This evening begins our winter break! I am beyond excited for two weeks of snuggle time with my boys. To me, Christmas is a time of giving and all of the awkwardness and warm-fuzzies that go along with it. I really enjoy watching the kindness that happens between people! We were SO excited to find Parker sitting up in his crib this morning, patiently waiting for the last day before break to begin.
Today, I witnessed an adult woman shopping at Walgreens. I tried to resist startling her in her process, but I was so humbled by her independence. It gave me so much hope! She was shopping around the store for things she needed, checkout out by herself, and double checked her bags to make sure she had everything she needed. One of the store managers was gracious enough to check on her occasionally and make sure she had everything, like batteries for an appliance she picked up.
So often, I catch myself holding my breath in these situations. I am so afraid that one of these times, I will encounter the hate or ignorance I have heard about from members of the DS community. I always. guiltily, find myself reflecting with surprise that it was a happy and positive experience.
It was exactly how I needed to start my break!
Here is another warm-fuzzy video of a sweet boy (man!) getting accepted into Clemson's LIFE program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apvWbDChh7E&edufilter=28DoOm6zbDnJZkHS9nSWaQ
Over the last year, this blog has evolved into being a therapeutic place for me to share the unfiltered goings-on of our family, but it originally was made to share daily life with Parker with our families! One of my most favorite things that Parker has started doing is one of those that I will LOVE looking back on someday. He has started to race (aka: army scoot) towards people when they come into the room-- especially people he knows. He has also really started to recognize entries to common rooms...and heads for those! His play room is one that he has recently learned how to get in and out of to find playmates. One of my favorite things is hearing him scooting towards and through the door into the kitchen to find us!
As always, I love him so much my heart hurts!
We made it through Matt's second headache since Parker was born. For those who don't know, they are a very rare type of headache that usually lands us in the ER at least once, or in this case, twice. It is so hard to watch him hurt like that. Selfishly, it is also hard to manage "life" when he gets them. In addition, we both got sick afterwards, so we are pretty exhausted and very much counting down to winter break! I am very much thankful that Matt will be going to a headache clinic in January to hopefully get some preventative and abortive steps that don't require an ER visit!
Parker, as always, was a champ when we basically required him to sit with me or in his stroller at the ER. I spent a lot of time wondering if this would be the last time he would really be cooperative in that situation-- he is getting more and more mobile by the day, and more and more determined to get where he wants when he wants :) This obviously makes us SO happy, but is also tough when you are in a germ-laden hospital and can't allow your 1 year old to crawl all over the floor!
Here's to hoping we go without any more illness for the remainder of the winter!
Both Parker's birthday celebration and his first Thanksgiving were just perfect...and I will cherish the memories from both!
His party went off without a hitch, thanks to the help of our families and great friends! I was just about in tears, as corny as that may be, when everyone sang to him. I know it is just a 1st birthday party, but for me, it was a celebration of PARKER and all of the joy he has brought into our lives.
Here are the videos :)
Taste of Cake
Happy Birthday!
Thanksgiving was wonderful, too! Great food, lots of little ones running around having a blast together...you can't ask for much more than that!
This evening begins our winter break! I am beyond excited for two weeks of snuggle time with my boys. To me, Christmas is a time of giving and all of the awkwardness and warm-fuzzies that go along with it. I really enjoy watching the kindness that happens between people! We were SO excited to find Parker sitting up in his crib this morning, patiently waiting for the last day before break to begin.
