Correction, He's OUR Baby

Sometime before Micah happened, we were talking about whether or not we wanted 4 kids. In the end we decided to roll the dice and hope for another girl, but if a boy came up again we'd count our blessings and just be done. Once this great decision had been made, Sam looked at me and said, "and we won't spoil her just because she's the baby." To which I replied, "well, duh. It'll be our 4th child. When would you think I would have time to spoil her?" And I thought in my head to myself, "heh, we'll just see about that. Do you know how long it's been since I got to shop for little girly things?"



We found out early on that Micah was a boy, and the evidence grew more evident with each ultrasound picture we had done. The kid sat (laid?) for nearly a dozen photography sessions before he was even born. (And we weren't going to spoil him.) That was way more pre-birth pictures than the other kids had put together. But there was little worry that I'd spoil him. He'd be too busy running with the boys, and I didn't get to buy fun girly things for him, so Sam was safe in his declaration.



That all changed when Micah was 26 hours old. The doctor informed us that they were testing for Down syndrome, and our lives haven't been the same since. I carried our precious baby everywhere, held him while we watched TV in the evening, had a harder time letting friends and acquaintances hold him than I did the other kids, and generally mothered him with a passion every second of every day. Sam looked at me one night and said, "just because he has a disability doesn't change anything. We're still not going to spoil him." To which I replied, "of course we're not. I am."



As we were getting ready for bed before Micah's birthday, Sam asked if he should leave the chips on the counter since Micah loves them so much. That way he could have them for breakfast. I said, "may as well, that way he won't have to get them out himself in the morning. It is his birthday tomorrow, so it should be all about him." To which Sam replied with a laugh and an eye roll, "What are you talking about? It's all about him every day."



I think we did a stupendous job of not spoiling our baby. If I could reach, I'd give myself a pat on my back.