Re: New Member introduction

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the group! My name is Angel...I JUST moved away from Lancaster,

CA, to Utah. I have 6 children.... #3, , has MDS. is 13 now, and

also has a bowel disease, called Hirschsprung's Disease. It can be hard to

tell another parent about what their MDS child might be like....there can be

SOOO many differences, and many of them HUGE differences. Of course the

parenting matters, and the resources they've had matter... the percentage of

cells with the trisomy 21... etc...

how much do you know about the little boy??

Look forward to hearing more!!

~~ANGEL~~

mom to , 13, MDS/HD

Lance 18, Ty 14, 12

Jaeda 10 & Shayne 4

[Guest guest]

Hi

It is quite a big step for you and your wife to adopt two children at once! I

wish you the best of luck!

International Mosaic Down Syndrome Association (IMDSA) is the only

organization in the world that has information on mosaic Down syndrome. If you

visit our website you can find our information sheets and brochure. We hope to

add more information in the coming months to help everyone better understand

mosaic Down syndrome.

Because a person with MDS has a varying percent of affected cells, it is very

difficult to tell you " this is how it is going to be " So, I can tell you some

basics and I know that other parents will join in with their experiences.

The majority of children with MDS have speech difficulties. Speech Therapy

can help and sometimes remedy this problem.

The majority of children with MDS have motor skill difficulties. Occupational

Therapy and/or Physical Therapy can help and sometimes remedy this problem.

There are some health risks that people with MDS can face. These are the same

health risks that a person with Down syndrome faces because the person with MDS

has at least " some " affected cells. An annual check up with your doctor will

help keep your child healthy.

Learning difficulties vary drastically between each individual. Some need

special education while others need no help at all. Math seems to be the biggest

problem with the majority of children with MDS, while most report that their

children love to read and write and do it well!

Some " good " qualities...

Out of my 5 sons, my son with MDS was the ONLY one who didn't rebel in the

teenage years! lol (I hear this from many other parents who have kids with MDS

too)

Having a child with Special Needs changes your life. Not the way that you

expect...Yes, your life is possibly more busy with therapy and medical

appointments (if necessary) but your life changes because you never take a

simple thing for granted. When your child reaches even the smallest milestone

you and your wife will rejoice! You become more compassionate and passionate

about things that you never thought were important before.

My son, Tim, says that he is glad he has mosaic Down syndrome because without

it, he wouldn't be the person he is today....What he doesn't realize is without

him having mosaic Down syndrome *I* wouldn't be the person I am today!

Please feel free to ask any questions you have! No question is a dumb question

and we will all be very happy to answer them for you!

Kristy Colvin

IMDSA President

Mom to Arron 25, 21, Tim 20 MDS, Stevan 19 and Garrett 10

THE ONLY HANDICAP A PERSON HAS ARE THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM! 'TM'

www.imdsa.com

wrote:

Hello -

My name is , I am from Artesia, CA and I work as a web

programmer.

My wife and I are currently in process of adopting a girl from China.

However, we have been given the opportunity to adopt a baby boy here in the

states who has been diagnosed with MDS. We are still in the thinking

process of doing this, and we are not going to give up on our China

adoption, so we would be doing this in tandem.

The internet, which usually serves me so well, seems to have very limited

information on MDS, so I am looking for information... I would be eager to

read the experiences of those who have parented MDS children and get more

information on what my wife and I could expect if we went ahead with this

adoption.

You may feel free to look through our adoption blog, which discusses only

our china adoption, but it will give you a perspective on who we are.

Thanks

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the welcome..

Here is the information that I have presently. This was sent to me via

email. I have not communicated directly with the grandmother since we don't

want to get anyone's hopes up until we know that we can handle all the

facets of this decision...

>>Begin quote <<

As to the questions, I'm not sure I understand everything yet but he is at

present a state-owned child.  We will be fostering him so I think the state

will retain custody.  My daughter will have her rights terminated in April

if she continues to ignore the court ordered process to regain custody.  My

husband and I are willing to do whatever we can to facilitate adoption by

your family as long as they are agreeable to our visiting and having family

time with the child.  The case worker I have been dealing with is very

helpful and sensitive to our concerns as well as the happiness of our little

grandson.  I forgot to mention that the child will also get social

security.  The amount depends on the income of the adoptive family (as least

that is my understanding) until he reaches 18 then it will be the usual

amount allowed by the government.  That being said, our aim is to find a

truly loving and spiritually prosperous home for this little guy.  Another

way we can help is by being available to care for him if his new parents

need a vacation or a break.  He is a very sweet young man and with the right

motivation he will prosper.  A little more on his condition-I don't know yet

what percentage of his cells are affected but from what I've read on Mosaic

Down Syndrome he should be perfectly able to attend regular classes and

graduate from high school and will be capable of living on his own and

caring for himself.  ... Back to the MDS, the usual concern with these

individuals is that they can have heart problems, however the child has been

tested and has none of the typical problems.  He does have dry skin and some

muscle weakness, hence the physical therapy, but we're working hard to get

him walking and exercising in the next couple of months.  He can stand on

his own and cruises around the furniture like any other kid.  He crawls

amazingly fast and knows exactly where he is going.  If I can provide

further information let me know please.  I'll pass along what I learn from

DHS as I get more information.  We expect to have him in our home full time

by the end of this month.  Thanks so much for your help and input! 

>> End Quote <<

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

>

> Reply-To: <MosaicDS >

> Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:52:54 EST

> To: <MosaicDS >

> Subject: Re: New Member introduction

>

> Welcome to the group! My name is Angel...I JUST moved away from Lancaster,

> CA, to Utah. I have 6 children.... #3, , has MDS. is 13 now, and

> also has a bowel disease, called Hirschsprung's Disease. It can be hard to

> tell another parent about what their MDS child might be like....there can be

> SOOO many differences, and many of them HUGE differences. Of course the

> parenting matters, and the resources they've had matter... the percentage

> of

> cells with the trisomy 21... etc...

>

> how much do you know about the little boy??

>

> Look forward to hearing more!!

[Guest guest]

Thank you!!!

This is excellent information. I have checked out the IMDSA site, but will

give it a more thorough look through..

