March 2014 Featured Child: The Rambunctious You

March 21^st is World Down Syndrome Day! To mark the occasion, this month’s Featured Child is little You. Many of you probably recognize her and her vast repertoire of camera poses from our posts on Facebook.

You is definitely one of the most rambunctious, stubborn, and mischievous little toddlers to grace the rooms of our Beijing Baby Home. Once she learned to walk, she was always on the move, constantly exploring her environment and getting into everything she wasn’t supposed to!

Babies with Down Syndrome that arrive at Little Flower commonly have some form of heart defect or gastrointestinal problem. For Little You, it was a TOF heart defect, which is a complicated heart defect, but also a problem that we commonly deal with at Little Flower.

Nevertheless, the doctors suggested that we wait until she’d gotten to six months before doing surgery. We agreed. Around her fourth and fifth months with us, however, she started to not do well. We called the hospital and scheduled the surgery a little early.

Well…long story short, the surgery went well, and You’s recovery was lighting fast! She’s a strong one. Not only was her physical recovery fast, but her developmental progress after the heart surgery was just amazing. At least in our experience, the average child with down syndrome walks at around two years old. You was learning to stand and walk on her own before that!

During her time at the baby home, she was always the sassiest, most headstrong kid in the room, and her photos on Facebook never failed to garner a lot of attention. She’s just got a magnetic little personality.

At the moment, we have one other little one with Down Syndrome in our Beijing Baby Home. Little Ting came with us with Meckel’s Diverticulum, an intestinal problem. She’s struggling to thrive at the moment, but we’re hoping that she’ll turn around. Keep this little one in your thoughts and prayers. We hope that soon, Ting will be just as rambunctious as You!

In January of this year, You made the transition to one of our Group Foster families—Group Home #1, to be exact. It was a bit of a bumpy transition; she’s a strong-willed kid who doesn’t love change, but now she’s well-settled in her new family environment. Soon enough, however, we’re sure she will find her forever family.

Three cheers for World Down Syndrome Day!