John's Encouraging Progress

John is now unstoppable. He has found his legs and is constantly on the move. Just as with any 2 year old, he is into everything and thinks that he can and should be able to do everything his siblings do.

His newest skill is running. He loves to run, especially when he has something that he knows he shouldn't. He has great hip rotation which is a problem with children with Down syndrome. If you remember, the way that we confronted this issue is stair climbiing (let me know if you would like to know more about that part of therapy).

We are working on mouth and tongue movements, especially sucking through a straw. A couple of the ways we are approaching this is to use a sippie cup with a valve, and to use a short straw. He seems to do better with a short straw as he doesn't have to suck as powerfully. And as he improves, the length of the straw gets longer, therefore and hopefully increasing his suction power.

His eating has greatly improved. However, he doesn't like anything chocolate which is strange for a little boy but then again, we are all different. Among his favorite foods are vanilla ice creem, french fries, yogurt (I still feed him Brown Cow which is high in fat), chicken, green beans, and green peas.

He still drinks from a bottle when he is tired, otherwise he used a sippie cup with a valve. The valve encourages him to suck and it also prevents messes. He is drinking whole milk instead of formula consistently now and has been for the last 4 -5 months.

I don't get on hear as often as I would like but still like to update you all with what is going on with John and how we are dealing with his syndrome. May this be an encouragement to all new parents of children with Ds that these children are wonderfully gifted children and can learn to function in the world. My family would be lost without John as he has been a blessing and complete joy to have.

Often times the medical community paints a dismal picture of children with Ds which cannot be taken generally as each child is different. As a Christian and a believer that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made with a purpose, we believe that each child should be given a chance to thrive and succeed in life. And that is what we are doing here - giving John the best opportunity to thrive that we can give, most of which is our TIME. May God be with each of you as you raise and make decisions on how to best interact with your child.