Russell Update...And my thoughts on Bloom.

Russell has been doing pretty good the past few days. He has been sleeping through the night since he has been home from the Hospital. During the day he does alright, but once the Tylenol starts running out he gets really irritable and grouchy..He will cry and fuss...Question to you Moms who had little ones have this procedure done, did your Doctor give you anything stronger than just regular Tylenol? Sometimes I just think the Tylenol isn't enough to help Russell with the pain. Anyway, he is drinking quite a bit and he eats a lot of pudding...Not much else interests him so far, but I figure it's still a little soon.

Yesterday I took him outside for a walk. Whenever you put his hat on him he will instantly turn it around backwards, lol...That's just how he likes to wear it.

He always walks with his hands in his pockets too! It looks cute but causes major problems as the ground is uneven and bumpy and he usually trips and falls flat on his face.

Russell loves throwing rocks for Jake and watching him chase them...He laughs his butt off.

So yesterday was the only time Russell was outside. Last night Russell woke up twice during the night with a bit of a fever and fussing...This morning he was extra cranky...I gave him a bath and when I got him out and was drying his hair, I looked down and saw a tick was attached to his head!! Ug...I hate this time of year around here!! I freaked out a little, Brad wasn't home and I didn't know what to do...So I drove Russell up to Brads Uncles house and he got the tick out by using vinegar on a q-tip and then heating up a pin on the stove and burning the tick a few times. Eventually we got it to back out enough to pull it all the way out.

So gross!!

I am just glad we found it today...If I had waited until tonight to give Russell a bath it would have been worse.

So that's that. Now on to Bloom.

Even though I am not a KH fan I decided I wanted to read her book...I was just curious about the book in general and wanted to see what she would do with it. I suppose I could write two totally opposite reviews of the book...One of the book itself and the other of what impressions of KH I was left with after reading the book...But I probably won't go into to much detail about either here.

I have to say when I first saw the book I thought it was beautifully done...I mean really beautiful. I loved the cover and how it was layed out...And I really liked the fact that she had many of her pictures in the book. You don't see that often in books and I thought it gave the book a warmth to it that was really nice.

Being totally honest here, and keeping my thoughts and opinions on the book itself and not KH or her Blog...I have to say I really liked the book, and in my opinion it was worth the read. In fact out of all the books on Down syndrome I have read so far, this one was my favorite. I would have loved to have been handed this after having Russell opposed to all the crappy Down syndrome pamphlets and booklets I got.

The book was quite different from her Blog in the fact that this seemed very real, and honest, and raw.

But I also think a lot of the reason why I liked the book was because it was so very close to my own birth experience with Russell that I found I could relate to almost every single thing she wrote. I did cry many times while reading through her book because it brought back up many of those early emotions and feelings I had after having Russell. And its hard to critique a book that so closely resembles your own experience.

And it was interesting to see that KH did in fact grieve for more than just the one night after Nella was born. From her Blog you kind of got the impression she woke up the next day and...What were her words exactly..."With morning came hope" or something along those lines?? And then over the past two years she did not write much about Ds on her Blog...So you figured she woke up and got over it, for the most part.

 In the book she does go into some detail about how she felt that first year. After I read the book I was left with the impression that KH was a little more well rounded than I have thought in the past...And I guess what confuses me is that she never shared some of these feelings on her Blog...KH gets a lot of criticism for being to sunshine and roses about Ds...So I guess I really didn't understand if she was not that way all of the time, why she makes it look like she is on the Blog itself?

In the end it was a book...A book like every other book I have read. There were parts I loved, and parts I did not. Some of the things she added in her book probably didn't really need to be in there and I thought actually took away from the beauty of the book itself and the message...But it was her story.

My lasting impressions of KH is probably not the best either...I found her to be a little silly and immature...Just in her style of writing and some of the things she wrote about...But whatever.

Many things about her I could never possibly relate to...The way she lives, her fabulous life style, her amazing optimism...But the fact that I find her slightly irritating and maybe even a tad annoying, doesn't mean she didn't put out a damn good book, because I think she did.

In the end, this is a book I would want my family and friends to read. I think this book can do a lot of good for some people who do not know about Down syndrome. And if KH can bring focus and attention to the beauty of Down syndrome...Why not?

If I was her I would be pretty damn proud...I think she has the right to be...The book can't be that bad if it made #11 on New York Times best sellers list.

And well, that's my opinion, in case you were all wondering! Anyone else who read it have an opinion? I'm curious to see what others thought of it.