Yesterday Wes attended his first-ever birthday party (thanks Nancy and Preston!). There was an abundance of active two-year-olds, and Wes just sat and stared at the commotion, mouth slightly open. They served birthday cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream. Wes would tolerate the birthday cake when I fed it to him, but not without giving me a clear look that said, “OK, lady, I’ll chew and swallow this, but the next spoonful had better be more of that creamy chocolate mint goodness.” He ate the entire scoop, except for a couple teeny bites I snatched.

I am getting addicted to grapefruit. A guy came around our neighborhood last week selling oranges, apples, and grapefruit. He gave me samples and the fruit was delicious, so I bought 30 lbs of it to store in the cool garage with very good intentions to single-mouthedly eat and enjoy every last piece of it. (John and Wes aren’t really into the fruit scene.) I asked for minimal grapefruit in the mix, but I’m starting to regret that now. I’ve eaten one every day and they are so good! I think they decrease my appetite, too. This morning I was eating one and grapefruit juice squirted me in the eye. I had to laugh because I’d only ever seen that in the movies, and here it happened to me in real life!

Also, box elder bugs are threatening to take over our house. I keep finding them crawling around like they own the place. I have no qualms about killing crawling things in my house (Wes excluded), so hopefully I’ll get a handle on their population soon.

I’m teaching parts of aerobics classes three times this week. It’s pretty much taking up all my spare time, but I’m loving it. I’ll be teaching a Zumba class starting in January through the local recreation program, which should be fun, provided people actually come.

Wes loves loves loves to stand up. He likes to stand and play. He’ll try to pull himself to standing using anything he can as a prop:

His car seat…

His toys…

Even things taller than himself, like this desk.

His therapists have been coming and going and all (he has three) are happy to see he’s doing so well. Yesterday the speech therapist brought a toy that has three skills involved with it. The baby has to put the ball in the top of the toy, push it down, and then retrieve it when it comes out the bottom. After watching the therapist a few times, Wes started putting the ball in the top himself, and after a few more times he figured out how to push the ball down. He was really enthralled by the toy and the therapist was very impressed by how quickly he understood how to work it. My baby’s a smart boy.

Wes is crawling like a maniac and has discovered every nook and cranny of the house. Plus every trash can, every tissue box, every book on the shelves…pretty much everything I don’t want him in.

He’s also really great about climbing the stairs. A little too great. The other day I answered the phone in the kitchen (which is around the corner from the stairs). I was away from Wes maybe a minute and a half before I realized I had left him alone in the living room, and when I rounded the corner, there he was on the stair landing, sitting and looking down at me with a big grin. He doesn’t know how to get himself down the stairs yet (we’re working on it), but once he gets that he’ll be safer on the stairs by himself.

I took Wes to the hospital lab for a blood draw to get his thyroid checked. People with Down syndrome frequently have thyroid problems. The test checks two things: free T4’s and TSH. I don’t exactly know what T4’s are, but apparently they’re something to do with the thyroid that attaches to proteins, and free T4’s are ones that don’t attach to anything. TSH stands for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. The results: Wesley’s TSH looks fine, but his free T4’s were a little high. But the pediatric endocrinologist said that this is not uncommon for kids around 12 months of age. Wes will have to get another blood draw in 4-6 months and be tested again.

Last week I took Wes for a walk outside. Because it was a chilly day I put him in a blue bear jacket that was a gift to him when he was born. I remember looking at it, and looking at him (barely four pounds), and thinking, “He’s never gonna fit into this.” Well, it took a year, but it fits him now. I think it’s size 6-12 months.

I enjoyed the walk and the scenery, but Wes was sound asleep by the time we got high enough to see a nice view of the valley and mountains.

It is hard to discipline Wes because he doesn’t seem to get that I’m disciplining him. I always tell him “no” when he gets to pulling at the trash can bags, but what do you do when all he does back is smile at you? And then go for the trash bag again?

Wes and the trash can

Wes loves our cats. They encourage him to move.

Wesley’s idea of recreation

Wes can open drawers. And smash his toes in them, too.

