I always and forever think about all the things about me as a little baby. What I did in the past when I was a little baby. And I will have a lot of wonderful things I do the rest of my life.
And I want to say thank you very much to have a mom and dad to have me as their little baby. They have a beautiful and wonderful baby they have in their family.
I also want to say when I was a little baby I was very sweet and cute and beautiful and adorable creature on earth.
There is a beautiful and wonderful God and God blessings to have a beautiful baby named Leah.
Leah Rae Stodden was born on July 1, 1982 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa. UNICEF estimates about 353,000 babies are born between each sunrise. On this first day of July, Leah was among the hundreds of thousands of humans to enter planet Earth. As my parents took their newborn home, they instantly realized that despite the fact that Leah was born with Down syndrome, their little girl was just like any one of the 353,000 unique babies who were born on July 1, 1982.
As Leah grew each day, she began to giggle, just as all babies do. She would eat and drink, sleep and play. She would cry when she needed her diaper changed. Or when she was hungry, or tired, just as all babies do. Leah began to teach her mother and father about life, just as all babies do.
Once my parents began to settle into their new life as a party of three, my mom reflected on those first few moments after receiving the news of Leah’s diagnosis. Shock has such a strong ability to mute our senses. The overwhelming truth that their daughter was born with Down syndrome had completely overshadowed the most important advice the doctor’s had given my parents that day, as they sat side by side, trembling. “Take this baby home and love her, just like you would any other child.”
Each day, as my parents shared life with Leah, they were experiencing and living out that exact sentence. “Take this baby home and love her, just like you would any other child.” They played and read books. They investigated and were fascinated by everything around them.
“…And then we began to spend time at the piano. I played Sonatinas and Preludes for her, just as I had done during my pregnancy. I placed her tiny hands on the keyboard, showing her how to press the keys to make sounds. She was immediately drawn in, connecting with the music that she was making. It was the most beautiful music I had ever heard…because it was coming from my child. Music from her heart to mine, delivered by an instrument that I was so passionate for. Maybe she would become a pianist, after all.” –Cindy Stodden
Hope was being rebuilt with each giggle, with each small success. A hope had begun developing that would become the leading foundation for the lives of the Stodden family.
Here’s to turning our minds Upside Down.
