happiness | Yo soy La Lay

Incomprehensible

by Maggie

This morning, with her little button nose smushed up as close to me as she could get, Tessa sang me a song. I couldn’t understand the words, but her smile told me it was a sweet one.

My day has been filled with moments that I want to freeze in my memory. Like for many around me, it is hard to digest all that has happened this week. I find my breath catching in my chest as I soak in the calm breeze in my backyard, or my sweet five-year-old chattering with a robin outside her window.

We have so much.

I did not wake to the news of Dallas this morning. Before the national news, another devastating headline about a former student crossed my feed. He, a troubled child, too adult before he was ready, sat in my study hall not too many years ago and dared me to attempt to control him.

I won him over, quickly, with patience and Jolly Ranchers.

I never found anger to be a useful tool, nor lectures. I don’t know that either can help a person gain perspective or bring warring sides together. But a show of love to the unkind, the hurt, the confused – that has seemed to build bridges, at least in my life.

Just a couple months ago, that student crossed my path again, sitting in the office of our building, inquiring about how he might be able to finish his high school degree.

He had been through so much. Made so many bad choices. An adolescent with a brain that did not work like an adult’s, thrown into Big, Heavy situations long before his mind could control his body as he needed it to.

I do not know what chance he will have to finish now. We could not save him.

Today I have soaked in every little privilege that my life circumstance has afforded me – the pile of books on the playroom floor, which my girls have been raised to love, the box of chocolate from my loving and devoted husband, fresh, clean clothes and our own laundry machine in the basement. Clean water, clean home, stability, resources, safety, education, love.

We have so much.

I can’t imagine the lives of those who do not live as I do, but I understand that by pure chance, it has been different. And so I learn as much as I can. I pray and try to be kind and gentle. I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know what words to say. I don’t know how to stop the hurt.

This morning, Tessa sang me a song. Her sweet words were incomprehensible, but beautiful nonetheless.

We have so much.

Someday I will understand.

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Advocacy #3: Give us a smile

by Maggie

con·spic·u·ous

kənˈspikyo͞oəs/

adjective

1. standing out so as to be clearly visible.

2. attracting notice or attention.

synonyms: easily seen, clear, visible, noticeable, discernible, perceptible, detectable; person with Down syndrome

That’s reality right now. Not that everyone in the room notices us, but that everyone in the room who does notice us can see that we are different.

We have run the gamut of responses to Down syndrome (remember this guy??). Not all responses are negative. Most, in fact, are quite benign, even a little sweet. And they bring me to another little way that you can advocate for people with Down syndrome: smile.

Smile at everyone you meet on the street. Good or bad, rich or poor, sick, healthy, clean, dirty, happy or sad. A smile says “Hey, I see you, human being.” I’m not saying you should fawn over every individual that crosses your path, nor should you go out of your way to grin awkwardly at someone who is different. I’m saying that it is pretty cool if you let your eyes meet someone else’s (anyone else’s) and allow yourself to smile. And though you may think it far-fetched, it’s advocacy at its finest.

You see, when you share a smile with the differently-abled, the marginalized, those on the outskirts, it’s not really about them, it’s about the others in the room. It’s about showing the world that it’s cool to be cool with everyone. When you treat everyone who looks a little different with the same dignity and respect as you would that nice-looking, decently dressed human being walking toward you in the grocery store, it sends a message.

We are all humans. Advocate for the humans by smiling kindly at the humans. You can’t go wrong with that.

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Don’t be a cry baby. (Please?)

by Maggie

Anyone who thinks that people with Down syndrome are eternally happy should come spend some time with us from 6:45-7:15 on any given night.

Good. Lord.

The phrase “scream like a banshee” has taken on a whole new meaning since our sweet little booger has decided that bedtime simply isn’t her thing. With every wail, I can hear her cursing us for leaving her in the dark. The best part is that her timing is unsettlingly perfect – just as you breathe that sigh of relief because finally, she’s calm and reach to take a sip of your wine, BAM. Just kidding! If she had words, I can guarantee she’d be yelling the ones you wouldn’t say in front of Granny.

I can’t say that I blame her for being upset. When you live as thrilling a life as we do, it must be devastating to miss out on the fun. Between the crossword puzzles and episodes of House Hunters that have been on the DVR for about 2 years, I sure wouldn’t want to sleep through any of the awesomeness.

We’re just bustin’ down stereotypes, one bedtime routine at a time.

family Tessa

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The longest yard

by Maggie

Ok, so not a yard… more like six inches… but still. I’m not going to take two minutes of your time to talk your ear off today. Instead, I’m going to share two minutes of Tessa that literally has me floating right now.

If you’ve been following Tessa for quite some time… or if you read my post about my defective child, what happens at 1:47 might just get you, too. I watched the video about 4 times before I saw it…

To set this up, we’ve been struggling a bit to find things that motivate Tessa to move. Today, I set up my iPhone camera to record her looking at herself. This is what we got:

family Tessa

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Giggles

by Maggie

Okay, okay, okay. For heaven’s sake, enough with the Debbie Downer posts.

I mean, seriously.

Can I share some good?

First, this kid is potty trained:

Why she wouldn’t smile, I’m not quite sure. I just decided to join in with her. And the cat face? We went to a “Fall Festival” fundraiser for Down syndrome awareness,,, we aren’t really cat people, but Ellie likes to be different.

Anyway…. the potty training… it’s done. They do it when they are ready, ya’ll.

Also, this kid laughs:

I cannot even begin to tell you what joy filled us to hear her laugh for the first time. It caught us totally off-guard and it was AHmazing. I have replayed the moment in my head a thousand times, hoping that the sound and the feeling never leaves my memory. In the following video, you can kind of hear it. Unfortunately, pretty much the only thing that makes her giggle (for now) is an obnoxious, fake laugh from John. It’s a little tricky to hear her, but still worth the view, because her smile alone is rockin’:

Tessa is still rolling all over, pushing up on her arms and now gets to her knees pretty often, too. She can’t really pull her belly up off the floor, but she is engaging her hands a lot more. We have set a very loose goal of sitting by Columbus Day, crawling by Christmas, remembering, though, that she will do it all in her own time. She is loving food of all kinds. We have yet to find a puree that she doesn’t like (of course, we haven’t ventured into the meat variety yet… eew). She is “talking” up a storm, finally mastering a “buh” sound and sometimes a “duh.” As her core gets stronger, she will be able to laugh more and make louder sounds. She spends a lot of time folded in half, chewing on her toes, like lots of kids do. She is infamous for getting stuck underneath the furniture. We think teeth may be coming soon, as she is drooling up a storm and chewing on everything that she can get into her mouth. Still, she is an awesome, easygoing, happy little baby.

And now, cuteness: