We receive a lot of messages from people asking questions about Noah’s developmental milestones. Questions like, “How do children with Down syndrome develop differently than typical children?” “When did Noah get his first tooth?” When did Noah roll over for the first time?” “When did Noah start drinking from a straw?” and the list goes on and on. We enjoy answering everyone’s questions, but also wanted to create a place on our site that would serve as a landing page of his life achievements and developmental milestones.
This list will be updated on a regular basis and will include not only developmental milestones, but what I like to call “life” milestones (like his first visit to a comic shop! The geek in me calls that a major life milestone.) 🙂
As you read through Noah’s milestones, please remember that every child is different, and will reach their milestones at different times. I want to encourage you not to use this page as a measuring rod, or a way to compare your child’s growth to another. (Remember to celebrate, not compare.) Our goal is to help encourage and support families, and we invite you to contact us if you have any additional questions.
Noah’s Life And Developmental Milestones
0-3 Months Old
4-6 Months Old
Eating From Spoon For The First Time
7-9 Months Old
Drinks From A Straw for the First Time
Eats Baby Food For The First Time
First Father’s Day (And First Banana)
First Visit To In-N-Out Burger
Drinks From A Straw For The First Time
First Trip His Grandparents House
10-12 Months Old
First Down Syndrome Buddy Walk
First Dentist Visit / Check Up / Exam
Self-Feeding For The First Time
Pulling to Stand for the First Time
13 – 18 Months Old
19 – 24 Months Old
This list will continue to be updated throughout our son’s life. Please take a second to add your email in box below to stay up to date on all of our latest posts.
4 Years Old
Rides The School Bus By Himself
5 Years Old
This is a great idea…Love keeping up with Noah!
Thanks so much, we enjoy sharing his life with everyone. Is that your son in your profile picture? He look super adorable. Have you posted his picture to our Facebook page yet? http://facebook.com/noahsdadcom ? (Lots of great folks there…who love seeing pictures!) 🙂
As a first time father this really helped ease some of my concerns. Thank you for sharing.
love this idea cuss i was wondering when lil man did some of those things . thank you for sharing all of this with all of us .
Thanks for the kind words. It will be fun to have a place to keep all of this achievements in one place. 🙂
This is awesome! Wish my parents had a milestone page like this 🙂 except offline cause computers weren’t that in in those days lool. Keep it up Noah!
Thanks! 🙂
My name is Brianne and I have a soon to be 3 year old with down syndrome, his name is Brendon. Your posts with Noah are great!
Thanks! Where are you guys from?
Dear Noah’s Dad, you are great dad!Thanks for sharing Noah wonderful life. I believe that God has His Will through Noah’s life. For God nothing is impossible!!!Now, my 4th kid, Moses is 23 months. Early in the next morning I delivered him,God had told me that He wanted to do something in Moses’s life in order to glorify Him. Our lovely Father in heaven always give us the best.
Haleluyah!!!
You have a very special boy with a very special soul 🙂 He is beautiful. God bless him and God bless your family.
Thank you! We have a ton of fun. 🙂 Do you have any children?
Great to hear! I don’t have any children yet, but I work with children and love them very dearly 🙂
Cheers!
Cool! What sort of work are you in (if you don’t mind me asking) 🙂
Hi Rick, sorry for the delay I had a hard time finding which post I had written on!
As for my work, I do many things ..! – but as for my work with children I am currently part-time babysitting babies-children and I give natural healing sessions to children. I have studied psychology, natural healing methods, relaxation techniques, yoga – so in the near future I would like to create programs for children, God willing. Children are really amazing, and they do need all the help they can get – for them to learn how to grow into this world properly and grow into who they really are and nothing less.
What do you do (if you don’t mind me asking! :))?
Thanks for chiming in. I’m a pastor!
Hello, My wife and I just had our first child May 30th. LIttle Ava appears to be born with DS. We meet with a genetics to confirm next Thurday although our midwife and pedi think that she has a few signs for it. I am on an emotional roller coaster right now pretty much a train wreck. I love her to death and just want her to have a great life. I look forward to following Noahs journey.
How was your immediate reaction? I just dont knwo if I am overboard with how I upset I am.
Best,
James
You are not overboard! We cried every day for awhile then it started spacing out. You have to grieve the loss of a child you envisioned and that does not mean you don’t love Ava. You have to adjust to your new future and that takes some time but you guys will do awesome! You will have good days and bad but soon the good will far outweigh the bad 🙂 keep us updated on Ava 🙂
Hi,
I have cerebral palsy, it is normal to grieve the loss of the child that you expected! Don’t miss seeing the good in the child that you have!
