttime potty trained.

First night in a real twin bed, sans headboard and footboard.

Lovely new bed, passed along to us from Grandma and Grandpa

He’s a fan.

No changing pad!

My favorite season has arrived again, and life keeps moving forward. Lina is this close to crawling, Corin is more independent every day, and change is always on the horizon.

Happy fall!

August 18, 2013 by Jolene

In the past week…

Corin perfected his somersault.
I started running in the neighborhood every morning before the kids are up.
Lina happily let my mom hold her for the first time in months.
We outlined a tentative plan for a move to Williamson County in the next couple years.
Lina and I caught colds.
We met Corin’s new Mother’s Day Out teacher, the very sweet Ms. Shelley.
Tennyson consumed half a package of hot dog buns, dragged with finely-honed skill from the very center of the kitchen island.

And so goes life here in the Sharp household.

August 15, 2013 by Jolene

That sweet face – 11 months

Eline at 11 months:

Easily sits unassisted for very long periods, with great trunk rotation to reach toys and see what’s happening around her.
Loves to play with toys, waving them around, chewing them, passing them from hand to hand, banging them on the floor or table, and eventually dropping them. She has been building great arm strength lifting heavy toys!
Is able to bear her weight in an all-fours position for short periods, and will start rocking back and forth in a pre-crawling motion while supported.
Laughs more readily and has a broad range of vocalizations, including lots of consonants (da-da, ba-ba, la-la, na-na, with some “g” and “m” sounds thrown in occasionally). Has started mixing her vowels and consonants in new ways and is beginning to respond to our vocalizations with answering sounds, though not necessarily with the same sound or pattern.
Is teething heavily. One top front tooth has mostly cut through, with the other still working its way out. This will make a total of four teeth.
Has started reflux medication to help with feedings, which seemed to result in dramatic improvement at first, but now issues are cropping back up. A little more time will tell whether it has really made a permanent difference. If not, an official feeding evaluation is likely in order. Takes anywhere from 3 – 6 ounces per feeding, with total daily intake ranging over the past month anywhere from 16 ounces to 27+. Still feeds five times a day.
Continues to strongly prefer mom and dad and brother but is beginning to tolerate other family members, friends and therapists a little better.
Has physical and speech therapy appointments and TEIS teacher visits twice a month.
Has not been able to use the loaner traditional hearing aids, so we are in the process of ordering a bone anchored hearing aid. The ENT was able to evaluate her ears better at this past week’s visit and has confirmed that her hearing loss is due to the tiny size of her ear canals rather than fluid, so tubes will not be placed. She will simply need to grow until her ear canals are large enough for sound to pass through more easily. The ENT expected this to take at least two years.
Is generally a happy, smiley baby and is very engaged in what’s happening around her. She loves to study faces and has a fixation with hair. She loves the “honk mommy’s nose” game, which I am likely going to regret having taught her.
Weighs about 17 1/2 pounds and wears size 6 – 9 or 6 – 12 month clothes.

I find it truly shocking that she is now approaching her first birthday. I am trying to soak up as much snuggling and cuddling as I can, as I know it won’t be long before she’s truly on the move. I love how affectionate and sweet she is. I am incredibly grateful for my girl and what she brings every day to our family.