Wes turned four in September, but I was a little slow getting him in to the doctor for his well-child check and just went last week.

Wes weighs 32.8 lbs and is 37 inches tall. He’s grown about 6 inches in the last year. On the “typical” child chart he’s in the about 1.3 percentile for height and weight. On the Down syndrome chart he’s closer to 60 or 70 percentile. His BMI is actually in the 70 or 80 percentile. So he’s doing fine.

I read an article recently that said that about 92% of pregnancies that test positive for Down syndrome are aborted. I have a really hard time understanding why any person would want to remove life from her body. I find it especially sad to think that parents who could potentially love and find joy in their child deny their child life because they’re afraid and ignorant about what it’s like to raise a child with a condition like Down syndrome.

I’ve talked with a lot of moms in my county who have children with Down syndrome. All of our kids have unique challenges associated with the extra chromosome. Many kids have more severe medical concerns than Wes has experienced. But even parents who have dealt with heart surgeries, sleep apnea, leukemia (and the list could go on) love their kids and think their kids have worth, regardless of the challenges involved with caring for them.

If people could just understand what they’re giving up when they either abort their baby or give it up for adoption (which is common in other countries; children with disabilities are considered undesirable).

I don’t understand it. John says it’s because I have a good heart, and that maybe it’s better that I don’t always understand why other people do what they do.

I think it’s just because every day I get to watch Wes live and see how much he loves to live. I don’t worry about Wesley’s happiness. I don’t worry about his success. I only worry that he’ll find as much love and acceptance from others as he has for everyone else. It makes me think that kids who are as innocent and full of love as Wes are really made for a better kind of world than we can offer them.