Cupcakes

Abby loves cupcakes.

I mean... I like cupcakes. My other kids like cupcakes. But Abby. Loves. Cupcakes.

It's just her thing. But not only eating them, she loves cupcake stuff. She has a cupcake pillow, a cupcake necklace, a cupcake jewelry box, a cupcake calendar (from last year), and cupcake Legos.

One of the main slogans for the Down Syndrome community is "More Alike than Different". (Click here to watch a really sweet YouTube on that.) People who have Down Syndrome are more like you than they are different from you.

Case in point today - Miss Abby Grace. ;)

My sweet Abby is just like any other 7 year old girl. She is girly, she loves to wear pink, she likes to play with her friends, she gets upset when she's left out, she has a great sense of humor, she gets sarcasm and she has a contagious giggle. She plays and fights with her siblings, she likes to help Mom with the dishes until she realizes it's boring and she thinks her Daddy hung the moon. She's dramatic, gets her feelings hurt sometimes a lot, and gets discouraged when she can't do something right. And she loves cupcakes.

One of the few things that makes her different is that she has to work to say cupcake.

I took this video during one of the many little speech sessions we do with her here at the house. She has formal speech therapy at school, but for us- pushing Abby is a way of life. We don't let things slide. (Or we try not to anyway.) One of the reasons that Abby is more alike than different is because she's worked for it. She earned it. And in some ways, that gives her more character than kids who don't earn it. 

Abby has a hard time saying cupcake. She can say the "ck" sound. She can say "cup" and "cake". But when she tries to say cupcake it comes out "hupcake". She knows it. And she tries to say it right. And we try to help. I'd like you to really watch her in this video....

What do you see in this video? Do you see someone who is different or scary or weird? Or do you see a little girl who is sweet and funny and even gets frustrated that she can't nail it?

Maybe it's just because I'm her mom. But I see a girl who us more alike than different. Even if she does say "hupcake". Which I secretly think is super cute and requires more tickling.