John’s not a morning person. Waking him up when he’s not ready to wake up is pretty futile.

Our son appears to be the same way.

Here are some pictures I took of Wes the other day while holding him, trying to get him to wake up.

He’s asleep.

He’s thinking about cracking those eyes open.

His eyes open!

…and shut again.

I nudge him and he gets angry.

…and then contemplative.

Are those eyes really opening?

He’s angry again.

Is he resigning himself to waking up?

Not without a fight.

It appears I’m losing the battle.

He won.

Today was Wesley’s 5-week checkup. He clocked in at 5 lbs 10 oz! Even more amazing, tonight I put him in a preemie gown (the kind that’s like a sack) and it was a little tight around his feet! He’s growing.

Last week John and I took Wes to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City to meet with a genetic counselor. We discussed Wes’s condition of Down syndrome and went over what we can expect with him, medically, mentally, and physically.

Here are some things I learned about our baby and Down syndrome.

1. He was the product of Trisomy 21, which means there’s an extra 21st chromosome in every cell that slightly changes the development of the body and brain. The extra genetic material is a totally random thing originating with the sperm or the egg. About 95% of people with Down syndrome have Trisomy 21.

2. Any normal couple has a 1 in 800 chance of having a kid with DS.

3. Since we already have a kid with DS, our chances automatically jump to 1 in 100 for future children.

4. About 5,000 kids with DS are born every year. Eighty percent are born to moms under the age of 35.

5. People with DS are at a higher risk for certain medical conditions. The American Academy of Pediatrics outlines the probability as follows. There’s an increased risk of:

congenital heart defects (50%); leukemia (<1%); hearing loss (75%); otitis media (50-70%); Hirschsprung disease (<1%); gastrointestinal atresias (12%); eye disease (60%), including cataracts (15%) and severe refractive errors (50%); acquired hip dislocation (6%); obstructive sleep apnea (50%-75%); and thyroid disease (15%).

That’s a scary list, isn’t it? I don’t even know what some of those conditions are. Hopefully we won’t ever need to find out. So far his heart looks good (we’ll take him to a cardiologist next month to make sure), his hearing checks out normally, and he doesn’t have cataracts. We’ve been instructed to take him to see a pediatric ophthalmologist and an ear/nose/throat specialist before he’s a year old to check up on some of those other conditions.

6. Mental impairment can range from mild (IQ: 50-70) to moderate (IQ: 35-50) and only occasionally to severe (IQ: 20-35).

7. Down syndrome kids look more like their families than they do one another.

8. Our son, like every child, will have a full range of emotions and attitudes, creativity and imagination, interests and talents that will shape his life and add color to our everyday experiences.

9. People with Down syndrome can grow up to live independent lives with varying degrees of support and accommodations needed. They can hold jobs and sometimes live on their own. I’ve talked with people locally whose DS kids have gone on to go through the temple, serve missions, and even be ordinance workers in the temple.

10. The most important thing I’ve learned is that despite the statistics, Wes could totally wow us, and probably he will. Every child will have some problems during his life. With Down syndrome, it’s a little more intimidating up front because the possibilities of what could go wrong with him are spelled out pretty frankly. But one thing I’m learning is that, like with any kid and any situation, you have to expect the best, and we’ll try to.

. . . when rooting around the pockets of your jacket for gloves you discover a binkie you didn’t know was there, and it’s as exciting of a discovery as finding a $10 bill.

(Note: This post, for whatever reason, wasn’t showing up on our blog, so I am reposting it. It was originally posted on October 4th.)

Yesterday was Wesley’s three-week birthday. And tomorrow is his official due date. Hah.

He’s gaining weight well. He gained six ounces since his doctor’s appointment last week. Now he’s up to 4 lb 11 oz (with diaper on). The doctor wants us to keep him plugged into oxygen as long as he’s sleeping or in the car seat for long periods of time. I’ll be glad when that’s done with, because it gets annoying toting around his oxygen tube that’s taped to his face, and he keeps tugging at it and pulling the tubes from his nose into his mouth.

