Piper Rose is our sweet little two year old with red hair, blue eyes, rosy cheeks and an extra chromosome! We have been celebrating this extra chromosome every day since she came earthside but especially during the Down Syndrome Walk for the past two years; this will be our second year as Ambassadors for this wonderful event!
This year we are STEPPING BEYOND THE STEREOTYPES of Down Syndrome in our society, which we are very excited about as we slowly come to terms with the fact that everything we were told about DS while pregnant and soon after Piper's Birth was for the most part - wrong.
Our life is no more difficult than the rest. Piper is not ALWAYS happy. She can and likely will live an independent, full life. She does not currently have any health concerns. Piper does feel pain, her reaction is just a little bit delayed sometimes. Piper will learn to ride a bike. She will go to our local school and sit in class with all of the other kiddos. She will be encouraged to play sports; she will also learn to read and write. We are especially excited for the type of job she will hold in her future and hope that she will be as lucky as we were to fall in love!
Piper currently sees Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and a Speech Therapist atleast once a month; we work with her everyday as her parents to work towards her best future. She is so hilariously verbal lately, trying very hard with everyday words and is doing awesome with her sign language. Although Piper is not yet walking, I can see it happening very soon - she will stand and walk along anything that will allow her, and she has made attempts to stand up on her own in the middle of the room. She will walk with a walker on her own, and with us when we hold her hands. She is an amazing big sister and treats her little sister like her very own real life dolly - she will bring her toys, give her raspberries on her belly to make her laugh, and tries to put her soother in her mouth whenever she is sad. Her favourite songs to dance and sign along to are "the itsy bitsy spider" and "the wheels on the bus"; Her favourite movie right now is Sing2 but Luca is forever. Piper is a big meat and potato girl and will never say no to any kind of pizza or pasta!
Everyday we are amazed by just how smart, curious, creative and thoughtful she is, and we are also ashamed that we don't always expect this from her because of the stereotypes that existed in our minds before knowing and loving her.
Your support towards this fundraiser does not only give us hope for Pipers future, but will help the CDSS continue their work on current projects that include minDSets - a health and wellness program for adults with DS that will be launching in March of this year, Inployable - a platform on linkedIn that connects jobseekers with DS to employers in Canada, and the 3.21 Magazine - which is the only magazine publication in Canada that families, professionals and teachers can rely on for resources.
The past two years our small community has surrounded us with so much love, support and generosity, that it has been overwhelming for us - We were able to become the top fundraiser across the country for the past two years and hope that we can achieve our goal yet again!
Yes, Piper has Down Syndrome, but that extra chromosome is just one beautiful part of her. She is many other things and we hope that Piper is able to grow up into a world where she is seen as "a unique individual with similar hopes and dreams that happens to have Down Syndrome" - With your donation, you will help us and the CDSS make this happen for her and the entire Down Syndrome Community.
Please scroll down below to check out a really sweet video and go to this link for all videos of the top googled questions about Down syndrome answered by people with Down syndrome :)
https://cdss.ca/awareness/down-syndrome-answers/
Thank you for your love,
Candice, Josh, Piper, Riley & Rusty
