Olive

Olive has a very sweet temperament and is a very pleasant baby (when she is feeling well). She is responsive to her environment and wants to be included in activities. She loves to lay on her back, roll around, and play with toys. At daycare, she loves to watch and play with the other kids and listen to music. Olive adores her 3-year-old big brother, Leo, and her eyes are glued on him anytime he's in the room. The feeling is mutual from her brother, and he recently told me he likes everything about his sister. Her giggles are the purest sound of delight I have ever heard in my life. She is a joy to all those she meets, and her smile lights up a room. She is eating baby foods and gobbles everything up! She does fight back when she is examined and being tested at her medical appointments, which makes me swell with pride knowing she has the ability to fight and use her muscles when needed. She was born at 4:44 a.m., and those numbers are said to represent angels being all around you, and I certainly believe that and take it to heart.

~Brooke, Olive’s Mom

Alfi’s Syndrome

Alfi's syndrome, or the 9p minus syndrome, is a very rare chromosomal disorder that causes mental and physical disabilities. The symptoms of Alfi's syndrome are very similar to the symptoms of Down syndrome, which include mental retardation, mongoloid eyes, abnormally shaped forehead, unusually flat midfacial regions, long upper lip, cleft lip and palate, anteverted nostrils, arched eyebrows, white flat nasal bridge, small ears, short nose, small jaw, short and broad neck, genital defects, congenital heart defects, extra fingers, long digits, predominant whorls on fingers, seizure disorders, and poor muscle tone. Children with this disorder are described as overly friendly and trusting of strangers.

Artist: Robert Francis Whelan