My Poster Boy for the More Alike Than Different Campaign

I love this! It came just in time for our Step Up for Down Syndrome walk this coming Sunday, October 25th. Maybe I can get some posters printed in time...

The NDSC is offering this fun, free service to anyone who submits a photo of their child or an adult with Down syndrome and a short blurb on something that they like to do or some special talent they have.

This was a no-brainer for me. While John Michael loves to do many things, his first and foremost all-time favorite activity is to make music, sing and dance. This boy has music in his soul.

While music is in his genes, I like to think that some of his musical interest developed while I was pregnant with him. I was 4 1/2 months pregnant when I toured with my vocal group, RSVP (Reconciliation Singers Voices of Peace) to Houma, New Orleans and Slidell, Louisiana, the summer of 2007. That boy lived and breathed and developed while listening to some gorgeous vocal music as well as instrumental sounds from the United Nations Youth Symphony, all the while uplifting victims of Hurricane Katrina.

If you'd like to have NDSC make a poster for your child, here's the link http://www.ndsccenter.org/morealikecode/.
It takes a few weeks for them to get it back to you.

i did it

Our local blogging friend, Jennifer of Three's a Charm, came up with a brilliant idea. She made up these darling t-shirts that say "i did it" which have become our mantra for everything new John Michael is doing. For each t-shirt purchased, Jennifer will donate the book Gifts 2, to which she's a contributing author, to a local hospital or pediatrician or genetic counselor's office. What a positive way to spread the news that children with Down syndrome are more like typical kids than different. To learn more about the "i did it" project, click here.

Below is our recent list of "i did it's"...


i did it #1: John Michael climbed into my rocking chair using a footstool. He has been working hard on this skill for a long time now and last week, he did it! When he gets in, he carefully turns forward and begins to rock back and forth. The look on his face is too funny.

i did it #2: John Michael (and his family) makes friends. Here's John Michael with our local blogging friend, Jennifer's, "i did it" twin, Joaquin. Through blogging this past year and the NDSC Convention last month, we've met some wonderful families and all because of an extra chromosome, the connections are very deep. I'm amazed at how John Michael and his little friends with Ds seem to bring the best out of all of us. Yes, that's the T21 Traveling Afghan on their laps. :-)

i did it #3: John Michael loves to go to the park and swing. He's starting to go down slides, too. When I ask him to "swing", he rocks the swing back and forth. His receptive language skills are really good.

i did it #4: John Michael can climb into his music therapist's box chair, turn around and sit forward all on his own now. He's been working on that for a long time. Before, he was able to stand up and climb onto the chair, but couldn't figure out how to turn around and sit forward. Last week, he did it!

i did it #5: John Michael can blow into a harmonica and make sounds. This is a difficult skill to learn. He's been vocalizing into a kazoo for a long time (over a year) and recently started blowing air into a recorder. The harmonica takes a lot more forced air to make a sound. Last week, he did it!

i did it #6: John Michael plays well independently. He loves to pull out his xylophone and play either with the attached mallet or with two drumsticks. Last week he started really paying attention to the different sounds the keys make and play different sounds, e.g., striking the red and then the dark blue to hear the contrast in sounds. I'm so proud of this "i did it".

While I could go on about his cognitive and motor skills growth spurt, I think you get the point. John Michael seemed to be at a standstill for a couple months, even retreating backwards in verbalizations while his gross motor skills were in the forefront. I guess that's pretty common. These past 2 weeks, all of a sudden, it seemed like a lightbulb lit up in his brain and he's doing so many wonderful new things. Even some not wonderful things... like climbing up onto a chair and then onto a table and sitting there. OK, it's a wonderful motor skill, but not great for safety purposes.

I have some cute videos to go with the post, but I've been so behind lately that I wanted to share this. Cheers!

NDSC Final Day

4 little cutie pies on the final day... Joey (sorry, I cut you off!), Brennan in the back, Joaquin and John Michael.

John Michael kept bolting... it's like he's saying "No more pictures, I have other things to do..."



Cori holding Joey, Me holding John Michael, Sharon holding Brennan, and Jennifer holding Joaquin.

