Drama King.

Food critic.

Who you callin' lazy?

Ice please...

Jett Mucus Durkin

We're both proud and amazed to say that in the 20 months of his life, Jett has never been sick.

That's not to say he hasn't come close. He has a significant amount of dietary restrictions, for example, his food is strictly gluten-free. He can handle raw dairy in small amounts. Recently we tried introducing organic pasteurized milk and cheese into his diet and the result was a mucusy Niagra Falls flowing constantly from Jett's nose.



After a few days it cleared up, but it wasn't a fun ride.

Jett reading; Part two

Jett is making remarkable progress in his reading. He can identify 40-50 words. Here he is reading 9 words in succession.

I've also seen a marked improvement in my upside-down writing skills.

Great job Jett, keep up the good work!

Changing Minds Foundation Seminar

In just a few weeks, Orlando will be hosting the Changing Minds Foundation Seminar.

As you can see by the flyer (which features a photo of Jett), Andi will be one of the speakers. For those of you parents who have a child with DS, or even those who know a family that has a member with DS, I highly recommend attending. It's absolutely free, but you'll need to register. I'll be there as well with Jett. See you then!

My fort.

Snack time.

Win a trip to Costa Rica with the Changing Minds Foundation

The Changing Minds Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the mental ability of persons with Down syndrome - NOW- with available medical treatments and proper education.

The CMF has been instrumental in the remarkable growth and development of Jett. It is, however, a non-profit organization, and relies on fundraising and donations to operate. Their current contest could win you a trip to Costa Rica!

You don't have to play golf to get involved...

Enter the Changing Minds Foundation Ball Drop Contest and purchase as many golf balls as you want for $25 each. Every ball will give you a chance at a trip to The Four Seasons Resort, Costa Rica at Papagayo. As well as to help support the Changing Minds Foundation's efforts for Down syndrome.

On Friday, October 28th, at Wildcat Golf Club, all balls will be dropped from a helicopter hovering over the driving range. The first ball to land in the hole (or closest to the pin) wins the trip. The ball drop is limited to 2000 balls.

Deadline to enter is October 27, 2011.
Feel free to buy as many golf balls as you want.

Trip includes: 4 nights at the Four Seasons Resort, Costa Rica at Papagayo, airfare and transfers for two people, golf for two, as well as $500 spending cash.

http://www.changingmindsfoundation.org/golf_tournament.html

French horn fan

The debut of Alex and Kathy to the comic strip!

Little artist.

This is why we can't have anything nice...

Nice shot.

My favorite store

I'm still up Wisconsin for a few more days, and having a great time visiting with family and friends.
One of the stores I try to visit every time I come up to Wisconsin is a place called

American Science and Surplus.

It's an amazing store full of educational, scientific, military, and novelty surplus items. Every time I visit, there are crazy new things in stock. Yesterday they were having a tent sale, so we absolutely HAD to check it out. Here's just a sample of all the unusual items for purchase.

Real police helmets, an entire box of them. They had gas masks for sale as well.

Stylish Moustaches and Stylish Moustaches for Girls!

Tons of assorted caution tape. I fought every urge to buy some and put up when I do live caricatures to keep people from getting too close and breathing down my neck.

Gnome soap on a rope.

Bacon Band-aids and rubber chickens.

We spent several hours going up and down each aisle, filling our baskets with things we had to have (and things we didn't know we had to have). Jett was relatively patient, but eventually tired of being carried and wanted to crawl around for a while.

Of course, being the obsessive reader he is, he went straight for the gigantic blue lettering on the floor...

...and headed toward the books.

When all was said and done, we left with two bags full of stuff. I got some nice cheap sketchbooks, paintbrushes, colored pencils and lots and lots of wonderful junk. Now, to figure out how to get it all back to Florida...

The Great Pumpkin

Doesn't get much cuter than this.

Having fun in Wisconsin

I'm up in Wisconsin with Andi and Jett right now.

We're having fun...

...lots of fun...

...lots and lots of fun.

Until we drop

Jett and Magnadoodle.

I think Jett's favorite toy is his Magnadoodle. Imagine the focus it takes to create this:He must have sat for about 20 minutes working on this masterpiece. No easy task for an 18 month old!Hey, get your foot out of there!

The Magnadoodle has also been a very useful tool in his development. These next videos show how Jett is able to recognize certain words.

This first video shows me writing the word "good". Listen closely and you'll hear Jett recognize the word and say it.

In this second video, I write the word "clap". You see Jett's immediate response. Then I write the word "kiss" and he kisses me.

He knows other words too, like hair, foot, whoosh, nose, daddy, Jett and more. He seems to learn at least one new word every day!

Out to eat with Jett.

Sometimes Jett is all thumbs...