What I Love About Being a DS Mom # 4

Sense of Humor...

My kid is funny...like intentionally, makes you laugh out loud funny.  I can't remember exactly how old he was when he knowingly started doing things to make us laugh, but it was pretty young.  At first he would do things like whip a ball across the room, and burst into a hysterical belly laugh.  As he's gotten older, his sense of humor has evolved.   

He LOVES playing peekaboo, and hide and seek.  Our games of hide and seek have turned into full-house adventures, as Ty sneaks into one of the rooms, shuts the door, and proceeds to explore in privacy.  When you catch him though, he's excited, and moves on to another room where he can hide.  It's a blast. 

  

Ohh, and putting things on the head...that's a recent favorite game.  It started in speech therapy one day, when his therapist put toys on his head to be funny.  I doubt she anticipated the domino effect it would have in my life!  Everything goes on the head....his head, your head...any head that can hold something on it, does just that.  Thankfully, he has gotten away from putting food on his head at every meal, but that was a messy few weeks!  I promise, if you ever meet Ty, and you want to make a really good first impression, just put something on your head...he'll be your best friend!   

And then there are the times when he just knows he's downright cute, and uses it as an excuse to laugh for five minutes.  Last week he realized that peanut butter is kind of sticky, and didn't bother to remove it from his front teeth.  Instead, he posed, just like he is in this picture, smiling and laughing away at his peanut butter smile (unless he really couldn't close his mouth!).  He definitely knows just how to make my day!

And then there's the fake smile.  He developed this smile 6 months ago maybe, and man does he use it.  When you're trying to be funny, or entertain him, he'll put on this smile to let you know that he appreciates your effort, but you should try harder next time.  Or after he does something that he knows he shouldn't, he'll strike the pose to try to look like an angel.  My favorite is when he sees the camera.  Having a kid this cute, it's hard not to take thousands upon thousands of pictures every month, so Ty is incredibly experienced at posing.  You hold the camera up, get ready to snap, and see this smile on the screen.  He knows exactly what to do, but is so tired of posing for you, this is the only smile that he can offer.  I have hundreds just like this one....all of my boy attempting to make me happy.
So, I guess having a good sense of humor isn't exactly a specific trait of Down Syndrome, but Ty has it just the same, and it's one of the many many things that just make me smile every day.  Love this kid! :)