My Mom was able to do that, but my Dad wasn’t!
My life is good, partly because of the
acceptance that I had from my Mom!
I work, I’m married – I have a good life!
(Both work and marriage are possible for people with Downs!)
Thanks,
Pam
hi, noahs mom,
my little angel bilal has down Ds. he is seven months now and he is yet to sit up. his features of ds was so mild that doctors could not realize faster. but am happy to have him, to love him and care for his needs although it was painful, hurting and to know that he will leave with this condition forever!
That’s exactly right! We grieve our expectations, but we rejoice in what the Lord has blessed us with!
James you aint over reactig wgen i first found out my child had down syndrome oh man it felt bad it was 2-3 weeks after i had him. I didnt know how to take it all i was doing was going back and forth with docs i didnt know how to deal with it, and also having no support from the dad it was terrible ..But out of experience all im telling you is accept it and do whatever you can to help your baby they are the greatest and bigest blessing.God has its purpose. Its going to make you and your wife stronger and alot closer. JUST REMEBER YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE! GOD BLESS YOU AND CONGRATS WITH YOUR NEW BABY!
Hello all,
Just an update. It is all but confirmed with genetics that it is DS (just waiting on kereotype. The pain and pretty much self pity and blame i have been feeling is starting to take a back seat. Little Ava is in the chidlrens hospital with low oxygen sat and high red blood cell count. the red blood cell count as started to drop which is great and she is able to stay off the oxygen until she falls asleep or eats. She is starting to feed off the bottled breast milk a bit better about 1.5-2oz per feeding. Everyone just keeps telling us how beutiful she is. We just started telling family and close friends that she has DS and they are shocked, but the support is crazy. I think the biggest part that upset me aobut this is the fear of the future. Three of my groomsmen from my wedding have given birth to baby girls in the past 6 months. I had dreams of them all growing up together. It sounds selfish, but thats the feelings that were driving me crazy. My wife and i have lived at the hospital for the past four days each day seems a bit better, but we can not wait ot get the little one home to start her development. We have an occupational therapist coming tomorrow to help start helping get the feeding to the next level. all i know is that even with the initial shcok from this I want my wife to have ten more babies! Ava is certainly wonderful. I love when we can stare into each others eyes and she turns her head to look at my iphone playing some lalabuys on pandora. i love thats she grasps my finger in her little hands and pushes the bottle away when she doesnt want it. When we get home things are going to be even better. Now its time for mama and daddy to get educated! My wife is just about to finish her masters in Nutrition and didnt have a thesis topic. Thanks to Ava she has found it! I finish my masters of sports leadership next month and never thought about jobs in areas such as the special olympics. This little one is a blessing! Thank you for all the best wishes.
they also found she has a smal ASD but the cardiologist thinks it will close on its own.
Are you guys home yet? How exciting that you guys are using your education already to think how you can help children with DS 🙂 I thought about my son not being able to grow up with my friend’s children too, but you want to know what, Noah hangs out with my best friend’s daughter all the time and they have a great time. Ava will be an awesome addition to the group. There may be some differences, and you may get frustrated when developmentally they are typical, however she will teach them so much more 🙂
Thanks for the kind words! We are home two weeks or so now. Still on .1 oxygen, but we have a sleep study at Yale saturday and hopefully she comes off of it. We took her off all day Sunday and her Sat levels stayed up. Ava just had her 1 month birthday on Sunday! She is finally gaining weight up almost a lb from birth! following us with her eyes and even starting to smile a little. We started PT last Friday and have another session this Thursday. LOVE THIS LITTLE GIRL!!! I will post picture to the Facebook page this week.
Hey James, I was just thinking about your guys this evening. How is everything with little Ava? Are are you guys doing? Have you got plugged in to a good group of friends in your area?
Adorable! how cute i Noah?
Hey thanks! Do you have any children by the way?
My husband and I just had a son May 18, 2012. He has downs, we didn’t know through pregnancy and it was a bit of a shock. My husband is 22 and I am 19, 18 when I gave birth. We are looking EVERYWHERE for any kind of information and there is just tons. But your website so far has been the most helpful..and fun : ). Thank you. Y’all are doing a wonderful job.
Hey Patty, I just wanted to touch base with you to see how everything is going. How is your family?
I do have to ask though…are you all afraid, or worried, or just stressed over how his life will be when he gets older? I don’t know anyone with Downs, so I dont know what to expect. Will he get picked on? Will he find someone who makes him happy? I worry about that all night. Btw, his name is Jackson.
