Candidate

A couple things:

1. Some scary moments with David's breathing the other night; he's fine but I was really close to calling 911, at 2:30 in the morning. Fortunately I was able to remain calm and follow all these various steps we're supposed to try. He finally started sounding better and was able to get back to sleep; we followed up with the pediatrician the next day and he's okay.

2. Two developmental things: (a) David loves playing with Simon's Megablox, but he has (to date) not been very good at squishing down the blocks once he stacks them, so the towers are not too stable. But now, he's doing it all the time, and building some pretty great towers. (b) Today Matt and I watched him as he was standing up, holding onto a kitchen chair. He reached down to pick up a toy, and instead of plopping down on his butt as usual, he continued to hold onto the chair with one hand while he reached down with the other. ... I know neither of these seems huge, and they may not be, but they are new, and we're all quite impressed.

Mr. David has taught us a lot about the various subtle sub-steps that go into everything that most of us just do, and to appreciate every little bit of progress along the way.

3. I've gone to several out-of-town conferences lately, to get continuing education credits for my social work license. It's nice to meet folks that do not know I am the wife of a pastor, or the mother of a kid with Down syndrome. It's nice (a) because it means I'm getting out of the house and meeting other humans, and (b) it's almost a little game now, timing when I choose to make either or both of these announcements. It seems that either of these factors makes me a candidate for sainthood in some people's minds, and when you combine the two, look out - there is this certain look folks get in their eyes, a mixture of "awwwww" and some sort of ... combination of whatever they think those things mean, whatever beliefs/stereotypes/experience they have with each one. The notion that "Down's children are always so sweet" (please do not ever refer to my child as a "Down's child") is definitely the front-runner, but pastor's-wife is a strong contender.

People are funny. They're also generally very nice and sweet and wonderful, so I shouldn't poke fun, but it really does happen almost every single time. You could try it too – it doesn’t have to be true, you just have to say it.

(Yes, it’s the little things. I need some way to amuse myself)