My Son Speaks Swahili

I'm thinking that when my son was in line waiting to come down to earth he stood in the wrong line. Instead of standing in the "I'm going to an English-speaking family" he stood in the "I'm going to a Swahili-speaking family."

He has no problems being vocal and even animated as he "speaks." It's just that the "words" he uses are not English. Maybe if we took him to Africa everyone could understand him.

He's been launching into long stories, taking breaks to laugh, and then resuming his discourse. I just wish I could understand some of it. I'm so anxious to know what's on his little mind.

He is recognizing letters. My iPod has an app (free) that shows some letters and then it says, "Pick the letter G," and he taps the screen on the letter G. He gets most of them right. I was surprised when he got the letter Q correct. I'm happy that with audio prompts he's finding the right letters. The best part is he thinks he's playing a game but he's actually learning something. I've found many free educational apps for my iPod and he loves playing them.

I'm sure i's speech will come eventually, but until then, maybe I should start learning Swahili.

Disturbing Trend Toward Hitlerism

I read an article about a researcher who has dedicated his life to finding a way to help people with Down syndrome. After his daughter was born and diagnosed with DS, he changed his research emphasis from the brain to specifically studying DS. 

In this article, he pointed out that another group is working just as hard as he is. This group is dedicated to preventing DS. At first, I thought it meant they would be able to manipulate the genetic material to undo DS, but in further study, this group is actually working to make more testing available so people can abort pregnancies earlier. This group is advocating killing babies that are "imperfect" and have an extra chromosome.

As I've thought about this, my mind goes back to what I learned about Adolf Hitler. He wanted to create a "super race." He decided that only certain people should live and as a result millions of people were butchered. He was a madman out of control in his pursuit of perfection. And he talked thousands into following him.

Everyone is appalled at what he did to the Jews and those he determined were not suitable to live anymore. He gassed them, experimented on them, shot them, and treated them inhumanely as if they were no better than the dirt under his shoe. He did his best to eradicate the world of "imperfect" human beings and thousands enabled him to do so. A few very brave people stood up to his tyranny and protected those he targeted. To this day, we teach our children what a monster Hitler was for murdering so many people simply because he thought they didn't deserve to live.

And yet, our society embraces the idea of aborting babies who are "imperfect." We fund research and encourage people to develop better testing so we can eradicate those who are not perfect. Our society acts as though it's noble to rid a couple of an "imperfect" child by allowing them the right to abort that baby.

How is that any different that what Hitler did? How are we any better than the man responsible for so many deaths? Apparently, we haven't come very far from Hitler's idea of perfection and the pursuit of that perfection to the point of terminating those who do not meet the definition.

We may see ourselves as an advanced society but how advanced can we be when we encourage selective births by terminating those we think are imperfect?

Requiring Verbalization

We've been busy painting and rearranging bedrooms so I haven't had much time to blog.

But, this summer has been great for my son because he's had so much interaction with his siblings. One of his sisters is especially good with working with him. She spends a lot of time playing with him and urging him to use words. He loves to be with her and usually chooses to sit with her or play with her because she's spent so much time with him. I've loved watching their relationship develop over the summer.

We've all made a goal to make him use words instead of signs. Today, he wanted some of his brother's pancake so he made a cutting motion with his hand to indicate his desire. Of course, we all knew what he wanted. We almost always know what he wants, but when we allow him to use signs we aren't helping him to develop his verbal skills.

He asked me for a drink this morning by signing it. I made him say "drink" before I gave it to him. He always signs "thank you" but now we're making him actually say the words. I think if we are more diligent in making him use words instead of signs he'll advance in his verbal skills better.

That's easier said than done, but I need to be more committed in requiring him to be verbal. I think he can be much more verbal than he is but signing is easier so he relies on that. I hoping to pull more verbalization out of him in the next few months.

Mr. Hilarious

At least I think he's hilarious . . . .

Now he's a cool dude . . .

Like his peace sign?

My Newest Fish

We spent last weekend in Provo, UT. We had a great time because we were all together. I love that my older kids live in the same place so we can go visit all of them at once. I love having all of us together.