We have all of those worries!!! however I would have those same worries if my child didn’t have Down syndrome. We were Initially upset about the idea of Noah never leaving home, however now I can’t bare to think about that day and he is only 18months. I know it is very likely that he will do just that. Hopefully we can get the world to see that our children are valuable members of the community and should be accepted and loved just as everyone else desires to be. Parents of children with Down syndrome also gain the title of advocate with the birth of their child whether they think they have that title or not we all do this for our children 🙂
I think all parent’s stress :). I’m sure you will have more children 🙂 And believe me, they will watch over their baby; My cousin has DS and is 60 years old.. My Aunt and Uncle stressed, too, as he got older… No stress needed on that. His brothers and sisters all said they would take him to live with them… His brother took him to live with him when their parents both died. My cousin went on to have children , The are adults now. They take Dean everywhere… Always did. He is loved my his aunts and uncles and cousins and treated like he is a Prince. One of Dean’s cousins went on to to become a special needs teacher. Dean had taught her so much.
Back in the day, He didn’t have friends because He was excited when someone came over to play and was overly aggressive to him. Things have changed. 🙂 Your child can grow up with your friends children. 🙂 I see Dean seldom now, He lives in another state, But when I visit he always calles me by name :).
Don’t worry, times are different!!! He will be accepted :). Later you can make play dates with other children.. Have coffee with parents and enjoy. 🙂 ( I am a grandma and I wouldn’t care one drop what they had :). They are my heart
Patty,
afraid, worried, and stressed! Ava is one month today and we already have a ton of Dr’s appts lined up and start physical therapy tomorrow morning at 9am! It is certainly a shock, but everyday I wake up look at little Ava and realize how blessed we are. It’s a different path, but it doesnt mean there doesnt have to be a path. Its going to be a fun rewarding journey for everyone! Stay strong!
Thank you. Im trying to. Jackson is a little over a month and we haven’t been to any doctors except the cardiologist, should we go about it ourselves to find doctors such as the genetist and everything? Did your doctor set you up with them? It is wonderful, he is soo amazing. Im sure Ava is as well. God bless you for your comment, any little thing helps
We went to the Down syndrome clinic in our area and we did set that up ourselves. It helped explain some things as well as make sure your pediatrician was not missing anything. Usually major Children’s hospitals have a clinic like that. People to see before your child is 6 months is an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) and an ears nose and throat doctor. The second one is for a hearing screening to make sure there are no concerns with hearing as it is hard to tell at 6 months, so you could just see an audiologist. Our pediatrician made recommendations for both of those, but depending on your insurance you can do those things yourself as well. We don’t need referrals so we can make appointments ourselves. Your pediatrician should be able to explain the genetic part of Down syndrome. The reason this is important is that a translocation cause can be hereditary. They would recommend testing for the parents if this was the case. Hope this was helpful.
Thanks, yes it was very helpful. Ill look into all of that. I appreciate you getting back to me.
Hey Patty, I just wanted to touch base and see how you were doing. Have you had a chance to get connected with people in your area? How’s your baby doing? How are you guys doing?
By the way, here is a post we have written about how to connect with others in case you haven’t seen it.
Aque hour national noah’s brother? .. how many kilos and measured weight? ..
We had a wondeful home birth and about 5 hours after our midwife said everything looks great…..”but, I think she has signs of DS”. We went to the pedi the next day who pretty much confirmed and then went to Yale genetics where it was confirmed a few short days later while we were in the hospital for another issue. We then were set up with a list of Dr’s from cardio to pulimnary to ENT. In Connecticut they have a program called birth to three. They came out and did an evaluation and stated we qualfy for the program because Ava is a child born with DS. She had signficant gross motor skill delay(although most do at 3 weeks old!). We have already started PT. My wifes sister is a pedi chiropractor so we have also started treatment with that on our own as well as an appointment to get some crainal sacral work done. Check out the program for your state. Do a ton of research and come up with a plan of short and long term goals. I appologize for my misspelled rambaling post! I am just tired, excited, and trying to get a blog post in while I have a moment! STAY POSITIVE LOVE YOUR LITTLE ONE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY HAVE FUN!
You are awesome for this. I just gave birth to a beautiful daughter 2 months ago, she has down syndrome, I was concerned about the milestones that she will reach and when she would meet them. I know each child is different but its great to see that children with ds can reach milestones near the same time as “typical” babies. Thank you for sharing!
This is great, thank you so much for this, Noah looks like an amazing young man, looking forward to many many more vids, cheers cartersdad
Thanks so much for the kind words! Does Carter has Down syndrome? How old is he?
