A Life of His Own

Before Miles was born I thought a lot about the fact that our child wouldn't just be ours, but that he belonged to the Universe. That our job was to give him the tools so he could one day go forth and make his own way in life, without us. When he was born and we were told he had Down syndrome one of the thoughts I had was, "Our child will never be able to go forth and have a life of his own". I was scared and knew no better. But really, I was wrong to think that he wouldn't have a life of his own!

Miles already has a whole personal life that we're not a part of! See, he's been in daycare twice a week for almost 3 months now and he is the little Casanova in the motley crew of kids he plays with all day. In the beginning, I was so afraid of leaving him there, would he miss me? would he cry? would they know how to care for him properly? would he get along with the other kids? I second guessed myself so much, but after a couple of days, I realized that being around all those "typical" children was actually really good for his social skills and his play skills. But it never even occurred to me that he'd make friends. And not just that he'd play with the kids there, but that they would look forward to seeing him!

Believe it or not, Miles has two lovely little ladies, Scarlet (who is 2 years old) and Beatrice (a year and a half), who start yelling his name in excitement when he arrives in the morning and who start crying when I pick him up in the afternoon. "Baby Miles!" they for call him. They give him kisses and sing songs with him. They're teaching him how to clap and they practice crawling with him! There's also several boys who all love to play with Baby Miles.

So here he is, less than a year old and already he has a life of his own, that my husband and I are not a part of. Sure, he might have a tough time when he's in middle school or high school, he might even live with us forever, but he will always have his own life. With his own friends. And Scarlet and Beatrice are probably just the first of many many women in his life who will look after him. And for that, I say he is mighty lucky!