"I'm Gonna Sit by That Baby!!"

Last night we spent our evening at California Adventure... we love that we are so close that we can often frequent California Adventure or Disneyland for a few hours of escape. However, we have never been much of "parade people" until last night... 

We usually use parade time to enjoy rides when the lines tend to be a little shorter, but last night we decided to sit and watch the parade and I am so glad we did, I guarantee you we will now be searching out parades. I only wish I had taken pictures!! When Reid first heard the music approaching he started to get excited and began to move his arms up and down a little bit but when he saw the characters it was all over... he stood up and started waving hi with both hands and making sounds only he could interpret...he then blew kisses and continued with the arms going crazy. He was so excited...and he got A LOT of attention. As the characters came by there were very few that did not come over and high five him or say hi. In fact, he got so much attention that a little girl who was sitting several people over from us said, "I'm gonna sit by that baby!!" and she joined us for the remainder of the parade. :)

It did my heart good to see him so engaged and excited. It was funny though because there were times I could see this look on the faces of a few of the parade participants/characters who realized he had Down syndrome, right there in the middle of their performance, and the looks on their face was this sort of, "ohhh", a nice, kind "ohhh" with a sweet smile, but definitely an awareness that he stood out (I don't know if that makes sense). I actually was very touched by the sweet smiles and the attention they gave him...it was encouraging, but there were times I used to be very sensitive to this. There have been times I have caught people staring at us, at him, and the momma bear in me wanted to pull him close to me and then kick those people, hard, as I walked by. I am sure they were only trying to register what his diagnosis was if they weren't familiar with Down syndrome, or who knows what, but still I felt sensitive and didn't want the looks. My husband has always encouraged me to just walk proud and show people how much we love him. And, of course he is right...because I am Reid's advocate, his protector, and his vessel to show people how lovely, capable, and amazing he is...extra chromosome and all. So, I don't desire to kick people hard anymore...but walk as the proud mommy that I am, of both of my boys. 

Normal "little guy" stuff!!!

It has been awhile since I last posted and wanted to show you what Reid has been up to. I recently signed Reid up for some classes through our city's parks and recreation department. And... it feels so great to be out with him doing normal "little guy" stuff... stuff I did with Luke when he was this age. Since Reid's birth we have been busy with Dr. appointments, off to see specialists, and have had therapists come into our home almost daily to help him meet his fine and gross motor skills milestones. He has needed all of these things and we have been blessed with amazing therapists, but I was missing this part of parenting...being out doing normal stuff. He was finally ready and as you can see he is having a great time...and so is mommy! The pictures you see posted are from Reid's class this week....he LOVES the dancing and singing and seeing little friends...and did you notice he is standing in the middle of the room all by himself...and sporting new little Vans? He just started standing by himself without holding onto anything last week...and he has even taken a step today!! :) I think we are on our way to walking. 

First Day of School... & Being the Bottom of the Food Chain

Today was Luke's first day of school. I really missed my little pal! On our way to school he leaned over and whispered to me, "Mom, did you know that I'm at the bottom of the food chain??". I couldn't retain my laughter and had to share with Toby who's tender response was... "No, buddy you are a first grader now...so you're at the second to the bottom of the food chain! :)". Lovely! Luke's second item of concern was that there is a little boy in his class this year who told Luke last June out on the playground that he would "pound him" if Luke went near a certain girl they both had a crush on (have you seen my Luke?? It's not likely he'll be the one "pounded on"). Anyway, good news....Luke informed us this afternoon that that little boy went right up to him today and said, "You wanna be friends?". All is well in a first grader's life!

Reid enjoyed himself today too...trying out the monkey bars!

Summer Days...Where Did They Go?

It is always sad to say goodbye to the long warm days of summer...to say goodbye to lazy "wear your PJs all day" kind of days (or just

diapers as Reid preferred)...but we sure enjoyed our time! We visited family in Alabama, camped in the Sequoias, visited an aquarium, the zoo, many parks, tried to see a movie in the theatre but Reid, well...let's just say if we had not left promptly he would of provoked angry patrons to start throwing popcorn! We enjoyed sleep overs, Luke's Ninja birthday party, backyard camp outs with friends, lots of swimming...and oh yes, the Wii joined our family this summer. Here are a few pictures from our 2008 summer... I especially love this one with Luke and the orangutan at the zoo!!

Welcome to Holland

After Reid was born one of Luke's preschool teachers told me of this poem, Welcome to Holland. It lifted my spirits then and again this evening when I came across it on the internet. I am actually loving my detour to Holland...I didn't know I would be visiting...but I'm here...been here 20 months now and I'm adjusting well to my new surroundings. Luke is learning a lot about life on this trip too and he'd tell you there isn't any other place he'd be if it means being able to be with his "best brother". From time to time we'll be posting about the sites we see here in Holland and the things we are learning from this trip.

Welcome to Holland

by Emily Pearl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.

It's like this... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michalangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?" you say. "What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." The pain of that will never go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your time mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you will never be free to enjoy the very special, very lovely things about Holland.