Harper adores music. And it is one of my favorite things to watch her completely immerse herself in the rhythms of the tunes. She throws her arms up in the air, spins around, and often lets out shouts of joy. Sometimes she has a fierce side-eye that makes her look …
Milestones are different when you have a child with Down syndrome. Most things come at a slower pace. Harper didn’t walk till she was two years old and we are still waiting for her to talk. But dropping her off for her first day of school at our local public …
A poem about embracing developmental delays
You never know when it is going to pop up. A reminder that your child is different. A few months after Harper’s third birthday, we went to an amusement park. Ride after ride Harper didn’t meet the requirements to participate. I knew she would love them, but I couldn’t trust …
In the early weeks of Harper’s Down syndrome diagnosis, it was as if the rug was pulled out from under my feet. There I was laying on the ground shocked at how I got there. As I started to regain my footing, my mind was numb and preferred to just …
For as long as I can remember I dreamed of one day being a mom. And I was ecstatic in anticipation for Harper’s birth. I knew we would have a great support system with our family because it does in fact take a village. But I didn’t picture a team …
I’m not sure when the shift exactly happened for me. Where I went from not being able to talk about Harper’s Down syndrome diagnosis without tears to nonchalantly being able to talk about it like it was just one more descriptor of my little girl. This is Harper – she …
Raise your hand if breastfeeding was harder than you imagined it would be. I’m waving mine frantically in agreement. And even though breastfeeding was the right path for me and my two babies, I want to say that I support a mom in whatever method she uses to nourish her …
As the year comes to a close, it ushers us into a time of holiday celebrations and anticipation for the new year. And after this crazy year we’ve had, I know we look forward with hope for a better year. But before we rush into making goals and plans for …
Down syndrome is misunderstood. My flowing tears after receiving the diagnosis for my own child revealed my assumptions about Down syndrome. I knew the physical features of Down syndrome, so my child would visually stand out. Growing up the kids with Down syndrome were in special education classrooms, so I …
