We were blessed that Noah was able to breast feed since day one! However, because of the physical characteristics of Down syndrome, Noah had a difficult time drinking from a bottle. He would loose suction causing milk to spill from his mouth, as well as become extremely congested. Of course, since we are new parents, and because of all the surprises Noah had for us when he came into the world – this freaked us out! (Even though my wife is a pediatrician!) We had a sallow study preformed and begin seeing the great folks at Our Children’s House Baylor, in Dallas, to begin Speech (Feeding) therapy. We took Noah once a week to speech therapy, and preformed a series of exercises known as Beckman drills on him. At this time of this video Noah was doing a million times better then the scary afternoon when we brought him because he wasn’t eating well.
You can imagine our surprise when Noah’s speech therapist said he would start feeding him cereal! This video shows the very first time that my wife and I feed him from a spoon! What an incredible day it was for us…!
….not to mention Noah handled that spoon like a champ!
About Rick Smith
Enjoyed your website of Noah. How wonderful to share this with so many people. We have a 44 year old down’s son and he is fabulous. I thank God for sending him to us and that he is doing so well. He takes care of all his hygiene (I’m listening to him singing in the shower right now). He has his chores. Changes his bed, washes sheets and puts them back on the bed, empties garbage twice a week, puts to curb and brings back, does all his own laundry, folds it and puts it away, sweeps the two patios when needed, crushes soda cans and goes to get them recycled and collect the check they give him, attends a sheltered workshop daily and loves it. Has friends that he talks to daily on the phone. Love movies, eating out and family gatherings. Christian has four siblings and is so blessed with love from all of them. Thank you for sharing Noah’s activities. Good Luck! God has chosen you to have a wonderful ride with your son and just watch the unconditional love he gives to all as he gets older.
Thanks so much for sharing a little bit about your son with us. You guys sound like awesome parents!
Are you connected to our Facebook page? (http://facebook.com/noahsdadcom/) There are so many great parents on there, and we all enjoy seeing photos and hearing stories. Feel free to post a picture of your son on our page, and say hi to some of the parents on there if you’d like. 🙂
Very nice web site you have. I am new with all this and I am learning about Down syndrome. I have a two months old baby with DS which I love, love, love. We are in birth to three program but now reading at your web site I think will be good to have private therapy as well. Thank you for shearing your experience!!!!