Our baby girl smiles a lot.

However, it's not so easy to take a picture of her smiling.

She is very curious, and the instant she spots a camera, she HAS to 'check it out', which results in a very serious look.

The trick is taking a picture of her without her seeing the camera.

So for now no pictures of her looking at the camera with a smile, but  pictures taken from the side when someone else is distracting her and trying to get her to smile.

This one is cute anyway :)

Down syndrome: what do siblings think?

Often one of the concerns of parents whose child is diagnosed with Down syndrome, 

is that it will burden the other kids down the road. 

They think the child with Down syndrome will need too much attention, thus taking it away from the other children, 

and when the parents are gone, the siblings might be the ones to take care of their brother or sister with Down syndrome.

But do siblings really see their brother or sister with Down syndrome as a burden?

Not according to this study:

Having a brother or sister with Down syndrome: Perspectives from siblings.

This study asks brothers and sisters about their feelings and perceptions toward their sibling with Down syndrome (DS). They analyzed valid and reliable surveys from 822 brothers and sisters whose families were on the mailing lists of six non-profit DS organizations around the country. 

• More than 96% of brothers/sisters that responded to the survey indicated that they had affection toward their sibling with DS; 
• 94% of older siblings expressed feelings of pride. 
• Less than 10% felt embarrassed 
• Less than 5% expressed a desire to trade their sibling in for another brother or sister without DS. 
• Among older siblings, 88% felt that they were better people because of their siblings with DS 
• More than 90% plan to remain involved in their sibling's lives as they become adults. 
• The vast majority of brothers and sisters describe their relationship with their sibling with DS as positive and enhancing. 

© 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. 

Skotko BG, Levine SP, Goldstein R. 

Patti from "A Perfect Lily" had her older children share about their feelings about this subject in this very touching video:

I remember talking to one mom who told me that she and her husband were debating whether or not they would keep the baby they were expecting, knowing that he had Down syndrome, when her older boy, who was 12 at the time, came in, and overheard the conversation of his parents. 

His response?

"Of course we are going to have this baby, he is our BROTHER!"

So touching!

And, I am happy to report they didn't terminate the pregnancy, and he is the best and most proud big brother that this little toddler with Down syndrome could wish for!

I have heard a lot of parents say that having a sibling with special needs made their other children better people.

These things have been very encouraging to me! 

And, looking at my oldest 2 girls and how they adore their baby sister makes me very happy and supports the findings in the study I mentioned above...

Lesson from my kids

Two years ago we happened to have the privilege to be involved with the Special Olympics World Winter Games.

Our girls were 2 and 4 at the time, and they LOVED it.

They were so involved, and admired all the athletes. A lot of them had Down syndrome.

My girls really adored the athletes, and wanted to be just like them.

My 4 year old had noticed they were a little 'different', as we found out months later, 

but she didn't see that as a negative thing at all.

Admiring the gold medal of one of the athletes.

That is such a great lesson. 
I wish that everybody would see the person first, and their capacities, rather than look at the limitations someone might have.

I know a lot of parents of kids with Down syndrome are sort of offended when their kids are referred to as "Down syndrome babies" or "Down syndrome children". They would prefer the following: "Babies with Down syndrome" or "Children with Down syndrome". 
Putting the person first, rather than the syndrome.

Personally, I don't have too many issues with the way people phrase things. 
I think the intention matters much more than how people say it. 
If they mean well, I don't get offended too easily.

But since not everyone feels the same, I thought I'd mention it...

But I love the lesson from my little girls: admire the PERSON first :)

Having fun crocheting

With the weather cooling down, 

our youngest needs her hats again!

But she outgrew all the hats I made her earlier.

So it was time to make some more...

 

I also fancied up some plain hats from the $ store, by sewing crocheted flowers and leaves on them. These are nice and stretchy, so they fit my older girls, who have to be able to wear them over their hair...

Simple and fun...

And since I am still doing the 31-for-21 challenge to raise awareness for Down syndrome , 

just one more picture of our dear little girl, wearing one of her new hats and showing off her beautiful almond shaped eyes :)

Hoppin' for 21

Today is October 21 (just a little bit longer), and I just learned about this blog hop:

"We want to support all those that rock that extra chromosome with a blog hop on the 21st!
Hoppin' for 21 is hosted by 
Crazy Beautiful Love, The Bates Motel, and Carrie with Children. "

So I decided to join it!

Hope you like to check out some of the blogs on here!

"I make these genes look good..."

Things I wish I would have known when our baby got diagnosed with Down syndrome - Part 3

This is probably the most important thing I wish I would have known a year ago.

I wish I would have known a year ago how falling in love with your baby would change everything.

Simply the joy of having her around, and how much we love her, totally outweighs the worries we had and still have.

Yes, we still have worries about her.

But we have worries about our other kids, too.

I think it's only natural for parents to worry about their kids,

or for people to worry about people they love.

The fact that your child has 46 chromosomes (which is the typical number of chromosomes in a human cell), 
is no guarantee for a life without worries.

But adding an extra chromosome definitely does not take away from the love you have for your child and the joy they bring...