holiday miracle
by Vivianna, San Gabriel, CA
Tara's 6th grade class takes field trips every Friday. Just before the schools let out for the holiday break the teacher and the aides took
the children ice skating...We knew about this trip and didn't know if Tara would allow skates to be put on her feet - let alone get on
the ice! Miracles never cease and Tara does continue amaze
us...she did get on the ice and she did skate!
look Mom, I'm doing it!
by Heather
My name is Heather and my daughter Mandy (age 9) has DS. My gift this holiday season was to see Mandy snow ski by herself down the First Timers
lift in Park City, UT. We have been skiing with her since she was 6. We have been lucky enough to ski in UT and CA where they have the National Ability
Center which offers private 2 hour lessons to people with all different types of disabilities (Physical/Developmental). She has progressed each year.
First we used a harness, then a long pole and toe clips, next just an edgie wedgie.
Well this year we used her determination and past experiences to accomplish independence!! She was grinning ear to ear as she snow plowed down the hill saying "Look Mom, I'm doing it!" Needless to say, I was skiing next to her with tears running down my cheeks. I am so lucky to be her mom. She is a joy every day! I have attached a picture of her in her ski stuff outside the Ability Center in Park City as well as a picture of her sledding and looking cute close up.
Thanks for the chance to brag!
a naptime milestone
by Tracy
Matthew is a joy. He is happy and smiley until it comes to taking a nap. I had spent an hour and a half one afternoon trying to get the little rascal to go to sleep. I had read to him, rocked him, sung to him, I had used every trick in the book and he would not go to sleep. Finally with frustration in my voice I said, "Ok Matthew James, you can just do what ever you want but you are doing it in your crib." I turned to leave and shut the bedroom door behind me.
For several minutes I heard him playing, talking to himself and doing whatever babies do to entertain themselves. Ten minutes passed and there was silence. "He's asleep finally", I thought to myself. So, I decided to sneak in to check on him. When I opened the door I was caught by surprise to find my little guy standing at the rail of the crib for the first time. He was all smiles as he showed off to his mom his new feat. All frustration melted away
with the joy I had at seeing him reach a new milestone. What a gift.
three wishes
by Aly, Palmdale, CA
My husband and I are blessed with a gorgeous 3 year old son, Aaron, who has DS. We were talking one day about the idea of being granted three wishes and what they would be. Of course, there were the obvious ones more money, buying a house, etc. Then I asked myself would one of my wishes be for Aaron not to have Down Syndrome? Then I said "But then Aaron wouldn't be Aaron."
So my miracle is knowing I would never want to change my son, I love him just the way he is. I am so thankful for him, he is and always will be my miracle.
a morning with emma
by Valerie
As I lay in bed, sleeping soundly, I was awakened by a light pat on my back.When I turned over I saw my five year old, Emma, next to the bed. “What are you doing?” I asked her. “You’re supposed to be asleep. It’s too early.” She smiled and said, “I’m sleepwalking.” The next thing I knew,
she was in bed next to me, eyes fluttering to stay shut, letting out an exaggerated “Ahhh…boo-boo-boo-boo” (her version of fake snoring). Normally, I am quite grumpy in the morning and I especially do not like being woken up earlier than normal, but any hint of annoyance was quickly
washed away. She caught me watching her dramatic display and burst out laughing. e laughed together, exchanged tickles and made funny faces at each other.She told me lots of interesting and important things. “I love you soooo…,” she said. “Much,” I finished. “I love you soooo…,” I
said. “Much,” she finished. This morning was quite possibly the best morning of my entire life.
(Author’s note: We found out that Emma would have Down Syndrome while I was pregnant. Every day with her is a tremendous blessing and, as you can tell, she is amazing. She is my constant reminder that faith, as challenging as it can be at times, will be rewarded.)
blood, lollipops, and friendships
by Monica
I have three children: Luke, a 5-year-old with Down Syndrome, Caroline, a typical 3 1/2-year-old, and Ben,a typical 2 1/2-year-old. Caroline and Luke have been thick as thieves since she could walk and talk and Caroline has never noticed that there's anything different about Luke. She's a pretty precocious kid and has developed some (often-unwelcome) "sophistication" at her preschool, so I would have thought she'd have noticed or mentioned that Luke was a bit different. I felt proud that she always described Luke as her "best friend" and never thought twice about the fact that he could be difficult
to communicate with and wasn't always as quick as she at picking up new games and having fun ideas. I wondered if she would ever notice, and I was happy I didn't need to worry about telling her anytime soon.
Unfortunately, when I recently picked up Caroline at school with Luke in tow, I noticed some of the older kids (5 and 6 year olds) asking Luke what was wrong with him--and not in a nice way. I realized I had better tell Caroline about Down Syndrome before she got the schoolyard version. I fretted daily about how to approach the task and finally decided to address it casually when next an opportunity arose and i knew just when that would be. Each week when Luke goes to speech therapy, Caroline begs to go along. At first she just wanted to be included, but when she realized Luke always got a lollipop there it seemed a matter of life or death. She always asked and asked why Luke gets to go to speech therapy and she doesn't. So the next time she asked, I thought I would tell her why, and I did. I told her, "Well Caroline, Luke has something called Down Syndrome. That's why it's sometimes harder for him to learn things and harder for you to understand him. That's why he needs to go to Speech Therapy--to learn how to speak clearly like you do." I was on pins and needles wondering how she would react: Would she think Luke was "weird" (her new favorite word) or would she tease him when he talked? Would she notice that he really is too big to wear diapers still and decide he was too much of a baby to be her best friend? As I looked at her face, I could see thoughts racing through her mind as she digested what I told her. I was stock still waiting to hear what she would say first. She furrowed her brow a bit, piecing something together, looked up at me and said, "So.....does that mean......that when I have Down Syndrome I can go to speech too?" She just thought that Luke was her big brother and however he was was the right way to be. I laughed, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Sure!" I could have explained more, I suppose, but why push it. Now that phrase "Down Syndrome" is out there and it doesn't faze her at all--she has no idea what it means, but that's okay for now. So all that worry I had about taking a little bit of my young daughter's innocence was for nothing. In the end, as is so often the case when I worry about my children, it was just another opportunity for joy as I discovered that blood, friendship and lollipops still mean a lot more to Caroline than a couple of words