Hi sorry for such a delayed reply, yes Carter has Down syndrome and he is now just over 7 months
Hey Darryn,
How is everything going with your son these days?
my mom follows you guys on facebook. my little brother Seth has Down’s Syndorme. hes a lot of fun but reading your story shows my family the bright side of things. also in school im doing a research paper on babies with down’s. the things im learning is helping me understand how the science part of it but your stories helped with feelings.
That’s great! You sound like a fantastic big sister! How is your brother doing?
What an amazing mom and dad y’all are to Noah!!! He is so blessed to have you as his parents. I am a very blessed grandma to a beautiful 3 year old granddaughter who was born with DS. My daughter was 20 and her fiancé was 23 when Kenley was born. My daughter chose not to have any genetic testing done. She was determined to raise her baby regardless. And the fact that they were so young, it really wasn’t an issue. So we thought. To our surprise, Kenley was born with DS. She was so tiny and very sick. They transferred her to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston for more in-depth care. She had multiple issues with her heart and had to have heart surgery when she was 1 yr old. She also suffered from acid reflux and lost the ability to suck on her bottle. She had to have stomach surgery to stop the reflux. She is still unable to swallow but she will eat everything you give her, just doesn’t go down to her tummy (YET). She loves to sing and dance, give hugs and kisses and will just melt your heart. She is the light of our lives. She has taught us so much about what life really means. Thank you for sharing your lil Noah with us. They are gifts from GOD!!!!!
Thanks so much for the kind words! You sound like a great grand mother!
How is everything going with your granddaughter?
I think Noah is the most beautiful little boy I have ever seen. Thank you for sharing your story. You write amazingly…
Thanks for the kind words. Do you have any children?
Hi Noah Hi Noah’s dad I would just like to thank you for these awesome posts. I have a son he is now 10 months and has down syndrome. At most times i wonder when will he be able to do most things but i always praise him for everything. As i watch your videos I smile with teary eyes cause they are so much alike but different.Thank you so very much for the milestones.
Thanks for your comment and for you encouragement! It seemed like it took Noah forever to accomplish many of the developmental milestones on this list! I remember wondering if was going to ever to do some of them! 🙂
Just keep encouraging your son and loving on him..and above all remember to celebrate, not compare!
I’m looking forward to watching your little boy grow up, please keep us posted on his progress and let us know if we can ever offer any help or encouragement.
Will do. Are you guys on facebook or anything like that?
You better believe we are! Check out http://www.facebook.com/noahsdadcom – We have one of the largest Facebook pages of parents with Down syndrome on the internet. Come join us!
Hi Rick,
I am very encouraged to read all over you site. We have a very, very special 4 year old Down syndrome daughter, Fayth. Through God’s leading, I have started coaching special needs families. It has always been a deep passion for me and now God has opened that door.
What I have come to realize is that there are not too many special needs Dad’s voices out there. So I greatly encouraged by coming across your site. I would love to be able to build a relationship with you.
From a DS Dad’s Eyes,
Jared
Your little girl is adorable! Thanks so much for your comment and for sharing the picture!
What you guys are doing is great. Where are y’all from?
when they first told me it was a possibility of down syndrome with my baby i was pregnant it really didn’t matter to me i was going to love her anyway i didn’t get the test to find out because what was that going to change i was 38 years old with 2 older children already so she was a blessing after 12 years of no children.now she is a healthy 5 year old and beautiful. which she is told every day. i believe she is no different than my other children and is not treated as such she is a little slower on talking but i figure she will when she gets ready. i just wanted to let people know that down syndrome does not mean different as far as i am concerned i think it means beautiful inside and out.
Thanks for your comment, you sound like a great mom!
What does your daughter like to do for sun? Is she in school?
she really likes swimming and the trampoline. she just started kindergarten she loves it. she was not real happy with pre-k because of the seperation but she is really getting used to it this year.
That’s awesome! Noah is a big fan of swimming also!
So great that she love Kindergarten! Noah enjoys school also!
Thank you so much for making this amazing website about your adorable little boy, Noah! My older brother was born with Down Syndrome, and I can’t imagine my life without him. I’m looking forward to more posts!
So awesome! Thanks for your comment Patty! You sound like a great sister!
How old is your brother now? What sort of things does he like to do for fun?
I have shared your blog and facebook page with two of the families I work with through ECI. You have been a great resource to provide parents that are going through the same struggles and triumphs and I love to see pics of Noah. I had a very close friend on mine with a daughter with DS and she showed me so much about true/pure love. Thanks for sharing your story!
Hey, thanks so much for sharing and thanks for all you do as well!
