Julia

by Kellie and John Cooney

Hello! Our names are John and Kellie Cooney and our daughter Julia has SMS. She turned 1 in April. This is a story from two very PROUD parents. It is only told to provide encouragement, not to make others feel bad or discouraged. We have been working very hard with Julia, almost since birth, in OT, PT, ST, Behavior Therapy - you name it. We were recently told by our PT that she wanted Julia to be doing better. She was too sloppy (imagine that) at sitting up and crawling.

My aunt was in Discount Drug Mart and entered Julia's name into a sweepstakes for a year’s supply of free diapers. Much to our surprise, her name was drawn from hundreds of names. A representative from the Cleveland Lumberjacks (our hockey team) contacted us to say she was a winner. The only catch was that she had to be in a baby derby. John and I pondered the situation and decided we had nothing to lose.

On the day of the derby, we went with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law to the Lumberjacks game. They had a nice reception for us with food and drinks. When it came time to go out onto the ice for the BABY CRAWLING CONTEST, we lined up and they brought over “Buzz the Beaver” mascot. All other 4 babies cried and screamed, except Julia!! After the contest the other parents all commented on how adaptable Julia was!!

To make a long story short ( I am so proud I would give you all every detail), Julia took first place. The TV cameras as well as a photographer from Cleveland Magazine were there. Needless to say, I stood there and sobbed. All these people thought I was happy because we had just won a year’s supply of diapers AND season tickets to the Lumberjacks! Little did they know that just over a year ago when I learned about Julia having SMS, I was told she probably wouldn't crawl until she was a year old. I was happy for Julia and thankful to God for being so gracious.

The diapers and the tickets are a great reward but the memories from this will never be surpassed. We are very proud parents and couldn't ask for a better baby. As my Dad said good night to me and hugged me - he said "See Kellie all your hard work with Julia is paying off!" To all you other parents - always remember that - when you are down in the dumps (which is easy to do when you get tired and run down). You never know what surprises our angels will bring us.