#1 - Here we go on 31 for 21

You might have noticed the new little badge over there that says "31 for 21".  I added it last week but haven't gotten around to explaining it yet.

31-for-21 is a DS mommy-blogger event that has been going on for 7 years.   Bloggers who join the challenge attempt to write a blog post every day in October to raise awareness for Down Syndrome.  The badge to the right will lead you to a list of DS Mom blogs participating in this challenge.  Check out there stories too - its amazing how alike and how different they are in so many ways.  In reality it is part of the reason I started blogging.  Over two years ago I stumbled across a great blog by way of the Babycenter DS Message board called "A Perfect Lily".  I read every post for a couple months then she had a guest blogger post one day, I checked out her blog then started following her as well.  But it wasn't until October 2 years ago that I found out the extent of the DS mommy-blogger world.  One of the blogs I was reading lead me to the list of all these blogs that are relevant to my life.  This event leads me to more blogs every year.  Just like every child with DS is unique and amazing all these moms have stories to tell - some that I read and say 'I could have written that yesterday' or 'I could have written that exact post when Cate was that age", some that are completely unlike anything I have dealt with yet.  I love both kinds of posts, the familiar ones remind me that I'm not along in my challenges and I am part of something bigger, the unexpected ones give me insight into things to come as Cate get older or remind me of just how individual Cate.

So this year I'm giving it the 31-for-21 challenge a try.  And my few but faithful followers know exactly what a challenge this will be for me!  Not every post will be about Down Syndrome because it is really something I notice as part of my everyday life.  Therapy sessions and the extra push in the learning process are so much ingrained into my life I really couldn't tell you what we do because Cate has DS and what we do because Cate is an active first grader with a big personality.  Mostly I am hoping to use this month to show how "normal" our life is, how in love I am with both of my amazing daughters, and give some opinions on topics related to DS that many bloggers have already touched on.  I can't promise pictures everyday - I'm not that good a photographer, I have to take 20 just to get 2 that are blog worthy - but I'll try as much as possible to add some beauty with Cate pictures to my boring writing!