<?php

/*

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

continuing the struggle against bad code

*/

?>

>

> Reply-To: <MosaicDS >

> Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:11:14 -0800 (PST)

> To: <MosaicDS >

> Subject: Re: New Member introduction

>

> Hi

> It is quite a big step for you and your wife to adopt two children at once!

> I wish you the best of luck!

>

> International Mosaic Down Syndrome Association (IMDSA) is the only

> organization in the world that has information on mosaic Down syndrome. If you

> visit our website you can find our information sheets and brochure. We hope to

> add more information in the coming months to help everyone better understand

> mosaic Down syndrome.

>

> Because a person with MDS has a varying percent of affected cells, it is

> very difficult to tell you " this is how it is going to be " So, I can tell you

> some basics and I know that other parents will join in with their experiences.

>

>

> The majority of children with MDS have speech difficulties. Speech Therapy

> can help and sometimes remedy this problem.

> The majority of children with MDS have motor skill difficulties.

> Occupational Therapy and/or Physical Therapy can help and sometimes remedy

> this problem.

> There are some health risks that people with MDS can face. These are the

> same health risks that a person with Down syndrome faces because the person

> with MDS has at least " some " affected cells. An annual check up with your

> doctor will help keep your child healthy.

> Learning difficulties vary drastically between each individual. Some need

> special education while others need no help at all. Math seems to be the

> biggest problem with the majority of children with MDS, while most report that

> their children love to read and write and do it well!

> Some " good " qualities...

>

> Out of my 5 sons, my son with MDS was the ONLY one who didn't rebel in the

> teenage years! lol (I hear this from many other parents who have kids with MDS

> too)

> Having a child with Special Needs changes your life. Not the way that you

> expect...Yes, your life is possibly more busy with therapy and medical

> appointments (if necessary) but your life changes because you never take a

> simple thing for granted. When your child reaches even the smallest milestone

> you and your wife will rejoice! You become more compassionate and passionate

> about things that you never thought were important before.

> My son, Tim, says that he is glad he has mosaic Down syndrome because without

> it, he wouldn't be the person he is today....What he doesn't realize is

> without him having mosaic Down syndrome *I* wouldn't be the person I am today!

> Please feel free to ask any questions you have! No question is a dumb

> question and we will all be very happy to answer them for you!

>

> Kristy Colvin

> IMDSA President

> Mom to Arron 25, 21, Tim 20 MDS, Stevan 19 and Garrett 10

> THE ONLY HANDICAP A PERSON HAS ARE THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM! 'TM'

> www.imdsa.com

>

>

[Guest guest]

I know my son, even though he has a bowel disease as well....has been very

healthy. Even with the bowel condition, we don't have to have any special

diets, etc.... individuals with Down's generally have a weaker immune system,

and can catch more colds, etc.... but when you get into MDS, that may or may not

be an issue...

I feel compelled to respond to one of the grandmothers comments...about how

because he's mosaic, he should be able to attend regular classes, and graduate

hs, and live on his own...etc.... That is really such an UNKNOWN. She

may be repeating what doctors, and people are telling her, I know I had

doctors spouting things off when my son was diagnosed, about how much higher

functioning he'd be, etc... so I didn't do things with him, like, sign

language,

as a toddler........well, it wasn't the case that he was " so much more higher

functioning " , and the poor lil guy couldn't communicate with us at home, and

became a very frustrated little boy!! NOW, not that many children, even in

our group, with MDS, are very high functioning.... I know there are many who

get thru school with nothing more than a resource class or two, or an

aide....but you just can't know those things until you get to that point~~

every

MDS child is unique, and individual....and have their own talents, and their

own weaknesses, etc.

My son, as i said, is 13 now, and he's in an 8th grade special ed class. At

this point, we are focusing more on life skills, than " academics " . is

more academically delayed than a LOT of the children on this board. Now, I

often suspect there may be something else going on with him, but I haven't

had much luck getting people to see " beyond " his MDS, and they want to

attribute everything to. doesn't read, but has a few sight words...he

has

learned to do math on a calculator... but he's NEVER been a behavior

problem....

he's well liked everywhere he goes...makes friends...he's typically 13 in the

girl department, as he loves to tell me about the pretty girls at school,

and says he wants a girlfriend, ha.... he's good friends with his brothers....

he can play the HECK out of some video games!!! He is obsessed with all

things Spiderman, and has the 2 most recent movies, completely memorized, and

can act out the entire movie as he watches them!!! He has quite a sense of

humor....he's a really good kid!!! Will he ever drive? I have no idea...

probably not. Will he ever live on his own? wow.... i can't really imagine

that. Will he work? That I believe he can do, and will probably LOVE. Will

he ever marry or have children......... NO idea....

~~ANGEL~~

mom to , 13, MDS/HD

Lance 18, Ty 14, 12

Jaeda 10 & Shayne 4

[Guest guest]

Plain unaltered " Shea Butter " works very well on the dry skin.

You will need to determine whether or not the child has any allergies or

sensitivities; gluten is a problem with some children. (That just means you have

to use different kinds of flour when cooking and the child can still eat

unlimited meats, vegetables, and fruits in their unaltered state-without gluten

additives like sauces.) <That is really not a big deal and a healthy lifestyle

change for most people anyways.>

You may find also that the percentage of cells with Trisomy 21 lessen as the

child grows older and this is normal.

Kristy gave you some of the worst case scenarios; you may have little to no

issues.

Muscle tone can improve with therapy, as can speech.

The fact that you are willing to adopt ANY child that someone else saw a problem

with keeping and raising is VERY commendable.

Treat any child you adopt with the same LOVE, CARE, and CONCERN that you would

your own child. It is that simple and easy.

We all here wish you the best of luck in raising your children and we will

always be here to offer you help and advice along the way.

