World Down Syndrome Day

One year ago today, on 3/21, I remember checking Facebook and seeing various pictures of people with Down syndrome and a reference to 'World Down Syndrome Day.' With the thought of Matthew's sandal gap in my mind, those posts allowed me to learn a little bit about Trisomy 21, even though I didn't know that I would have my own baby with an extra chromosome just a few weeks later! That's the reason why this day was created (on 3/21, for 3 copies of the 21st chromosome)- to bring awareness to Down syndrome and educate those on a cause that has so many misconceptions and generalizations. The kids and I started our homeschooling day by talking about Down syndrome and watching this video, created by the International Down Syndrome Coalition:


They liked seeing all of the faces on the videos and Michael Jr. thought that the little boy in the last frame looked like him (with his 'spiky hair,' the same hairstyle that we give him after baths). After the video I read them We'll Paint the Octopus Red on my iPhone, choking up as I got to the end of the story. Free on iTunes, you should check it out if you haven't already!


This was my favorite image from today:


That little boy, named Michael, is the son of Doug Billings, who speaks about him here:


Through this new little journey of ours, we have been able to meet so many others who are a part of this community, both in person and virtually. In addition to our local group, Facebook has been a great outlet in joining together with other moms who have kids around Matthew's age. We have all experienced similar thoughts through this whole process in a short period of time and I know I can always look to them for advice and encouragement. However, I need to give a huge shout out to all of our family and friends, who have always been supportive during this past year. I'm feeling the Matthew love today! Next up, Easter and his 1st birthday!

Our First Buddy Walk

We took part in our first ever Buddy Walk earlier this month with the Down Syndrome Association of the Hudson Valley. Before having Matthew I had never even heard about a Buddy Walk but I am so glad that we can be a part of it from this point on. A couple hundred Buddy Walks take place throughout the county each year in October to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month. We met many local families at the walk and picnic afterwards and look forward to more events with our local Ds group!

IDSC for Life

One of the groups I joined online after having Matthew was the International Down Syndrome Coalition for Life group. They're currently running a photo campaign and are posting pictures of people with Ds along with positive messages. This one was from today, beautiful!