Your birth on April 18th 2015 was the happiest day of my life. You know, less than a year before your arrival, you had a big brother but he had the wings of an angel. So when I held you in my arms for the first time, it was both a relief and the culmination of a big dream; becoming a mother. You arrived 4 weeks earlier than expected after nearly 23 hours of labor.
Photo credit: Jessica Côté
When I saw you for the first time, I was ecstatic but this little voice inside my heart and my head was telling me that something wasn’t right. I guess we can call it intuition. When I changed your diaper for the first time, I noticed right away this little malformation on your skin in your lower back. I didn’t waste any time; I spoke to your doctor and from then on, a range of specialists entered your life and you have had to undergo a whole battery of tests that caused you to suffer more often than not. All the doctors seemed worried but nobody knew what was really going on so we were referred to different specialists. Continue reading
Dave is a 5-yo at your childcare centre. He can be very gentle and kind at times, but lately he’s been aggressive and wanting to fight with the other kids. You suspect he watches a lot of superhero movies, and he often comes in dressed like a superhero.
At Manotick Cooperative Nursery School, inclusion is an important part of our classroom. At the beginning of the school year we have activities to include the children and their families in the school. Every child takes home a blank piece of paper to create a unique piece of art to put up on display. The activity is special and unique to each child. One year we did a fish art with the saying… We May All Be Different Fish, But in This School We Swim Together! 
Hope is something I will always have. Hope for a better day tomorrow. Hope for applying what I have learned today to tomorrow’s challenges. Being a mother of a child with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) has ensured that I will always have hope.
This is a beautifully written book about a family’s most difficult choice during pregnancy. Choosing Naia is a very detailed account of a family’s choice to continue their pregnancy when they are faced with uncertainty. Not only is Naia’s story explained with fear, excitement, and love but many facts about Down Syndrome and the true love it can bring you are shared throughout this read.
“A Survival Guide to life with little children!” Could this be true?