Smiles with Myles - Volume 5

We visited the Thomas Center for Down Syndrome on October 26th. (Yikes, 2 weeks ago and I'm just now writing it down.) It is associated with the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. We originally had 2 back-to-back appts scheduled- one with the developmental team and one with the doctor. They had to cancel our doctor appt and reschedule us for December 28th. But we still went down to meet with the developmental team. They were awesome. So knowledgeable and so many good things to say. The team is made up of a speech therapist, an occupational therapist (OT), a physical therapist (PT), and a dietitian. The speech therapist and OT both work exclusively with Downs patients... 40/hours a week - that's all they do. One of them also has siblings with Downs. We felt really blessed to be so close to this center and know that we have full access to them at any time.

The majority of the visit consisted of getting initial information, updating them on who Myles is, what the birth was like, how we found out, what services he gets now, what his schedule is like, his growth, etc. They were very encouraging about him at this point. They said he is exceptionally strong for his age. Hypotonia (low muscle tone) and Downs go hand-in-hand so weakness is expected and delays in typical milestones like turning over, holding head up, etc. So far, so good. I see some slowness in him compared to the boys, but he is still within the range of 'average.' We'll just have to wait and see how he progresses. But he is definitely off to a good start. We will see this team and meet the doctor on December 28th. We are excited to meet the doctor. We have heard excellent things about her and how thorough she is.

The bottom picture is of Margaret -- Myles' EIS (early intervention specialist) that comes to see him every 2 weeks from Warren County. She is wonderful! The boys are liking her too... especially since today she brought them a Snickers bar :) Next time I'll get her face!

It has been a wonderful 4 months with Myles. Like I always say, he is very pleasant and mild-mannered. We love having him with us. I never forget that he has Downs, but there are definitely days when it is not at the forefront of my mind. However, the other day I was in the Flower Factory shopping by myself and saw a middle-aged lady pulling a cart and an older lady (60-ish?) pushing it. I'm almost certain the oldest woman had Downs, but I could be wrong. At any rate, it got my mind thinking about the future and the very good possibility that Myles could be in our home for as long as we are here on this earth. That certainly changes the way we think and talk about the 'future' of retirement or having kids out of the house, etc... :) I also got to thinking about how thankful I am that Myles has two big brothers. It brought tears to my eyes to think of them being older and maybe married and possibly having to care for Myles. That 'thought' doesn't really go anywhere beyond just a 'thought'... b/c I have no idea what lies down the road. Just seeing that lady got my mind thinking and it was the first time in a long time that I cried. My heart is getting bigger for all of these boys... and I'm overwhelmed with gratefulness for what the Lord has given us now!!