Wes discovers the drawer

Wes had a little trouble on the kitchen floor in his sleeper jammies.

Wes slip and slides on linoleum

In other, non-Wes-related news, I taught part of an aerobics class at BYU yesterday and it was so much fun. The teacher was impressed and got my number for her sub list. It was my first time teaching a class, and the class at BYU is huge. Teaching aerobics is one of those things that even though you think you like doing it, actually doing it is the real test. And I’m glad to discover that for me it is 100% fun. Now I know that I will keep doing it and loving it.

Most Mondays I take Wes (plus a two-year-old that I babysit Monday mornings) to the local library for baby sing-and-sign time. This morning I got there early, got a parking place in the parking lot instead of on the street (yes! major accomplishment), got Wes and the two-year-old in and settled, and then found out that the teacher was ill and class was canceled. A lot of moms had turned out with their babies, so the children’s section of the library became an impromptu playgroup.

A friendly lady struck up conversation with me and we chatted for a long while. One of the first things she commented on was Wesley’s Down syndrome. She had a lot of positive things to say about it, which I always appreciate hearing. She thought his smile is so bright and lights up his whole face, and that he’s very loving and good natured.

It surprised me, though, that she knew he has Down syndrome. When others mention the Down syndrome I always wonder, “How can you tell?” I don’t normally tell people he has DS. It’s not the kind of thing you throw into introductions: “Hi, this is Wes, and he has Down syndrome.” Like it’s part of his name or something. But I guess it must be visually obvious and I just don’t realize it. To me, Wes is Wes. I see him everyday, all day, and he looks completely like Wesley. Completely normal.

Yet others can look at him and tag him as having DS (or, as a lot of people say, as being “Downs”). It’s kind of funny that people can look at you and categorize you instantly like that. I guess we do it all the time, to all sorts of people you see everywhere (”he’s angry” “she’s a businesswoman” “she’s pretty” “he’s handicapped”).

I just realized I did a tag of my own the other day when I was at a store and Wes wasn’t with me. I saw a mom, a dad, and their teenage son (who had Down syndrome) in the shoe department. In the first millisecond of spotting them I unconsciously tagged him as having DS, then tagged him as a teenager (he was complaining about how long his parents were taking), and then I tagged his parents as wonderful, loving people whom I admire for raising their son in spite of his challenges.

Judging has a negative connotation, but tagging seems more like “sizing up.” And as long as people mainly associate positive things with Down syndrome, I can’t mind other people noticing it in my own baby.

(Wesley’s Halloween costume)

Saturday I did something super fun and exciting: got certified to teach Zumba!

Zumba is a dance fitness class inspired by Latin and international music. I stumbled upon Zumba totally by accident (ended up in a class I don’t usually go to) and was intrigued. I went to a second class on purpose, and was hooked. Zumba is so different from normal aerobics (which I also love). It’s fast, fun, and doesn’t feel like a workout. You get to the end of class and can’t believe the hour is up. Also–and this is significant for me, who truly can’t dance–anyone can do Zumba and love doing it.

When I heard a certification workshop was coming to Utah I jumped onboard and am so glad I did. The workshop was so much fun, and now I’m prepared to teach basic Zumba classes.

I was already planning to start up an aerobics class at our church in the next month or so with hi/lo (floor aerobics) and cardio kickboxing. Now we can Zumba too!

If you live nearby and want to join in, the classes will be FREE and kid friendly. If the classes are in the mid-morning hours the kids can play together in the back of the gym and hopefully no one will kill each other while we’re working out up front. I might do an early morning class (5:30 or 6 a.m.) for people who have to go to work.

I’ve been an aerobics-monger for 8 years and Zumba is the most exciting thing I’ve done in all that time. Check it out. (Obviously in my class there would be much less of the bikini-clad scene you see in the videos and more of the everything-vital-is-covered-up look.)

