A Reason I LOVE him.....

When our family was discussing what we would do if we happen to win the Mega Millions Jackpot (600 million dollars) I told the kids that I would buy them anything they wanted. My oldest,Blake,had to think about it. He wanted it to be something good. When I asked Colin what he wanted (and I said,again,he could have ANYTHING) he said,"Cookies!"and "Ice Cream!" and I said,'Colin you can have all of the cookies and ice cream you want every day of your life." The thing about him is,that he meant it. He didn't want any material things,nothing fancy or flashy. Not because he wouldn't want those things but because those things do not make him happy (not like cookies and ice cream do!)I think because of his cognitive ability,those things are not even in his realm of thought. I don't think they ever will be and that is one thing I love about him.

When did we know?

I've been asked that question before,When did we know Colin was "different" or in one case "something was wrong with him"? I remember one mom from daycare (Colin was probably 2 years old at the time) said to me (and I quote) "So,what IS wrong with him?" Those were her exact words and I will never forget them,or her, for as long as I live. My reply to her,"Nothing is wrong with him." But then (you will not believe this) she said,"Well,does he have Downs or is there a name for it?" OK,really? By this point I was furious,sad,angry,and just plain appalled. I think I went home and cried. Ok so,when did we know? I think when I look back I knew from the very beginning. My gut told me something wasn't right. However,it wasn't until after he turned a year old (and some months) that I finally accepted something was not quite right. Colin was always very large for his age. He really was a huge,rolly polly baby and the Dr. always said he was in the 99th percentile. We always just chalked off his inability to roll over,sit up,crawl,walk,etc.,etc.etc. because he was just too fat to be able to do it when he should. He was always significantly behind his same age peers for all of the milestones. When he wasn't walking at 14 months (and not even close to it) we called Early-On,the early childhood intervention program. They evaluated him and low and behold not only was he behind in his gross motor skills (which is why we called) but he was behind in ALL areas-speech,cognitive and fine motor skills. Talk about a double (triple) whammy! Of course we started him on therapy right away. When he turned 3 he qualified for the ECDD(Early Childhood Developmentally Delayed) pre school program through the school district. He rode a school bus and attended 4 mornings a week.