To: MosaicDS@...: stephen@...: Wed, 20 Dec 2006

12:32:58 -0800Subject: Re: New Member introduction

Thanks for the welcome..Here is the information that I have presently. This was

sent to me viaemail. I have not communicated directly with the grandmother since

we don'twant to get anyone's hopes up until we know that we can handle all

thefacets of this decision...>>Begin quote << As to the questions, I'm not sure

I understand everything yet but he is atpresent a state-owned child. We will be

fostering him so I think the statewill retain custody. My daughter will have

her rights terminated in Aprilif she continues to ignore the court ordered

process to regain custody. Myhusband and I are willing to do whatever we can to

facilitate adoption byyour family as long as they are agreeable to our visiting

and having familytime with the child. The case worker I have been dealing with

is veryhelpful and sensitive to our concerns as well as the happiness of our

littlegrandson. I forgot to mention that the child will also get

socialsecurity. The amount depends on the income of the adoptive family (as

leastthat is my understanding) until he reaches 18 then it will be the

usualamount allowed by the government. That being said, our aim is to find

atruly loving and spiritually prosperous home for this little guy. Anotherway

we can help is by being available to care for him if his new parentsneed a

vacation or a break. He is a very sweet young man and with the rightmotivation

he will prosper. A little more on his condition-I don't know yetwhat percentage

of his cells are affected but from what I've read on MosaicDown Syndrome he

should be perfectly able to attend regular classes andgraduate from high school

and will be capable of living on his own andcaring for himself. ... Back to the

MDS, the usual concern with theseindividuals is that they can have heart

problems, however the child has beentested and has none of the typical problems.

He does have dry skin and somemuscle weakness, hence the physical therapy, but

we're working hard to gethim walking and exercising in the next couple of

months. He can stand onhis own and cruises around the furniture like any other

kid. He crawlsamazingly fast and knows exactly where he is going. If I can

providefurther information let me know please. I'll pass along what I learn

fromDHS as I get more information. We expect to have him in our home full

timeby the end of this month. Thanks so much for your help and input! >> End

Quote << -- c | ehThe Lone

Coderhttp://www.ouradoptionblog.comJoin our journey of

adoptionhttp://www.thelonecoder.comstephenthelonecoder> From:

> Reply-To: <MosaicDS >> Date: Wed, 20 Dec

2006 14:52:54 EST> To: <MosaicDS >> Subject: Re: New Member

introduction> > Welcome to the group! My name is Angel...I JUST moved away from

Lancaster,> CA, to Utah. I have 6 children.... #3, , has MDS. is 13

now, and> also has a bowel disease, called Hirschsprung's Disease. It can be

hard to> tell another parent about what their MDS child might be like....there

can be> SOOO many differences, and many of them HUGE differences. Of course the>

parenting matters, and the resources they've had matter... the percentage> of >

cells with the trisomy 21... etc...> > how much do you know about the little

boy??> > Look forward to hearing more!!

_________________________________________________________________

Get into the holiday spirit, chat with Santa on Messenger.

http://imagine-windowslive.com/minisites/santabot/default.aspx?locale=en-us

[Guest guest]

just jumping in here....but was about 5ish before we started being

able to " converse " . Now... there still aren't many conversations, but I

think

it's just cause he's a quiet guy...not that he's not able, cause he talks a

lot when he WANTS to (reenacting a movie, or while playing video games...etc)

~~ANGEL~~

mom to , 13, MDS/HD

Lance 18, Ty 14, 12

Jaeda 10 & Shayne 4

[Guest guest]

Stephan,

As with any child every expierience is different, but I can share with you our

expierience with raising Mahrya. Mahrya is our 6th child and really not a whole

lot different than the rest of the crew. She walked at 13 months old (which is

early for mds) and met all her physical milestones. She was speech delayed, but

at this point (she is 10) can hold conversations with you. She does have

cognitive delays, math is very difficult for her, yet she can add and subtract.

She loves to read. She began reading in kindergarten and is my only child who

will sneak her bedroom light on after being tucked in so she can read longer.

She believes herself to be a princess and will sometimes even answer the phone

" Hello, Princess Mahrya speaking " . She loves to dress up, and also is a

performer. For a while she told us she needed an agent as she was going to be a

star. As you can see she is pretty much a typical little girl. She will

continue to need special ed at school, but

here in WI she is mainstreamed with all the other kids, but has an aid or

special ed teacher with her in the classroom for the core subjects. I really

can't imagine her not being in our lives.

Luanne Eckert mom to Mahrya 10 mds, Ben 11, Alan 18, Sandy 20, Steve 22, Dan

23

wrote:

Hello -

My name is , I am from Artesia, CA and I work as a web

programmer.

My wife and I are currently in process of adopting a girl from China.

However, we have been given the opportunity to adopt a baby boy here in the

states who has been diagnosed with MDS. We are still in the thinking

process of doing this, and we are not going to give up on our China

adoption, so we would be doing this in tandem.

The internet, which usually serves me so well, seems to have very limited

information on MDS, so I am looking for information... I would be eager to

read the experiences of those who have parented MDS children and get more

information on what my wife and I could expect if we went ahead with this

adoption.

You may feel free to look through our adoption blog, which discusses only

our china adoption, but it will give you a perspective on who we are.

Thanks

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Good Morning Luanne.

My name is Bobbie, I live in Cameron, WI (northwestern). I was just wondering

what city you live in.

Bobbie, mom to Shyanna (10-MDS & Shayla 7)

Re: New Member introduction

Stephan,

As with any child every expierience is different, but I can share with you our

expierience with raising Mahrya. Mahrya is our 6th child and really not a whole

lot different than the rest of the crew. She walked at 13 months old (which is

early for mds) and met all her physical milestones. She was speech delayed, but

at this point (she is 10) can hold conversations with you. She does have

cognitive delays, math is very difficult for her, yet she can add and subtract.

She loves to read. She began reading in kindergarten and is my only child who

will sneak her bedroom light on after being tucked in so she can read longer.

She believes herself to be a princess and will sometimes even answer the phone

" Hello, Princess Mahrya speaking " . She loves to dress up, and also is a

performer. For a while she told us she needed an agent as she was going to be a

star. As you can see she is pretty much a typical little girl. She will continue

to need special ed at school, but

here in WI she is mainstreamed with all the other kids, but has an aid or

special ed teacher with her in the classroom for the core subjects. I really

can't imagine her not being in our lives.

Luanne Eckert mom to Mahrya 10 mds, Ben 11, Alan 18, Sandy 20, Steve 22, Dan

23

wrote:

Hello -

My name is , I am from Artesia, CA and I work as a web

programmer.

