When Amanda Bowman Gray asked her daughter Lydia to watch her 25-month-old son, Bo, so she could take a shower, she could not believe her eyes (or ears!) when she returned.
Gray was shocked to find her kids performing a beautiful rendition of “You Are My Sunshine.” The incredible thing? Bo has Down Syndrome, but was still able to keep up with every word!
Amanda knew she had to capture the stunning moment on camera. Lydia can be seen strumming away on her guitar and singing “You Are My Sunshine” with her little bro by her side. The toddler gets super excited when the words “happy,” “gray,” “dear,” and “away” come up in the song. He absolutely loves being able to show off the fact he can say all these new words – what a guy!
“My daughter Lydia was watching Bo while I was in the shower,” Bowman Grey began in a post earlier this month. “Came out to this. If she didn’t have a guitar I don’t know if she would know how to babysit him. This is her go to. It’s proof that music therapy works . . . Every word he has learned has been through music and singing.”
The video has been viewed over 50 million times, and shared over 1 million times!
https://www.facebook.com/heberjonesy/videos/10155028240386813/
Amanda revealed the powerful meaning of the song for their family. Her husband, Caleb, sang the song to Bo when he was recovering in the hospital from serious heart surgery.
https://www.facebook.com/heberjonesy/videos/10155028514666813/
“This was the first time that he moved as he reacted to the familiarity of the song and our voices,” Amanda wrote, adding the tune had become Bo’s “theme song.”
“We feel like he’s defying the odds,” Bowman Grey told ABC News on Tuesday, January 16. “Thanks to Lydia and her determination, she pushed forward with music therapy . . . We’re so proud of our kids.”
“We were told a while back that our lil caboose Bo would inspire and teach the world someday. At that time I don’t think Caleb and I could comprehend or even imagine it to this extent. He is a blessing. He has brought a sweet spirit into our home and a little piece of heaven,” Amanda wrote on Facebook.
“He has changed our lives and humbled us beyond measure. My older children along with us are changed forever because of him. All he knows is how to LOVE. Simply LOVE unconditionally. What more could parents ask for? To EVERYONE who has viewed, commented, shared, and messaged us personally…THANK YOU. Thank you for seeing the beauty of this video as it bring awareness to Down Syndrome but also that music Therapy ROCKS!”
The couple are both musicians. Recently, Amanda updated her Facebook with a new video of little Lydia teaching her brother how to sing “Row row row your boat.”
“I don’t know if the last video of Lydia and Bo going viral really sunk in with her. She’s continuing as usual with her music therapy with Bo. She said on Friday she wanted to start working on the song, “Row row row your boat” because she figures if he can say the word boat then he can say his name “Bo,”” wrote Amanda on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/heberjonesy/videos/pcb.10155043302361813/10155043288311813/?type=3&theater
What a beautiful moment of mutual affection between siblings, and a lovely memory for all the family to treasure.