31 for 21 Day 30: Life

I pulled away from Colin's school today with a (happy) tear in my eye grateful for having the opportunity to watch him at his parade (Chris was with the other 2). The first time around the field I could see him looking for me and when he finally found me, his eyes and face lit up. The second time around, I could see he was a little upset/unsure/wanting to come over and see me. He kept looking at his para with a smile like "that's my mommy" and then he came running over to hug me. He had the biggest smile and said "mommy! You came to see me!". I sent him back to the line and he went right back where he was supposed to. 

As Down Syndrome awareness month is coming to a close, I hope that my message has been pretty clear; in most ways, we are a typical family of 5 that has lots of great moments, but some really challenging ones too. While I truly believe Colin would not be who he is today if he didn't have Down Syndrome (and I am thankful for that), I also have my moments where I am frustrated and discouraged over the things that are harder for him because of it. Chris and I were always told that we were given Colin because we were "special people" or because "God didn't give us more than we could handle". I'm not sure this is entirely true; I believe that our family is who we are because we have grown and been changed through each great moment and especially through each challenge too. I don't think I was particularly strong or special before, but I know that I  am not the same person now. Through each moment in life, I continue to grow and change and bend to what comes our way.

 

This is life for us, our life, and I wouldn't change a thing about it (well, I wouldn't mind getting a little bit more sleep...).

31 for 21 Day 29: School Photo

Colin's 2015-2016 school year photo. I am smitten with this little man of mine.  

 

31 for 21 Day 28: Lost Tooth

When Colin started getting teeth, they were very delayed in their arrival and they did not come through in the order in which was typical for most kids. In addition, Colin's teeth are actually shorter and pointier than most (although the pointiness is much better now that eats more variety of foods). Last year, when I started hearing that other 5 year olds were starting to lose teeth I kind of tucked it in the back of my mind because Colin hadn't shown any signs of it and I knew that it would probably be delayed as well.

 

A couple of weeks ago, on a whim, I decided to see if Colin would let me check his mouth and low and behold, I noticed one on the bottom teeth was loose. We started talking about it a lot with him so he knew what to expect and what could happen with the tooth. Every once in awhile, I have checked it but it hadn't seemed to get any looser. Yesterday, Colin had feeding therapy and had the tooth when we went in and the when we came out. We got in the car and drove to the pizza place and when we were getting out, I noticed that there was a gap in his teeth. I can't find the tooth anywhere! The only thing I can think happened was that Kailey accidentally pulled it; they were playing with rubber gloves from therapy and pretending to check each others loose teeth. I'm thinking she must have accidentally hooked on it and pulled it. He seems to think the tooth fairy took it out of his mouth! 

 

It was a fun milestone!

31 for 21 Day 27: Feeling Proud

Last night when I was sitting with Colin while he was doing his homework (completely independently) I was just overcome with emotion thinking about how proud I am of him. He has grown and changed so much lately and is turning into this independent and confident little guy. I am just so lucky I get to be his Mommy...

 

31 for 21 Day 26: The Journey

"Life is not a race. Find joy in the journey."

 

31 for 21 Day 25: Blogging

I have always been a person that cannot hold anything in for very long, good or bad. I feel better when I talk about things and get them off of my chest. When Colin was born and his diagnosis later confirmed, I immediately started doing research online about Down Syndrome. The greatest information I got was not from any specific website, but rather, by reading the blogs written by people who had children with Down Syndrome. It sparked an interest in me and so shortly after, Love for Colin was born. 

 

The day I created the blog, I thought it was going to be an outlet for me with the purpose of venting about Colin having Down Syndrome. While that does happen on occasion, it ended up becoming a place to share our journey with family and friends and then eventually, with people I had never met before. There have been times when I have been questioned for putting so much out there about our family and I'll admit that there are times that maybe I've shared too much but I am admittedly happy with sharing what I do for a couple of reasons.

 

#1 It feels good to share (there is something very therapeutic about sharing the good, the bad and everything else in between).

#2 I spread awareness about Down Syndrome.

#3 (and most importantly) I hope that this blog reaches those that need it most just like so many blogs did for me. I hope that someone that sits down to their computer for the first time after receiving a diagnosis of Down Syndrome, stumbles upon Love for Colin and gets a glimpse of our life with Colin. I hope that just maybe, this blog would take away a little bit of the fear that they are feeling and replace it with hope as they start their journey. My life is better because of Colin...

31 for 21 Day 24: Family

"Where life begins and love never ends...Family."