It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 months since Noah’s physical therapist first put him on a treadmill to help him learn to walk! Man, time really does fly.

It’s amazing how far Noah has come since we first started, and how well he can walk after just 15 months of treadmill therapy. We’re obviously huge fans of treadmill therapy and our son is a living testimony that treadmill therapy for kids really works!

When Noah was born one of the fist things someone said to me “There’s never been a better time in the history of the world for someone to be born with Down syndrome!” I think that’s a fantastic (and true) quote, and I couldn’t agree more. There are so many resources (and research) available today to help children with Down syndrome reach their full potential, all of which will only continue to grow as we head into the future. So that quote will continue to be more true as time goes on.

How awesome!

We’re proud to announce that Noah reached another major milestone toady…standing up on his own! Most children actually stand on their own (without help from people or objects, which he has been able to do for a while) before taking their first steps, but not our little guy! In fact, we recently posted a video of him trying to stand on his on, but not quite being able to.  This is probably due to his desire to be moving rather than stand still. Kids are going to achieve their milestones in their own time and in their own order which is fine by me, why follow the “rules.”

We’re a huge fan of teaching Noah baby sign language to help him communicate with us. We have been watching Baby Signing Time videos since he was about 9 months old. I was a skeptic at first but have continually been impressed by how signing has helped Noah have a voice and understand the things in his environment. In fact, I even wrote a post about how I went from being a skeptical mommy and pediatrician to a baby signing time believer!

Only 1 Year Old, And Already Making Sentences Using Sign Language!

It’s amazing to see our son, who is only 1 year old and born with Down syndrome, not just using sign language, but putting his sign words together to for sentences. Check out the video below to see for yourself!

I have come to the conclusion that getting over the mess is a big part of parenting. Noah is messy just eating with his own hands and today I am about to hand him a rocket launcher.

Until I had Noah I had no idea how important eating was to the strengthening of muscles in the mouth and eventual speech development. From breast feeding or bottle feeding to using a straw to moving solid food around your mouth with your tongue, all of this helps your mouth develop the ability to talk.