Today I took Wes to the county health building to get vaccinated for the H1N1 virus. People with Down syndrome have extra narrow nasal passages (and often weakened immune systems) so if he gets the flu and congestion it could be bad.

I took Wes close to his nap time, but I hoped we’d be in and out. That was before I saw the line that spilled out of the building, snaked through the parking ramp, and ended on the sidewalk outside.

That’s when I realized Wes wasn’t wearing shoes and I’d have to carry him.

Wes and I took our places and stood. And shuffled. And stood. And shuffled. And made small talk with the couple behind us. And stood more. And filled out paperwork with Wes in one arm and a clipboard in the other. And shuffled and stood. And played peek-a-boo. And stood some more. For over an hour and a half.

I wish I had a camera to snap a photo of the line winding through the parking ramp–more kids and crying babies and pregnant ladies than you normally see together, unless you’re at Disneyland, mashed together in a dim, gray concrete box. Then again, I probably won’t mind forgetting that image.

By the time we made it out of the parking ramp into the sunlight again my arm felt like it was going to fall off.

Then we were in the building, which was a huge relief. Until we turned the corner and entered The Longest Hallway in the World that held the Longest Line in the World.

Finally, finally, finally, we got our shots. I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to say I was happy to get a shot, but it sure was nice to be done at last.

Oh, and the best part? I get to take him back in four weeks for a booster.

Wes doesn’t have a costume this year. At least, not yet. When he was born I got him a Superman costume off eBay, which was supposed to be for babies 0-9 months and which served him well for two Halloweens.

Here he is 6 weeks old. I think he weighed about 5 lbs back then.

And here he is last Halloween, 13 months old.

The ironic thing is that I normally despise dressing myself up for Halloween, but since I’m teaching Zumba at a Halloween fundraiser party I’ll be all decked out this year. Dressing up one person is enough work, but two? I have no ideas and really no ambitions to dress Wesley up. Unless you have some good, easy suggestions for me. Any?

Wes is obsessed with light switches. If you’re carrying him through the house and you pass a light switch, be prepared for him to reach out, hook his hands onto the door frame, and pull with all his might until you stop and let him turn the switches on and off for a while. Sometimes I’ll put a chair under the switches so he can have at it while I do something else.

Wes is getting bigger and older. At his 2-year checkup last month he weighed in at about 21 pounds, which put in him in 0.96% for regular kids, and in the about 25% for DS kids. Smallish, in other words. I have to take him to get his blood drawn for another thyroid test (a common problem for people with DS) and next Friday I’ll take him to the cardiologist for an EKG and limited echocardiogram. Hoo-boy. So much fun.

About 50% of people with DS are born with heart problems. I took Wes to the cardiologist in Nov. 2007 when he was just 7 or 8 weeks old. We learned then that Wes has Small Secundum ASD. It means that one of the valves in his heart that should have closed up at birth didn’t. But the opening was a small one, and Dr. Mart said that often such openings will close by themselves in a couple of years. So that’s what I’m hoping we’ll find when I take him there next week. If not…surgery.

I finally forced myself to pack up all his clothes that were size 3-12 months and only leave stuff in his closet that’s size 12 months or bigger. He was still wearing pants and onesies that were size 3-6 months. But I thought to myself, This kid is TWO. He should not be wearing stuff meant for infants. So, even though his clothes are baggier, at least they’re more age appropriate. He looks more like a boy with proper big boy clothes on. He fits best into pants that are size 12 months and he can wear shirts that are 12 or 18 months.

Now that we have window well covers in our fenced-in backyard I’ll let Wes out there on nice days to play. He has a couple of balls that he likes to roll around and sometimes lose behind shrubbery. He also likes to pull the petals off my roses and yell at the cars that go by on the other side of the fence.

John and I have learned that Wes picks up on much more than we usually realize. This past week I was listening to The Phantom of the Opera CD at home, and when the first song ended I looked over and saw that Wes was standing still, with his arms folded. Like he was ready for prayer.

I had to think, why is he doing that? Then I remembered how in church we often sing first, and then pray (like at the start and end of our Sacrament meetings). Only two years old and already Wes knows about prayer.

Our church is three hours long, and during the last two hours Wes normally goes to a nursery class with the other 18-month to 3-year-old kids. Last week he had a runny nose so we took him to the adult classes with us. By the last half hour of church Wes had had enough, so I took him on a walk in the hallway. When we got near the door to the nursery Wes ran up to it and started tapping the door. I tried to pull him away so he wouldn’t disturb the class inside, but he looked up at me and urgently made his “more” sign. I was so surprised that he knew that his nursery class was on the other side of that door!

