I have to admit that prior to becoming Noah’s Dad I had no idea that March 21st was World Down Syndrome Day. (So don’t feel bad if you didn’t know either.) 🙂
But it is. And if you will give me about 3 minutes of your time, Noah and I will tell you what it’s all about, and try to give a quick answer to the question, “What is Down syndrome?”
We put together a short video to tell you a little bit about World Down Syndrome Day and why the date 3:21 is significant. I hope you find it informative and enjoyable! And hey if not, no worries. You’ll still get to see a cute little boy for a few minutes that I’m sure will brighten up your day. So it’s a win either way. 🙂
And if you like videos, be sure to check out Noah’s Dad on You Tube where you can watch all of our videos!)
By the way the cool shirt Noah is wearing in the video was given to us by our friends at the National Down Syndrome Society when we visited their offices in New York a few months ago. You can pick one up for yourself from Rhyme Clothing.10% of every shirt purchased goes to the National Down Syndrome Society to further Down Syndrome Awareness! Pretty cool, huh?
Like goes on, and life is good for people with Down Syndrome! 🙂
Also if you are new to the world of Down syndrome, welcome. We started this website to give the world a look into what life is like raising a child born with Down syndrome by posting a daily one minute video about our life. We hope you will subscribe to our daily videos and take part in the story we are sharing. We also hope you will visit Noah’s Dad Facebook and Twitter Stream where you can meet thousands of families sharing their stories as well. Feel free to drop by, say hi, and ask questions; we’d love to meet you!
If you are raising a child with Down syndrome I hope you will take a minute to share this post with someone in your life who isn’t. Hopefully in doing so they will learn more about Down syndrome, and how this story isn’t a sad one. But a very beautiful one.
What are you doing to help raise awareness for World Down Syndrome Day? Feel free to post any pictures or videos in the comments below!
About Rick Smith
He does brighten up my day!! Love you Noah!
Thanks! He can’t wait to see you. 🙂
Great post, thanks so much for sharing your story and all that you are doing!!!
@ErinMC4:disqus Thanks! It’s our pleasure. 🙂
Happy World Down Syndrome Day to all!
Thank you Rcik and Noah for the great video.
@35e6bac64d388049c0628301833db62c:disqus Thanks so much! And happy World Down Syndrome Day to you as well. 🙂
I watched te video with my son Gavin (same age as Noah) and the entire time he was talking to it and smiling trying to take my phone away or trying to get to his friend in there 🙂 and even waved bye bye to you both which he doesn’t do often 🙂
@030cffada93b1354e3ae40c4e42b457f:disqus Awww, thanks for sharing that with us. How old is Gavin?
Thanks for all you do to bring a positive awareness to Down syndrome. What is Noah’s birthday? Isaac is 15 months too. His birthday in 11/30.
@2eb65c31bcf94bb413c07376376537ee:disqus Wow, they are neck and neck! Noah was born on Dec 15 (if you go back to the very first page of this blog you can see his very first video.)
Was your son born with Down syndrome? If so, did you guys know ahead of time?
My son was born with Down Syndrome on 02-29-12. He is 21 days old today.
He is my first born.
He has been in the NICU since he was born due to an AV Canal defect which was making it hard for him to breathe and eat on his own. He had an oxygen tube and feeding tube for nearly 3 weeks. I am happy to announce that since Friday the 16th he has been off of the oxygen tube and as of Monday he has been off the feeding tube. My husband and I give all the glory to God, we have been praying for baby Royal non stop, we really did not want him to come home with a g tube or oxygen tube.
He is eating like a champ now and his doctor told us he can come home this week.
I am so excited and nervous, the nurses at the NICU have been amazing in caring for my son, they have also shown my husband and I so much support and now its time for us to do it on our own, with
We are new to the world of Down Syndrome and your blog has been a tremendous beacon of light for families new to DS or not. I never imagined I would be taking this journey with my new family and now I am so eager to share his life with all our friends and family.
Please continue to pray for baby Royal’s heart, I know God can heal him.
I look forward to reading about Noah and watch him grow,.
God Bless you and your beautiful family.
Xindy and Logan Holliday
your story is very much like ours..My son also had av canal defect. All your trials now will be rewarded once he receives his operation. Marcos is such a healthy boy and you will be amazed at the progress your child make. Know that you are not on this journey alone.
Maria and Al Rosales
@c96040b73f1fea1c442077c851432888:disqus Wow, thanks so much for the very kind and encouraging words. 🙂 First I want you to know that I just prayed for you and your family. I also thanked God for letting Royal be born to such loving parents who trust in the Lord. That is fantastic!