Nicolas (2nd from left) had an excellent time at the Brothers/Sisters segment of the NDSC Convention.

Even though we all live in other parts of the country, these are friendships that will last a lifetime because of a common bond. It's awesome to see these young people chatting with older teens and young adults who have Down syndrome. At the dinner, Greta danced with a boy who has Ds and Anna had a nice conversation with a self-advocate and his fiancee sitting at our dinner table. Awesome!

Next year we're in Orlando (think positive!) Well, at least I'm hoping to make it!

NDSC Convention Update

All talk and no play is no fun...

John Michael taking a break in the play area.

John Michael with Brad Hennefer (Golf for Life). Brad's an accomplished athlete and helps teach golf to kids with Down syndrome. If we lived closer, Brad, we'd definitely sign up!

Me with Kathryn Lynard Soper. She's soooo nice in person -- don't let her Teletubby persona fool you :-) We had a nice chat after the birth to 2 year old sharing session for moms. I also enjoyed sitting in on Kathryn's talk today on Sharing your Gifts.

Today we had lunch with about 11 other DS Bloggers and their families! That was excellent! But, wouldn't you know it, I didn't get a photo. Jennifer from Three's a Charm took a photo, so hopefully she'll post that.

It's been amazing to see all these faces with Down syndrome and the people who love them. Nicolas is participating in the sibling workshop and made friends within the first minute of walking in the room on Friday. These guys are so great -- they all range from 11 to 12, 6th to 7th grade. I so wish they all lived here so Nic would have them as regular friends. What a difference that would make to have a friend who shares something unique in life. It's awesome that his friends just come up to John Michael to give high fives, shake hands, to hold him or hug him or tell me he's awesome. (I know I've overused the word "awesome" but that's how it feels.) Some adults with Ds or older children w/ Ds have come up to John Michael and said hello. JM's face lights up, as does theirs, and I sense a deeper connection than what I can comprehend. Ben and Alex's mom from Colorado told me that Alex (Ds), who's only 7, can tell who has Ds and who doesn't. She said she's never actually told him what features to look for, but she thinks he senses something as well. Interesting...

Anna chatted with an adult w/ Ds at dinner and Greta danced with a 7 year old boy with Ds. The girls are having a fun time, too, although they spent most of the day at a nearby friend's house. I'm so proud of my girls!

Tomorrow is the final day. It will be bittersweet, as is the end of anything great. I've made some great new friends and look forward to keeping in touch and watching our children grow via blogs and Facebook.

On a final note, but definitely not last on my mind, Gabby did well in her heart surgery in San Francisco. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for the family! I know it means a lot to them!

Visit with our buddies and NDSC Meet-Up

I have a lot on my mind this week. Therapists, playdates, school newsletter editing, life with four kids...

BUT...

the NDSC Convention begins Thursday evening this week and I'm so excited to finally meet some fellow Ds bloggers, hear great speakers, meet a favorite author, and get some new insight into this brave new world we entered some 20 months ago.

But more importantly, let me take a moment to ask you to please pray for our beautiful little local friend, Gabby. She is such a sweetie and she's having her heart repaired this Friday so she won't be able to be at the Convention. We're going to miss her beautiful smile and her mom, Sheree's, sunny personality. We also pray for the doctors and for her whole family. {{HUGS to you, Gabby!}}

Last Friday, we met our local Ds blogging buddies at a spray park. All the kids had a blast. You can see John Michael and Anna took full advantage of the fun. Greta's in the background on her scooter and Nic is somewhere getting soaked.

Below, John Michael is checking out Joaquin's camp hat. Joaquin didn't mind his hat being on his head one bit, which is more than I can say for my little guy who constantly removes any hat I put on his head. And apparently hats on other heads as well.

Here, Gabby and John Michael are sharing a little kiss. I think he's wishing her well for her upcoming surgery and recovery.
All in all, it was a super-fun afternoon catching up with our friends. Anna was great with John Michael.

Below... The Fab Four! From left to right... Sheridan, Gabby, Joaquin, and John Michael

Love those eyes!

