After a bit of reflection, I have decided to write about the fun, love and laughter we share on a daily basis with our boy. It has been great to share about our experience and keeping faithful despite the challenges, but I’d also like to share about my new little love and the joy he gives us.
Despite his diagnosis for Down Syndrome after he was born, his unique personality shines brightly and I would love to celebrate his individuality with you.
My husband and I love to share a laugh, and I think one of the joys that we were most looking forward to was to hear our boy laugh for the first time. It took a while, but at 4-months-old I was able to get his first laugh while giving him a horsey-ride on my knee. It was fantastic. I was in love, again. It took a few more times before I could finally record it on my phone and send a copy to my husband so that he could also share my joy. Not long after, once I learnt how to blow killer raspberries on his tummy, did we get to video his giggles and share it with our friends online. And of course, the laughter didn’t stop there. It has become a regular part of our lives. Which I think has really grown our boy into the cheeky, witty baby his is today (11-months-old).
I’d have to say that one of my favourite times with our boy at the moment is the giggles we have during breast feeding. In the afternoon, during his feed, my boy decides to show his cheeky side and starts talking to me… ‘Ah, ah, ah.’
So I start back, ‘Ah, ah.’ And so we go back and forth.
As we continue a smile creeps over his face, all the while he’s still feeding and I start to giggle. ‘Heh, heh.’
He grins even more and starts to giggle too, ‘heh, heh, heh.’
I then can’t help myself and giggle harder, which is followed with his uncontrollable giggles.
As my Grandpa would have said, regarding my younger brother as a cheeky toddler, ‘what a character!’ And I’m loving it.
Another fun experience would have to be when we started running our finger over his lips when he was starting to have a tantrum at about 5-months-old. I’m not sure what it is called, but it is like a raspberry when you raise and lower your finger over and over your lips as you blow out air. He quickly caught on and would start blowing if we did it to him when he was quiet. One day, he realised he could do it back. He reached out, and started twinkling his fingers so I would blow raspberries too. It was so funny. I kept breaking out in laughter. But, even better when it seemed to stop he then turned his hand to his own lips and started doing it to himself. Well, we had lost it at that point. What a cutie.
Even the tantrums can bring us joy. Sometimes, our boy tries to get something he wants with a peeling cry and pout to melt your heart. At first, I was terrified. Where are the finger, where are the toes? Hmm.. He seems fine, but I did just take my car keys from him. So, like any baby learning to push boundaries, our boy also gives it a go. But unfortunately for him, we think it’s especially cute. The pout after the initial wail is priceless. We also get it from him if we say ‘no’ when he goes to do something he shouldn’t.
I think it’s interesting that he wasn’t really ticklish for a while until he started laughing at my raspberries on his tummy, and even then it wasn’t really all the time. But now, for some reason I can just run my finger across his tummy or back and send him into a fit of giggles. I’m glad I can. It really is a blessing to share giggles with him and he’s loves to laugh with us too. At 9-months-old, he started noticing when my husband and I were having a laugh amongst ourselves. It was gorgeous. He would force a short laugh and smile at us to join in on the joke. And obviously this would have us laughing even harder.
It’s been wonderful watching our little man grow. A lot of my joy in the busy life of motherhood and parttime work, comes from watching him laugh, learn and play.
Recently in the car seat, he had my bottle of water in his hands, but decided it wasn’t interesting enough so he used his left foot to keep tapping the bottle so it splashed around. I’ve also been watching him clap hands. He looks at me and notices that I’m making noise when I clap, so he focuses in and gradually claps harder until he can hear the little pats of his hands. It is just so cute to watch.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about some of our fun.
If you would like to read more about our progress or about my testimony since he was born, feel welcome to browse the rest of my blog:
My First Born: (1) Unexpected Circumstances
My First Born: (2) Praying One Step At A Time
My First Born: (3) Overcoming The Stigmatism of Down Syndrome
My First Born: (4) Becoming Nonchalant
My First Born: (5) Polite Stereotyping of Down Syndrome
My First Born: (6) Fun, Joy and Giggles – Overlooking Down Syndrome
Thanks.
Keeping Faithful 