1. His favorite foods are pizza, pancakes, cake, and ice cream.

2. His favorite restaurant is Bob Evans. See above re: pancakes.

3. He knows the words to ALL. THE. SONGS.

4. He needs to pick out the shirt he wants to wear before school.

5. He's a Daddy's boy. Always has been.

6. He loves sports. Baseball. Basketball. Football. He'll veg out on the couch and watch football all day long.

7. He wears glasses. He's farsighted.

8. He knows the name of every kid that's ever been in his class.

9. His favorite movie at the moment is The Lion King.

10. He loves his younger sister.

11. He bugs the crap out of his younger sister.

12. When he wants to get out of doing something, he will repeatedly give you hugs and tell you he loves you.

13. He loves books.

14. He can read a few short words, like "run" "bat" "cat".

15. He's very good at taking his dirty dishes to the sink.

16. He's very bad at picking up toys.

17. He loves to swim.

18. He has very little patience when it comes to getting what he wants. He wants it NOW!

19. When he gets mad, he yells "Dammit!"

20. He wants to work at the library or the bank when he grows up.

21. His favorite dance move is the "Robot".

Now, look at this list. Tell me what you see. Do you see a pretty average 5 year old boy? I bet you do.

What do you think when you think of a 5 year old boy with Down syndrome? Does your opinion change? It shouldn't.

This is my son. My 5 year old with Down syndrome. Today is World Down Syndrome Day. When you think of kids like mine, think of an average kid. A kid that is probably pretty similar to other 5 year old boys you may know. This is what I want you to know about Down syndrome…My kid is just like yours, in all the ways that count.