Kitties, kitties, and more kitties

On Thursday Sylas had his first PT appointment. The therapist came out to our house, and taught me some great ways to assist Sylas developmentally. I will write more on this in an upcoming post, I want to include a few pictures, so for now.....you get to read about kitties!
Today we visited a cat rescue and sanctuary called 9th Life Hawaii (www.9thlifehawaii.org). Earlier in the year we had visited, and they had just rescued more than 125 tiny kittens from the humane society as these kittens were too small to be considered adoptable and thus would have been euthanized. The kids were excited to see how the kittens had grown and how many had been adopted. Sam had started a fundraiser this summer and saved money to donate. We are in awe of the hard work this non-profit rescue does. They hold Spay/Neuter clinics which have now sterilized over 1,600 cats on the island. In order to reach as many cats as possible, the service is provided by donation or free if a hardship. This is a huge step in the right direction to controlling the "out of control" cat population.
The following video shows Sam entertaining the cats, he has SEVEN cats captivated by a ball toy. It is probably a blessing that our dog likes to eat cats, otherwise we would have ended up taking all seven sweet kitties home with us! *Grandma K., we know you will love this video, ha, ha.

Cereal is on the menu!

Last week when we visited the doctor, she ok'd Sylas to try cereal. I bought a package of baby spoons last week and today I bought rice cereal. The woman who was ringing up my groceries had no idea of the exciting date I had planned with Sylas and the rice cereal. When I arrived home, I found that this date for two would now include a third. Sophie jumped into action and chose a pink spoon to deliver the delicious mush with.
In the video, Sylas is sporting a bib that his Great Aunt Jean created for him. Thank you Jean, it is pretty darn cute!
Sylas did fine, I think, with the cereal. He did not throw up anyway, and I think he would have slurped up more had we kept feeding him. Better to start slowly, otherwise may be sorry!

Siblings

I have a new heading at the top of my blog. My blog friend Adrienne (she is mom to Bennett who is Sylas' age and also has DS; her blog is http://www.ourunexpectedjourney.blogspot.com/) created it for me and it features one of my favorite pictures of the kids. Thanks Adrienne!

Sophie and Sam had been wanting another sibling for quite awhile prior to Sylas coming into the picture. As soon as Sophie could talk, she would ask for a baby sister (or a baby brother if a baby sister was not available). When we first told them that I was pregnant, Sophie piped up, "Well, if it is a girl baby, I will take care of it; if it is a boy baby, then Sam will".

Now that Sylas is here, they fuss over Sylas nonstop. Today I was mentioning how Sylas wants to nurse all of the time and how I really need a break. Unknown to me, Sophie went over to the freezer, took out a bottle of frozen breastmilk, and then proceeded to find a bottle and the proper nipple. About an hour later, I noticed this all sitting on the table and I wondered who the magical milk fairy was. Sophie was even prepared to feed Sylas herself, but unfortunately she had a cold today so perhaps tomorrow!

Sam wants Sylas to sleep with him at night. I have a feeling that when Sylas is older, he will crawl into his big brother's bed at night. I wonder if I will have to remind Sam of what he wished for.

God must have made Sophie and Sam for Sylas, and Sylas for Sam and Sophie. They are all so different, but a perfect fit for each other.

Loving Lavender at 4mths

Today Sylas turned 4 months so we decided to celebrate and drive to the Lavender Farm in Kula. Kula is in upcountry which is considerably cooler. The cool weather seemed to wake everyone up. Our family loves lavender, so this is one of our favorite places to visit. They grow over 45 different varieties (I had no idea that there were so many, actually I hear that over 200 varieties exist!). We have learned that lavender not only smells terrific and calms, but is also a natural antiseptic, disinfectant, and insect repellent among many other benefits. I personally like to add a few drops of lavender oil to bathwater and sometimes I spray or dab it on the kid's pillows to help them relax.
I have decided to try to add video to my blog. Brett found this neat little video recorder at Target called a Flip. It does not have a tape, but the camera plugs directly into the computer without using an attachment, super easy! Hopefully this works.......
One video shows a bit of the lav. farm, and the other shows Sylas and Brett having a man-to-man discussion.


Yes, one of Sylas' nicknames is "Goo" given by Sophie.

Pectus Excavatum??

Pectus Excavatum...say that 3 times fast. Before you whip out your dictionaries to look up this term, I will clarify: it is the most common congenital deformity of the anterior chest wall and it produces a caved in appearance of the chest. It is generally cosmetic and sometimes genetic. We noticed that when Sylas breathes, his chest sucks in slightly near the lower part of his sternum. The doctor told us what it was and also reassured us that it would not cause Sylas any breathing or heart problems. Sounds good to me!

We also found out that our little peanut weighs 11 pounds, 7 ounces which puts him at 50th percentile on the DS growth chart. He is 22.25 inches which is the 20th percentile. Keep drinking that breast milk Sylas!

The doctor was very impressed by his ability to hold up his head when he is on his tummy. When I got home from the appointment, I had a message from his PT. Lots of fun, he will be starting PT home visits next Friday!

Hello everyone, we are back!

It has been way to long. I feel a bit rusty doing this blog stuff. We left MN last Thursday, and I am excited to get back to my blog and catching up reading the blogs that I follow. Minnesota was a social whirlwind of family, friends, and lots of events. I was actually somewhat anxious about blogging because I have so much to write about, so I am just going to start with what ever pops into my head. Sylas has grown so much in many ways since June:

• He is nearly 4 months old!



• He is smiling, occasionally laughs, and is incredibly social.



• In order to be social all of the time, he insists on being held or played with.



• He loves to nurse A LOT, I imagine that he wants to blurt out "hungry, hungry!" which is Sophie's favorite saying.



• He rolls over once in awhile, usually unexpectedly.



• Makes cooing noises. Early one morning, Brett and I both woke up to what sounded like a concise and clear "No!" coming from his crib. I was not sure if I was hearing correctly, and then he said it again!



• His hair, not as spiky as it used to be, is now falling over to the side.

Soon after arriving in Minnesota, Sylas had a bout with pneumonia. He was sick for three weeks, but he recovered with the strength that he has shown from day one.

We decided to bring Sylas and Sophie together to the clinic for their immunizations (2mth and kindergarten). Two kiddos crying, in pain....no fun. Sam "the experienced older brother" was also present, and he offered his wisdom on the situation. Honestly, I think the nurse should have offered us, the parents, a prize from the bucket too.

Sylas was baptized in the lake at the cabin July 18th. It was a chilly day, but all was well when we gathered around the campfire near the lake's edge. Our wonderful pastor created a special ceremony just for Sylas, as this was the first lake baptism she had ever done. No worries, he was not dunked, just a bit of water scooped up onto his head. I will say more later when I post pictures of that memorable day.

Sylas did fantastic on both long plane rides. He slept most of the time during the first flight, however, on the return trip, he was Mr. Social and was ready to chat with whoever was available. As we were boarding the plane, Brett took the older kids to their seats, while I held Sylas and multi-tasked collapsing the stroller. As I struggled, a sweet flight attendant came to my rescue and asked if he could hold Sylas. It took about five minutes to get that !?## (oops, I mean darn) stroller collapsed. After I composed myself, I held out my arms for Sylas and the flight attendant humorously denied me. He finally gave Sylas back after he realized that closing the airplane door while holding an infant would be just as challenging as collapsing a stroller. After Sylas and I were settled, another flight attendant came over and asked to hold Sylas. She then took him to the galley where he made friends with the rest of the attendants. Needless to say, he enjoyed the flight.

Thank you all for reading my blog, you inspire and encourage me.