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PhilThePhreak
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Name: Philip
Country: United States
State: Washington
Gender: Male
Interests: rock climbing, snowboarding, reading, board games, video games, hiking, cliff jumping, worship, scripture, prayer, friends
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
10/13/2004
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| Also, for those of you who have heard me talk about the book GIFTS or have read it, a small way you can advocate for people with DS is by donating a couple copies to your local hospital so that parents who have babies born with DS can have quick and easy access to literature that is encouraging and realistic. Phil and I are donating two copies to Swedish Hospital where Caleb was born.
~ Ellen
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| Hi friends and family,
Sorry it has been so long since we've updated Caleb's pictures! Caleb is almost one years old, I can hardly believe it. We are getting ready to celebrate his dedication and birthday this month.
He is growing up. He has so much hair I want to put clips in it to keep it out of his eyes but Phil is dead set against it. Caleb puts his arms out to us when he wants to be hugged or picked up. He definitely has likes and dislikes. He likes pears and tofu...a lot. And definitely dislikes green vegetables. He cries when we've tricked him into eating them. He is sitting up on his own and plays by himself. He is getting in the crawling position but still uses his head as a third arm so he has a tripod effect. He laughs a lot and has two teeth.
He is working on gaining muscles to crawl. He is learning to eat on his own, and beginning to learn sign language. Or rather he is watching mommy and daddy use sign language. He is so sweet I can hardly believe he is mine.
A male staff partner of ours said "Your son is very pretty." I took it as a compliment. Phil wanted to punch him in the face. :)
Here are some pictures from the second half of his precious life!
 
January: Thank you grandma hoffman for the "reindeer jumper" :)
February: Eating cheerios. For Valentine's Day Caleb had a date with his Aunt Stephanie while Phil and I went out. He had flowers and chocolates for her. He is a gentleman already.
Sitting on his own and looking like a little man
March
Family time
April: Playdate with cousin Anne and Samuel. They are in love with their cousin. He is the "baby". They are about to have a new baby sister, what will they call her?
Caleb's first time on a real swing at a real playground :) He loved it.
His first easter. This easter basket was Phil's easter basket when he was little. Grandma saved it for him :)
A story I have to tell you and to praise God about.
As Phil and I still have moments of wrestling with the fact that we have a son with DS, God has been good to meet us along the way. I have met several mothers with babies with DS and that has been a life saver to me. But Phil hasn't met as many fathers. He sometimes gets sad and wonders whether or not Caleb will be able to do the things he loves to do: climbing, playing boardgames etc.
A few months ago, Phil and a friend went to visit a new gamestore in Redmond. They were demo-ing a new game. He met the manager who was very friendly and hospitable and encouraged Phil that he should bring me in to play games on a date. He also said Phil should bring his son, and that he and caleb would love playing together when caleb got older. The manager had a son and he said his son comes into the shop all the time. Phil politely said, "yes that would be nice". But didn't have the heart to say, "my son has down syndrome and probably wont't be able to play these games." Phil came home having had a great time, but feeling pains of sadness about Caleb. He told me about what the manager had said. Both of us in our hearts thought: that manager probably has a great time playing those games with his son. How fortunate for him. Though we never said it out loud.
Last month, Phil and I decided to have a date and go to the Redmond gamestore to play a game. When we arrived, we noticed a woman and her son come out of the store. We noticed the boy had down syndrome. We smiled at them and walked into the store.
While we were there, the manager happened to be there. He remembered Phil and Phil introduced me to him. We continued to play our game and then noticed that the woman and her son came back into the store. They walked up to the manager and were talking with him. I turned to Phil and said: "Phil, I think that boy is the manager's son!" Phil and I watched as the manager kissed the boy on the head and said "take care of momma, see you at home."
Phil and I looked at eachother and couldn't believe it. We assumed that the manager had a typical son that he played strategy games with. We never would have imagined that he would also have a son with DS!
We approached the manager and asked about his son and asked if he had DS. He said yes, and we told him our baby boy also had down syndrome. He stopped what he was doing and talked with us for 15 minutes. He was so excited to meet us. We told him about Phil's origninal sadness when they had first met because he didn't know if Caleb would be able to come and play these games. The manager was so encouraging and said: "You're right, you probably won't be able to play some of these games. But you know what? I play a thousand games with my son every day. We make up all kinds of games together. Everything from singing to riding the elevator. We make a game out everything and we have a great time. You will be just fine."
We left the game store feeling so encouraged. Phil knew God orchestrated that meeting just for him. He had no doubt that God was letting Phil know that He loved him and knew what was on his heart.
God is so good. | | |
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