Sunday rolls on

Cora spent the day traveling along the floor, pulling dvd's off the bottom shelf of a bookcase and staring anyone down who was eating.  Her antics brought me such joy that at one point tears filled my eyes.  I was filled with such love and understanding for this child.  I watched her roll this way and that way.  I saw her reach up, grab a dvd and put both hands on the dvd to look at the colors of the case.  I could see the concentration in her eyes and the determination in the direction of her rolls.  She was totally engrossed in whatever had caught her curiosity and gave her the next direction of her rolling to discover what it was that had needed her discovery.

At one point I was so tickled with her abilities that I clapped my hands and told her how proud of her I was and just laughed at the look on her face.  Cora gave me the biggest smile and a little "hoot hoot" a bunch of happy leg kicks and her blue eyes just sparkled with her laughter.

It brought me to tears for the simple fact that she, in these moments today, was exactly like my other children.  She wasn't an infant with Down syndrome.  She wasn't an infant with special needs.  There was nothing different about Cora than any of my other children.  She was a ten month old baby who was enthralled with her world and determined to explore everything she could get too.  Normal??  Yep.  Average??  Yep. 

I am reminded so often (by others) that Cora has Down syndrome and what I need to do or not to do for her and her care and her well being.  I am always aware of her needs, whether it be subconsciously or consciously.  Today I was gifted with a time of normalcy and no reminders.  Today I was gifted with an absolutely astounding normal moment.  That, my friends, is what brought tears to my eyes and filled my heart with overflowing gratitude.  The sparkling blue eyes were an added bonus.