@e6eac8929334e84597b0aac8d30434cb:disqus
nd, I’m so glad he is off the feeding the tube, and I hope he is ready to come home soon also. PLEASE keep us posted on how things go with all of that. You can come right back here and post in the comments. Also I’m not sure if you have seen our Facebook page, but we have over 13 thousand people on there who are amazing. We’d love for you to post a picture of Royal, and say hi to everyone if you’d like. Our page is http://facebook.com/noahsdadcom/
Where are you guys from ,and how did you learn about our website? I also enjoy learning how people connect with us. Please let us know if there are any questions we can try to answer for you as well.
I’m not sure if you saw this new parent guide, but there is some great information about Down syndrome that you may enjoy taking a look at —> http://noahsdad.com/new-parent-guide/
Hello Xindy,
I have a little brother with Down Syndrome. Alike your little one, my brother also had difficulty breathing. He also was born with an AV Canal defect. He underwent open heart surgery at 4 months old. We were told he would need open heart surgery about every 10 years depending on how his heart’s doing, growth etc. My family and I were incredibly sad and afraid but we knew it was for the best.
It’s been 7 years now since my brother’s surgery and he is doing great! We actually took him to his annual Cardiology appointment this morning and the doctor’s were pleased with how my brother is doing! They encouraged us to push him to run and walk longer distances (my brother can be a little lazy). I know parents are sometimes worried about over exerting their child, because my parents are still worry warts, but trust me your little one will be just fine. Seven years from now you will be using words similar to mine to encourage a family one day. You too will be sharing your wonderful news about your little man’s health with a family who may need encouragement and inspiration. Stay positive, pray, and continue to give your beautiful baby all the love in the world.
I am not sure if you are from NYC but here is my brother’s heart surgeon:http://cardiac-surgery.med.nyu.edu/about-us/heart-surgeons/ralph-s-mosca.
He did an amazing job on my brother. I am sure there are many great Cardiologist out there, but just thought I’d share our cardiologist since my family is forever grateful to this man.I am glad your little one is off the oxygen tube now. I am sure the little guy will be fine. Best of luck to your family and my prayers will be with you all!
-Denise
My daughter was born with Down Syndrome and also had an AV canal defect. She had surgery at 8 months old and took medications for many years. We were also told that she would probably have to have it redone periodically as she grew.. As it turned out, she has not had to have any more surgeries and was able to get off her medications in her teens. She had a residual murmur for many years but at her last check-up he could not hear anything.
She is an active 28 year old and loves to participate in Special Olympics in track and bowling.
Doctors can do amazing things and I’m sure that they will help baby Royal. Our prayers are with you and your beautiful baby. Enjoy every little thing he does. They bring a special kind of joy to life.
P.S. My daughter is very proud of being Down Syndrome (and her scar.)
Xindyv,
I’m not sure if you signed up to receive emails when someone replies to your comments, but I wanted to see how things are going for baby Royal and his heart. I hope you can update us. 🙂
Very nice video Rick!
@5cee2e4f92cdddf1b5c900843bbc09ce:disqus Thank you very much! 🙂
Noah shines. Life is a gift and privilege from our Lord.
@f0536d71cf73a021f28569b055c3d163:disqus Thanks Dr. Horrell. We appreciate your friendship and encouragement! Thanks for loving our son and our family. 🙂
Thank you for everything you are doing , i have a niece with down syndrome .. She is three years old and loves learning new things and meeting new people .. Thank you so much ..
Thanks so much for the kind words. You sound like a great aunt! 🙂
Noah is amazing! 🙂 Seeing his pictures on my facebook wall makes my day that much better! <3
Hey thanks. It’s a lot of fun being Noah’s Dad! Do you have any children?
This is Diego and he is our reason to feel blessed every day. Today is just a reminder of how great our lives are because of him. Congrats Noah! Diego loves watching you on video. 🙂
@facebook-1748558108:disqus wow…he is awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing. How old is he??
Happy Down Syndrome Day! Love your facebook page and the wonderful welcoming conversations I have had there
@JennLegate:disqus Thanks Jenn, we enjoy having you around! You add great value to this community! 🙂
Noah is and I am sure will be amazing, but I think a big part of the credit will go to his amazing father (and I assume his mother). I could only wish that every family that has been touched by DS, had a father like you. So many times, the mother seems to be carrying the load alone. I love to see you play such a big part, and being so proactive.
I was at the World Down Syndrome Conference today and they shouted you out today. That’s amazing to be recognized as such a positive figure. Keep up the great work.
We all got to see little Ryan too. He’s adorable.
Noah is such a cutie saying goodbye!!
