Birthday Party

Sorry it took me so long to post, but here's a quick video of Lucas' little birthday party at school. He had a great time, and, as you'll see...he was determined to swipe Mickey!

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Happy 3rd Birthday, Lucas!

Our big boy is three today! I can hardly believe it. It's what everyone says, but you've got to live to understand...they grow so fast, too fast. Every day more, Lucas becomes more vocal, opinionated, and independent...like it or not, my prayers are being answered.

I ran into a woman in the elevator recently who asked me if Lucas goes to the Debbie School, and I said "yes" -- she said, it seemed like only yesterday her son was there too...she followed up with "he'll be in high school before you know it" -- I know that much is true.

Today, we'll celebrate with Lucas' school friends with Mickey Mouse cupcakes, and tonight, what else? Presents! I promise photos later.

Here's my yearly tribute to Lucas...I love putting this together each year and reflecting on all the fun times and the wonderful people who fill our lives with love, encouragement, inspiration, and support. I couldn't resist the Josh Groban tune, and I'm not apologizing for it! So turn up the volume, pull out your tissues, and help us celebrate our big hunk of love...

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48 Hours Later...

We have not one, but TWO casualties of a nearly three-year-old.  Lucas has been getting more accustomed to the glasses and it's obvious he can see better, but he's still playing with them, and as a result, he's broken both his school pair and his home pair.  Jeez.  We're taking the two pairs back to For Eyes in the hopes they can get fixed, and to see if the optician can get a better fit for Lucas which hopefully will encourage use.  Stay tuned.

I'm Down with You

I absolutely love photography, and am especially fond of powerful portraits.  One of the moms on my frequently-visited bulletin board posted about this beautiful collection of portraits of people with Down syndrome -- her precious daughter, Eliza, is featured in the I'm Down with You gallery.  All proceeds from the book sales as well as the photographer's royalties, will be donated to Down syndrome organizations.  There are only about a dozen photos, so take a quick look...you might be captured by them as much as I was. 

For Your Eyes Only

Okay, so once again, we're giving glasses a try.  This is officially Lucas' FOURTH pair, and he's not even THREE yet...holy smokes!  Anyway, Tom and I took Lucas to Bascom Palmer (a part of the University of Miami where I work, and the number one eye hospital in the country).  After waiting four hours (that's not a typo)...we finally got in to the pediatric ophthalmologist who told us Lucas' nystagmus is improving, but his vision worsened -- Lucas is near-sighted or myopic -- his prescription is 6.25 and 4.50 so we're hoping he really "sees" the benefits of keeping his glasses on now.  Poor baby, when we go to the zoo for instance, we can tell he's looking for the animals, but they're just blending in with the background.

Thanks to a tip from my friend Kerra, we went to For Eyes where we scored two pairs for $129 (as compared to the usual $300 at Miami Children's Hospital rip-off of a clinic).  Here's Beanie with his first experience with his new glasses.  Keep your fingers crossed these do the trick!

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

What better way to start my blogging for Down Syndrome Awareness Month than by paying tribute to Pablo Pineda?  Pablo won the best actor award at Spain's San Sebastian Film Festival for his role in Yo Tambien ("me too").  He portrays the character Daniel, who like Pablo himself, earned a college degree (the first person with Down syndrome in Europe with a college degree) -- the story follows Daniel at his first job where he falls in love with a colleague.  I look forward to seeing the movie and hope it hits the states soon -- it will be released in Europe on October 16th.  Bravo, Pablo!