Welcome to Club 21

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Brown-Home Family

We love that Benjamin wakes up every morning with a beautiful smile. He always has a smile for us when we come home from being out. He loves to work hard and will smile when he accomplishes something. Like every kid he enjoys praise and will clap his hands when he gets something right. He loves to clap his hands to show he is happy and to greet you! We love that at just 10 months old, he is already starting to use sign language to communicate with us. His favorite activity is reading. We can't read bedtime stories to him because he gets so pumped and excited for story time. He tries to hold the books himself and touches all the pictures He's our little book-worm and we love it!


Benjamin has enriched our lives so much. He makes us so happy and proud. He makes us want to be better people and to make this world a better place. He has taught us to take joy in the simplest things in life. There isn't a day that goes by where we aren't laughing and smiling because of him. As a teacher, Benjamin has really opened my eyes to the fact that every kid is very unique and learns in their own way. I am a more patient teacher because of him. Benjamin has taught us that kids/people with special needs really are more like "typical" kids/people than not.

Just two days ago Benjamin started using his signs to communicate. He woke up, smiling and doing the sign for milk. When we gave him his juice first (because it has his Rx in it), he refused it and kept signing for milk. When we gave him his milk, he was a very happy lil' guy =) We are so happy to see him communicating at such a young age.

We have the same expectations for Benjamin as we would for any child of ours. We expect him to go to school, join sports, clubs, make friends, graduate, go on to college, live independently, fall in love, marry and become a positive contributor to society.

We had a prenatal diagnosis and it was a very scary time. The limited information we had at the time was very grim and outdated. But as we learned more about Down syndrome, it really became less scary! I would tell parents to go to CLub 21 First Steps and meets the babies and their families. It really is going to be OK. Yes, it is true that there will be some extra doctor appointments and regular therapy, but it really isn't a big deal. As with any child, you would do anything and everything to make sure they have the best care and every opportunity possible. Your child is going to be beautiful and bright.
He or she will have a wonderful life full of opportunities and you will meet the best people in the world because of your child. Like any child, your son or daughter will make you and your family so happy and so proud. He or she will make you a better person. A lot of our friends and family tell us that Benjamin is lucky to have us as parents and we always correct them, we are the lucky ones to have him. Benjamin is simply perfect and we are just so in love with our son.

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