My oldest son and his wife are house shopping so we visited several homes in the Spanish Fork area and we dragged all of the kids with us. After a long day, we decided to take everyone swimming at the Provo Rec. Center (we tried to go to Seven Peaks but it was way too crowded).

My kids are all fish. Child #4 was swimming around the pool (with floaties) when she was 18 months old. She had no fear of the water at all. In fact, none of my kids have ever feared the water except for my youngest son. He usually hangs onto his dad for dear life when we're swimming. He'll splash a bit but only if he's still clinging to one of us. He's never been one to brave the water much.

This time he was with his oldest brother in the pool and he was still a bit fearful. When his brother showed him that he could touch the ground and still have his head above water he instantly changed into a water-lover. I was shocked to see him walking through the water splashing kids and laughing. He had a great time and he wasn't afraid. Yay!

I grew up next to the ocean and I swam all the time. I spent every summer at the beach (I have the wrinkles to prove it). I love the water and I want my kids to love, and respect, the water. I wasn't sure if my youngest would ever enjoy swimming but this weekend proved that he does. He's my newest fish. 

People with Special Needs Have Talents Too

Julie Coulter Bellon, a popular LDS author, has posted a review of my book, The Upside of Down, on her blog. The review is wonderful, but I absolutely loved the experience she shared while working in the Special Needs Mutual program. It gave me tears as I read about this young man. If you have a chance, please go read her post, it's so uplifting and such a beautiful testament that people with special needs have talents just like everyone else.

Julie's blog post.

Thank you, Julie, for such a kind review and for such an inspiring message.

Grandpa and Abortion

My grandparents raised my sister and me after the death of both our parents. I'm very thankful they were willing to take on two little girls in their retirement years and raise us. I know they did the best they could, but Grandpa and I never really saw eye-to-eye. He hated the Mormon Church and always encouraged me to leave it. He only had one rule for me growing up: never come home with a baby. He told me I could experiment with whomever and whatever I wanted as long as I never brought home a baby. I could get pregnant I just couldn't bring the baby home.

While many teens might have loved only having one rule, I didn't. And I chose to live my life very differently. I found the LDS Church and hung onto it for dear life while traversing the tumultuous tides of adolescence. Today, I am ever so grateful that I made those choices early on.

Grandpa was in favor of abortion. He used to start arguments with me about it and maybe that's why I feel so strongly about it now. I remember talking about a friend of mine, who was married and quite young at the time, whose pregnancy had been diagnosed with Down syndrome. Grandpa asked how far along she was and when I said she was halfway through the pregnancy he said, "Oh, it's too late to get rid of it." I still remember that pit-of-the-stomach feeling that he could so easily dismiss the life of a child just because it would have an extra chromosome.

Grandpa has since passed away, but that memory popped into my mind when my own son was diagnosed with DS. How would Grandpa have felt when my son was born? Would he have encouraged me to give him up for adoption? Would he have never accepted my son? Would he have ignored him, or worse been mean to him? I don't dwell on these questions, or the answers, because they are painful. But the truth is, Grandpa was, and is, not alone in the opinion that abortion is a viable option for an unwanted pregnancy, especially one diagnosed with problems.

90% of all women whose pregnancies are diagnosed with DS choose to terminate the pregnancy and end the child's life. That thought sickens me. I cannot imagine my life without my son. I cannot imagine throwing away his life simply because it takes him a little longer to do things.

He has a speech delay. So what? He isn't potty-trained. So what? He laughs, he sings, he plays, he gives hugs and kisses. And when all is said and done he will be the one who's rooting for me to make better choices so that I can be with him forever.

I choose to look at my life with Grandpa as a blessing. It was in his home that I first formed my own testimony and where I learned what I truly wanted to do with my life. I am thankful that though we disagreed on almost everything on a daily basis, it helped me to make life-altering decisions. Grandpa may never have accepted my son, but I know, without any doubt, that my son was meant to come to my family and that he has a great mission ahead of him. Whatever that mission is, it would never happen if I'd listened to Grandpa and aborted him.