31 for 21: Change over Time (8)

Chris put this picture on instagram and facebook this morning with the caption that said "Hello world, here I come!".  In discussing what today's blog post should be about, we started talking about how people have been pointing out lately how much Colin has grown and changed more recently.  It's often hard to see those changes when you see someone every day, but if I really start to think about it, Colin's progress (and ours too) has come such a long way.

When I first started out blogging about our life with Colin and his diagnosis of Down Syndrome, it was so hard to look past the fear and the worry that we were facing about his future.  To be honest, it wasn't so hard when we were holding our baby in our arms, but if we started to look past that day we were living in, the fear started to creep back.  

It didn't take that long before Colin himself started to ease our worries because he started to show us what he was capable of.  When he was only a few weeks old, we were told most of his gross motor development would take much longer than his typical peers...and then he rolled over at 4 weeks old.  

While it was often hard to see the challenges that he was facing compared to his typical peers, we soon realized that he wasn't giving up and so we pushed him to do all of those things we knew he was capable of. 

He worked really hard and so when he started accomplishing some of those bigger challenges, we would cheer really loud because we knew how far he had come.  

Honestly speaking, there were times when it would feel like we were stuck in a phase for a long time and it felt as though we were never going to get to the end with certain skills.  I will never, ever forget how it felt when Colin finally started being able to stand up independently and start taking his first steps.  

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

For Colin's confidence and independence, walking was such a BIG accomplishment.  We sat at his very first IEP meeting and discussed with the team options we might need to help him move around school since he wasn't walking yet.  Once he stood up and took his steps, he never looked back.  He walked right into school on that first day a few months later completely on his own.  

Through each phase of development that we go through with Colin we can look back through pictures and video and see how far he has come.  It does not matter that Colin has Down Syndrome.  He CAN do anything he puts his mind to and we will always be here to push him.  We have high expectations for Colin both educationally and for his future.  

Hello world, here he comes!