Pony Braids

Abbie Story:
Today Abigail wore her hair in a 'pony braid', as Cassidy named it. I pull up a pony tail, then braid it. I hate to admit it, but Abigail did a fair imitation of looking like a Barbie Doll with her hair done up like this. Every time she would run or turn, her pony braid would swing around, and she'd grab the end of it and fling it off her shoulder, and giggle. Silly girl, playing with her beautiful, long hair :)

In other news:
I've shared the beginning of our journey with Down syndrome with you. I hope that it wasn't too long :) I do tend to get writing and get carried away with my thoughts.

The end result of all the initial worries and fears comes down to this; I should have listened to my Dad. He would always tell my siblings and me that everything happened for a purpose, and that everything would work out. He was the perennial optimist.

Things did work out, and we found our new normal in our family routine. Our fears about the older 3 kids and how they would feel were unfounded. Their primary concern was "can we play with her?". Yep. That's it. They see no differences in Abigail from themselves. They were more accepting than we were, and we learned a lot from them. I don't know what we would have done without them to land us right back on our feet and into reality.

Here's a neat little story...our older daughter was asking why I got diapers for Abigail from the pharmacist. I tell her that kids with disabilities often take longer to potty train, so they can get help getting their diapers. She immediately became indignant and stated "Abbie doesn't have a disability, Mom! She was just born that way. That's not fair!". I wish I could bottle up her perfect clarity and her ability to so succinctly state the truth, and distribute it world wide.