Meeting Nolan

Throughout the years there have been several times when I've been contacted by friends when a friend of theirs finds out that their child has Down syndrome. I am always eager to get in touch and help out in any way I can. When Abby was born we didn't have a "face" for Down syndrome, and it made it much more frightening. I've always thought that the best advocate for children with special needs is Abby herself. It is my hope that people see her as the beautiful child she is - that by seeing past the Down syndrome they can see it is just a part of who she is - not all of who she is.

Last September I got a message that introduced me to Melissa. Melissa and her husband were recently blessed with a beautiful baby boy, a baby boy that happened to have Down syndrome. I immediately contacted Melissa and sent her a Facebook friend request. I post quite a few pictures of Abby online and I figured that would be a wonderful way for Melissa to get to "know" her. Throughout the year we've kept in touch, and I've been so blessed to see Nolan grow and reach milestones through pictures.

After seeing a recent (darling) picture of Nolan, Jason commented that Abby and Nolan should meet. As luck would have it, Nolan, along with Mom and Dad, would be visiting Grandma (who lives rather close by) today, so the date was set. We would get to meet that adorable little man.

I told Abby we were going to Nolan's grandma's house, and she was immediately excited - grandma's houses are automatically fun in her mind. We talked through that she would have to listen to Mama and be very gentle with "the baby". She agreed that she would be a good girl, and even wanted to bring along a movie for Nolan to watch. I was able to convince her that he wouldn't be interested and we were off.

She was a good girl, and being in full performance mode, she gave us plenty to laugh about. Nolan was a bit unsure about his new friend, but he was a great sport - especially since Abby kept running off with his drum. We had a nice visit and were even treated to some ice cream (complete with "sauce"). It was a wonderful afternoon and so nice to meet such great people in person. The best thing though is how obvious it was that Nolan is loved beyond measure - that is what I loved most about today - that and how cute it was to watch those two together.

Meet Nolan!

Nolan so kindly wore the hat we brought him while Abby
enjoyed his toys.

Smooches!

Hugs!

Abby decided that it was her turn for sitting on Melissa's lap
when Nolan went to Dad.

A special thanks goes to Melissa for all of today's great pictures. I loved them all!