October 29, 2009 "Tiny Tot"

I haven’t written much specifically about Parker yet. Porter has 6 years on him so I can’t wait to see what crazy things I’ll be writing about Parker in the years to come. I went to Parker’s first parent teacher conference today. While I was sitting with his teacher, on a tiny chair next to a tiny table, I noticed the coat hooks lining the wall labeled with each student’s name. They looked similar to the ones in the picture. I searched for Parker’s name and couldn’t find it. Then I saw it on a white, plastic hook adhered to the wall right next to the rows of coat hooks. Come to find out, he had to have a hook that was lower than the already low preschool height hooks.
Parker is tiny. Just the other day, another mom asked me, “How old? Eighteen months or 2 years?” Uh, that would actually be 3 ½ years old. He fluctuates between 24 and 26 pounds, depending on who is feeding him (Grandma) and if he’s healthy or ill. He wears 18-24 month size clothes (which I’m getting tired of looking at). His shoes are size 5. He wears a size 4 diaper that he fills up, but doesn’t fill out. The size 3s fit him better, but they get way too wet. We’ll get one more year out of his 18 month Patriot coat, yeah!
Parker’s developmental age and tiny size match. One thing that doesn’t match is his size and the amount of love he gives and receives. It seems like we’ve had a “baby” forever. He feels like a baby when you hold him. He walks and runs like a baby as he toddles around. He gibber jabbers like a baby. He’s our baby and always will be in a lot ways. His teachers told me that they have to remind each other and the assistants to treat him “older,” mostly meaning to stop carrying him around and doing things for him (giving in to him). It’s the same at home.
The average height for a male with down syndrome is 5’ ½ “. That’s the AVERAGE. I’m 5’4” and Clint is 6’ so I’m really not sure where Parker will end up. But it doesn’t matter. He’ll get to where he needs to and be loved all the while, at every age, at any size.