I pulled this outfit from Wesley’s closet today, put it on him, and about died from cuteness overload. It was a gift from my visiting teacher last year. When she gave it to him I was worried he wouldn’t be able to wear it because the outfit is size 3-6 months, and when Wes was actually 3-6 months in age he was wearing sizes newborn and 0-3 months. But hooray, he’s finally big enough and it’s finally cool enough that I got to see him in it today. (The stuffed fox is part of the outfit. It’s like his little pocket friend.)

As a side-note, Wes has started to crawl towards our cats, who have quickly learned to run far away as fast as they can whenever they see Wes starting towards them. It gives him good motivation, and them good exercise.

Being a mom, you don’t really get paid vacation hours. Or unpaid vacation hours. Or vacation hours of any kind.

But, unlike with normal desk jobs, you’re not limited to x-number hours of vacation. You can go where you want, when you want, for as long as you want. You just have to take your work with you. And he or she has to be somewhat cooperative with your plans.

So today I took Wes to Salt Lake City for a little sight-seeing. After living around here for nearly ten years, I realized I’ve never done proper touristy-type things, and there’s no time like the present. I also got to try out our new lightweight stroller. I needed something light and compact (unlike my very bulky, very heavy jogging stroller) and after some research and hands-on experimentation I decided on the Maclaren Triumph. It only weighs about 11 pounds and turns on a dime. It’s fantastic.

The first thing Wes and I did was take a guided tour of the Conference Center. It was the first time I’ve been on the roof to see the garden up there. Wes and I enjoyed the view of downtown Salt Lake.

Then we stopped in at the Lion House Pantry and picked up a lunch to go (chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies, and a world-famous roll). It was “to go” because I had to go and feed the parking meter again. Two hours went by fast.

Next we toured the Church History Museum and peeked in at the original 1847 log cabin right next door.

Lastly, we walked around Temple Square, took some photos, and watched a wonderful presentation on eternal families in the Visitors’ Center.

With all the construction happening in the downtown area, walking through Temple Square really does feel like the most peaceful experience on Earth. You can’t hear the construction (which, I can attest, is loud). It’s so quiet and comfortable. Here are our attempts at photos on Temple Square.

We stopped at my brother’s place in the Avenues for a visit with his wife and their two kidlets. Wes got to play with his six-month-old cousin Ethan. This photo makes Wes out to be a giant, but actually Ethan has the edge on Wes in the size department.

There was a lot of this going on:

On the way home we listened to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on tape and stopped in American Fork at my favorite bakery, where we had ice cream and a slice of Asiago cheese bread and bought two cupcakes to go.

Such are the immortal words of Mo Rocca, and such is Wesley’s forehead. He’s starting to accumulate a collection of bruises on his forehead from all his bonks. Today alone he bonked his head twice–once at home against the coffee table and once at Tucanos (a Brazilian restaurant) on the table edge. He had a hard time recovering from that last one because right after he stopped crying over his traumatic head injury the Brazilian singers trounced in with their drums and loud voices to sing happy birthday to three tables of people. And Wes wasn’t much a fan of the noise. He didn’t cry again, but his lower lip kept pouting out like he was certainly thinking about it. So John took him out to let him recover a bit more.

Also, we have a potential jailbird on our hands now. Wes learned how to pull himself to standing in his crib. Sometimes we’ll sit him in his crib to play, leave for a minute, and come back when we hear a loud thumping noise to find him standing up and hitting the wall with his hand. Mostly I think he pulls himself to standing to get a better grip on the crib with his mouth so he can chew on it.

Lastly, and I know this is heathenish to include in a post essentially about Wes, but I am so darn proud of my newly reorganized pantry. Just look:

I should have taken a “before” picture because it would have made you pass out from horror. Imagine the shelves of your local grocery store after an earthquake, except with the boxes and cans intact on the shelf but at odd angles and in no particular order. Also with expired freshness dates. And a few weevils wandering around.

I am a fan of these under-counter baskets that I use to store my plastic wrap and storage bags.

I feel so empowered by my new pantry. Last night I went grocery shopping and instead of standing in an aisle staring at an item and wondering, “Do I have any of this at home?”, I could clearly picture the organized shelves and know for sure. Few things give as good a high as getting organized.