I have been going back and forth trying to figure out what I was going to do for my first post here.  Should I do an intro? A recipe? Life rambles? Gardening? I didn’t know how of where to start. As it happens though today is a great day to just jump in.  Today is a day near and dear to my heart. Today is World Down Syndrome Day.

As you may know my oldest son happens to have Trisomy 21 which is one of 3 types of Down Syndrome. We found out when we were pregnant that he would more than likely be born with a chromosomal difference. At the time there was no way to know for sure without doing an invasive and slightly risky procedure so we decided to wait it out and see. Our baby was our baby and we were going to love him for exactly who he was. Not that that time didn’t come with some serious grieving, worry, doubt and every other emotion thrown in for good measure. This is totally normal and ok. If you happen to end up in the same situation please allow yourself to feel whatever you feel. Work through it, believe me you will come out the other side just fine and a heck of a lot healthier for dealing with your feelings.

Elliott has been a game changer for me. I could not imagine life without him. Every family that I know who is part of this 3/21 (the 21st chromosome of someone with Down Syndrome is tripled) club seems to feel the same way. Yes it is scary as all get out at first. I had serious doubts about my ability to be his mom. You always here that saying “God gives special children to special people” and I most certainly did not think that applied to me. I do not agree with that saying anyway. I believe they are the special ones. They challenge us as parents and people to expand ourselves in ways than we would not have otherwise. I totally credit Elliott with kicking my ass into gear and making me a far better person in every aspect of my life. I am a far more loving, patient, open, teachable, loyal, helpful and organized woman because of him.

He is a little spitfire. He is a ham. He loves an audience. He sings and dances and acts out things he has seen on tv.  He cracks me up daily. His smile is infectious. He cracks up at slapstick comedy, much to my dismay haha. He loves books and is starting to read. He can be pushy and stubborn one minute and hugs and sweetness the next. He has the memory of an elephant, if you promise him something he is not going to forget. He loves our cat (much to her annoyance sometimes). He is as much a jerk to his little brother as he is sweet to him, so I am calling that typical brotherhood.

I hear he is the mayor of his school. He goes down then hall waving, saying hi and hugging people. The report that I get from his teachers is that he is a little social butterfly. He is in first grade and thriving. I wish I could share some of the photos of him from school with the other kids but I don’t want to go throwing pictures of other people’s kids around the internet. Take my word for it though they are so sweet with him. It melts my heart when we are out and we run into a kid from school and they come up to say hi. It blows my mind that so many of them know to give him the processing time to answer and react, they adapt to him in a way that most adults don’t even understand. Having him in school with the typical kids really helps him and I like to think that it helps the other kids learn that people with differences are part of the beautiful mix of this world.

 

I am so very much in love with this kid. I adore all of the things, people, emotions, ideas and smiles he has brought into my world. There are struggles, for sure, but today is about celebration. A celebration of the bright beautiful things that people with Down Syndrome bring into this world with them.

With that I will bring this to a close. I love my son more than I could ever express. He amazes me every day. I am not a person who would have ever chosen this path for myself, but this path chose me and I am forever grateful that it did. My life is more full and beautiful for it.