@74ef4bd421fc59c6b1c0803238f96300:disqus Yah, I heard we were mentioned, but I didn’t get a chance to see it. 🙁 It is very cool, and very humbling. We’re honored. What was the context in which we were mentioned? Do you remember?
One of the members on the Panel asked Jim Langston to stand up with Ryan for all to see. The panel member went on to tell everyone in the conference room about how your blog was one of the first to bring much attention to Ryan’s Target ad. They thanked you for having such a helpful site that families can turn to.
Good stuff. You should be proud.
That is very cool. Thanks for sharing that!
Thank you for doing this!!!
@a7919997fbf825082868e038c345392a:disqus Thank you for supporting us! Do you have a child with Down syndrome?
Camp Barnabas loves everyone who has the DS diagnosis-young and old!
@0d8c3e175384cc5e9a0affcde019abf4:disqus Cool! Where is your camp located? What sorts of things do you guys do there? Tell me more….
Hey, I recognize that young man! I remember the TV show very well. Life Goes On was a charming show.
@facebook-826848348:disqus He’s looking good these days, isn’t he!?
Happy World Down Syndrome Day! I cannot tell you how much your little guy brightens my day with his beautiful smile. That picture of him after he’s tasted the vegamite is hysterical, and it never fails to make me laugh.
All laughs aside, I love what you do, to help educate people who would otherwise not understand what it means to have a child with Downs. It’s not a death sentence, nor is it the end of the world, just the beginning of a very special journey.
When I became pregnant with my second child, I had a quad-screen done. The results came back with the markers for DS high, and was given the choice of having a genetic amnio done to determine whether or not she did have DS. I decided not to, because it wouldn’t have mattered to me whether or not she had it, all I cared about was that she was healthy and happy. She is both of those, as you can see in my avatar. They later determined that the markers were elevated because of my advance maternal age, I was 41 when I gave birth. Hugs for Noah!
That was a great video! My favorite part what Noah waving bye bye! He is so cute and is getting so big!!
@facebook-581130879:disqus Thanks….and I agree…time is going by quick, quick, quick. We cherish every second with this little guy.
I HAVE A DOWN SYNDROME GRANDSON. HIS NAME IS LUKE. HE IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, SWEET LITTLE BOY. HE HAS TOUCHED SO MANY PEOPLE. HE JUST LIGHTS UP THE DAY FOR EVERYONE. HOW ANYONE COULD NOT WANT A D.S. CHILD IS BEYOND ME. WE HAVE SO MUCH LOVE IN OUR HEARTS FOR HIM, IT’S UNIMAGINAL! NOAH REMINDS ME OF LUKE A LOT.
Just got chance to watch the video! It’s great! Harry has just started a new physio group and STOOD with only a bit of support for 15 MINUTES playing with paint!!!!!!!! What a way to celebrate Down’s Syndrome Day don’t you think!!
Wow that’s awesome!!
How old is Harry by the way? What’s he up to now?
Love your video.. Noah is such a darling..!
@e6eac8929334e84597b0aac8d30434cb:disqus Thank you very much!
LOVE Noah (& you). He brings a smile to my face daily. Thank you for sharing w/all of us.
@0f6bc20aceb238ea1ece2daef4f7a75b:disqus Thank you for taking the time comment and encourage us!
I teach children with Down’s Syndrome, they are a joy in my life!
@bae2208b3f10a629c1fbfcc0844312c2:disqus Very cool. Thanks for sharing. What age range, and what subjects do you teach?
Thanks for all you do to impact the next generation of leaders!
My son has Down syndrome. I’m confused. Is this blog about you (Noah’s dad) or Noah? Why is it called Noah’s dad? Do you call him Noah’s Dad’s son? Weird. anyway, I also noticed lots of splicing/editing in the video; is that how you live your life with your boy with Down syndrome? Anyway, interesting.
@4826f87f3d4881d51cf84565cac8e0a9:disqus Thanks for your comment. I can see how the name of our site could be a bit confusing. The site is about our son who was born with Down syndrome, and I’m his dad, thus “Noah’s Dad.” “Noah.com” wasn’t available as a domain, so I figured since I was his dad, and I’d be writing most of the content, Noah’s Dad made since. (I wish Noah.com was available though, that would be awesome!) And I just call him Noah. I’m sorry of the name of the site confused you, and I’m not that creative and NoahsDad.com was the best I could come up with.
