My husband (David) and I have, all together, seven children, all boys except for one, semi adopted daughter! We live on the volcano island, Montserrat, that's been on the news lately. If you'd like to learn more about all that, click here! If you want to see one of our son's webpages, click here!

Noah is our newest blessing (the youngest), and he's an extraordinary dude! He was born with an extra chromosome, which makes him extra delightful (most of the time...)! Noah has Down Syndrome, and the life of our family has been greatly enriched since he's been around!

When Noah was ten months old, he was alert, but seemingly content with doing...little. He observed everything around him, but he didn't really take part in much. He got himself around in pretty creative ways, hummed alot, but other than that was not very vocal at all. One night my husband woke me up and said, "Honey, you have to watch this thing on t.v. There's a mother with a Down Syndrome child, and I don't think you'd want to miss this. It looks really good!".

It was a segment of the programme, Day One. And what we learned from that broadcast that night came to play a transformational role in the life of our baby! The woman being interviewed was Dixie Lawrence, and what she was sharing was her discovery of the tremendous value of targeted nutritional intervention (TNI) in the life of her child, Madison. I was so excited that the following morning I set about obtaining for Noah the supplements, including Piracetam, that just might make a difference in his little life. Within 10 days, the stuff had arrived! All the way down here on our tiny island in the West Indies! I remember so clearly that day... and Noah's response to the the supplements. As I have some background in nutrition, and have always been very health conscious, I was also aware that most changes which are brought about by supplementing the diet with vitamins, minerals, aminos, etc...are generally the kind of changes that sneak up on you. One day, you look back and say,"Wow! I feel so much better than I used to...must be those vitamins....". So I was totally taken by surprise when Noah's response turned out to be the dramatic change that we all observed! Within hours of taking his first dose, we saw our little boy begin to blossom. I likened him to a Christmas tree that got plugged in, and all the coloured lights came on and began to twinkle! Everyone who knew him then saw the difference. Within hours, he was grabbing at the spoon to feed himself, which he'd never done before! He began to babble, happily and squeal, the way babies do but he had not done before. When it was bath time that night, instead of merely lying there, complacently spaced out in his pleasant, wet, gravity-free environment (as he had done in the past), he started to kick his feet and splash and cackle and have fun!!!! Wow! I called the whole family in to watch. It was such a treat for us to see him "coming out" of his quiet, little bubble. He had always been a delightfully easy baby...apparently quite happy, quietly observing what took place around him. (I'd been "in his face" since the day he was born when we discovered he might well have Down Syndrome...,getting connected, maintaining connection with him, striking sparks and struggling to keep them lit.)

Now Noah is three years old. He has only ever been sick twice, both times the day after traveling by plane to America. The colds I attributed to recycled, dehydrated airplane air and change of climate. No big deal, though it was very unusual for him! Noah sings, picks out notes on the piano, dances the most beautiful choreographed dances, as well as his own improvised spontaneously joyous dancing! He climbs ladders higher than six feet, slides down slides, runs, jumps (so cute, this jumping!), feeds himself, knows too well how to run the remote control for the t.v., and can work the tape/CD player, and is learning how to work a computer mouse. He can feed the dogs by himself, and gives peanuts to our parrot who flies free and who has a nest of babies in a nearby tree. He helps me sweep and mop the floor, and loves to wipe up the tables and counters. He steps up onto a little stool to wash his hands and brush his teeth, which he insists on doing himself. He's not quite potty trained, but getting there. He understands what is spoken, says quite a few words and always makes sure that somehow he gets his own point across. (He can be incredibly creative this way!). He has been slow to speak, but not to understand. He doesn't miss a trick of what's going on around him! Noah has a delightful sense of humour that's always ready to role. And he's game for just about anything! A little shy at first with people he doesn't know, Noah is also extremely perceptive about folks. He can be a comforter to one who's feeling down, yet very stand-off-ish toward one who's being boistrous or haughty. Well...I could go on and on! It's true, I do not have a Noah who has NOT had TNI, whom I could stand next to this Noah and compare and contrast. I don't know how he'd be doing had we never learned about TNI. But I certainly know how well he is doing! And we will be forever grateful to Dixie Lawrence and all the wonderful people whose hard work has gone into making these supplements known and available to precious children like our Noah! Because of this, not only his life has been changed...but so have ours!

If you'd like more info about TNI, etc...,here's an Incredible Resource List.

We would love to encourage anyone who's about to give or has recently given birth to a baby with D.S. Please feel free to drop us a line.