My wife and I are currently in process of adopting a girl from China.

However, we have been given the opportunity to adopt a baby boy here in the

states who has been diagnosed with MDS. We are still in the thinking

process of doing this, and we are not going to give up on our China

adoption, so we would be doing this in tandem.

The internet, which usually serves me so well, seems to have very limited

information on MDS, so I am looking for information... I would be eager to

read the experiences of those who have parented MDS children and get more

information on what my wife and I could expect if we went ahead with this

adoption.

You may feel free to look through our adoption blog, which discusses only

our china adoption, but it will give you a perspective on who we are.

Thanks

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Luanne

Just a quick question. When you say Mahrya was speech delayed, at what age

was she able to carry on a conversation? Just curious because Adam is 4 1/2 and

he still doesn't talk much. He will use short phrases to express wants and

needs - " want milk " " sit down " , but he cannot carry on any kind of a

conversation. He really doesn't answer any questions unless he has an answer

that he memorized. For example, if I ask him how is the weather?, he will

always say " it's cloudy " whether it is sunny or cloudy because he has memorized

an apporpriate answer for this question.

Donna - gram to Adam 4 1/2, Skylar 4 1/2 and Mia 3 weeks

Luanne Eckert wrote:

Stephan,

As with any child every expierience is different, but I can share with you our

expierience with raising Mahrya. Mahrya is our 6th child and really not a whole

lot different than the rest of the crew. She walked at 13 months old (which is

early for mds) and met all her physical milestones. She was speech delayed, but

at this point (she is 10) can hold conversations with you. She does have

cognitive delays, math is very difficult for her, yet she can add and subtract.

She loves to read. She began reading in kindergarten and is my only child who

will sneak her bedroom light on after being tucked in so she can read longer.

She believes herself to be a princess and will sometimes even answer the phone

" Hello, Princess Mahrya speaking " . She loves to dress up, and also is a

performer. For a while she told us she needed an agent as she was going to be a

star. As you can see she is pretty much a typical little girl. She will continue

to need special ed at school, but

here in WI she is mainstreamed with all the other kids, but has an aid or

special ed teacher with her in the classroom for the core subjects. I really

can't imagine her not being in our lives.

Luanne Eckert mom to Mahrya 10 mds, Ben 11, Alan 18, Sandy 20, Steve 22, Dan 23

wrote:

Hello -

My name is , I am from Artesia, CA and I work as a web

programmer.

My wife and I are currently in process of adopting a girl from China.

However, we have been given the opportunity to adopt a baby boy here in the

states who has been diagnosed with MDS. We are still in the thinking

process of doing this, and we are not going to give up on our China

adoption, so we would be doing this in tandem.

The internet, which usually serves me so well, seems to have very limited

information on MDS, so I am looking for information... I would be eager to

read the experiences of those who have parented MDS children and get more

information on what my wife and I could expect if we went ahead with this

adoption.

You may feel free to look through our adoption blog, which discusses only

our china adoption, but it will give you a perspective on who we are.

Thanks

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Donna

I would like to speak a little on this as well. When Tim was a little guy, I

went through a program called " It Takes Two to Talk " from the Hanen Centre in

Canada. http://www.hanen.org/ This program was beyond excellent and Tim began

having conversations within a short 9 months time! Basically, it is just a new

way to play with your child. Dr. Mac in Ohio has a very similar

program called Communicating Partners. (I am considering asking him to join us

at our next conference) I firmly believe in this program and think that the

results (at least for Tim) are phenominal! If you would like to check out his

site it is www.jamesdmacdonald.org

Kristy

Donna Spudic wrote:

Luanne

Just a quick question. When you say Mahrya was speech delayed, at what age was

she able to carry on a conversation? Just curious because Adam is 4 1/2 and he

still doesn't talk much. He will use short phrases to express wants and needs -

" want milk " " sit down " , but he cannot carry on any kind of a conversation. He

really doesn't answer any questions unless he has an answer that he memorized.

For example, if I ask him how is the weather?, he will always say " it's cloudy "

whether it is sunny or cloudy because he has memorized an apporpriate answer for

this question.

Donna - gram to Adam 4 1/2, Skylar 4 1/2 and Mia 3 weeks

Luanne Eckert wrote:

Stephan,

As with any child every expierience is different, but I can share with you our

expierience with raising Mahrya. Mahrya is our 6th child and really not a whole

lot different than the rest of the crew. She walked at 13 months old (which is

early for mds) and met all her physical milestones. She was speech delayed, but

at this point (she is 10) can hold conversations with you. She does have

cognitive delays, math is very difficult for her, yet she can add and subtract.

She loves to read. She began reading in kindergarten and is my only child who

will sneak her bedroom light on after being tucked in so she can read longer.

She believes herself to be a princess and will sometimes even answer the phone

" Hello, Princess Mahrya speaking " . She loves to dress up, and also is a

performer. For a while she told us she needed an agent as she was going to be a

star. As you can see she is pretty much a typical little girl. She will continue

to need special ed at school, but

here in WI she is mainstreamed with all the other kids, but has an aid or

special ed teacher with her in the classroom for the core subjects. I really

can't imagine her not being in our lives.

Luanne Eckert mom to Mahrya 10 mds, Ben 11, Alan 18, Sandy 20, Steve 22, Dan 23

wrote:

Hello -

My name is , I am from Artesia, CA and I work as a web

programmer.

My wife and I are currently in process of adopting a girl from China.

However, we have been given the opportunity to adopt a baby boy here in the

states who has been diagnosed with MDS. We are still in the thinking

process of doing this, and we are not going to give up on our China

adoption, so we would be doing this in tandem.

The internet, which usually serves me so well, seems to have very limited

information on MDS, so I am looking for information... I would be eager to

read the experiences of those who have parented MDS children and get more

information on what my wife and I could expect if we went ahead with this

adoption.

You may feel free to look through our adoption blog, which discusses only

our china adoption, but it will give you a perspective on who we are.

Thanks

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Welcome, . It is an absolutely wonderful thing what you are doing. My

husband and I live on Long Island and have a wonderful 11 month-old little girl

named Mia.

Good luck.

I also want to welcome the other new members that I may have missed the past

couple of weeks!!