The site’s goal is to give the world an inside look at what life is like raising a child with Down syndrome via a daily one minute video. I’m rarely in any of the videos, and don’t really write about myself much in the posts. Today’s video was a bit different than the typical video on this site since I wanted to create something about World Down Syndrome Day, and Noah isn’t really talking yet. (Although I’m pretty sure I heard him say “bye, bye” the other day. 🙂
In regard to the video, I try to edit all of our videos somehow. Usually that involves making some simple jump cuts to pace the video a bit. In the case of this video it was shot in the evening time after Noah had dinner so he was a little cranky. Therefore I had to wade through the footage I was able to get in order to piece together this video. It’s not going to win an Emmy that’s for sure, but we had lots of fun making it, and I think overall people enjoyed it, and I can’t ask for much more than that.
I’m not sure what you meant by “is that the way [you] live life with [your] boy with Down syndrome?” Your question was int the context of asking me about why there were so many jump cuts in today’s video. Sorry if I misunderstood your question.
I hope that answers your questions, and gives you a better understanding about our site. How old is your son by the way? Feel free to post a picture of your son / family if you’d like.
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and letting me try to answer your questions. Please let me know if you have any other ones. I look forward to learning more about you and your family.
You seem angry. Is this how you live your life? This is a form of therapy for this gentlemen and others who check out the site. I too have a daughter who is 9 with DS and she is the joy of my life. Life is short -have fun. Jessica’s Dad
This video made me smile and brightened my day! What a sweet boy you have – my son Lukas is about the same age (16 months) and it appears all boys are busy at this age!!
@google-906cff9ac271851d6da3aa431855ab3f:disqus Thanks so much for the kind words! And how cool that Noah and Lukas (cool way to spell Lukas by the way!) are pretty much the same age.
Where are you guys from?
Bummer~~there’s no sound. 🙁
Not sure what you mean? The sound works fine for me.
Rick, thanks for bringing this to everyone’s attention. I am interested in the young man holding Noah. My son Billy, who has Down syndrome, is 56. Is this young man about that age? He is a fine looking man; so is Billy.
Billy spreads the awareness of Down syndrome in his job at a grocery store, where he has people who will only go through his line. They say he always makes them feel happier. He also ushers in church and is put on the usher list almost every Sunday. The leaders say they can always depend upon him.
Visit us at http://www.grownmannow.com.
By the way, did you hear that the oldest man with Down syndrome has died? He was 83 years old.You can see it on http://www.disabilityscoop.com
My nephew has downsydorme
I’VE WORK WITH PEOPLE WITH DOWN SYNDROME.THEY ARE THE WOUNDERFULL MADE BY OUR LORD THEY HAVE SUCH LOVE IN THEIR HEART FOR EVERYBODY. I SUPPORT DOWN SYNDROME DAY. I LOVE ALL CHILDREN THEY GIFT OF LIFE NO CHILD SHOULD FELL THAT THEY ARE REJECTED .GOD DOES’NT MAKE JUNK.
Noah is an absolute angel. My son is autistic and I do have some friends whose children have down syndrome. Thank you for educating me. Please hug your sweet angel for me.
Natasha, Thanks for the kind words, but as I mentioned here, he’s really not an angel. 🙂
http://noahsdad.com/down-syndrome-angels/
I love the video, it’great. I celebrated for my son, Luke, 9m, on World Syndrome Day and the students that I work with. I wore a shirt that said, World Down Syndrome Day, and one of the students came up to with a big smile and said proudly “Hey, that’s me, I have Down Syndrome”.
Wow, that’s very cool. Do you guys have any other children? Where are you guys from?
I”m enjoying being Noahs dad. We have a ton of fun. 🙂
My Joseph is 10 and a half years old and I did not know there was a World Down Syndrome Day until today and so I missed it by 2 weeks. No worries, everyday is a celebration with little Joe in our lives. I joined your FB page when your article bringing international awareness toTarget’s special model went viril and a thoughtful friend shared it will me. We are finally getting Target stores up here in the near north and I look forward to supporting a big company who see all children for what they are, just beautiful. I want to thank you for all your commitment and hard work putting together one site that is not only provides valuable resources it also showcases insights and uplifting stories for all to read. I love the t-shirt but my Joey is in his “blue” years right now 😉 ox
This World Downs Syndrome day the Lord blesed us with the birth of our little Karis Mira! I was just directed to you log today and already am so thankful for your writing it!!! (her name… Karis, means unmerrited Grace or favor… Mira means peace… We named her before she was born and before we knew she had an extra chromosome…) what a wonderful resource you have here, I have so enjoyed reading your posts… Probably too much… I’d best go get dinner out of the oven before it s burned!
Thanks so much for leaving your comment! How did you find out about our site? Where are you guys from?
I’m looking forward to learning more about your story. 🙂