Thank goodness Joey doesn't have strep throat... just me! Actully, my throat doesn't even hurt now but my ear is still killing me! Oh well, anyways, Joey's speech therapist came over yesterday and we worked on his feeding techniques. She gave me some softer nipples to use on his bottels so he can eat a little easier. And then today, his physical therapist came over and we worked on exercises. He can almost lift his head up, well he can for a couple seconds then it falls back down. The other cool thing she worked on him with was grabbing for toys! He's starting to grab (yay!). So now I know more exercises to do with him and before I know it he will be crawling!

I'm so excited for this weekend! My mom is coming tomorrow! I miss her so much! Then Sunday we have Joey's baptism and Tuesday I'm flying back to Ohio!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been home in 4 months.... it's going to be so nice to see everyone!

This morning, Patrick is getting ready for work and he goes outside and comes back in and has this weird look on his face and says, "Ummm... there's ducks out front". I would of thought nothing of this if I was back in Ohio, but here in our neighborhood, there's no ponds, no creeks, nothing. They were the tamest little guys ever! I dunno if they were looking for a place to nest or what, but they were cute!

I just realized I got to post a new pic of Joey and that he starts physical therapy tomorrow and speech therapy Thursday! Of corse he's not going to be talking anytime soon but she's going to be helping to get his facial muscles stronger and to feed better. I also just joined a WebRing dedicated to raising children with down syndrome and down syndrome awareness, there's a link to it on the sidebar. I also wanted to let my new DS parent friends know that I also have a myspace (which I have met lots of other DS parents on. It's a great place to go for support and to hear other parents stories).

A couple days ago my right ear was little achey, but I strugged it off thinking it was sinus pressure, well I should of known better with my history of ear infections, but lately I've been stubborn. Anyways, I woke up this morning thinking my ear was going to blow off the side of my head it hurt so bad. So I call my doctor, no openings today or tomorrow (CRAP). So I get out the phone book and look for an urgent care. I guess it's an Ohio thing cause up here in Connecticut, they have clinics and they're nothing like the urgent cares in Ohio. I don't want to sound stuck up or like a rich snob (cause I'm not), but I finally found one that takes our insurance and I felt like I was at a poor person's clinic. It was so dirty looking and obviously needed up to date equipment badly! So, after waiting a hour to see the doctor, I get called back and they did a strep throat culture on me and it came back positive! I've NEVER had strep throat before in my life! Along with that, I have an awful ear infection that the doctor said if I would of waited another day or two, that my ear drum would of ruptured! So now I'm on horsepill sized antibotics (yay). Then on the way home I start thinking that maybe the reason Joey hasn't been eating or sleeping the past two days is because he might be sick too. So I call his doctor in a panic and they tell me to bring him in. His ears and throat look to be ok but they did an overnight strep test on him so I have to wait until tomorrow to get the results! The good news is, they weighed him today and he went from 6lbs 12 oz last Tuesday to 7 lbs 5 oz today!! He's getting so big!!!

A huge thanks to Josh for talking to me on the phone last night... I needed to hear from someone back home. I'm still feeling kinda blue, but better than yesterday. I'll try to update again tomorrow.

Joey had his first occupational therapy session today. It went really good, his therapist taught me some new exercises to do with him. She said his legs are stronger than a lot of down syndrome babies but still weaker than they should be and that his upper body is very weak. She also taught me some massages to do to his face to help stimulate his mouth muscles since he's having a harder time sucking on his bottles.

Today has been very frustrating... Joey has only taken 2 naps today (one of which is right now). Usually by this time he would of taken 4 or 5... this has made him very cranky and I've not been able to get ANY house work done. The only reason I'm on here is because I needed some time to myself and relax! Plus it helps to get my feelings out. I know having a child with specials needs is going to be more of a challange than a regular child, but DAMN... at times it's getting harder and harder now that he's becoming more alert. It takes him so long to drink a bottle because of his sucking problems and I know he can't help it, but it's getting so frustrating. I find myself missing Ohio more and more the more frustrated I get. I have more support in Ohio than I do here. Don't get me wrong... I have support from Pat's family, but I have no friends up here and I need friends right now. And I need my mom. It's starting to get really hard, I feel so alone. At times it's I'm up here and it feels like everyone has forgotten about me. Luckly Joey and I are flying to Ohio next Tuesday for 5 days so I will be able to see everyone.

Sorry about the kinda depressed post but bad days happen. Hopefully my next post will be happier.

I just had to post a couple new pics...

Ain't he just the cutest thing ever?!?!

Joey had his birth to three (physical, occupational, speech therapies) evaluation today. The therapists seem to have a good outlook on Joey's future. The physical therapist said he does have low muscle tone, but with work, we can make him stronger. The speech therapist says his tongue is too large and that's why he can't breast feed and is having problems sucking and swallowing out of a bottle at times. But they did say that he is better than many other down syndrome babies.

I actully went out by myself today for the first time! Patrick stayed home with Joey and I went out to Target. I needed to get out and see how I would do leaving Joey. I actully did better than what I thought I would do. I had birthday money from my family and I need a couple new shirts so I went and spent money on myself for the first time in a long time... of corse I also bought Joey stuff too, but it felt good to get myself some new things. I also got Alf season 1 on DVD!!! That was my favorite show to watch with my brother when I was little so I had to buy it.

Well I guess that's it for now, toodles!!!