Kim

Mom to Mia 11 mos old MDS

Re: New Member introduction

>

> Welcome to the group! My name is Angel...I JUST moved away from Lancaster,

> CA, to Utah. I have 6 children.... #3, , has MDS. is 13 now, and

> also has a bowel disease, called Hirschsprung's Disease. It can be hard to

> tell another parent about what their MDS child might be like....there can be

> SOOO many differences, and many of them HUGE differences. Of course the

> parenting matters, and the resources they've had matter... the percentage

> of

> cells with the trisomy 21... etc...

>

> how much do you know about the little boy??

>

> Look forward to hearing more!!

[Guest guest]

Hi Bobbie,

We live near Kewaskum, which is about 45 min north of Milwaukee. I'll have to

pull out a map to see where Cameron is....

Luanne

Bobbie Mayfield wrote:

Good Morning Luanne.

My name is Bobbie, I live in Cameron, WI (northwestern). I was just wondering

what city you live in.

Bobbie, mom to Shyanna (10-MDS & Shayla 7)

Re: New Member introduction

Stephan,

As with any child every expierience is different, but I can share with you our

expierience with raising Mahrya. Mahrya is our 6th child and really not a whole

lot different than the rest of the crew. She walked at 13 months old (which is

early for mds) and met all her physical milestones. She was speech delayed, but

at this point (she is 10) can hold conversations with you. She does have

cognitive delays, math is very difficult for her, yet she can add and subtract.

She loves to read. She began reading in kindergarten and is my only child who

will sneak her bedroom light on after being tucked in so she can read longer.

She believes herself to be a princess and will sometimes even answer the phone

" Hello, Princess Mahrya speaking " . She loves to dress up, and also is a

performer. For a while she told us she needed an agent as she was going to be a

star. As you can see she is pretty much a typical little girl. She will continue

to need special ed at school, but

here in WI she is mainstreamed with all the other kids, but has an aid or

special ed teacher with her in the classroom for the core subjects. I really

can't imagine her not being in our lives.

Luanne Eckert mom to Mahrya 10 mds, Ben 11, Alan 18, Sandy 20, Steve 22, Dan 23

wrote:

Hello -

My name is , I am from Artesia, CA and I work as a web

programmer.

My wife and I are currently in process of adopting a girl from China.

However, we have been given the opportunity to adopt a baby boy here in the

states who has been diagnosed with MDS. We are still in the thinking

process of doing this, and we are not going to give up on our China

adoption, so we would be doing this in tandem.

The internet, which usually serves me so well, seems to have very limited

information on MDS, so I am looking for information... I would be eager to

read the experiences of those who have parented MDS children and get more

information on what my wife and I could expect if we went ahead with this

adoption.

You may feel free to look through our adoption blog, which discusses only

our china adoption, but it will give you a perspective on who we are.

Thanks

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Taxing my brain here.....I think she was in kindergartenish, and it started out

with easy answers like you mentioned and just grew from there. Of course she is

a typical female with LOTS to say now and can monopolize dinner conversation if

we let her.

Donna Spudic wrote: Luanne

Just a quick question. When you say Mahrya was speech delayed, at what age was

she able to carry on a conversation? Just curious because Adam is 4 1/2 and he

still doesn't talk much. He will use short phrases to express wants and needs -

" want milk " " sit down " , but he cannot carry on any kind of a conversation. He

really doesn't answer any questions unless he has an answer that he memorized.

For example, if I ask him how is the weather?, he will always say " it's cloudy "

whether it is sunny or cloudy because he has memorized an apporpriate answer for

this question.

Donna - gram to Adam 4 1/2, Skylar 4 1/2 and Mia 3 weeks

Luanne Eckert wrote:

Stephan,

As with any child every expierience is different, but I can share with you our

expierience with raising Mahrya. Mahrya is our 6th child and really not a whole

lot different than the rest of the crew. She walked at 13 months old (which is

early for mds) and met all her physical milestones. She was speech delayed, but

at this point (she is 10) can hold conversations with you. She does have

cognitive delays, math is very difficult for her, yet she can add and subtract.

She loves to read. She began reading in kindergarten and is my only child who

will sneak her bedroom light on after being tucked in so she can read longer.

She believes herself to be a princess and will sometimes even answer the phone

" Hello, Princess Mahrya speaking " . She loves to dress up, and also is a

performer. For a while she told us she needed an agent as she was going to be a

star. As you can see she is pretty much a typical little girl. She will continue

to need special ed at school, but

here in WI she is mainstreamed with all the other kids, but has an aid or

special ed teacher with her in the classroom for the core subjects. I really

can't imagine her not being in our lives.

Luanne Eckert mom to Mahrya 10 mds, Ben 11, Alan 18, Sandy 20, Steve 22, Dan 23

wrote:

Hello -

My name is , I am from Artesia, CA and I work as a web

programmer.

My wife and I are currently in process of adopting a girl from China.

However, we have been given the opportunity to adopt a baby boy here in the

states who has been diagnosed with MDS. We are still in the thinking

process of doing this, and we are not going to give up on our China

adoption, so we would be doing this in tandem.

The internet, which usually serves me so well, seems to have very limited

information on MDS, so I am looking for information... I would be eager to

read the experiences of those who have parented MDS children and get more

information on what my wife and I could expect if we went ahead with this

adoption.

You may feel free to look through our adoption blog, which discusses only

our china adoption, but it will give you a perspective on who we are.

Thanks

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I would just like to mention that Kelvin (8 mds) loves to play out movies. He

was performing to shrek since he was three. He also really likes the girls.

You can't hold back the smiles when you see what he does.

LDSAngel77@... wrote: I know my son, even though he has a bowel

disease as well....has been very

healthy. Even with the bowel condition, we don't have to have any special

diets, etc.... individuals with Down's generally have a weaker immune system,

and can catch more colds, etc.... but when you get into MDS, that may or may not

be an issue...

