Sunday, May 31, 2009

Summer fun in the nude


Passing on Another Great Book


Last night I finished a terrific book called The Year My Son and I Were Born - A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self- Discovery by Kathryn Lynard Soper.  Kathryn shares about the birth of her son Thomas and their journey through his first year of life. She writes with wit and honesty that I admire. I found comfort in knowing that another women shared some of my darkest fears and thoughts while parenting a child with special needs. She has courage to present the world with her most deep and sometimes seemingly ugly thoughts. 

So although I tend to hoard books (Wayne has the wood to make me two more shelves....) I decided to pass this one on through Paperback swap.com.  It seemed like a waste to let such a moving book sit on my shelf when another mom could read it. Sure enough as soon as I posted it on the website it was snatched up!! 

Thank you Kathryn! Your story is being sent to yet another mom to cherish. 

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Adapting


One day Grandma brought over a new present for the twins; a large red wagon that seats two! Ella was thrilled and wanted to go for rides the remainder of the afternoon. As usual I was torn  between excitement and sadness.  William would not be able to ride with his sister as he does not have great head control and can't sit on his own. 

A few weeks later we received a new bath chair for William in the mail with a nice head support piece. It was a beautiful Spring day and aunt Julie was over visiting.  We were all outside enjoying the sun and decided to bring out the new bath chair as a sort of lounge chair for Will. Julie and I soon discovered that the head support could also be attached to the back of the seat in the wagon! With the head support and a few home made side rolls William was finally able to ride in the new wagon with Ella. I was triumphant! I walked them up and down our street like a parade with a huge smile on my face. William seemed to enjoy the ride too and did a fantastic job holding up his head until we reached the end of our road then fell asleep! Triumph in the simple moments.