Today we had a blast hanging out at Noah’s friend Miss T’s first birthday party. We met Miss T’s parents through the Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas and have become good friends with them over the last year. Their little girl was also born with Down syndrome and a month younger than Noah, so it’s a lot of fun watching them play together.
By the way, don’t you just love Noah’s cute little Hawaiian shirt? This was a Hawaiian themed birthday party, so he had to rock one!
One awesome thing about having children is all of the birthday parties you can attend now (without looking like a creeper.) Birthday parties = cake. And cake = good. That’s what I call a parenting win! Continue Reading…
I’m often approached by companies and organizations asking me to promote their product, service, or contest to this awesome community of friends we have here. However, my goal is to promote only those items which provide a high value for my readers. And I think The Great Bike Giveaway from The Friendship Circle fits that description.
If you don’t know about The Friendship Circle here’s a brief description from their website:
Friendship Circle is a non-profit organization that provides programs and support to the families of individuals with special needs. In addition to assisting individuals with special needs, the Friendship Circle enriches its vast network of volunteers by enabling them to reap the rewards of selfless giving.
Pretty cool, huh?
So what’s The Great Bike Giveaway all about?
Some children born with physical disabilities are in need of an adaptive bike. However the cost of these bikes can be expensive, which in turn can keep many families from being able to afford one for their child. But here’s the cool news; the fine folks over at The Friendship Circle have partnered with some generous adaptive bicycle companies and are giving 14 children with disabilities an adaptive bicycle! Continue Reading…
Today marked a huge milestone in the life of our little boy, and one of the biggest and best purchases of his life…
His very first swing set!
A first swing set is a rite of passage in the life of a child. It’s the day they cross over from being a baby to being a boy. The day they trade their pacifier for a safety slide. The first day of the rest of their life.
And today was that day for our son!
If you’re in the market for a swing set, or perhaps you’ve already been there, done that, and just want to laugh at a first time parent’s experience. Either way.
Decisions, Decisions….
When we first started looking for our first swing set we stopped by a place that sells swing sets like the one in the picture above. While that backyard play set is certainly awesome (and if you happen to have one like it please let me know so we can come over and play on it) we decided to go a more minimalist route. In fact for those of you looking for a great swing set for your younger kids, we really like the Step2 Play Up Gym Set (which is the model we ended up going with.)
It all boils down to what I learned as Boy Scout; Be Prepared…
To all you parents out there who may think purchasing a swing set for your boy or girl is as simple as driving down to your local Babies R Us, picking out the best one, paying for it, sticking it in the back of your car, coming home, opening the box, and instantly transforming your backyard to a jungle gym wonderland, I’ve got some disappointing news for you. Continue Reading…
I could tell you a million great things about them, but let’s be honest; since most of you reading this are parents, and parents are always looking for good (or free) deals, let me share a few important lessons I’ve learned from Charlie’s parents.
3 Life Changing Lessons I Learned From Charlie’s Parents
1. Dressing up in tin foil can sometimes get you free food at Chipotle. (I wish I could find the picture….)
2. Smart people buy all the diapers they can fit in their car on tax free weekend. (And if they are really smart they combine tax free weekend with Babies R Us coupons for an even greater parent win!)
Look at all of those diapers!
3. You can have a birthday party for your 3 year old at The Home Depot…..for free! (I’m not kidding…keep reading.) Continue Reading…
A few days ago Noah started getting into quadruped on his own. It wasn’t a milestone post, but it was a huge one in our book.
Check him out...he's on all fours!
Why so big? Well it shows that Noah has the strength to possibly start crawling. As I was researching for this post, I learned an important thing. In the world of physical therapycrawling is actually defined as moving forward with belly on the floor pulling with arms and pushing with legs…who knew. Creeping is defined as moving on hands and knees with stomach up, in quadruped. Thanks again Patricia Winders for teaching me more about development than my entire pediatric residency. Continue Reading…
As I mentioned the other day when Noah sat up by himself for the first time, baby milestones seem to happen when you least expect it.
Hello Mr. First Tooth, nice to meet you.
Like today for instance. There I am just playing and laughing with my son like I usually do when I see him do his usual super-cute-mouth-wide-open-baby-laugh. Only this time when he smiled, and his little 10 month old mouth opened as wide (and as adorable) as it usually does, I saw a teeny tiny little baby tooth making its way through his gum line. Continue Reading…
I’d like to begin this post with a little pre-blog-post disclaimer.
A Halloween post…in the middle of April?
If you’ve noticed the date that briefly appears at the start of each of our one minute videos you may have noticed that we’re running just a tad bit behind.
We enjoy telling our son’s story and giving the world a window into the life of what life is like for one family raising a child born with Down syndrome. Since we sharing this beautiful story of life in chronological order if, in the business of life, we don’t create a new post on a every day it creates a domino effect.
Don't worry, be happy!
Most of the time no one notices (or cares) that we’re running behind, however I didn’t want anyone to get confused when they saw a post about Halloween in the middle of April! We have a plan to get caught up to real time over the next few months. In the mean time I hope you enjoy the story we are sharing of our son’s life.
It’s been a blast getting to know so many of our readers, and learning about your families as share your stories with us. Thanks for being so encouraging and supportive of our efforts. We really appreciate each and every one of you!
Now, on to today’s post (which is jammed packed with tons of really cute pictures!)
Noah’s First Halloween….and His Parent’s First Halloween Fail(s)
First let me just say that before our son was born I’ve never googled “infant Halloween costume ideas,” searched Pinterest for the best baby Halloween costumes, or been exposed to how, umm….shall I say, determined, mothers can be when it comes to finding their child the cutest and most creative Halloween outfit the world has ever seen. Continue Reading…
