Oh What a Day

By Sandy on October 3, 2012

Yesterday, I had the occasion to be the hands and feet of Jesus. OK, maybe that’s just what I told myself, to get through the day. It definitely was a character building sort of day with ample opportunity for selflessness and sacrifice.

Josiah was sick. Read that to mean, we were all a little sleep deprived. It’s never a great idea to begin a character building day with minimal rest. But then again, lack of energy is often times part of the equation when learning to sacrifice and improve selflessness. Let me just state for the record character building lessons are not by choice.

Nonetheless, we often find ourselves plunked down, smack dab in the middle of them. Quite often.

A Little Sleep, PLEASE

By Sandy on June 8, 2012

Recently, I met a very dear friend for breakfast. She asked about Josiah. When I mentioned he had been sleeping better, she was thrilled. We have been praying for him to sleep well, she said. Well, it’s working, I mentioned. In fact, if I remember right, I may have even told her it was no longer necessary to pray for Josiah to sleep. At that time, he had been sleeping almost too much, if that is even possible.

Josiah had been taking 4 and 5 hour naps at school for a few days in a row, after full nights of sleep at home. On his last full day of school, when the class had a water day, Josiah crawled in the arms of 3 different teachers and fell asleep while with each of them.The other kids were splashing in a pool, playing with water balloons and bubbles, eating snow cones and popcorn, and even jumping in an inflatable house. All the while, Josiah slept.

Unique

By Sandy on May 23, 2012

It’s been said Josiah is an enigma. The dictionary describes it this way: One that is puzzling, ambiguous, inexplicable and mysterious. Interesting way to describe a child. Early on, when Josiah didn’t fit the mold of a ‘typical’ child with Down Syndrome, we just knew beyond a shadow of a doubt something more was going on with him. We mentioned it countless times to specialists and therapists and physicians. Everyone disagreed.

They said, if Josiah had Autism he wouldn’t be so affectionate. If he had Autism he wouldn’t let others get so close to him. If he had Autism he wouldn’t give eye contact at all. We were told things like every child with Down Syndrome is different. He’s just very low functioning. Why would you WANT your child to have a diagnosis of Autism anyway?

Curious

By Sandy on May 21, 2012

Sometimes people stare. Mostly, it’s young children who stare at Josiah. Occasionally an older child or an adult will stare. I imagine, if I wasn’t Josiah’s mom, I might stare as well.

Josiah, of course, is oblivious to people watching him. He’s wrapped up in whatever he happens to be doing and is totally unaware. It doesn’t really bother me, I just wish I knew what people were thinking. I wish I understood what it is that makes them so curious. Why exactly are they staring?

My Joy

By Sandy on May 14, 2012

In the end, there really was no need for concern. Josiah’s back to his happy, bouncy, sleepless self. I swear it started the very night I wrote about him sleeping so much. He’s back to staying up til the wee hours of the morning, and with such an abundance of energy I only wish I could tap into it as well.

I’m grateful for the few days when he slept well. It was a much deserved respite for both Rick and I. Josiah was probably just refueling his engines so he could go again for another few months, full speed ahead. My guess is he recharged with rocket fuel.