Listening to General Conference while making something good to eat. Today it was chocolate sweet rolls, courtesy of the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens. The recipe can be found here. I changed it slightly since I had no coconut, but I added chocolate chips instead.

All my other Favorite Things today are Wes-related. No mention of John or Zumba anywhere, but you know I still love them.

This first video shows a few of my favorite things:

1. Wesley playing Flip the Burp Cloth. I don’t know why this entertains him so well, but it does. For a half hour, sometimes.

2. Wesley talking to himself. He’s getting more and more vocal. No real words, but sounds. Lately when I give him a bottle I say, “Do you want mmmmmmmilk? Say ‘mmmmmmmilk.'” And he really concentrates and tries to make the sound! Usually when I say, “Mmmmmmmilk” he says, “Ba!” But still, it’s a sound. And sometimes he makes the “mmm” sound.

3. Safety locks on the cabinets. I hit a breaking point last week and bought child proof locks for our kitchen cabinets. I. Love. Them.

The next video demonstrates something I’ve been working on with Wes a lot lately: feeding himself with a spoon. At home I put my hand over his to help him keep his grip. Teaching him to feed himself requires more time and patience from me, but he actually eats more because he’s “doing it himself” (even though I’m helping).

Today I was listening to Wes eat some crackers and I found myself enjoying hearing him eat. And I thought to myself, “That’s weird; why would I find listening to Wes eat crackers so enjoyable?” Then I realized it’s because I can HEAR him crunch his crackers. Which means that he has teeth! Wes didn’t get his first tooth until he was 19 months old, and his molars only started coming in only last month. We gave Wes crackers (the kind that dissolves easily) long before he had teeth. So I was used to him gumming his food, which is silent. Now that he has teeth he can crunch! If you’ve seen the 2008 BBC film version of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, doesn’t Wesley’s crunching sound remind you of Henry (the spoiled red-headed boy) who’s eating cheese puffs near the start of the movie?

Yesterday as I was pushing Wes in a cart out of the grocery store a lady stopped me and said, “Is he Down syndrome?”

“Yes…”

She smiled big and said, “Do you know how BLESSED you are?”

I think I said something about how people often tell me that.

Turns out she had four boys, and then one girl. Her girl, the youngest, has Down syndrome. The doctors said she wouldn’t live past three, and now she’s forty. The lady called her daughter her “perfect princess.”

I forget sometimes that Wes is a little different. I rarely think about it. Today at the Buddy Walk I looked around and remembered that Wes is different when I saw all the other kids there who LOOK like Wes. It’s like I have to see him around other people with Down syndrome and then I remember that’s what he is, too.

When Wes was first born we took him to all the local events that brought together families with kids with Down syndrome. And while they were good things to attend, I always left shaken. Because I could not see how my little baby could grow up to look like the other kids I saw there. They looked so different than what I was used to. They acted a little different. And at events like that you see all varieties of the disability, some more severe than others.

I guess it’s the being different part that makes Wes a little special. And that, like the lady said in the store, is what makes us so blessed.

Today was our county’s Buddy Walk. I organized a Zumba demo for it to help promote our upcoming Zumba fundraising party. Two of the instructors that will be teaching at the party came and we performed for the crowd while they ate lunch.

Some things I learned about organizing a demo.

1) Things may be totally different from what the organizers told you to expect. Plan to improvise.

2) When making a hand-painted banner use a ruler to measure and outline your words before you start painting. That blasted banner took me two hours to make, but it was better because I measured first.

3) Elmer’s makes a really nifty product called Squeeze ‘n Brush where you squeeze the bottle and paint comes out the brush. So you just squeeze ‘n brush. Like the name says.

4) Those Squeeze ‘n Brush paint bottle run out fast. But they are really fun to use. And totally washable.

The demo was good. We danced on the grass in the middle of the crowd as they ate lunch. A few brave kids jumped right in and grooved alongside us. We met some great people and passed around bunches of flyers.

Here’s the best part, completely unrelated to the demo:

Just before the demo started two ladies walked up to me and said, “Is this Wesley?”

I said, “Yes,” and they asked me if I remembered them. I stared at them dumbly for a few second but still drew a complete blank.

Turns out–get this–they were two of Wesley’s nurses when he was born. Paula helped deliver him, and Tamara was there a lot during Wesley’s twelve days in the NICU. They came over because they recognized him. AND they remembered his NICU nickname: Squeaker (because of his squeaky little cry).

Wesley hung out with them while we did our demo. I was so happy to see them again. It was probably one of the best parts of the day.

The other best part was the balloon Wes got at the Buddy Walk.

The only other balloon Wesley’s ever had was at his birthday a couple of weeks ago, and he wouldn’t go near it. It scared him.

For whatever reason, Wes is really into balloons now! He talked to it while he pulled it all over the house.