Doctor, Doctor.....

Today we went to the Lucas' pediatrician office to get pre-op paperwork done and clearances for next week's outpatient procedure at Children's. I think the highlight for me was wanting to know how much Lucas has gained since our June visit.  Come to find out he is 17.4 lbs! Yippee!!  Seeing as the doctor's office waiting room was filled with kids needing physicals and wellness visits before school we had a longer than normal weight time in the doctors office. As you can see Lucas was finding ways to entertain himself!

"Ripping and playing with paper is awesome!"

"I hope the doctor never comes in here!"

"Man, whoever invented this stuff is a genius!"

"Umm, I swear it wasn't me mom!" (So BUSTED)

"Hmmmm, now we are home and somehow this is not as much fun!"

Enjoying every minute

Today I got some alone time with Lucas as we went for a walk in the neighborhood, did a little shopping and just had some plain ol' fun.  The way only mommy and baby can! In other words we had a great time together.  I never stop taking photos to capture every single minute of our lives together....whether little or small. They are all important. So Lucas when you read this later on you will see that your mama has always been CRAZY about you! Mua baby boy.

"Mom, I wanna be a musico like Grandpa"

"Mom, I can be silly just like you!"

It takes a village

So to borrow from a popular saying I have come to agree that sometimes it takes a village and in the case of my family - we ARE a village! Recently Carlos and I took our first "adult" vacation and Lucas spent time in Michigan with his grandparents, uncles, aunts and his many cousins. I wasn't really worried to leave him but just sad that we would be doing something without him. (Yeah, yeah I know he is just 10 months old!!) But seeing as it I did survive being away from him it was sure nice to come home to all the photos the village, I mean the family, took of him! As you can tell Lucas didn't even know we were gone!

Showing off my sitting skills at Grandpa and Grandma's house

"Gooooo Livvvviiiiieeee!! Hit me a homer!!!"

"Ah, yeah! This is life...keeping hugging and kissing me Liliana!"

"Let me rub your chin Meli Mel"

"Oh yeah, Grandma is a pro at this stuff!"

"Ok, Uncle Jimmy tell me the play one more time please"

"Look at all this love I get when when mommy and daddy leave! I love you TiTi."

I even got some 1 on 1 time with my cousin Mariah! She likes to watch me while I look cool in my car seat.

Boo-yah!! I am the BOMB!

New things, New adventures

So today was a little bit special since Lucas got to visit mommy at work and got to appreciate his first popsicle to help with his teething. If only that darn tooth would hurry up and pop out! I think we have been patient enough!  :) 

I will say it was nice that daddy was home for a few days this week since he got to go and see Lucas more often at daycare, therapy and even could bring him to mom's work since all the ladies have been begging me to bring him by.  Today was a good day!

Yummy! He sure did love that popsicle.

Lucas and mommy at her work. He shortly started throwing papers all over the floor after this photo!

Back to reality

So we took a hiatus from blogging due to taking our first "parents only" vacation and it was great. We sure did miss our little man but now are trying to get back into the daily routine and boy is it hard! Here is a photo of playing around with Lucas' wet hair yesterday and then a photo of him doing therapy today. Boy doesn't he look enthused? ha!  We also had an EI meeting today (Early Intervention) for our 6 month review and to add on Developmental Therapy.  Overall, Lucas is doing very well and is showing very little delay.  The area where we need to keep working is on vocalization and expressive language.  In the coming months that will be some of our biggest focus.

Mom and her ideas! Funny hair.

Back to reality....OT! (Not too happy about that today)

Strike a Pose!

So I returned from our first vacation, sans infant, only to get a few emails from other mom's asking if Lucas was in the summer edition of Chicago Special Parent.  I do remember sending in a photo when I saw an at daycare requesting photos but didn't think they might actually use it.  Nonetheless, I quickly headed to the public library and there was my handsome little man in the gallery section.  Love this and now we have yet another awesome keepsake!

Look at me strike a pose!

Fun times in OT

As we have mentioned before, I do Occupational Therapy on Tueday's to work on my fine motor skills.  We have been spending time working on me picking things up with my hands and fine-tuning my grasp of objects. I would have to say that I am doing pretty good at it!  Here are some photos of me in action while I am playing with some peg toys and trying to feed myself some puffs.  (Which I love by the way!)

Yeah mom snap a photo of me while I am eating!

