Whatever It Takes

By Sandy on September 30, 2015

He let me stay. For nearly an hour I laid right beside Josiah on his hospital bed and we played with a string of bright, shiny, purple beads. I could hardly believe it myself, but here’s proof.

I held them high above his head for a while to give Josiah’s arm a break; my way of ensuring he wouldn’t push me out. I was well aware, those Mardi Gras beads were the priority in this scenario, not me. I just used them to my advantage. When I got tired, rather than taking the beads back, Josiah reached over and held my arm up.

I’m here to tell you guys, your prayers are working. Last week at this time, there is absolutely, positively no way Josiah would have let me get this close or even stay in his room for as long as I did Monday night. He was far more interested in pushing me away, punching himself in the head and slamming doors at that point.

Our Budding Picasso

By Sandy on July 23, 2015

The local Down Syndrome group offers incredible opportunities for our kids. Josiah bowled with them on Saturday and attended the Houston Astros baseball game with them on Sunday. Last night he went to an Art Class and tonight he is going Go Cart riding. The fun never ends and I love it.

The problem is, Josiah doesn’t seem to share the same level of enthusiasm as I do about all of these incredible opportunities. Truth be told, our boy would prefer to stay home and do nothing. He likes sameness. He likes his routine and he likes not having any demands placed on him. Venturing out to new places is not his idea of fun. That being said, he did do really well bowling on Saturday. It was our 3rd attempt to get him to Bowling Camp and the first one in which he stayed and actually touched a ball. So we are definitely making progress.

Little Glass Jars of Ombre Green Goodness

By Sandy on March 27, 2015

Josiah has become this incredibly healthy eater. His once extremely picky palate has seemingly out of nowhere become increasingly less picky. I swear he will eat just about anything you put in front of him nowadays. He will also drink juices and smoothies made with lots of fresh veggies and fruit. Actually he guzzles them as if they are the best tasting drinks he’s ever had.

Here’s the funny thing. For years the only liquids Josiah would drink were milk and water. That’s it. We tried apple juice, grape juice, orange juice, you name it. He didn’t like them. We tried Capri Suns, Gatorade and even a sip of soda here or there, just to see if he would show any interest. He didn’t. Josiah always looked in the cup offered to him before accepting it. If he didn’t like the looks (or maybe it was the smell) of the contents, he’d refuse to have anything to do with it. He wouldn’t even take a tiny taste.

Food Critic

By Sandy on January 13, 2015

Josiah has become quite the food enthusiast lately. His willingness to try new and different foods truly astounds me.

What’s even more amazing, he thoroughly enjoys most everything put in front of him.

A few weeks ago, he ate tripe. I’m not kidding. TRIPE. He also recently devoured shrimp fried rice, cabbage, black eyed peas and 2 servings of fried catfish.

Broccoli for Breakfast

By Sandy on July 17, 2014

For years Josiah was a very picky eater. He had a few favorite foods we rotated throughout his day to make up each meal.

His most favorite was peanut butter and fluff sandwiches. Fluff, for those of you who are wondering, is marshmallow creme. Every day at lunch, Josiah would devour peanut butter and fluff. Some days he would eat 3 or 4 sandwiches.