His Hands
I love my son's hands. It's probably a strange thing to love about a child, but I do! I remember when the doctor first came to tell us that he suspected Ty had Down Syndrome, he listed off the few physical markers that were apparent. I honestly can't remember everything that he listed, but I will never forget his description of Ty's hands. "He has small, doughy hands and fingers." I remember thinking, "Doughy?!? What the heck does that mean?!" But strangely, the description fits.
Ty's hands are small and round. The backs of his hands are covered in layers of baby fat, and are so incredibly soft and squishy to touch. He has little dimples where his fingers meet his hand, and there are no knuckles to be found! His pudgy little fingers match the palms of his hands, and have beautifully round fingernails at the end. A single crease also streaks the palm of each hand...a gift of that extra chromosome. They're perfect!
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| Photo by Courtney MacLaren Photography |
And man, does Ty get into everything with those little hands! He can manipulate all of his toys, and knows exactly how to make any toy make the most amount of noise possible! Exploring "nooks and crannies" around the house is one of his favorite activities, and I often find objects that those little hands squirreled away in odd places. Just tonight, I searched everywhere for the dog's food bowl, only to find it nested inside a stack of my saucepans in the cabinet...did I mention he likes to explore cabinets??? But my favorite times are when those chubby hands squeeze my cheeks and he gives me a big smile an inch away from my face. Or when he's really tired, and he plays with my fingers and intertwines his with mine as he dozes off. Those are the best.
I know not all children with Down Syndrome have the same hands as Ty, but I'm sure glad he has them ...they're a couple of my favorite perks!
HA! Kayli is now 12 but I have had similar thoughts about her hands and how much I love them just as they are - mitts! She would rest her hands on her chest,laid open, crossed over and look like an angel when she was a baby. And she also would fiddle with my fingers to go to sleep. Now they are working hands, with callouses from the monkey bars and I have to work hard to keep lotion on them all winter due to her dry skin but she still pats me tenderly on the cheek and its wonderful!
ReplyDeleteOH, PS- we did the NStar walk several years ago! It's pretty darn long isn't it? We live in southern VT. Have you gone to the DS conference?
ReplyDeleteI love those hands! Hailey reaches her hand to touch our cheek right before she plants a very wet kiss on the other cheek!
ReplyDeleteYes! We go to the MDSC conference in March, and participate in other events in MA also. We live in southern NH about 40 minutes north of Boston.
ReplyDeleteits the little things! I love Reagan's hands too...you describe it so well :)
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I've noticed that Bailey's hands are so cute and plump, but never thought of them in terms of doughy. It absolutely fits though! :)
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