Happy spring!

Hi all!

Well, I've clearly broken my promise to blog more regularly, but I'm gonna keep trying:) I’m actually writing this from the airport. I got to go to a short conference for work and it has been indescribably awesome to finally have time to catch up on some things and not have to multi-task 24/7.

Ari is doing really well. He's weathered a few ear infections, strep throat and lots of coughing over the last couple of months, but he's healthy again for now and quite happy.

We had a really good Easter. Sean got to be be home which hasn’t happened for a few years so that was a great treat. The Easter Bunny was especially happy about that!

Prior to that, Ari stole the show in a fundraising fashion show for his developmental preschool (the state newspaper even said that, so it's not just proud mama talking). He was supposed to be in the show last year, but that’s when he was in the hospital. This year’s theme was milestones, so he definitely had some milestones to show off. I walked with both kids as a very fancily dressed safety officer to be sure Ari stayed on the stage. Both kids did great. Rowan was a natural, like last year and loved it. Ari held my hand all the way down the runway and then dropped it and sat on the floor in protest once we got center stage….then he got up and started dancing. It was great! I would love to see a video someday.

For the life of me I can’t remember what this photo was for from the last couple of weeks, but it makes me smile.

Tomorrow is a big doctor day for Ari. He gets a check up on his ear tubes and maybe they can figure out why he keeps getting infections even with the ear tubes. That will likely be followed by a hearing test. It’s pretty common for kids with Down syndrome to have some degree of hearing loss, and that can happen for a variety of reasons, including repeated ear infections, so we like to get that tested often.

Later on Wednesday, I get to meet with Dr. Frye for a research follow-up appointment. Ari participated in a clinical trial with him in November assessing mitochondrial function. It’s an unusual trial in that we get to see his results from the study related tests. I’m very excited to see the results and hoping it will give us some answers on a variety of things.

Next up, Ari is set to do a vitamin C cleanse and a 6 week candida diet to heal his gut. This has actually been on the agenda for a couple of months but life and schedules keep making that difficult. Hopefully after we hear Dr. Frye’s perspective on all of that, we can choose a date again and this time some sort of plan will stick.

Meanwhile, we are happy it’s spring in our house. I love seeing my kiddos grow up. So blessed!

Love to all,

Dorothy