Shiny new button

You might notice, over to your right there, I have a new button!  Bet you didn't know that October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month.  As a teenager I spent four summers working with children with different disabilities, but my favorite kids were those with Down Syndrome.  Seemed that they saw things in a different, often more joyful and startlingly accurate, way.  My day was always made better when I was partnered up with a child with Down Syndrome.  When we got the news that our little niece was to be born with Down Syndrome we gained new perspective on that phrase all expecting parents say: "I just want my baby to be born healthy."  Well, of course, but guess what?  Even when you find out your baby is not going to be perfectly healthy you still long for that child.  I love how my bro- and sis-in-law explain about their baby:  "She was born with a little something extra." So far, my boys have noticed their cousin's tiny feet and her funny tuft of hair that sticks straight up on the top of her head and that's it.  Someday they will notice the "something extra" about her and we will learn from her about "perfection."  Click this link for more facts about Down Syndrome and my niece's story.

They like her pretty well, too.

Looking up to her big boy cousin!