A visit to Great-Grandma's place

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My grandma has been there since the day I was born. We have laughed together, cried together, argued, but in the end I was very close to her. She now lives in an assisted living home and has Alzheimer's... Sometimes she remembers me and other times I'm her sister. It isn't always easy to go visit her because every visit she cries except one. One I will never forget....

The first time she met JJ....

She told him how much she loves him

She was singing to him

She thought he was the most beautiful baby boy ever

She was looking around to see if there was anyone there that she could show him off to.

She even smiled for the picture!

Crazy thing is I've taken the girls to see her many times and she LOVES them so much but she still cries every visit. Something about this visit was just different. She was so happy! She has no idea that he has Down syndrome and it was great to see her look at him and love him unconditionally without analyzing his characteristics. She just saw him as a sweet little baby and nothing else.

I'll have to track down the pictures of her and the girls. They were taken on someone else's camera.

Statistics..... are just statistics and nothing more..

From the minute JJ was born he was not following the normal statistics for children born with Down syndrome. He could lift his head the day he was born, he could squeeze your finger, ect. All stuff that "should of" taken him longer according to STATISTICS... Thankfully JJ is an individual and NOT a statistic. They weren't even sure that he had Down syndrome because he was TOO strong and because he cried when he received his first shots. They gave us a 50/50 chance that he had it or didn't. I knew he had it; all the lab work did was stop the speculation surrounding us from others. Typical children roll over by 3 months of age... Baby JJ rolled over at 5 weeks 2 days and I couldn't be more proud because it goes to show he can do whatever he wants at his own pace.


Each milestone is a celebration.... On a milestone chart for typical babies; JJ has hit every single one. I know this may not always be the case but I don't want to compare him to statistics his whole life. I want him to do things on his own time and not because he is suppose to or not suppose to yet. He is an individual just like any other baby and that is how he should be treated.

I remember the day we were leaving the hospital and we had a new nurse that day. I never knew people could be so cruel... Her words were "These kinds of babies"..... Wow.. These kinds... She was classifying him as a kind? I thought he was just a baby that was born with an extra chromosome? That is when I realized that Jared and I would always raise him the same way as our other children. He shouldn't be treated any different then they are just because he has a little extra special something. He should have the same opportunities in life as any other child in this world. I am confident that he will do great things and continue to amaze us all every day!

To end this I'll ask that you all click on the link in my previous post to pledge to end the use of the R-word.

Thanks!

Oh and do you want pictures?!?!

Teddy bears dressed in baby brothers clothes!

R-word | Spread the Word to End the Word

R-word Spread the Word to End the Word