Happy Friday, my long lost reader-friends! I must first say that I’ve greatly missed this little hobby of mine, and I fully intend on getting back to my regularly scheduled blog-writing. The past couple months have seemed a little crazy (haven’t they??), and blogging is the first thing to fall to the bottom of my priority list. The great news is, we’ve been busy in the most wonderful ways!
We travelled for Christmas to wonderful Texas to spend some time with my family. I got to meet my nephew (!!), see my niece, and Regan enjoyed the time she got with her precious cousins. It’s not always easy to live so far from family, but it sure makes me treasure the time we have together. We came back home under the weather, Regan had her first bout of sickness since her surgery (praise!), and we rang in the new year with a good night’s sleep. Just a couple weeks after being home, I made the trek back to Houston to participate in the Houston Half Marathon with my sister in support of Friends of Down Syndrome. It was an honor to support an organization that strives to supports adults with Down syndrome to be active members in the community and economy. We got to see some of Regan’s buddies along the way, and we had so many wonderful supporters cheering us on (thank y’all!). We are happily settled back home in PA now, and enjoying the winter weather, while mostly staying cozied up inside 😊 . I hope y’all had a wonderful holiday season and have kicked off the new year with a bang!
It seems Regan is growing at lightning speed these days. Everyone warned me this would happen. After she was born, I wanted to rush time to get to her surgery so that she’d start feeling better. Now all I want to do is hit the pause button so I can enjoy extra time with her drooly kisses, inchworm crawl, and endless dadadadada as she chatters all day. To me she is growing too fast, but the reality is she is behind on the development curve.
There is this amazing tribe of moms on social media who are strong advocates for their children with special needs. One mom I follow wanted our tribe to share one struggle each mom faces as a mom of a child with special needs, and how we each cope. Regan is young, and I’m sure this “one thing” will evolve as she gets older, but right now her development path is tough sometimes. I see other babies reaching milestones with ease, and that’s not EASY for me (see what I did there). There is a part of me that is envious of other parents whose children glide through these phases as intended with little to no struggle. It’s hard that I can already see the uphill battle Regan has before her. The flipside is, I get to see her strength DAILY.
It still leaves me asking internal questions like –am I doing enough for her? Providing all the right tools she needs to succeed? WHEN will she get there? Will all her developmental milestones be delayed? And last (but not least) WHERE ARE HER TEETH? I’m not exaggerating when I say I look for them every day. At nearly 14 months still not a peep from any of her pearly whites. But guess what – they’re still not here and they’ll come in when they’re ready! (And me looking for them every five minutes certainly isn’t speeding up the process—that old “watched pot” adage seems to ring true here.) Just like everything else in Regan’s development, it will happen when Regan is ready.
I am on Regan’s timeline here, so we celebrate every jump in her development! Little things like her ability to eat a veggie straw on her own make my momma heart soar with pride. She continues to show me that patience is the greatest virtue and its reward is seeing everything as a miracle.