I feel compelled to respond to one of the grandmothers comments...about how

because he's mosaic, he should be able to attend regular classes, and graduate

hs, and live on his own...etc.... That is really such an UNKNOWN. She

may be repeating what doctors, and people are telling her, I know I had

doctors spouting things off when my son was diagnosed, about how much higher

functioning he'd be, etc... so I didn't do things with him, like, sign language,

as a toddler........well, it wasn't the case that he was " so much more higher

functioning " , and the poor lil guy couldn't communicate with us at home, and

became a very frustrated little boy!! NOW, not that many children, even in

our group, with MDS, are very high functioning.... I know there are many who

get thru school with nothing more than a resource class or two, or an

aide....but you just can't know those things until you get to that point~~ every

MDS child is unique, and individual....and have their own talents, and their

own weaknesses, etc.

My son, as i said, is 13 now, and he's in an 8th grade special ed class. At

this point, we are focusing more on life skills, than " academics " . is

more academically delayed than a LOT of the children on this board. Now, I

often suspect there may be something else going on with him, but I haven't

had much luck getting people to see " beyond " his MDS, and they want to

attribute everything to. doesn't read, but has a few sight words...he has

learned to do math on a calculator... but he's NEVER been a behavior problem....

he's well liked everywhere he goes...makes friends...he's typically 13 in the

girl department, as he loves to tell me about the pretty girls at school,

and says he wants a girlfriend, ha.... he's good friends with his brothers....

he can play the HECK out of some video games!!! He is obsessed with all

things Spiderman, and has the 2 most recent movies, completely memorized, and

can act out the entire movie as he watches them!!! He has quite a sense of

humor....he's a really good kid!!! Will he ever drive? I have no idea...

probably not. Will he ever live on his own? wow.... i can't really imagine

that. Will he work? That I believe he can do, and will probably LOVE. Will

he ever marry or have children......... NO idea....

~~ANGEL~~

mom to , 13, MDS/HD

Lance 18, Ty 14, 12

Jaeda 10 & Shayne 4

[Guest guest]

Luanne:

I deleted the email telling me where you lived. I was just wondering if you are

planning to go to the conference in June.

Bobbie

Re: New Member introduction

Taxing my brain here.....I think she was in kindergartenish, and it started

out with easy answers like you mentioned and just grew from there. Of course she

is a typical female with LOTS to say now and can monopolize dinner conversation

if we let her.

Donna Spudic wrote: Luanne

Just a quick question. When you say Mahrya was speech delayed, at what age was

she able to carry on a conversation? Just curious because Adam is 4 1/2 and he

still doesn't talk much. He will use short phrases to express wants and needs -

" want milk " " sit down " , but he cannot carry on any kind of a conversation. He

really doesn't answer any questions unless he has an answer that he memorized.

For example, if I ask him how is the weather?, he will always say " it's cloudy "

whether it is sunny or cloudy because he has memorized an apporpriate answer for

this question.

Donna - gram to Adam 4 1/2, Skylar 4 1/2 and Mia 3 weeks

Luanne Eckert wrote:

Stephan,

As with any child every expierience is different, but I can share with you our

expierience with raising Mahrya. Mahrya is our 6th child and really not a whole

lot different than the rest of the crew. She walked at 13 months old (which is

early for mds) and met all her physical milestones. She was speech delayed, but

at this point (she is 10) can hold conversations with you. She does have

cognitive delays, math is very difficult for her, yet she can add and subtract.

She loves to read. She began reading in kindergarten and is my only child who

will sneak her bedroom light on after being tucked in so she can read longer.

She believes herself to be a princess and will sometimes even answer the phone

" Hello, Princess Mahrya speaking " . She loves to dress up, and also is a

performer. For a while she told us she needed an agent as she was going to be a

star. As you can see she is pretty much a typical little girl. She will continue

to need special ed at school, but

here in WI she is mainstreamed with all the other kids, but has an aid or

special ed teacher with her in the classroom for the core subjects. I really

can't imagine her not being in our lives.

Luanne Eckert mom to Mahrya 10 mds, Ben 11, Alan 18, Sandy 20, Steve 22, Dan

23

wrote:

Hello -

My name is , I am from Artesia, CA and I work as a web

programmer.

My wife and I are currently in process of adopting a girl from China.

However, we have been given the opportunity to adopt a baby boy here in the

states who has been diagnosed with MDS. We are still in the thinking

process of doing this, and we are not going to give up on our China

adoption, so we would be doing this in tandem.

The internet, which usually serves me so well, seems to have very limited

information on MDS, so I am looking for information... I would be eager to

read the experiences of those who have parented MDS children and get more

information on what my wife and I could expect if we went ahead with this

adoption.

You may feel free to look through our adoption blog, which discusses only

our china adoption, but it will give you a perspective on who we are.

Thanks

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi and welcome.

i can only speak of my own experience W/ my daughter but has

been a blessing and a joy. Every child has their own personality no

matter what else they happen to have. special needs kids have just

that special needs. You have to ask yourself and the babies

grandmother and even his doctors what his needs are at this moment

and decide if they are something that you can handle as well as

dealing with the changes that two new children bring to any life.

keep in mind that like any other kid his needs will change as he

gets older and there will be hardships and rewards. there will be

stress on both you and your wife and on your marriage as there would

be with any new baby plus some because meeting those special needs

will fall to the two of you and no one else.Don't misunderstand I

don't mean to discourage you just be real with you. I can honestly

tell you that even at the end of the worst day I have ever had I

thanked God for my daughter with all my heart.There is a story by

Erma Bombeck that talks about the qualities needed for a parent

whose kids have special needs. I believe it's called the saint. In

it It says that such a parent will never take the ordinary things

for granted. It's very true and the elation you feel as you watch a

child walk when you weren't sure they would be able to more than

makes up for the months you spent doing therapy to see that they

did.I hope everything works out for you and your family no matter

what decision you make.

Good Luck and God Bless

Jo Ann

[Guest guest]

Bobbie,

We live near Kewaskum, about 45 minutes north of Milwaukee. Right now we are

not planning on going to the conference as we have a bit of other traveling to

do this summer with my husbands work. I wouldn't mind trying to meet up

sometime, I haven't looked you up on a map yet either to see how far apart we

are yet.

Luanne

Bobbie Mayfield wrote:

Luanne:

I deleted the email telling me where you lived. I was just wondering if you are

planning to go to the conference in June.

