Nichole is 5 Weeks Old!

Time flies by! I cannot believe that Nichole is already five weeks old. Life with a second child is finally becoming more "normal" since we are getting in more of a routine.

Well, first things first. Nichole got her blood checked on Wednesday. As of today (Friday). I had not heard from the doctor in Mayo so I called. They told me they had not received the results from Charles City, so we called her doctor in town thinking maybe they got sent to him instead. Well, they did, and we know that her numbers continue to go down (which is good). I called the Charles City lab and the lady that works there said that she personally had sent the repot to Mayo on Wednesday, so I suppose it is a waiting game for us from their end. We are just happy that Nichole is doing better.

I have been doing some research on the internet about Down syndrome. As a mom, I better be an expert on my daughter, right? I came across a poem by Erma Bombeck. I thought she was just a regular mom witha child with Downs, but then Andy mentioned she was actually a well known writer (I suppose she was not big enough to be known in Mexican literature). This is just the end of her poem, it is God speaking to an angel...

"There is a woman that I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a 'spoken word.' She will never consider a 'step' ordinary. When her child says 'momma' for the first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a tree or a sunset to her child, she will see it as few people see my creations.

I will permit her to see clearly the things I see---ignorance, cruelty, prejudice---and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."

I realize some of what she wrote was in a time when people with Downs were not welcome or included in society. Things have changed, but I have already experienced some of the ignorance that she mentioned. I was once of of them! But what an honor to be that woman, and what a strength to know that God will be with me every minute of every day for as long as I stay by His side.

Nichole is alrady teaching us that we really do not know what to expect. She is our "low muscle tone" baby, but she can roll over! She did at 19 days, and on her month birthday she started doing it regularly. She can lift her head and body even better that Ellie could at her age. Wow, so little, and yet she has already taught us so much.
Our beautiful girls. Ellie continues to be a great big sister. She asks people if they want to see her baby sister. She hugs and kisses her all the time. Yesterday at the library a little girl tried to touch Nichole (more like pull on her). Ellie looked at her and shook her finger, "No, no." What a great sister.
This is Ellie's friend "Pam." We have no idea where she got the name from other than one of her Sunday School teachers is Pam, but we never heard her say her name before (sorry Pam, but she must really like you)
She gets kissed by mommy all the time. Ellie is now old enough that she can say "No kisses mommy." So I better enjoy kissing Nichole until she can say that. Luckily for me, it might take a little longer that it did with Ellie :)