Fade in…Samantha sitting happily in her bubble bath lastnight, me trying to think of ways to bribe her to get out, but entertaining her in the meantime…
Me: Do you want to sing a song?
Samantha: Yes!
Me: What song do you want to sing?
Samantha: A-Donald.
Me: Okay! (singing) Old Mac Donald had a farm…
Samantha: (singing along) ...ee ai ee ai yooooo
Me: And on his farm he had a…
Samantha: No.
Me: No more Old Mac Donald?
Samantha: No a-Donald. Pat.
Me: Pat?
Samantha: (looks over at the vanity) Pat!
Me: I’m sorry, honey, I really don’t know what you’re saying.
Samantha: Pat! (makes frustrated whiney sounds while still looking over at the vanity)
Me: I’m so sorry, baby. Say it again?
Samantha: Pat! (looks like she’s got an idea) Blue yellow red!
Me: Ohhhhh! Paint!!!!
Samantha: (looks very, very pleased) Yes!
I reach into the vanity drawer and pull out her 3-color bath paint set with tubes of blue, yellow and red. Life is good.
Fade out...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
It's Here! Get It While It's Hot!
Yes, you heard correctly...the 2010 DSANV calendar, "The Eyes are the Mirrors..." is now here! I can't believe it's been a whole year already since I completed the 2009 calendar, and the last 6 months of working on this one went by so quickly. Once again, I had wonderful photographers to work with, photographing some truly beautiful and amazing people (see the lovely cover girl, Stella, from Audrey and Stella's Playground). Our models, or ambassadors, if you like, hopefully will help to raise awareness of the beauty, intellect, joy and complexity of people with Down syndrome. Of course the majority of people who purchase or view this calendar are people whose lives have already been touched by Ds in some way, but I know that changing minds and removing stereotypes of even just one person that would otherwise have no connection to Ds, is worth sooooo much.
>
The calendar can be purchased for $10.00 plus shipping at http://www.dsanv.org/ (the link is partway down the home page, and may still be for the 2009 calendar--we're working on an update, but you can still use it to order!). This will make a great holiday present for your OBs and pediatricians, btw. My OB has our 2009 calendar hanging in her office now. That definitely makes me feel so supported, and gives me so much hope that others will see it and know that the trip to Holland is a good one.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Ice Cream Party!
A few months ago, I entered, and won, a contest I found on the internet from Edy's Ice Cream. The grand prize, of which there were 1,500, was a neighborhood ice cream party, including the ice cream, scoops, apron, table cloths, cups, spoons, signs, etc. (all the stuff you'd need). To enter the contest, I had to write a short essay explaining why I thought I and my neighborhood should win. I'm kicking myself right now for not having made a copy, since I had to enter through the company's website. They didn't send a copy back, either, although I may try to contact them for it. The gist of what I said, however, was that we'd recently moved to this neighborhood after purchasing our first house. We wanted to move somewhere safe and somewhere we felt our daughter with Down syndrome could grow up in a close, caring community where people would keep an eye out for her. I mentioned that while we thought we had found just such a place, I wanted the opportunity to show my gratitude and to meet more of the neighbors that we hadn't yet crossed paths with.
The day was absolutely beautiful. You couldn't really ask for more from the weather, and a decent-sized group of our neighbors (as well as my mother and step-father, pictured in the first two photos) turned out for the festivities and sugar-overload. I met a few for the first time, but for the most part, it was people we see at the other gatherings on the street. I do wish that some of the other folks had come out, but maybe one day they will. To me, a neighborhood is a place where everyone knows each other, where children play together. It's kind of funny that only half of the street seems to gather with any regularity, while the other half does its own thing. The street isn't very big--it's comprised of just 5 rows of townhouses (5-8 houses in each row). I live right on the border of the active and the inactive. Maybe this gives me a bit of an advantage and an opportunity to get to know both sides at some point.
I love that there are so many children on our street, and although most of them are considerably older than Samantha, there are still a few little ones that she'll get to know better as they get the chance to grow up together. I'm very happy about that.
Anyway, a BIG thanks to Edy's for the indulgence and a fun time had by all. Now I have to make sure I get back to the gym tomorrow morning to work off the daily dose of leftover ice cream (at least it's the Slow Churned, which is 1/2 the fat and 1/3 fewer calories than regular ice cream) I've been allowing myself every night before bed...
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
1st Day Back
Well, school started back up today, and for the first time we put Samantha on the bus. For the last two days, whenever I would mention taking the bus to school, Sammi would say, "yellow bus." So there were really no surprises when it arrived. She was fine getting settled into her seat, and Steve followed the bus to school so he could ensure she wasn't having any kind of meltdown (we weren't expecting one) and to drop off some school supplies that we couldn't very well send with her. He reported back that she looked a little dazed, but fine, when she got off the bus, and that she marched straight to her classroom and sat down with some books. Yeah, she'll be just fine! On a photographic note, the pics I took this morning mostly came out pretty bad. In addition to the ordinary lack of sunshine at that early hour, it was raining and completely dreary. Since I hate to use flash, I ended up with lots of blur. I posted a few usable ones on my flickr site, if any of you are interested.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)