"He's really blessed to have been placed in your family," our favorite nurse from the ped's office informed me today. I was surprised and responded, "Actually, it is we who are blessed!" I was surprised that she made the comment because, quite frankly, we see often see ourselves as slacker parents. She assured me that we will see to it that Eon gets what he needs, but mostly that we will treat him as one of the kids, first and foremost.

Her observation really blessed me because I often see myself as a bit of a slacker parent. Sometimes, it's all I can do just to tread water. I feel like I should be doing more therapy with Eon. I feel guilty that I haven't yet purchased the "Teaching Your Baby to Read" program, and I can't believe that I still have yet to watch the "Baby Signing Times" dvd I bought months ago. I am confused about which vitamins to add and when, and just now remembered that I forgot to take him to have his 6mos. labs drawn today. Sigh.

So, for her to tell me that he is blessed to be my child, is something I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around. Maybe the most important thing we can do for him as he grows is to treat him as the normal kid that he is; to expect him to do for himself when he's able, to discipline him with love and grace, to teach him to have a servant's heart, and to train him to put others before himself - just like we are doing with his older siblings. Maybe it doesn't have to be as hard as I'm making it. Either way, it was really nice to hear!

And so it begins.

Today, we started solids. There is not much that I like less than the mind-numbing task of shoveling food into an infant's mouth. I tend to delay the onset as long as possible. Couple that with fact that I can never seem to remember which order to do it in. Food and then bottle or the other way around? Anyway, I've been procrastinating on starting this. At first, I was waiting until he seemed ready, but he's been exhibiting an interest in feeding and the trunk/neck stability for awhile now. So, today I got Eon all settled in the high chair for the first time. I adjusted the straps, realized it needs a serious cleaning as older brother Zak just moved to a booster seat, and found the baby spoon. I decided to feed him oatmeal as that's what we thicken his formula with. After the first few bites, I realized that we are in for the long haul. He made no attempt to close his mouth, move his tongue, or swallow. It all came dribbling out. Ugh. I thought I had low expectations, but that was about as unsuccessful as you can get.

BUT, the next time, I remembered to push down on his tongue with the spoon and he closed his lips around the spoon. Then he started to smack his tongue and taste the cereal. A few more bites and he seemed to enjoy it. He still got way more on himself than he swallowed, but it really went pretty well for a first attempt.

(I am quite aware that the OT will invariably find fault with just about all of it next time she comes, but I choose to bask in the glow of success while I still can.:)

I'd like to try some new foods in the coming weeks. Is there anything in particular that we should wait to introduce? I can't seem to remember if there is a particular order or if little ones with Ds are more prone to food allergies.

Simeon is six months old now and I thought I should give an update. He is such a delight! We went on a camping vacation last week and he is the best little camper ever. He can sleep anywhere. I felt guilty much of the week because he spent so much time in his car seat or stroller. I tried to make sure he got enough tummy time and stimulation, but I don't think we did his prescribed therapy even once. Imagine my surprise when we returned home and he suddenly started meeting some milestones that he's been working on.

He can now sit unsupported for brief moments. He can prop up on straight arms when prone and scoot to the side to get at a toy out of reach. He can transfer toys from one hand to the other and everything goes in his mouth. We will be starting infant cereal soon as he starting to watch us eat and mimmick our mouth movements. These are all things that seemed so far away just a few weeks ago. His PT is so impressed that we will be starting weekly sessions as soon as we get approval.

He had not had any apnea episodes since surgery until last week in the camper when he had two in a row and needed stimulation to recover from the second one. So grateful for that monitor! When he sleeps on his back, he goes into bradycardia but no one in the medical community seems to care, so we just let him sleep on his tummy.

I am officially done pumping and feel really good about that decision, although if he gets sick anytime soon, I'm sure the guilt will come. I am amazed that he was able to get breastmilk until six months and even more amazed about how much more time I have in my day.

He is still the star of the show around here and sometimes I even get irritated when I hear his siblings constantly bicker, "No! He already gooed at you. It's my turn now!" His oldest brother, Ben who will turn four this month, is still his biggest fan and has been participating in therapy sessions so that he can "do therapy" on his own with Eon (with mom closely supervising, of course).

