Bryson's Blog

Living with Trisomy 13

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Grandma's Quilt


I had been working on a quilt since November of 2005, at the beginning of Dana's pregnancy. When we went out shopping for a nursery, we looked at all the crib quilts and bedding offered. We thought many of them were "visually overstimulating". Some were so busy and had such a plethora of color and animals or vehicles with human qualities that we said "Whoa!...it's no wonder so many children are diagnosed with ADD and ADHD!"

It's rather ironic then, that Bryson was born with very limited vision. We perhaps should have bought the brightest, boldest, outlandishest (is there such a word?)...ahem most outlandish nursery furniture and bedding. Oh yeah, we still have to look at the stuff and not go crazy.

I finally finished my labor of love in the form of a quilt when Bryson turned 9 months old. We came up with a theme of Woodland Creatures as Dana and Travis were living in rural Northern New York and they are outdoor type people and love nature.

I hand embroidered 5 squares as accents and used fabrics in natural, earth and green tones. The last irony is that of all the handiwork involved, the tag was machine made in China saying: "Handmade by Grandma".




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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Physical Therapy

Children with Trisomies have poor muscle tone and are developmentally delayed in crawling, sitting up, standing and eventually walking. Bryson has physical therapy on a weekly basis. Shana has been working well with him so that he can build muscle tone and teaching him to roll over. Now he's now doing it all the time!


Monday, March 26, 2007

Trip to San Antonio

I flew to San Antonio on the 6th of March and stayed with Dana & Travis for 2 weeks. It was so nice to see them and Bryson as I have missed them all so much. Their house on post at Ft. Sam Houston is quite a nice size! The base as a whole is very nice. They have settled in and have gotten to know the area pretty well considering they've only been there a couple of months.

It was so nice to catch up with them, see how they were doing and to give them some respite. And of course it gave me a chance to spoil my grandson Bryson. They took the time to go out, see a movie at the Imax, go out on a date for dinner somewhere nice on the Riverwalk. A couple needs that and they just haven't been afforded that opportunity.

San Antonio is quite large! I didn't realize that it's the 7th largest city in the US. That may not seem like much, but it's growth rate is phenominal. It has gone from the 10th largest city to the 7th in just a couple of years!

Warm Welcome


I took a lot of pictures and movies of Bryson and his progress thus far. He has come a long way and is learning new things everyday. But the shocking thing was right when I first got to their house, I was given a big "warm welcome" from Bryson.


Pictured above left to right, Kickin' with some juice; Bryson tries walking for Daddy; A Long Day Shopping.









One night, Bryson was really quiet (a very rare thing) and so we checked on him and found him passed out drunk on his formula, leg draped over the side of the crib. He's such a funny little guy. He laughs and smiles and loves bright lights and the sun and a good breeze. Aren't we all a bit like that? He is so active these days, he's in constant motion! He loves to gurgle. One day shopping, Bryson was gurgling rather loudly and continuously in a store that everyone wanted to see the happy baby. One woman dropped all the items in her hands and begged to hold him. Who can resist? He's a ladies man!