Sophia and dwarfism

well it is Dwarfism Awareness month. If you want to read up on it-http://www.understandingdwarfism.com .

i can't help but think of our sweet little girl. it is weird as i feel tied to the world of little people and love following blogs of other parents that have children with dwarfism. mainly because i love seeing them live these wonderful lives and thinking of what our sweet girl would look like if she were here with us now. i know i have said it before- even though it would have been a hard path we would have loved raising Sophia. she would have been so dang cute.

the weird part is having a child who had dwarfism and feeling tied to that community, yet not looking like i should be tied to it. it is weird- as when i see a little person- i want to run up and say hey- my daughter had dwarfism. it would be weird and awkward i am sure, just because they have dwarfism i think they should care my daughter did- silly i know. i think i just want to feel that connection to those like my daughter. but i know that if i had her with me they would stop and notice her. (maybe i am wrong). i see other parents talking (they call themselves POLP -parent of a little person). which i know i technically am, but since i don't live it day to day it doesn't feel as real.

a lot of little people don't want to be defined with having dwarfism as they are so much more than just that. and they are. but with losing a child to dwarfism- it really does define my child. we didn't have the opportunity to have her spunky personality (which i am sure she would have had) define her. all we had was her physical self and all the cute small parts are what defined her and is what we have to remember her by. so while some want to move past the fact they have dwarfism- i want to cling to that. as it is really all we have that made her special and was what God blessed her with. 

anyway- i can't wait to tell Blake all about his big (little) sister. i hope that one day he is proud of who she is and what made her special. i hope he stands up for those that look different and appreciates them for their differences. i hope he (like us) has a special place in his heart for those with dwarfism.

i hope you all think of little people a different way after having known Sophia. i also am using this post to help remind people to not use the "m word". if you want to read why that is offensive- this great post helped explain it in a detailed way http://knoahsarc.org/2010/04/25/the-m-word-repost-from-0909/.

here is the little guy- wearing a shirt super proud to be Sophia's little brother.

speaking of that little cutie... here she is.  (i didn't think they looked that much alike before but i think they do here)

polp- tristen