On a final note... If you're heading out West to Sacramento for the Convention, we'd love to meet you. Please say hello! We'll be wearing our nifty DS Bloggers ID badge and so will about 10 others. You're welcome to join us for lunch on Saturday, but please leave a comment if you're planning to come. Meet us at the Registration Table at 12pm and we'll walk to a local restaurant. Hope to see you there!

PS: If you think you'd like to join us, comment here or on DS Bloggers so we know how many to expect. Thanks! and Happy Traveling!

FYI: Sacramento is very hot this time of year. Think upper 90's to low 100's for daytime and cool evening breezes in the 60's and 70's.

Met another new blogging friend...

Saturday was one of those super-busy, every minute of the day is planned, fun days where I really didn't lift a finger beyond vacuuming the living room and entry. We started with Greta's Trik-a-thon at preschool. She rode 15 laps around her school on her trike and raised some money for her school in pledges.

Anna joined us. The girls had fun "hanging" after lunch.

Anna adores John Michael. Seriously!

She and Greta can't get enough of him and

Greta gets jealous when Anna "takes over".

Below: Saturday afternoon, some local blogging moms met up with Chrystal and Malea of "One More, More than One" who were visiting Sheree and Gabby for the weekend.

L to R: Sheridan, Gabby, Malea, and John Michael

And us moms... Chrystal and Malea, Monica (me) and John Michael, Sheree and Gabby, and Lisa and Sheridan.

We're all going to the Convention. How 'bout you?

Come visit us at DS Bloggers so we can meet you at the Convention, too. You can also check out my previous post for more information.

"DS Blogger" ID Tags for bloggers going to the NDSC Convention

If you're someone who blogs about Down syndrome and you're headed to Sacramento this summer for the National Down Syndrome Congress convention, here's a fun way we can identify each other.

Check out our new blog, DS Bloggers.

If you send me your name, blog name and URL, we'll add you to our list and create a custom DS Blogger ID badge to wear to the Convention.

This will be an easy way to visually identify other Ds bloggers who we may not recognize in person. What a great way to strike up a conversation and forge new friendships!

Please share this link with your blogging friends, post to your own blog, add it to your Facebook, and grab a button.

We're also working on finding a time to meet. More on that in the coming weeks.

My team members are: Jennifer Varanini Sanchez of Three's a Charm, Sheree Pham of The Phamily Blog, and Lisa Lindsey of Genetically Enhanced. Come check it out and register your blog.

Memorial Day in Old Sacramento

If you're headed to the National Down Syndrome Congress Convention this July, you'll want to come check out Old Sacramento.

Established in 1849, Old Sac is bustling with shopping, dining, entertainment, historical attractions and world-renowned museums set within the time of the California Gold Rush and the Transcontinental Railroad.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Old Sac hosted the 36th Annual Sacramento Jazz Festival and Jubilee! It featured more than 60 bands at 23 venues, playing jazz music of all types, including sixteen bands made up of teenage musicians on their own stages.

We had a blast listening in on all the free family jazz venues.

My sweet John Michael.

Definitely all boy first...

Down syndrome is way down on the list of things to describe him...

Riding in an open car pulled by an old 1860's steam engine in Old Sacramento. A jazz banjo band entertained us for the 45 minute ride up and down the Sacramento River.

These brothers have a special bond.

John Michael makes a hard "K" sound for Nick!

I just love love love this little guy's smile. Thanks to Anna for helping me get this great shot. She is the best at getting him to smile for the camera. His eyes are sparkling in this photo!

We took a coffee and ice cream break aboard the Delta King Paddle Boat. Just over the rail we could see and hear below an excellent teenage jazz ensemble play old jazz standards. On the front side of the boat, we saw a huge family of Canadian geese and goslings swimming upstream and one lone turtle sunning himself on a rock jutting out of the river.

Me and my girls, Anna and Greta.

And a very special thank you to the men and women who have served and are serving our country. Freedom comes at a great price and we are grateful for all you do. A special thank you to those who gave their lives so that we might have ours.

PS: Drop me a note if you're coming to the Convention and would like to meet. I'd love to meet some of my blogging friends in person!