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Two is a great age to be. At 2, children want to know everything and do everything. At 2, children explore, experiment and sometimes exasperate. In a twinkling of an eye, they can get into mischief. And with a twinkling in the eye, they can get back out again. At 2, children are energy personified. They go and go and go and go. At least, that is what most children do at 2. Hallie will be 2 this month. She’s inquisitive and can get into trouble (by getting stuck under the piano, for example), but she doesn’t get into mischief. She has energy, but she doesn’t go and go and go and go. She can’t. At 2, Hallie doesn’t walk; she doesn’t crawl or stand. She gets around by rolling or “swimming” on her elbows across the floor. She doesn’t ask questions because she doesn’t talk. Her vocabulary is three words: up, pooh, hi. When I think about Hallie and 2, I have many reasons to get down. Sometimes, the hopes I had for her at birth--to be an exceptional child in spite of the Down syndrome--are shattered when I see a 9-month-old walk, or hear an 18-month-old talk. And when I see younger children with the same condition crawling, my heart nearly breaks. I become sad for Hallie, because she doesn’t have the strength I wished for her. But what I wish for Hallie is not necessarily what God wants for her. He made her as she is, with her loose hips and low tone, to fit into His perfect plan. His way is best, even when I don’t understand. In reality, Hallie is doing fine for Hallie. She can’t talk, but she is an effective communicator. She’s learned several signs, as well as the motions to two songs. She mimics her siblings constantly. She doesn’t walk, but each day she gets stronger and attempts more things. On February 7th, she wore shoes for the first time in her life, and seemed to enjoy them. And she is a good teacher. She has taught me to enjoy the little accomplishments, to rejoice in what many consider “ordinary.” One recent day, I was doing exercises with her. While rocking her back and forth on a large ball, we were practicing sounds. “Buh-buh-buh.” “Mmmmmm.” “Maaa--Maa.” She repeated me until the last sounds. Rats. She was still having trouble combining consonants and vowels. But then she opened her mouth: “MAAMAA!” I was stunned. I snatched her off the ball, held her close and cried. Looks like 2 is going to be a great age after all. |