The Last Day....

I can't believe it's the last day of October!!!!  Wow, time flies, huh?  So, the 31 for 21 blog challenge is over, but, I have to admit, I had so much fun writing these blogs this month, I hope to keep it up throughout the year.  Obviously not every day, but I promise to do better than I did last year.

The point of my blog this year was to raise awareness about Down syndrome, to help people understand that children with Down syndrome are just like all kids and should be treated equally.

I also wrote the blog to help new moms of kids with DS because no matter how great your support system is, and no matter how much you love your baby, it's still REALLY hard to hear that your child has Down syndrome.   It's hard for different reasons but it's hard nonetheless, so I wanted to let those moms know that it'll be okay.  It really will.

 And, it helps ME to remember how scared I was, to realize how okay we are now, which makes me think the things I'm scared of about the future also won't be do bad!!

Thank you all so much for your support again this year.  It just warms my heart so much.

We decided to end the blog with the 21 Things We Love Most about Logan (get it, 21, trisomy 21)

So, here goes:

1.)  His precious, sweet, pudgy little hands.

2.)  His heart.  He had a hole in his heart when he was born, but there's no hole anymore.  It's the purest, most perfect heart and it's big enough for him to love every single person he meets.

3.)  The way he talks.  This is a multifaceted thing, because, I love the mere fact that he CAN talk (thanks to Alicia!!!), I love all the things he says, and I especially love his deep voice and the slight Baltimore accent (LOVE).

4.) I adore his little love handles....so much!! I just want to pinch them ALL the time (sometimes I do and he gets REALLY mad)

5.)  Oh that beautiful blond hair.  I love the way it just falls, the way it bounces when he dances and runs, the way it curls up when it gets too long.

6.)  His hugs are the absolute BEST.  First of all, they're totally free to anyone who asks.  Some people I know (ahem...Maddie) are very selective about who they hug, Logan has been known to hug trees if asked.  He'll hug anyone.  And they're full bodied, arms wrapped around your neck, long, sweet hugs.  They're the best.

7.)  Okay, back to the talking.  Logan has developed a nice set of manners, so he says "Tank you mama" every time I do anything for him.  For example, he hates when I clip his nails, he flails about, and screams at me to "stop, stop, STOP"  But, when I'm done, he always says, "Ahhhh...betta, tank you mama."  I love it.

8.)  His smile.

9.)  "I do it self."  This is his "main phrase."  He's said it 20-30 times a day for the past year.  I know it's totally a 2, 3 and 4 year old thing to want to do everything themselves, but it just always impresses me about Logan because things are harder for him, but he still insists on doing everything himself.  And he ALWAYS does.  When things are hard for me, I ask for help.  When things are hard for Logan, he tries harder.

10.)  Logan is a snuggle bunny.  He loves to snuggle.  And, my favorite thing he does is when he curls up in our lap and pulls his little feet up under him, just like when he was a baby.  I hope his snuggling never ends.  Do you think when he's 13 he'll snuggle with me?

11.)  The way he runs is hilarious.  He sticks his tummy waaaaaay out, his head is back almost like he's looking up at the sky praying to God he doesn't fall, hands are up and out (like wings) and his hair is flapping all over the place.  He's also, almost always giggling  when he runs.  It never ceases to crack me up.

12.)  "How bout...."  Logan, just like his Daddy, takes his sweet time making decisions about the really important things.  We'll ask, "Logan what do you want...." and he responds, "How bout.....mmmmmmmm...."  All the while his little finger is tapping his chin while he's thinking.

13.)  His dance moves!!!!

14.)  Allllllllll the questions, allllllll the time.  "Cookin' mama?, Goin' mama?, Talkin' to mama?, makin' mama?"  I LOVE the questions.

15.)  Logan loves to watch football.  And, he seems to understand it  better than I do.  So, when something good happens, and I miss it, he yells at me to clap.  "CLAP MAMA."  It sort of makes me look bad, you know, that my 4 year old knows more about football than I do, but I don't mind because it's so darn cute.

16.)  How he loves to share.  He'll share anything with anyone because, as he says, "I wuv to share."  This might be the reason that Maddie is so unable to share, but, whatever, it's a good quality for Logan to have :)

17.)  Okay, I have to admit, this is one of my all time most favorite things about Logan.  When I pick him up from school, it's as if he hasn't seen me in months, he runs to me with a huge smile on his face, arms outstretched and just tackles me with his big, bear hugs, every day!!! Every day!!!  Seriously, it makes me smile thinking about it.

18.)  He's my yoga partner and he's way better than me.  Since he doesn't really nap too much anymore, I bought a couple of yoga dvd's which we do in the living room while the girls sleep.  He's really, really good at yoga and he often helps me get into the poses.

19.)  Just like me, he loves to cook.  So, in the evening, I can put on a show for Maddie and Logan and I go to the kitchen and make dinner.  He's honestly really good, and he enjoys it so much.  So now, I have dreams of opening a restaurant one day with Logan as my head chef.  It also explains his crazy love for the movie, "Ratatouille."

20.)  His resilience.  Logan definitely struggles with some things, but it never gets him down, he just keeps trying until he gets it right.  He also quickly bounces back when he gets a "boo-boo."  He often will kiss the boo-boo himself and says, "ahhh...betta."  Then is up and running again.  He's a strong little boy.

21.)  Most of all,  I love Logan's extra 21st chromosome.  Without it, he wouldn't be the sweet, wonderful, loving little boy that he is.

Thanks again for reading everyone.  Happy Halloween.