“sisters”
Whitney made a friend at an appointment this morning. A six-year-old girl with Down syndrome entered the room and zeroed in on Whitney, coming over to proclaim her “sister” and sat forehead-to-forehead cupping her face, whispering secrets, and looking into her eyes lovingly. It was precious. I soaked in this beautiful moment of kinship. I’m not usually one to try to make best friends in waiting rooms or airplanes, but I’ve found that Whitney often attracts attention from strangers and, in a good way, moves me past my comfort zone into connection with others when I would otherwise be satisfied with a smile and friendly nod. Random people are not as scary as I think. They are actually often kind and rather interesting. Who knew!?Whitney is a minority of sorts. When she was born, our whole family was birthed into new communities: that of people with Down syndrome, disabilities, heart defects, hearing loss, etc. I never wanted to be a member of these communities before, but now that I am, I realize there’s something special about belonging, no matter what it is that brings us together. We may not be best friends or even get along with everyone we meet who has Down syndrome, but there is an immediate exchange of understanding and acceptance among our community. I hope Whitney meets more “sisters” and role models and friends, those who share her chromosomal make-up as well as those who do not.
In other news…she had a hearing test today which showed she still hears normally out of her left ear (she was born deaf in her right ear). I knew everything was okay since I’ll be talking to someone and all of a sudden will hear her repeat something I said in the middle of the conversation. She’s listening all right! Now Mama has to be careful what she says with such sharp little ears around. This pic is of her hearing test…they put her in a booth and condition her to look at certain toys (i.e. mechanical fluffy, here) when she hears certain sounds. Then they test the range of decibels and frequency she can hear. The audiologist and I watch from the other room while Dylan makes a tiny scene about the “ABCB’s” he can’t reach and voicemails from Elmo waiting for him on the iPad he knows is in my bag.
And on a completely different topic….here is some Spring park fun…
Simple pleasures: running fingers through curly locks, dancing in the tall grass, and strawberry mojitos at date night.
Resume Building: My little kitchen helper learns to put away silverware and give moral support at the sink (better than tugging at my pant legs screaming to be held). Sister isn’t as in to the chores, but we’re working on getting her involved too. 