Best Friends

This is Jack with his best friend, Ellie.  Ellie is about 6 months younger than him and about half his size :-)  We do music speech therapy with Ellie (and her Mama Anna) on Monday, usually see them for playgroup on Wednesday, and then we try to see each other sometime over the weekend too.  

 These two monkeys play quite well together. 

It's mostly parallel play, which is playing next to each other and is the first step in interacting with peers.  They are both getting good at sharing and taking turns.  When they come to the house Jack will even say, "Ellie, share, turns" and even if he has to be reminded of it, he does well considering he's a toddler and so does she.

He even shared his swing, which is a big step for him given it is his favorite thing! 

Anna and I met at the church mom's group and have been friends ever since.  And Jack LOVES Anna!  In fact sometimes I'm not allowed to help him, only Anna will do.

They definitely can make a mess together too!  

But they love on each other as well.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Ellie has Down Syndrome and she rocks her extra chromosome.  It's one of those things that I forget sometimes because when I look at Ellie, I don't see a little girl with Downs Syndrome, I see Jack's best friend.  I see a spunky, sassy toddler who loves to run and play.  I see a little girl who defies her mother whenever possible, who can climb anything, and who loves to explore the world around her.

It has been such a joy to watch her language development explode right along with Jack's over the last several months.  She signs like crazy now and is building her vocabulary.  And I can not even tell you how wonderful it is to have a mama friend who really gets what it's like to have a child with special needs.  Our kids may have totally separate diagnoses, but she gets what it's like to have a child that others see as different.  And she knows the huge joy and pride there is in the small accomplishments as well as the worry that come along with the whole package.

We love you Ellie Bear!

Today is World Down Syndrome Day.  It also marks one year since I had my D&C of the baby that I was told likely had some form of chromosomal abnormality.  I will forever wonder if I have a baby with down syndrome waiting for me in heaven.   

Visit Ellie's blog!