Holy Cow!

So I had this great post planned a few weeks ago: Holy Cow Times Two!

Make that a big Holy Cow...Just One, Though. I'll explain...

I follow the blogs of several of Bridget's peers. I love keeping up with these other kids and families. My kids all know each of the children by name, and often ask about them.

One local family (who lives on the other side of town, and who we have yet to meet) has a precious little girl, Leah, who is close to Bridget's age. I will often take Bridget to the computer and show her pictures of Leah and the other kids whose blogs I browse.

One day, Leah's mom Mary posted Leah Walks, a video of her proudly taking some steps (at the end, you can hear Mary shouting with excitement, "Holy Cow!!").

When Bridget woke up from her nap that day, I took her to the computer and said, "Leah is walking. Want to see?" She was totally engrossed, and smiled throughout the 30-second clip. And at the end, she clapped and raised her hands above her head. It was adorable. I showed her the video about 10 times that day and we clapped together at the end of each one.

Bridget had been free standing and standing against things, but had not ventured out...until that night. I set her against our back door and said, "Can you walk like Leah?" No joke, she came toward me squealing with her shoulders up by her ears. She took 5 or 6 steps to me, giggling the whole time. She was like, Yep, I can take steps by myself, too. She was inspired to walk by Leah walking. I was blown away.

The funny thing is...no one else was home to see Bridget walking but me. Since that night she has taken a few steps here and there without help, but she usually wants to hold at least a finger for moral support. She is fully capable of walking on her own, but she is holding out on us. When asked, "Bridget, please stand up and take a few steps," she initially furrowed her brow, shouted "NO!" and pinched her little index finger and thumb together with vigor. She now replies sweetly and with a smile, "no". She honestly just says "no" while signing "no" at the same time. So, my Holy Cow post has been modified :).

I do love how animated Bridget gets when she sees other babies and kids. I would love to find her a few friends who have the extra chromosome in common.

Bridget is surrounded by kids at home and in our neighborhood, but there are no little girls who live nearby and also have Ds. There are a few boys close to her age in our community, and I am going to reach out to their families and see if we can get together.

We have loved reading about her peers like Leah, Ella Grace, Vince, and Reid through their blogs. Thank you to all of these parents who write about their children and their experiences. They keep us company and inspire us without even knowing it.