Bobbie

Re: New Member introduction

Taxing my brain here.....I think she was in kindergartenish, and it started out

with easy answers like you mentioned and just grew from there. Of course she is

a typical female with LOTS to say now and can monopolize dinner conversation if

we let her.

Donna Spudic wrote: Luanne

Just a quick question. When you say Mahrya was speech delayed, at what age was

she able to carry on a conversation? Just curious because Adam is 4 1/2 and he

still doesn't talk much. He will use short phrases to express wants and needs -

" want milk " " sit down " , but he cannot carry on any kind of a conversation. He

really doesn't answer any questions unless he has an answer that he memorized.

For example, if I ask him how is the weather?, he will always say " it's cloudy "

whether it is sunny or cloudy because he has memorized an apporpriate answer for

this question.

Donna - gram to Adam 4 1/2, Skylar 4 1/2 and Mia 3 weeks

Luanne Eckert wrote:

Stephan,

As with any child every expierience is different, but I can share with you our

expierience with raising Mahrya. Mahrya is our 6th child and really not a whole

lot different than the rest of the crew. She walked at 13 months old (which is

early for mds) and met all her physical milestones. She was speech delayed, but

at this point (she is 10) can hold conversations with you. She does have

cognitive delays, math is very difficult for her, yet she can add and subtract.

She loves to read. She began reading in kindergarten and is my only child who

will sneak her bedroom light on after being tucked in so she can read longer.

She believes herself to be a princess and will sometimes even answer the phone

" Hello, Princess Mahrya speaking " . She loves to dress up, and also is a

performer. For a while she told us she needed an agent as she was going to be a

star. As you can see she is pretty much a typical little girl. She will continue

to need special ed at school, but

here in WI she is mainstreamed with all the other kids, but has an aid or

special ed teacher with her in the classroom for the core subjects. I really

can't imagine her not being in our lives.

Luanne Eckert mom to Mahrya 10 mds, Ben 11, Alan 18, Sandy 20, Steve 22, Dan 23

wrote:

Hello -

My name is , I am from Artesia, CA and I work as a web

programmer.

My wife and I are currently in process of adopting a girl from China.

However, we have been given the opportunity to adopt a baby boy here in the

states who has been diagnosed with MDS. We are still in the thinking

process of doing this, and we are not going to give up on our China

adoption, so we would be doing this in tandem.

The internet, which usually serves me so well, seems to have very limited

information on MDS, so I am looking for information... I would be eager to

read the experiences of those who have parented MDS children and get more

information on what my wife and I could expect if we went ahead with this

adoption.

You may feel free to look through our adoption blog, which discusses only

our china adoption, but it will give you a perspective on who we are.

Thanks

--

c | eh

The Lone Coder

http://www.ouradoptionblog.com

Join our journey of adoption

http://www.thelonecoder.com

stephen@...

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I do not understand how the % of cells changes as a child gets older. What

effect does that have?

Angie

Ollie's mom 3 months

>

>Reply-To: MosaicDS

>To: <mosaicds >

>Subject: RE: New Member introduction

>Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:59:00 -0500

>

>Plain unaltered " Shea Butter " works very well on the dry skin.

>You will need to determine whether or not the child has any allergies or

>sensitivities; gluten is a problem with some children. (That just means you

>have to use different kinds of flour when cooking and the child can still

>eat unlimited meats, vegetables, and fruits in their unaltered

>state-without gluten additives like sauces.) <That is really not a big deal

>and a healthy lifestyle change for most people anyways.>

>You may find also that the percentage of cells with Trisomy 21 lessen as

>the child grows older and this is normal.

>Kristy gave you some of the worst case scenarios; you may have little to no

>issues.

>Muscle tone can improve with therapy, as can speech.

>The fact that you are willing to adopt ANY child that someone else saw a

>problem with keeping and raising is VERY commendable.

>Treat any child you adopt with the same LOVE, CARE, and CONCERN that you

>would your own child. It is that simple and easy.

>We all here wish you the best of luck in raising your children and we will

>always be here to offer you help and advice along the way.

>

>

>

>To: MosaicDS@...: stephen@...: Wed, 20 Dec

>2006 12:32:58 -0800Subject: Re: New Member introduction

>

>

>

>

>Thanks for the welcome..Here is the information that I have presently. This

>was sent to me viaemail. I have not communicated directly with the

>grandmother since we don'twant to get anyone's hopes up until we know that

>we can handle all thefacets of this decision...>>Begin quote << As to the

>questions, I'm not sure I understand everything yet but he is atpresent a

>state-owned child. We will be fostering him so I think the statewill

>retain custody. My daughter will have her rights terminated in Aprilif she

>continues to ignore the court ordered process to regain custody. Myhusband

>and I are willing to do whatever we can to facilitate adoption byyour

>family as long as they are agreeable to our visiting and having familytime

>with the child. The case worker I have been dealing with is veryhelpful

>and sensitive to our concerns as well as the happiness of our

>littlegrandson. I forgot to mention that the child will also get

>socialsecurity. The amount depends on the income of the adoptive family

>(as leastthat is my understanding) until he reaches 18 then it will be the

>usualamount allowed by the government. That being said, our aim is to find

>atruly loving and spiritually prosperous home for this little guy.

>Anotherway we can help is by being available to care for him if his new

>parentsneed a vacation or a break. He is a very sweet young man and with

>the rightmotivation he will prosper. A little more on his condition-I

>don't know yetwhat percentage of his cells are affected but from what I've

>read on MosaicDown Syndrome he should be perfectly able to attend regular

>classes andgraduate from high school and will be capable of living on his

>own andcaring for himself. ... Back to the MDS, the usual concern with

>theseindividuals is that they can have heart problems, however the child

>has beentested and has none of the typical problems. He does have dry skin

>and somemuscle weakness, hence the physical therapy, but we're working hard

>to gethim walking and exercising in the next couple of months. He can

>stand onhis own and cruises around the furniture like any other kid. He

>crawlsamazingly fast and knows exactly where he is going. If I can

>providefurther information let me know please. I'll pass along what I

>learn fromDHS as I get more information. We expect to have him in our home

>full timeby the end of this month. Thanks so much for your help and input!

