…and it’s hard not to be worried, since #1 has Down syndrome. It is over 99% likely, based on that alone and my wife’s age, that #2 won’t.  (I think God wants me to trust Him 100%, not the numbers 99%.)  She’s in the middleish part of the “you ought to feel a kick” period [...]

A few weeks ago I had a discussion at church that surprised me. They:  “Those golden things the Pope has, the great works of art in the Vatican . . . they could be sold, and the money given to the poor.” Me (and others):  “Um…that’s what Judas said, about pouring perfume on Jesus’s head.” [...]

During Liam’s Prednisone days in June, we stopped giving him a bottle, because he was already eating enough to make him look like Winston Churchill.  He got nursing, and solid food. Now, he’s forgotten bottles.  Bottles, sippy cups* (conventional and with the big rubbery nipples), travel mugs . . . they’re all instruments of torture [...]

Liam’s first birthday, as you might imagine, had presents, and those presents often came in bags with bright colored paper. Forget the presents: Liam wanted the paper. It was bright, and easy to wave, and made lots of noise. He rolled all over the floor waving it and ripping it and leaving a trail of [...]

We took Liam to First Fridays, a display of local art talent (complete with punch and snacks, of course).  I expected him to show no interest. I was really surprised at his reliable reaction in one gallery, full of colorful expressionist urban landscapes and abstract paintings.  I’d put him up to one of those huge [...]

Good times could make boring reading . . . but maybe not boring pictures? After a worrisome April, May and June, due to his infantile spasms, and a long time with no laughing, because of the medication . . . Liam has had a very happy week.  It’s been delightful. (And in addition to all [...]

One thing I haven’t been doing is recording the new developments of my Down-syndrome baby boy. I may wish later I had — but, fortunately, they’ve been coming fast! Over the past 7 weeks — since he went off the Prednisone, and the seizures it was there to treat went away — he has started [...]

Now that I’m a father of an infant, I’m domesticated. That means that instead of thinking (at the beach), “Cool, let’s go bodysurfing,” I think, “Is the water too rough for a baby? Might be better if it looked like a big pond. We absolutely covered him with sunscreen, didn’t we? Do we have a [...]

…for Liam, who has an EEG tomorrow. Best news would be “normal.” We’d be delighted with “normal enough,” too! Liam hasn’t shown us any more infantile spasms; now that the doc is reducing the drug, he actually doesn’t complain most of the time. He’s started smiling again! (Nothing was funny for about two months.) Unfortunately, [...]

A month ago or more I posted a prayer request regarding my baby boy Liam. He was diagnosed with infant spasms, a particular type of seizure that causes mental retardation or death if not controlled. I’m posting to let you know how your prayers were answered. On the third drug, Prednisone, he began to respond [...]