We picked the kids up from Nikki’s parents today, it was nice having the break but are excited to have them home with their new brother. The past week has been an emotional roller coaster and having the kids home has allowed me to become grounded again. I did not anticipate how much the kids would gravitate to Wil. I’m guessing it’s in part due to the fact that they are older, but getting a chance to feed Wil a bottle is usually the result of winning a thumb war or paper, rock, scissors. Nikolas actually asked if he could change one of his diapers! I was tempted to accept his offer but realized it would probably turn into a bigger mess. The words, “Who wants to hold Wil” barely get out of Nikki’s mouth before all of our kids appear with wide eyes, jumping up and down to the sounds. We’ve actually started using the option of not being able to hold Wil as a punishment if the kids are misbehaving. My kids are teaching me so much about unconditional love. We watched a handful of videos tonight to help us better understand Down Syndrome.
My favorite video was called “Just Like You“, it brought tears to my eyes.
You need to watch it. We watched it multiple times and it sparked a touching conversation with my children. After the video, Zac told us that he was excited for Wil to grow up. He told us that he would protect him because it would make him sad if Wil was ever teased. I gave him a huge hug, I was so proud of him, this very thing had been on my mind. How can I protect this little dude from the things the world was going to throw at him, I thought back to my conversation with Nikki in the hospital and resolved that this was one of those things I could not control.