These were taken on Sam's first birthday. By this time I knew that he was very delayed. He hadn't taken his first steps, he was very wobbly when he sat up, he had to be propped up against something to get his balance. His only words at the time were "ba", "da", and "pita". He hadn't said "mama" yet. He could roll onto his stomach and do the "commando crawl"! It was cute but sad too. I still didn't have a diagnoses. He was in a program called First Steps. He had been there for about three weeks when these were taken. They really worked wonders with him. He had some major sensory issues. He didn't like anything on his hands. When I gave him his cake, he wouldn't touch it. I wanted to get some pictures of him eating his cake, so I put his hands in it and hoped he would take it from there. But he didn't. He gagged because of the cake on his hands. I felt so sorry for him. In the top picture he was mad at the cake. I also think he was trying to get a bite without touching it with his hands. LOL. He was a character even then. He has came a long way since then and he still has such a long way to go. His sensory issues have gotten better, but he still struggles with some things.

He finally said "mama" when he was about three years old. I never will forget that day. I was standing in the living room and he was standing up by holding onto the chair and he looked up at me and said "mama". I cried and laughed all at the same time. It was the most beautiful sound in the world to me. His speech finally started coming right after that, but not in the way you would expect. He wouldn't talk any except when I would rock him and sing to him. He started singing with me. I would get tickled because it was so cute and funny. I didn't understand why he wouldn't talk but he would sing along with me. Now that I know he has Williams Syndrome, I know why he did it. People with WS have a love for music that goes way beyond the imagination. He is very musically inclined. He taught himself how to play the chorus to "Old McDonald had a Farm" on his keyboard. It took him about three hours of banging around on it, but he did it. But that is a story for another day.