21 things about my sister Janice

I've seen these on lots of other blogs so I thought I would do one for Janice. Janice is my little sister, and she has Down Syndrome.

1.Janice was born June 9, 1985 at McDill Air force base, FL, only 11 short months after me.

2.She was diagnosed shortly after birth with Down Syndrome, but she has a rare type of Down Syndrome called Translocation Down Syndrome. This type only accounts for 3-5% of cases of Down syndrome. It happens when part of one of the number 21 chromosomes attaches to another random chromosome so she doesn't have 47 chromosomes, only 46, but she has the DNA material for 3 number 21 chromosomes since one is attached at another location in addition to the typical 2. Since sometimes this type of Down's can be inherited, both my parents had their DNA tested, but none of them carry the gene, so Janice is extra special.

3. Janice walked when she was 3 years old and I still remember her wobbly first steps and my parents clapping and "Yay-ing" for her.

4. Janice started school before me even though I'm older. I was so jealous :)

5. Janice wasn't completely potty trained until around age 4, my mom had tons of help from her wonderful teachers at her preschool.

6. Janice had her tonsils and adenoids removed when she was 7 years old. When she came home and my dad asked her if she wanted Apple juice, she said "no no no no no no no .........WATER!" In this little squeaky voice, to this day we still laugh about it.

7. One Halloween when my mother was working nights, Janice dressed up as a clown and my dad was left with the job of doing her clown makeup....it turned out horrendous and we love looking at the photos of the "clown from hell" as we affectionately called her that year.

8. I adored doing Janice's hair when we were little and I'm pretty sure she loved having me do it :)

9. I slept in the same bed with Janice even though we had our own rooms from before I can remember until around age 10. I was extremely scared at night and I felt Janice was unharmable by the boogieman and the like because she was special.

10. We also took baths and showers together all the time as kids and I really enjoyed washing her hair.

11. Janice LOVES pasta and pretty much eating in general, if she doesn't get her lunch right at 11:30, she's not happy.

12. Sometimes my mom dressed us alike at kids.

13. Janice has competed in the Special Olympics in running and won lots of medals.

14. Janice graduated high school in 2005 and was able to walk across the stage with a cap and gown just like everyone else. My dad cried.

15. Janice was a bell ringer in my wedding. I created this part especially for her. She rang a bell right after the flower girls walked down the aisle and right before me. She loved her job and took it very seriously.

16. Janice LOVES the transformers and refers to herself as "Queen Optimus Prime"

17. Janice also loves Disney Princesses.

18. Janice gets on the Internet on a daily basis to look at the transformers web site.

19. She is extremely good at video games and can beat me.

20. Janice LOVES to draw and write and if she sees something on TV she wants, she'll write my dad a note and leave it on the fridge for him.

21. Anytime I talk to her on the phone she asks me if I'm having a baby...LOL. She says that when I do have one, it must be a girl. When she finally gets to be an aunt someday, she'll be one happy girl.

22. I'm adding one more because I forgot it above. Janice got her name from my mom's favorite model on "The price is right". Her middle name is Kristina, and if I have a girl someday, her middle name will also be Kristina in honor of her aunt.