> >> End Quote << -- c | ehThe Lone

>Coderhttp://www.ouradoptionblog.comJoin our journey of

>adoptionhttp://www.thelonecoder.comstephenthelonecoder> From:

>> Reply-To: <MosaicDS >> Date: Wed, 20

>Dec 2006 14:52:54 EST> To: <MosaicDS >> Subject: Re:

>New Member introduction> > Welcome to the group! My name is Angel...I JUST

>moved away from Lancaster,> CA, to Utah. I have 6 children.... #3, ,

>has MDS. is 13 now, and> also has a bowel disease, called

>Hirschsprung's Disease. It can be hard to> tell another parent about what

>their MDS child might be like....there can be> SOOO many differences, and

>many of them HUGE differences. Of course the> parenting matters, and the

>resources they've had matter... the percentage> of > cells with the trisomy

>21... etc...> > how much do you know about the little boy??> > Look forward

>to hearing more!!

>

>

>_________________________________________________________________

>Get into the holiday spirit, chat with Santa on Messenger.

>http://imagine-windowslive.com/minisites/santabot/default.aspx?locale=en-us

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Angie

First of all, this does not happen all of the time, but it has been seen in a

number of individuals. Because there are 2 cell lines (one that has the extra

chromosomes and one that is unaffected) The unaffected cells reproduce at a

faster rate and when that happens it can make the % of affected cells go down.

So far, the only thing that we have found that it affects is the physical

characteristics. As a child grows older, the physical characteristics fade. It

could very well affect other areas as well, but at this early stage in research,

we just do not know.

You can see this be looking at our photo albulm on our site www.imdsa.com The

User ID is vktphipps and the password is mds

(if anyone wants to add a photo to our albulm, just send it to Twomey at

mosaicdownsyndrome@... Subject line: MDS Photo

I hope this helps you better understand how this happens

Kristy

Angie Satterfield wrote:

I do not understand how the % of cells changes as a child gets older. What

effect does that have?

Angie

Ollie's mom 3 months

>From: TenEyck

>Reply-To: MosaicDS

>To:

>Subject: RE: New Member introduction

>Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:59:00 -0500

>

>Plain unaltered " Shea Butter " works very well on the dry skin.

>You will need to determine whether or not the child has any allergies or

>sensitivities; gluten is a problem with some children. (That just means you

>have to use different kinds of flour when cooking and the child can still

>eat unlimited meats, vegetables, and fruits in their unaltered

>state-without gluten additives like sauces.) >and a healthy lifestyle change

for most people anyways.>

>You may find also that the percentage of cells with Trisomy 21 lessen as

>the child grows older and this is normal.

>Kristy gave you some of the worst case scenarios; you may have little to no

>issues.

>Muscle tone can improve with therapy, as can speech.

>The fact that you are willing to adopt ANY child that someone else saw a

>problem with keeping and raising is VERY commendable.

>Treat any child you adopt with the same LOVE, CARE, and CONCERN that you

>would your own child. It is that simple and easy.

>We all here wish you the best of luck in raising your children and we will

>always be here to offer you help and advice along the way.

>

>

>

>To: MosaicDS@...: stephen@...: Wed, 20 Dec

>2006 12:32:58 -0800Subject: Re: New Member introduction

>

>

>

>

>Thanks for the welcome..Here is the information that I have presently. This

>was sent to me viaemail. I have not communicated directly with the

>grandmother since we don'twant to get anyone's hopes up until we know that

>we can handle all thefacets of this decision...>>Begin quote << As to the

>questions, I'm not sure I understand everything yet but he is atpresent a

>state-owned child. We will be fostering him so I think the statewill

>retain custody. My daughter will have her rights terminated in Aprilif she

>continues to ignore the court ordered process to regain custody. Myhusband

>and I are willing to do whatever we can to facilitate adoption byyour

>family as long as they are agreeable to our visiting and having familytime

>with the child. The case worker I have been dealing with is veryhelpful

>and sensitive to our concerns as well as the happiness of our

>littlegrandson. I forgot to mention that the child will also get

>socialsecurity. The amount depends on the income of the adoptive family

>(as leastthat is my understanding) until he reaches 18 then it will be the

>usualamount allowed by the government. That being said, our aim is to find

>atruly loving and spiritually prosperous home for this little guy.

>Anotherway we can help is by being available to care for him if his new

>parentsneed a vacation or a break. He is a very sweet young man and with

>the rightmotivation he will prosper. A little more on his condition-I

>don't know yetwhat percentage of his cells are affected but from what I've

>read on MosaicDown Syndrome he should be perfectly able to attend regular

>classes andgraduate from high school and will be capable of living on his

>own andcaring for himself. ... Back to the MDS, the usual concern with

>theseindividuals is that they can have heart problems, however the child

>has beentested and has none of the typical problems. He does have dry skin

>and somemuscle weakness, hence the physical therapy, but we're working hard

>to gethim walking and exercising in the next couple of months. He can

>stand onhis own and cruises around the furniture like any other kid. He

>crawlsamazingly fast and knows exactly where he is going. If I can

>providefurther information let me know please. I'll pass along what I

>learn fromDHS as I get more information. We expect to have him in our home

>full timeby the end of this month. Thanks so much for your help and input!

> >> End Quote << -- c | ehThe Lone

>Coderhttp://www.ouradoptionblog.comJoin our journey of

>adoptionhttp://www.thelonecoder.comstephenthelonecoder> From:

>> Reply-To: > Date: Wed, 20

>Dec 2006 14:52:54 EST> To: > Subject: Re:

>New Member introduction> > Welcome to the group! My name is Angel...I JUST

>moved away from Lancaster,> CA, to Utah. I have 6 children.... #3, ,

>has MDS. is 13 now, and> also has a bowel disease, called

>Hirschsprung's Disease. It can be hard to> tell another parent about what

>their MDS child might be like....there can be> SOOO many differences, and

>many of them HUGE differences. Of course the> parenting matters, and the

>resources they've had matter... the percentage> of > cells with the trisomy

>21... etc...> > how much do you know about the little boy??> > Look forward

>to hearing more!!

>

>

>_________________________________________________________________

>Get into the holiday spirit, chat with Santa on Messenger.

>http://imagine-windowslive.com/minisites/santabot/default.aspx?locale=en-us

>

>