Our 1 year well visit...

went well! I again was asked to educate a medical student about Nate and his Down syndrome. I am of course happy to do this, however, sometimes I would like us to just have a regular visit with our doc. Our doc always asks me to point out all of Nate's physical characteristics that are related to DS. I kind of go into automatic pilot now when I do this. Maybe it bugs me because I want the visit to really be about Nate...not just his Down syndrome. Does that make sense?

Anywho, here are his current stats:

Weight: 21.1 lbs
Height: 29 1/2 in.
Head Circumference: 45 cm

Yes, thank goodness, our Bean continues to be healthy. Our big issues now are with his swallowing and possible reflux. Today we meet with the nutritionist and will introduce "thick-it." Thick-it will hopefully help Nate be able to better swallow water. We also got a prescription for a reflux med, Ranitidine, to try. Nate does need to get his hearing tested again, but we have decided to wait and have that done at our next trip to Beantown and BCH.

AND of course we need to give a glasses update! Nate can now keep them on for 10-15 minutes at a time! We actually think he likes them!

I wonder what his world looks like now.........

Nate's new glasses!

Nate's glasses finally came in yesterday. I think the verdict is still out on them. Unfortunately we don't think they fit him very well. Not only is he still a peanut, his ears are lower set and the bridge of his nose isn't as defined. There are wonderful glasses for kiddos with DS, but they don't have sizes small enough for little ones like Nate-Bean. Right now we're just working on keeping them on!

A week ago yesterday....

Our little boy turned one!

There is so much to say about our year with him. It's interesting to us that although we of course loved him dearly since the day he was born (well truthfully conceived!), he felt a little bit like a stranger to us. In the past year his personality has started to reveal itself. Nate Bean is clearly a little person with his own place in our family. He is curious, busy, funny, and just so musical. He loves his yo-baby yogurt but detests spinach and potatoes. Sometimes before he falls asleep, Nate gets super silly and can end up in a fit of giggles. Favorite toys include butterfly, dad's nose, the big white spoon and of course the mirror. He's a talker too --- Dadadadada and some new monkey noises too!

We can't imagine our days without our sweet Bean.
We love you Nate!