What sort of work do you do with ECI? Are you a therapist?
i have a 22month old daughter .her name is adrianna skye she has diwns.jw when she will start walking.she scoots on her butt.
Your daughter has a very pretty name, thanks for sharing.
Is your daughter going to Physical therapy or ECI?
My daughter Laís also moved around on her butt and she started walking when she was 2 and a half years old, on a sudden. Keep showing her the way and don’t worry, when she feels ready she’ll show you.
Hello! I was checking Noah’s milestones because I was curious to find out if Noah already uses the toilet or if you’re keeping the diapers.
We started taking Laís (our almost 3 year old girl) to the toilet last week and it’s been a disaster so far!! She doesn’t ask to go and every now and then pees on her pants… I wonder if she’s really ready…
Noah is each day more cute, and so is your litlle one. Congrats!
WOW
I know its late and I should be sleeping but I was so caught up in reading Noah’s birth story and reading comments from others who have been chosen by God to have the blessing of raising children with Downs
I would love to and in the future will share my story of finding out my daughter was going to be the mother of a special child
And SPECIAL he is
by the way his name is Noah Aaron
his birthday is February20 2010
Thanks for saying hello and for sharing the picture with us!
And what a quick boy Noah is! My son Eelco (october 11th 2011) cant drink from a straw yet, and doesnt walk yet either. But he loves with his whole heart , and we love him back! <3
i just got an angel and she is a down sydrome baby…..
is my pleasure to read through your website, and i believe that, god will always lead us a way….
I had no idea at all for the first time, I liked your page on facebook. But then, during the time I understand what is it like being a father from a kid like Noah.He’s so lucky to have the best, awesome, and amazing father on this planet, who loves his sons more than his life. You sir, are amazing. I wish, I had a father like you.
My father and I, we’re not close. keep it works sir. My best regard from , Daddy wanna be, Indonesia.
Having a son born with down’s. A very similar story to yours. He had some breathing difficulty & was taken to NICU & was waiting for him to come to my room but it was the doc who finally came & gave the news… Initially it was hard to come to terms with it but now he’s 11 weeks & I would not change anything about him… He is a real gift from God…
where first Mother’s Day with Noah ? I might of missed it but I new to this computer stuff!
Are you consulting with a developmental pediatrician or you are doing all the help at home?
What’s up, just wanted to mention, I liked this blog post.
It was helpful. Keep on posting!
Through my wife your son Noah has been a part of our lives for a couple of years now – Thanks for sharing!
While you are correct that one should “not compare – celebrate”, unfortunately that is not as easy as it sounds, especially with us who have twin boys, one with DS and one not. For me it is like looking at supersonic jet versus the Wright brother’s plane. At least with Noah (and other kids with DS whom we have had the pleasure to meet over the last 4 years), our Jonny is more “normal”, and this is reassuring.
I love this picture of Jonny. He reminded me of my grandson Jericho. He will be turning 3 in October. He is the most precious blessing to my life. Thanks for sharing.
Noah’s milestone and other children’s are amazing. My poor Little Alexander at 17 months is still not able to sit up as yet, the physio seems to be helping a lot. I wonder a what age he will sit and walk the physio telling me he may not walk unable about four. As you know with them having low muscle tone and been born premature does help. My other children just love him so much and keep telling him he is so cute.
very nice i am RAYAN and i am from SUDAN (African country) my daughter RAGAD is 15 months now ,she is sitting down by here self but she did not crawl..she cannot eat bu her self..i am so happy to find a group like all of you to get experience from you and i want to thanks noah’s dad for great helping.. here in SUDAN it is very difficult to find a down syndrome specialist so i am trying to help my baby by myself..please provide me by any helping information or videos..
hi RAYAN my name is AMINA iam from kenya and i have a baby boy with the same problem he is now 16 months and can sit without help his name is Bilal, he is very healthy and he will hopefully walk soon. keep communicating.
I have a son birth with TOF and DS , he is 18 months for the treatment of TOF open heart surgery have done , now fully recoverd and the TOF problem solved now we are wory about his gorwth he has 8.5 kg weight ,cant sit crawling through abdoman not by knee please advise and give me some information
Dear Noah’s dad,
Great blog. Thank you for sharing. I will be a regular follower now.
You are supporting a lot of people, God bless your heart.
I have a beautiful 2months old daughter with DS querry she can lift her head up turn on her side when sleeping
My chinese ds baby boy Oscar is 8 mths now..i wish he can be a good man..
Is there a potty training milestone? We had the WORST time with ours who turned out to have encopresis. Still dealing with his constipation issues at 13.