My name is Cedar and I have Down Syndrome.
My mommy created this blog to help tell my story, but it is not just about me. This blog isn’t all about Cedar and Down Syndrome.
When mommy started writing, she realized she still had so much to learn, I was her teacher, true, but she was new to this world. There are so many things to learn. There were so many stories to be told. Our story is just one of many.
Our story is just one of many.
Mommy and I haven’t experienced everything, and there are families with so many experiences to share from Open Heart Surgery to surviving Leukemia.
There are families with single parents, families (like mine) who have lots of children, families whose little one with Down Syndrome is now in their 30’s and beyond.
There are so many stories.
So, though this site is called “Cedar’s Story” it is really the story about how one little boy’s diagnosis prompted his mom to tell so many stories and try to connect so many people. She says she doesn’t want anyone to feel so scared and alone like she did at first.
My name is Cedar and I am now 8 months old. I have the most infectious smile that lights up the entire room. I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters, so there are 6 of us all together.
I love to be held, have my head scratched, and when anyone smiles at me.
I love music, especially when my sisters sing to me.
I am so much like my siblings when they were my age that mommy said I really am “More alike than different.”
I do have some health needs, but thankfully, they are minor. My heart condition is being monitored by a cardiologist and mommy and daddy pray that it will heal on it’s own (the cardiologist is optimistic).
I see a physical therapist weekly to help teach my family ways to help me exercise so I can grow stronger and learn to sit, crawl and walk.
Mommy says that right now, we are just enjoying me being a baby, she tries not to worry about my future too much because God is the one in control anyway.
Because I am the last baby, mommy sure does enjoy that things have slowed down a bit and she gets to enjoy each of my stages a little bit longer than she did with my older siblings.
After I was born and I had a nasty bout with RSV in the hospital. I was there for 8 days in ICU. After that my oldest sister decided that she wanted to choose a career in medicine, but, she no longer wanted to be a doctor, she wanted to be a nurse so she could work hands-on with children like me
My brothers and sisters all have learned what Down Syndrome is and they tell my mom all the time that I will never be alone and they will always be there for me. Secretly I think I may surprise them all with what I can do on my own.
I enjoy when I get to sit on the porch swing and watch everyone play, I love to snuggle next to mommy in the pool, I also enjoy slow rides on the Gator my family has. I am not so fond of rough housing or lots and lots of people, when I am in situations like that I have a tendency to get very quiet, but even for things I don’t like, it is rare that I cry and put up too much of a fuss.
My family has learned so much from me, and the other families with children like me that they have met. Mommy says she is going to change how the world sees people who have Down Syndrome, like me.
My name is Cedar and I have Down Syndrome, but there is so much more to me than that diagnosis.
