Archives for October 2013

I Hate Petechia.

Oct192013 by Rick Smith | Filed Under: Parenting | 94 Comments

One of the biggest surprises after raising a child with Down syndrome these last (almost) three years is how little I actually think about Down syndrome. I’ve even written about how I often forget our son has Down syndrome. We’ve been blessed in that other than a few small heart issues, Noah’s been a pretty healthy little boy.

He’s doing well in school, meeting his milestones, and dancing all around our house likes a boss! Noah’s our first child, and for the last three years has been the only child in our house (although that’s about to change) so I don’t have another child to compare him to do. So being a parent of a child with Down syndrome is the only version of parenting I know. Raising a child with Down syndrome is my normal. And it’s all good.

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Noah’s First Time To Roll A Ball Back And Forth On The Floor…And The Laugh I Love!

Oct192013 by Rick Smith | Filed Under: Parenting | 10 Comments

In my last post I mentioned how much joy it brings me to see Noah doing things that typical children do. When we first learned Noah was born with Down syndrome I remember wondering if I’d ever get a chance to play with Noah the way I thought I would before I knew he had Down syndrome…if that makes sense. In fact that was one of several fears I had about rising a child with Down syndrome…that never came true.

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6 Reasons Why The Fisher Price Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Count and Color Gumball Machine Should Be In Your Child’s Toy Box!

Oct162013 by Rick Smith | Filed Under: Resources | 9 Comments

I’m always on the look out for fun toys that serve a dual purpose. I’m looking for toys that are fun and that help my child learn and develop. Whenever I find toys like this, I call that a toy win! And I’m sure as a parent you like hearing about toy wins, so sit back, relax, and let me tell you about this one. 🙂

A while back I came across the awesome Fisher Price Roll-a-Rounds Swirlin Surprise Gumballs machine (which also made our list of the best Fisher Price learning toys.) To be honest, I’m not sure where I first saw this toy, but I’m guessing it was at one of Noah’s many occupational therapy visits. (I seriously think we have bought this kid every toy we’ve ever seen any of this therapists use! Can any of you other parents relate to this?) 🙂

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3 Reasons Snip-Its Makes Getting Your Child’s Haircut Fun, Not Frustrating

Oct152013 by Rick Smith | Filed Under: Resources | 18 Comments

Today we took Noah to get his first real haircut. I say that because this was actually the second time we’ve taken Noah to get a haircut. I can’t really count his first hair cut as his first real haircut however since all he did was sit on my lap at the end of one of my haircuts and have my hairstylist give him a trim.

Oh and he wasn’t a fan, but really, what toddler really likes to get a haircut?

I’ve heard horror stories from other parents about their frustrating experience trying to get their child’s haircut, and I was worried how Noah would do when he had to actually get a real haircut. Thankfully, we found a place that specializes in giving kids haircuts, but not just that…they actually specialize in giving children with special needs haircuts! Pretty awesome, huh?

Check out the video below of Noah getting his first haircut from Snip-Its below then keep reading to see why we like this place!

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What A UK Mother Of A Child With “Down’s Syndrome” Has In Common With American Moms…And How We’re All Like A Bunch Of Balloons!

Oct142013 by Rick Smith | Filed Under: Parenting | 32 Comments

**The following is a guest post from Hayley Goleniowska who blogs at Downs Side Up which has been voted the Down Syndrome blog in Europe two years in a row. Her daughter Natalia (who was born with Down Syndrome is a clothing model and campaigns for ad inclusion.**

I write a little blog from the UK, called Downs Side Up and the guys at Noah’s Dad have always been a great source of inspiration for me. So you can imagine how enormously honoured I was when Rick asked me to pen a guest post for him as part of Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

But what to write?

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