I'm down a child this week so the dynamics in our house are a bit different. What I'm noticing more is that Samuel is asking more questions that he otherwise may not have if his big brother Patrick were around. Yesterday, Samuel, Maria and I were driving over to pick Gabriel up at summer school. Maria was chatting away like she often does and Samuel asked me "mom, do you notice that Maria's talking a lot more than Gabriel?". I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that for most parents of children with special needs these type of questions seem to hit hard below the belt. Of course Steve and I notice Maria's language blossoming at 2 years old. I know that I'm amazed at how expressive she is. She actually reminds me of her oldest brother Patrick who was extremely verbal at a very young age. My new normal for the last 7 years has been Gabriel who has taken forever to sit, crawl, walk, eat alone, buckle his seat belt, get dressed by himself and we anxiously await the day where he speaks his first sentence clearly. So anything that Maria does is as I've said is amazing.
I knew that when I brought Gabriel home from the hospital, that I'd be back to have another baby. What I didn't know was how long it would take my soul to heal from the loss of the little boy I so dreamed of having and accepting the baby boy that I actually had. So, pretty much 5 years to the day of Gabriel's 5th birthday, Maria entered our world alert and beautiful just like her brothers. All three of them. I knew that having another baby would be beneficial to Gabriel. He was pretty spoiled and we knew that he needed to step up a bit by becoming a big brother. We also knew that the day would come when Maria would surpass him in a lot of things, and once she did there would be no turning back it was full steam ahead. I have to be honest, it has been hard watching her do things while Gabriel still struggles with a lot. One thing that stands out is jumping. Gabriel can not jump. His low muscle tone makes it really hard for him to get both feet off the ground. Maria is a jumping bean. She'll jump anywhere, effortlessly and with joy. I love watching her jump her hear out.
The other area that stands out is speech. The girl can talk, and talk she does. "I want leche please mom", "where's my mano", "I have popo", "it's so good to see you mom", "push me higher mom", "go away Goofy", "i'm sad", "that's scary", "where's my snack?", "salud", "stop it", "slow down mom", "that's delicious", "i love you mom". These are things she says just off the top of my head, there's so much more. Parents are told not to compare their children, they are all unique and different. I try hard not to compare my kids because they are so different. I think we get caught in comparing our children because the differences can at times be so blatant and I think "you are my kid aren't you?". I have gotten down about Maria's ability to speak so easily while Gabriel struggles to form words and to be understood. I have made a conscious decision to celebrate Maria's milestones and abilities because she's Maria, a unique individual who marches to the beat of her own drum. It's not her fault that language comes easily. I have also come to accept the fact that Gabriel has a hard time forming words and that one day, down the road, his speech will become easier. Like most things with Gabes it's just going to take time.
What I didn't count on was the effect of Maria's ability to speak on her brother Samuel. I shouldn't be surprised because he tells me that he pays attention to my phone conversations when I think that he's not. So, how did I answer Samuel? I told him that yes, I noticed that Maria's talking a lot more than Gabriel. I also told him that Maria doesn't have Down syndrome and that she doesn't have Apraxia. I explained to him that Apraxia is a condition that effects people's ability to form words, and that anybody can have Apraxia not only people with Down syndrome. In fact his best friend Ryan had Apraxia. I could see the wheels spinning in head as he asked me, "So, this Apraxia thing can go away?" and I told him that yes with speech therapy and time it does go away. I saw the furrow in his little brow lessen and then heard him tell his sister to be quiet, she talks to much.
I knew that when I brought Gabriel home from the hospital, that I'd be back to have another baby. What I didn't know was how long it would take my soul to heal from the loss of the little boy I so dreamed of having and accepting the baby boy that I actually had. So, pretty much 5 years to the day of Gabriel's 5th birthday, Maria entered our world alert and beautiful just like her brothers. All three of them. I knew that having another baby would be beneficial to Gabriel. He was pretty spoiled and we knew that he needed to step up a bit by becoming a big brother. We also knew that the day would come when Maria would surpass him in a lot of things, and once she did there would be no turning back it was full steam ahead. I have to be honest, it has been hard watching her do things while Gabriel still struggles with a lot. One thing that stands out is jumping. Gabriel can not jump. His low muscle tone makes it really hard for him to get both feet off the ground. Maria is a jumping bean. She'll jump anywhere, effortlessly and with joy. I love watching her jump her hear out.
The other area that stands out is speech. The girl can talk, and talk she does. "I want leche please mom", "where's my mano", "I have popo", "it's so good to see you mom", "push me higher mom", "go away Goofy", "i'm sad", "that's scary", "where's my snack?", "salud", "stop it", "slow down mom", "that's delicious", "i love you mom". These are things she says just off the top of my head, there's so much more. Parents are told not to compare their children, they are all unique and different. I try hard not to compare my kids because they are so different. I think we get caught in comparing our children because the differences can at times be so blatant and I think "you are my kid aren't you?". I have gotten down about Maria's ability to speak so easily while Gabriel struggles to form words and to be understood. I have made a conscious decision to celebrate Maria's milestones and abilities because she's Maria, a unique individual who marches to the beat of her own drum. It's not her fault that language comes easily. I have also come to accept the fact that Gabriel has a hard time forming words and that one day, down the road, his speech will become easier. Like most things with Gabes it's just going to take time.
What I didn't count on was the effect of Maria's ability to speak on her brother Samuel. I shouldn't be surprised because he tells me that he pays attention to my phone conversations when I think that he's not. So, how did I answer Samuel? I told him that yes, I noticed that Maria's talking a lot more than Gabriel. I also told him that Maria doesn't have Down syndrome and that she doesn't have Apraxia. I explained to him that Apraxia is a condition that effects people's ability to form words, and that anybody can have Apraxia not only people with Down syndrome. In fact his best friend Ryan had Apraxia. I could see the wheels spinning in head as he asked me, "So, this Apraxia thing can go away?" and I told him that yes with speech therapy and time it does go away. I saw the furrow in his little brow lessen and then heard him tell his sister to be quiet, she talks to much.
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