milestone: hand to hand transfer 12.22.2008

the night we got back from visiting my family, i put maya down on her play mat to stretch and roll around. she was laying on her back and suddenly she reached over with her right hand and grabbed the plastic links next to her. then she took the links and transferred them to her left hand.

i was so excited when i saw this because this is something we have been working on in her occupational therapy. it's something i've been trying to show her all the rest of the days as well. i just wasn't sure she was getting it. she always surprises me though. there are days when i worry that she will not get it, that she is not keeping up with the "average milestone chart". but then she just does it, like she has been doing it all along.

i found this milestone chart for infants with down syndrome on the web. i was glad to see that there is something like this floating around on the net. i'm trying not to take for granted all the wonderful progress she has is making. i want to remember all these moments and the joy i feel when she does them.

i'm happy to say at nine months and almost 2 weeks maya used her hands to grab something she wanted and move it from one hand to another. developmentally this opens the door to so many possibilities. i just can't wait to see what is next.

music video

this video is amazing....
hands away, music by interpol

maya's first christmas

this was our first christmas as a trio. we sure did enjoy a low key christmas this year with maya. it was so nice just to hang out, the three of us, for four days straight. it felt like a real vacation.

christmas morning we opened our presents in bed. that was the best part. even though maya is only 9+ months old she seemed to realize she got new toys and enjoyed playing with them that day.

what can i say about the new year coming our way. i just can't wait to see what maya will be doing in the months ahead. this next year i can see is going to be a great one indeed.

things to be thankful for...

this was maya's first thanksgiving. i suppose she really doesn't know what that means yet. in reality it was my first thanksgiving as a mother.

we spent our day with our family/friends eating, chatting, drinking coffee and acting goofy. it has been our usual tradition for a number of years now. at the end of the evening i felt something was different about this thanksgiving. and then it hit me, yes, i am a mother now. my focus has totally changed from where it was last year. it's really hard to explain, but now i know that my life will never be the same. of course we always are changing, but there is something very different about becoming a mother. my life is not my own anymore.

what i have to be thankful for this thanksgiving is having an amazing little person in my life that can bring me back to each moment. every action that takes place in her life is what will make her into the person she will be. i get to be a part of it in one way or the other. i'm very thankful for this opportunity. the chance to grow along with maya and become a new person.

thank you, d, for making this possible. without you, our precious gift would have only been a thought, an idea that might not have ever happened.

maya's first halloween

even though this a little late, i've decided to write a short segment about our halloween. this is maya's first halloween and although she will not remember it, i certainly will. there are some who may wonder why i took my daughter out on halloween, being that she is only 7 months old. i decided way before this day that i would do so because this is something in my childhood that i missed out on. for whatever reason i don't have many exciting memories of going trick or treating with my family. the one time i can remember going out was with my older brother. i remember most of our neighbors turned off the lights (retired folks) and the ones that didn't, well, let's just say i ended up with dinner mints in my bag.

i suppose i'm doing what all parents do, give their children the things that they never had. in my case the things that i missed out on were doing family events together like trick or treating or sitting together at dinner time. more than material goods, these moments are the ones that i really wish i could have experienced growing up. i'm hoping that i can give my daughter these kind of memories so that she can cherish them for a long time.

perfectly maya

tomorrow will be maya's 7th month birthday. i can't believe it's been this long since i have had a chance to write. perhaps i felt a little more alone this last month than usual. being a mother is a tough job and as i have always believed, it is a selfless responsibility. for the majority of my life i never thought i would be a mother. the truth be told i've strayed away from it all on my own. i've always seen it as a big job, one that would require all my energy and love. but on top of that i knew that i would have to stop thinking of all the things that i wanted and put another human first.

as maya grows right before my eyes, i see how a human can be molded to be the person they will become. so many times, i've looked at myself and wondered what would i have been if i would have had better role models. when these thoughts come to me i feel more determined to be a better person and mother for my daughter.

maya is my inspiration in so many ways. when i look at her and see how she is becoming her own person, i think that i could not ask for a better child. i cannot see my life without her just as she is. she is perfectly maya.

there are times when i wonder if i should be more sad because she has down syndrome. yes, of course i feel brief moments of sadness when i think of how others might treat her unfairly in the future. or of the struggles she might have to face after we are gone. but most minutes, hours and days i feel proud that she is my daughter. because she is who she is, i have decided to devote my life, to her life. it seems that no other thing matters to me more now that i have her.

when i think about making art, all i can think about is how maya is my muse. maya is my art. sometimes when it's just me and her, and she is looking directly into my eyes, i know deep in my heart that she is the best thing that i have ever made.

rockin' and rollin' maya

on sunday, august 31st maya did her first roll from back to stomach without anyone's help. i don't seem to have time to write much these days since i'm busy with work, home and maya but i just had to write this major milestone down for everyone to hear about it.

my focus has been filled with mostly maya these days. it's almost six months now since she was born and i'm loving every minute of this adventure. time seems to go by so fast and i keep looking at the days fly by and wondering at every session of our physical therapy whether or not she is "on time". i imagine that if she didn't have down syndrome maybe this wouldn't be such a big deal to me. every day that goes by i work with her on one level or the other to improve her gross motor skills and her speech/communication skills.

for the last few weeks we have been working intently on "rolling" since she has mastered her head control and is doing pretty well on sitting as well. every wednesday we have pt (physical therapy) and to be honest i could not see much improvement with the rolling. well on sunday it all clicked for her. there they were (her dad and maya) just laying on the bed while i did my morning showering...and she rolled without a hitch. the whole day i just wanted her to reenact the event so i could record it in my video camera. i couldn't help but feel so proud of her and her accomplishment. of course i hadn't thought of the fact that once you get onto your belly, how the heck do you get out of it?

it's funny how one tiny roll can lead to worry, because the rest of the day we just were watching as maya flopped over on her belly, and eventually became tired of holding her head in the up position. the amazing thing is that i really didn't worry to much about it because maya is really a tough nut. usually she will let you know if she doesn't like something. and sure enough soon after her head flopped down on the surface she would give a loud "growl" to let us know she was ready to flip over.

only three days later...at her therapy session, the therapist was showing her how to rock back over from her belly to her back again. i had been trying to show her myself, but when the therapist did it, maybe it all just clicked in for maya. in less than 12 hours from her pt, maya was able to roll from back to belly and rock herself from belly to back again. it was so amazing to see this! i really couldn't believe it at first, but she had done it, all on her own!

i'm writing this down mostly for myself, because i don't want to forget this amazing thing that happened in my life. i keep saying this over and over again but maya amazes me every day. and i feel so blessed to have her be mine.