Special Olympics Area meet 2012

Yesterday I shed a few tears as I watched Angela and Axel participate in the 2012 Special Olympics area meet. It was a super busy day making sure the kids were in the right place for their events, helping other athletes get to theirs, and making sure field events were taken care of as well. Our team has some awesome coaches! We have over 200 athletes on our team (though not all participate in every sport) and 67 athletes who compete in the summer games! That is a lot of athletes to keep organized, making sure they all get to practice all of their events, not to mention keeping the meets organized! I would not like the job, but I'm happy to help out wherever I can.

So, onto the games. Here is just part of the team who participated in the grand march. Many of the athletes who have events later in the day hadn't arrived yet.



The first event for us was Axel's 50 meter run. What is important to know is exactly one year ago, on May 16th 2011, this was Axel, just after he came out of an 8 hour surgery, laying in the Intensive Care Unit at Shriner's Hospital in Philadelphia:

When we got him he didn't know how to run. It was kind of a fast walk instead. Then he had his surgery and COULDN'T run. When he got his halo off in August, all the new motor skills he'd just learned he had to learn all over again. Running was one of them.

And now look at him today! Our boy, waving to his adoring fans. LOVE THIS BOY!!!!


Next up was Angela's 50 meter run. She ran as hard as she could! (Watch her at the finish line. She's always been her own best cheerleader! LOL)


Next up was Axel's 100 meter run. Sorry for the bouncing, I was walking along behind him.


There was softball throwing....


And standing long jumping...


There were ribbons awarded....

Friends to hang out with....

and hands held along the way.

And just for kicks, here's a video of Angela in 2006 when she was 10.

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What I Wish You Knew

You. Yeah, you in the store check out line. Not him, you. I'd love to talk to you right now. I can see by your long stares you have questions. You're trying to figure us out. I wish we could stop life right here so I could tell you our story.

I want to tell you that you don't need to feel sorry for me. Our children are beautiful and we love every single extra chromosome that resides in every cell of their body. I know it's hard for you to believe, but some of them were chosen because of it.

Our life is not hard. Really, it's not. And to be honest, if you asked me which of the kids is the most challenging to raise, I would say the biological one. And no, I won't tell you which one that is. (Look close, you can probably figure it out!)

No, we are not saints. We aren't miracle workers either. I just walked into a building one day and we both knew right then we had to do something.

Why do we do it? I can probably give you 100 reasons. Instead I prefer to ask "Why wouldn't we?" You'll have trouble coming up with any, and the ones you do come up with might fit YOUR family, but they won't fit mine. "The benefits outweigh the risks" applies to us.

Hey you. Yes you...I saw you watching us. I saw you do a double take. I even saw you peer around the end of the isle at us. I recognized your looks. I used to do it too! When my oldest with Down syndrome was a baby, if I saw a family who had a child with DS I would stalk follow them.  But Angela didn't look like she had DS, or if she wasn't with me, it was hard to know how to start a conversation. But yes, I saw you. And yes, I recognized your attempt to go unnoticed. I want to tell you, you're gonna be ok! Your baby is just that...just a baby. Love that baby because before you know it you'll be me, walking through Target discussing boyfriends with your teenager. And yes, you'll get there. You'll survive this time in your life.

Our house is no different than anyone else's. If we need more of anything it's a better sense of humor than most parents because you have to be able to laugh (sometimes only in your head) at some of the things that are said and done around here. Who else has rules like, "No invisible people allowed upstairs." or "No dangling in the living room." And I really don't know anyone else who says, "Tongue in." as much as I do on any given day.

I wish you could join us at our house. You just might leave realizing your life priorities have changed.

Kid or Cat?

Shortly after Asher arrived here from Serbia, we noticed he would often find patches of sunlight shining on the floor. When he found them he'd do all he could to get his entire body into the patch on the floor. If it was only a small patch he'd put his hand in it, wiggling his fingers in the warmth.

Now that it's (slowly) been getting nice outside, he craves being out in the sunlight. He's very quick to race you to the door if he knows you're going out. This morning Dean was watering the plants he gave me for Mother's Day. He went back inside to refill the pitcher and returned to find this:

Hopefully now that we can be outside much of the day his Vitamin D levels will start coming up!

School Lunch

Asher is in Kindergarten. He is in a regular classroom and is just one of the regular kids. Today, to get a "taste" of 1st grade, the kindergarteners are eating lunch at school. I've been really tempted to just keep him home. He's so NOT ready to be eating at school yet. We're working hard to get rid of his very bad oral motor habits. Him feeding himself is a horribly messy scenario and I don't want him stigmatized at school for the way he eats. I'm so tempted to keep him home. He's not going to first grade next year anyway. Hmmmmm Decisions. Decisions.

5 months home

Asher has been home 5 months now. Five very amazing months. There has been a lot to learn about this world crammed into these first months home. Watching all the "firsts" of life is a most wonderful thing for a parent to witness!