Happy (Belated) Birthday Uncle Timmy!! (January 26th). So sorry we forgot to give you a shout out on your day, but hoping you had a great day!! We love you and miss you all the way down there in NC and can't wait to see you again soon!! :)
Recently in the news, came this article about new non-invasive testing available that will give mothers the opportunity to know whether or not their baby has Down Syndrome. This new information raises a question in the article "will babies with Down Syndrome slowly disappear?". I have avoided this topic and avoided reading the article until just now (which I still chose not to read the whole thing) because it disturbs me for so many reasons. I think it's pretty clear where I stand on this issue since we were presented with possible information during my pregnancy with Colin and we chose not to do any invasive testing to find out "for sure". Although we had a hard time with the information when first provided with it and at birth, we had decided we would never choose our fears over our baby that we had created.
It saddens me that our scientific research is leading us in a direction that is allowing us to create the perfect child by potentially removing a fetus that society would consider "imperfect". It's no secret that we are faced with daily challenges with Colin because of his having Down Syndrome, but the love and fullness I feel because of him outweighs any of these challenges. In fact, just tonight, when I was feeling a little "down" after having a rough day, Colin crawled over and kissed my cheek. I can assure you that he brightened numerous days in Shoprite today when he greeted and waved at many people there...please tell me how this life isn't a life worth living. Sure he is faced with challenges, but don't we all have some kind of burden or challenge that we struggle with on a regular basis?
My friend Patti at A Perfect Lily has been writing some posts on this issue and rallied together to the troops to put a beautiful video together. You can read the post in its entirety here which she appropriately titled "worthy of life" but I wanted to share this excerpt which moved me to tears...
"Our children are not suffering.
Our children are not a burden.
Our children are worthy of life and worthy of our love, and we are forever thankful for the incredible joy we know every single day....because of them. "
She created this video that beautifully demonstrates the worthiness of our children's lives...because they are all "so amazing"....Thanks Patti!
Since my format of the blog cuts off half of the video, I suggest checking it out on Patti's blog to see it in it's entiretly...If the video does not work the first time, please hit the refresh button...
I'm sure it comes as no surprise to any parent out there that every day brings its own set of challenges when it comes to raising a child. You don't have to have a child with special needs to know that. But, when you do have a child that has a unique set of challenges, it can seem a bit overwhelming at times.
However, the good thing is that there is always a bright spot in a day and sometimes you have to look harder than others for it. Of all the things that have been frustrating lately with feeding issues and a growing list for a toddler boy who is also teething (and just being a toddler boy), there have also been bright spots as well. For every thing that is frustrating in a day with Colin, there are plenty of other things that are exciting and rewarding.
Like this...
Crawling on hands and knees isn't something that Chris and I have stressed out about because Colin has slowly been getting there. He has taken a "crawl" here and there and his amount of crawls and "steps" have been increasing. We witnessed his most consecutive hands and knees crawling yet tonight and although we didn't get all of it on camera, we are completely excited nonetheless.
Our other bright spot is that Colin's communication has been increasing and it seems like every day he is making a new sound or "saying" a new word. Most of the words he says are ones that most people wouldn't recognize, but we have begun to realize what he associates certain sounds with and that "vocabulary" of sounds is always growing.
So yes, every day IS challenging and frustrating. But, every day IS a new day and every day has plenty of rewarding moments as well...sometimes you just have to look for them!
This little boy LOVES to dance!! I can't wait until he can stand on his own two feet so that we can see what kind of moves he has then. Until then, this cuteness will certainly do...
After styling Colin's mohawk today in the bathroom, I put him down on the floor real quick before heading to the grocery store so I could finish pulling my own hair back. I looked over and guess what he was doing?
...standing up at the toilet splashing in the water. I wish I had a camera in that moment because it was so funny!
For the 2nd year in a row, my sister in law Beth Tobin, organized an extremely successful fundraiser for Team CAT Crew at the Applebees in Hamilton, NJ. Almost all of the money raised from ticket sales goes directly to our fundraising efforts for the Special Olympics of NJ. It was so exciting to see all of the people come out and show their support in honor of Colin for such a wonderful cause. We were able to raise just over $1000 for team CAT Crew making our current total just about $15,000!! I am so grateful to Applebees for providing such a wonderful fundraiser for us. We couldn't ask for anything better! Thank you to all of the people involved from planning to running the event for making it so successful!!
The plunge is coming up in a month....if you are interested, please check out the link on the sidebar for more information on donating or joining Team CAT Crew!
* Special thanks to Jorie Gallagher for all of the pictures you will see below!! *
Aside from the fact that Colin is wearing Christmas pajamas in the first few pictures, do you start to see the common theme here?
...this boy loves his Mickey Mouse and will "strike a pose" when it's time to watch. He makes himself comfortable and gives his full attention for the 25 minutes that it's on. In fact, when it's time for me to leave for work in the morning, I have to pause the show to even remotely get a kiss from him. When it's paused, he gets pissy with me and I get the "half" kind of kiss like "ok mom, I'll give you one real quick, but you better un-pause that show!".
It IS cute though because when someone is holding the remote he makes this sound that is similar to "tsee", meaning "Mickey". Hey, at least the kid knows what he wants and asks for it right?
...this boy loves his Mickey Mouse and will "strike a pose" when it's time to watch. He makes himself comfortable and gives his full attention for the 25 minutes that it's on. In fact, when it's time for me to leave for work in the morning, I have to pause the show to even remotely get a kiss from him. When it's paused, he gets pissy with me and I get the "half" kind of kiss like "ok mom, I'll give you one real quick, but you better un-pause that show!". 