We’re adjusting to new parenthood and all the sleep deprivation that goes with it. Wes is a good kid, though, and is fun to have around. Today we took our first walk together around the neighborhood and made our first social call to one of my friends down the street. Wes was real easy, sleeping the whole time.

Next week we’ll take him to the doctor again for a four-week checkup to make sure he’s gaining weight all right, and maybe (cross fingers) the doc will let him off the oxygen.

Well, I wasn’t going to post any thoughts about the last three books I’ve read–Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse–but I changed my mind after I found myself talking about the books so frequently with others.

First of all, the books are young adult novels about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire and is also best friends with (and eventually a little in love with) a werewolf.

Okay. Not really my type of plot. But my visiting teacher lent me Twilight and after reading that one I had to keep going.

Everyone upon everyone who likes to read has been talking about these books. You’ve probably heard them. But even after reading the books myself I kept wondering why: Why are these books such a hit?

I should point out that the books are probably most popular among the female readers because, in spite of the genuinely cool parts dealing with vampires and werewolves, the books are still fundamentally a love story. And a really intense love story at that.

So here’s my theory about why these books are so popular (in spite of the fact that the teenage girl, Bella, gets more and more annoying as the books go on): Stephanie Meyer has created another Mr. Darcy in Edward Cullen.

Unlike Mr. Darcy, Edward is seventeen, a vampire, and immortal. But other than that he and Mr. Darcy are one and the same: Extremely attractive. Sexy. Impeccably polite. Gentlemanly. And, more than anything, would do anything for the woman he loves.

This is the type of man women love to read about, love to dream about, love to think of themselves with. (Some of us, of course, are fortunate enough to already be married to someone with exactly these qualities. Minus the seventeen, vampire, and immortal bits.) I mean, how many women out there have watched BBC’s Pride and Prejudice a zillion times just for that part where Mr. Darcy dives into the pond and walks back in his wet shirt? What woman doesn’t wilt at the intense expression in Mr. Darcy’s eyes when he stares at Elizabeth Bennett? What woman doesn’t equate Mr. Darcy with the quintessential romantic hero and secretly wish they were Miss Bennett so they could be the object of Mr. Darcy’s attentions?

Don’t deny it, girls. You know it’s true.

Edward is the same way. Irresistible.

I think that’s a large part why we keep reading. We want to see Bella and Edward end up happily together, even though it possibly involves Bella becoming a vampire herself and breaking her best friend Jacob’s heart. And I know some people are really on Team Jacob and are rooting that he and Bella will end up together, but sorry, I think you’re in the vast minority. I’m all for Edward, and hope that Bella will get over her whininess and make us think that somehow she deserves such a man as Edward.

This past weekend was a monumental event in my life and our unborn baby’s: Our first Def Leppard concert.

Def Leppard is John’s favorite group. If you had asked me six years ago, before I met John, who Def Leppard was I would have said, “Whoosat?” But now I not only know who they are, I know a lot of the words to their songs and could sing along on Friday night.

Us before the concert started. (That’s me 36 weeks pregnant.)

I got us the tickets for John’s birthday in July. We went to one other concert together this year, to see Dashboard Confessional at UVSC last spring. We were sure that John, at the ripe then-age of 28, was possibly the oldest person there. Definitely a Generation X thing.

It was quite a different story at the Def Leppard concert. There were all sorts of people of all ages from every demographic. In fact, we were on the younger side of the fan base. However, I did see several families who brought their kids–and their kids could sing along just as well as their parents.

Since it was a rock concert–and a concert featuring groups whose hey days were the 80’s–we saw all sorts of attire that outside of the concert arena might be considered fashion faux pas: leather pants, leg warmers, orange hi-tops, mini skirts and leggings . . . you name it, we saw it.

We arrived early and got dinner from the concession stands–cheeseburger for John, chicken parmesan hoagie for me, and a lemonade between the both of us. Then we got in our seats and enjoyed the perfect 70-degree weather until the first act started. First up was Foreigner.

Then we had Styx.

And–finally!–Def Leppard.

Oh, man, the crowds went nuts when they came out. They were really fun to hear in person.

Def Leppard doing an accoustic piece.

Wesley even danced around a bit in the womb. Apparently he’s already a fan.