I cannot believe the depth of love I have for this baby.

The Freak Show adds Down syndrome

We have six children. It doesn't seem like a lot to me (most of the time), but it's obvious that six is a lot to other people. Don't get me wrong, for the most part, our children are well-behaved, respectful, and delightful...but, they are definitely children and act like such most of the time. We now drive a 15-passenger (former daycare) van and have the stick figure family decal on the back with mom and dad, three girls, three boys, a dog, and a cat. They didn't offer turtle or guinea pig stickers or we would have those, too. When we go places together, people notice.

We get stared at. The looks we get range from the mildly curious to the outright hostile. Sometimes, genuine smiles of encouragement are thrown in, as well. The comments we receive vary, too. From "You sure have your hands full" (my heart is full, too) to, my personal favorite, "Don't you know what causes that?" (yes, and obviously we're quite good at it. I notice you only have two kids. Would you like some pointers?) My point is that we look like a freak show when we go out.

Now that Eon is getting older (he's SIX MONTHS already!), I notice more people staring at him, as well. I'm not sure if they are trying to decide if something's wrong with him or if they are recognizing the Ds. Either way, they can't help but interact with him because he is so cute and thoroughly charms everyone he meets. It amuses me because I think he's beginning to deflect some of the attention we receive because of the size of our family. People seem to notice our numbers first, and then catch sight of him and forget to react about our size. Down syndrome is down playing the freak show that is our life. Gotta love that!

I might vomit.

Please tell me that the rest of "Christendom" doesn't feel this way. I was directed to a new website this morning: www.pray4trig.com It's a website designed to organize a national day of prayer on Trig Palin's birthday next year. "Congregations across the globe will join in asking God to make Trig whole....and for healing Trig of his affliction."

Ugh. Really?!? I cannot begin to express how appalling this is to me. I do believe that it is well intended, albeit misguided, but to really get to the heart/mind behind it, you must read the comments on the welcome post. The creator of the site is actually indignant that those of us with Ds would want our children to remain as they are...as they were created to be.

I'm sure I'll revisit this at some point, but I cannot shake the sick feeling her comments, and the attitudes behind them, have left me with this morning.

We went to our first community Down syndrome event recently. We attended the Ds Indiana picnic. As we parked and unloaded everyone, I suddenly had a panicked thought: I hadn't prepared the kids at all for what we might see and experience. Specifically, I hadn't had the "people are different" discussion with them in awhile. "Too late now," I decided.

I was a little overwhelmed at first. My eye was immediately drawn to the kids who were more involved medically and that was intimidating to me. But, after awhile, I realized that the kids who were hurling themselves down the slip-n-slide, climbing across the jungle gym, going back for seconds at the dessert table, and just being "kids" had Ds, too. That was such an encouragemet to me!

I met some great people and my kids had a good time. I probably should've given the "people are different" speech, though. Not because of their response to anyone with Ds. One of the grandmas was a little person. She was about Zak's height (he's 2). It took Ben (almost 4 y.o.) a long time to notice her, but when he did he immediately pointed and said, "She's creepy!" I grabbed his hand and hastily whispered my speech in his ear. He didn't say anything for a long time while he just watched her. Pretty soon he asked, "Is she real?" Ugh. Zak didn't say anything when he spotted her. He just pointed and laughed and laughed. Yikes!

In hindsight, I wish I would've approached her. I doubt she would've minded, after all, she knows she's little. I think it would've been great for the boys to have had a conversation with her. Maybe next time. I loved that they didn't seem to notice anyone else being different!

I shouldn't complain, but...

Simeon is a super sleeper. He always has been. When he first came home, it was a bear to try and wake him up for middle of the night feeds. Now, he generally goes to bed around eight and sleeps until 6:15 or so. Really, I love that he sleeps all night! But, 6:15? Really?

The other kids sleep until 8:30. I know; I should totally take advantage of the hours between to get something done. Problem is that I spend that time feeding the baby, pumping, and snuggling with him. (Yes, still pumping. He failed the swallow study and is much as I hate it, I can't bring myself to stop pumping and end his suppply of breastmilk.) I enjoy having him to myself in the wee hours. He is so cute! And so funny!

But, honestly, I'd rather be sleeping. :)