Working on my pincer grasp

Ok, easy does it and soon that puff will be in my mouth!

Hmmmm, did I ever tell you how much I love these peg toys?

Here I am working on sitting up and still have my peg toy

Hanging our at Gigi's

So once a month we go to Gigi's playhouse for their crawlers class and to hang out with old and new friends. So this month was nothing different and was even more awesome since daddy came with us and got to be the photographer while me and mommy got to have fun and work on some skills.

Here I am rockin' it out!

"Gimme a beat!"

Here I am doing my solo!

Here I am with some of my friends! But one of them is not very happy about taking photos!

Me and mommy singing the Good-Bye Song!

Mommy's and the Babies!

Thank you

So it's been a little over a month since the first official team outing for "Lucas and His Mighty Warrior"at the Gigi's Playhouse Walk in June. It was so awesome to surrounded by amazing people who support those with Down Syndrome and know that they will grow into individuals with accomplished and fulfilling lives.  We were lucky enough to have so much support from friends and family on the special day.  Here is a thank you from Lucas. Can't wait for the BuddyWalk in October!

A Hard Day's Work

Every Thursday we have physical therapy and as Lucas gets older and stronger we are beginning to push him little by little. In addition, his tolerance to exercises is getting better by the week.  Here are a few things we worked on today.  It is so wonderful to see how much he is growing and doing.

Weight shifting to strengthen arms and core

 

More weight shifting with binder

 

 

 

This is Lucas' baby sumo wrestler pose!

More treadmill action today! (He is really liking this!)

Ok, now he is getting a little tired! Good thing our session is just about over at this point.

Loving the iPad and my table

So after a long day that included a developmental therapy evaluation, daycare, work for mom and getting a new central air unit in our home me and mom still found time to play and learn while waiting for daddy to come home for a family swim.  Here is what me and mom were up to; lots of learning apps with sound so that I can begin associating words with things and animals. This was lots of fun and by the way my evaluation went awesome today! I am moving right along and developing very well.

Getting ready to play on the iPad with my special table Grandpa made me. Gosh I love this table!

Getting warmed up! Can you say riiiibbbiiitttt???

Oh yeah! Swiping is my new favorite thing to do!

Mom is so cool that she found me these fun apps to play with and listen to cool sounds!

Family Rocks!

I won't lie we were scared to death about what it would mean to raise a baby with Down Syndrome and had doubts if we could do it or even handle everything we thought it was going to take.  As I our think about our journey so far, all 10 months of it, there is one one thing that kept us going in our toughest moments and that was the unconditional love and support we received from our family.  They promised us that everything would be okay and that we would never be alone and they would help and be there whenever we needed.  They have kept their word and been such a comfort and true support system.  They love Lucas beyond measure and no matter the distance they have a deep and genuine love for him. We could not have asked GOD for a better match! We needed Lucas and Lucas needed this family!! (Yes, this BIG ol'crazy family that he has not yet met even half of!)

So in appreciation for our family and everything they have done for us we wanted to share some of our moments together.  (Many more family moments to come in the future)  In today's post we do a special shout out to the grandparents for all the time they have spent with us at home, in the hospital and everyplace in between!

Ah, I love when Grandpa sings to me

More snuggles from Grandpa but that beard itches!

Visiting the grandparentals - July 2012

Grandma showing how strong she is! Lucas and Isaiah in Grand Rapids

Me and my abuela from Orlando before listening to mommy talk about me at Easter Seals. (May 2012)

My abuela showing me how my new toy works she bought me

  

TGIF

Well it's been one heck of a week with no power at our house and having the 4th of July be smack dab in the middle of the week.  And did I mention working through all this??  So just as I was thinking about how tired I was I got an email of Lucas from his daycare teacher.  This totally cracks me up because it's like he is saying "Come get me mama - TGIF!!!"

The Little Things

So in the Vasquez family we have learned to enjoy the little things in life and never take anything for granted. Lucas has shown us that and he has reminded us that before him we missed the sweet tender moments in life that go wildly unnoticed because we take them for granted or are numb to them. Well no longer do we do that and ever day I am grateful for the precious gift that is Lucas.  On this occasion we just happened to be out to dinner with friends and got to watch our little man sit up on his own in a restaurant high chair.  May seem like a small accomplishment but for us it was pure joy!

Whoa! What is this thing?

Hmm? I wonder if it will take off?

Ha! I got this mommy and daddy! I am a big boy now!