21 things

1 She has a personal and deep relationship with God. She has been praying for people since she was teeny. Her understanding goes deeper than anything I can explain. She attends weekly Pioneer Club meetings after school, and I am told she consistently "gets it" when they discuss stories or she has to recall details.

2 Ciarra still talks about her big brother Alex, who died when she was 2. She tells me often that she remembers him. Once in awhile, she says she sees him and he is smiling at her.

3 There are 2 people in this world who understand Ciarra best, speech and behavior wise. Those 2 are me and her big brother Jesse. She adores him, and he her. They play together like puppies, and make me cry with their love.

4 Ciarra has made me face some demons of my own over the years. She has taught me so much about the courage it takes to live with special needs. I think she is making me pay back for all the times I didnt get it and was cruel in my thinking or my words.

5 Ciarra is utterly terrified of people in wheelchairs. I dont know why.

6 Ciarra LOVES animals. She wants to be a Vet someday. She is just starting to work 2 afternoons a week at our local vet. She feeds their small in house animals, does some cleaning, and learns a LOT.

7 Ciarra is a Daddy's girl most of the time.

8 Ciarra refuses to do homework with ANYONE but me.

9 Ciarra can now take a shower completely independently. (YAY!)

10 Ciarra is a WHIZ at video games. She particularly likes Halo....oops. She has mostly E rated games, but her big brother has some M ones...and she LOVES to sit and play with him.

11 Ciarra's name was a big battle. I used to call my friend Ruth's big sister Sarah "SeeAirUh" when I was small. Nichole is after Jims niece, my favorite. Her last name is very French as well. Jim was adamant he did NOT like the name Ciarra. On the way to the hospital, we were following a big black Sierra pickup truck, and he said "You want to name her after a TRUCK?!". When she was born about an hour later, and she looked at me, I knew she has DS right away. He never argued about her name again, and I love him for it.

12 Ciarra has been in

2 commercials,

1 Blueberry Shoes movie, “Discovery: Pathways to Better Speech for Children with Down Syndrome.”

and her story has been in 2 books. One book will be out soon, it is called My Child My Gift the other is called Defiant Birth

13 Ciarra is a natural born photographer. Somehow, her photographs just come out right. I am often quite taken with the expressions of the children she photographs. They are shot at her level, their expressions are open and yet questioning at the same time. I think they are beautiful.

14 Ciarra is a VERY good artist. If my scanner was working, I would show you the Spongebob she drew last night. She has a talent, and I need to find a way to nurture it.

15 Ciarra is not interested in Hanah Montana or HSM...at ALL. She loves spongebob, Charlie & Lola, rugrats, and Jimmy Neutron. She likes Drake and Josh. She LOVES the entire premise of characters that are DRAWN.

16 She is very visual. We learned that color coding our measuring cups and putting a dot next to recipes calling for certain amounts of things allowed her to get it sooner...and helped her learn fractions.

17 She LOVES pizza...just cheese. Loves PB&J, hates butter. LOVES steak and veggies. LOVES ice cream. Doesnt like mashed potatoes. LOVES cheeseburgers.

18 Ciarra has ALWAYS loved Pepsi...from infancy. If you didnt watch it, she would grab it.

19 Her best friend is a yr older and wears hearing aides. Her name is Jade.

20 Ciarra hasnt had a 1-1 aide since Kindergarten. She has NO aide now.

21 She is very good at basketball and baseball. Only her size makes us rethink it every year.