We didn't ask to have a child born with disabilities, but since that is what happened, we might as well learn to make the best out of a bad situation and maximize our child's potential for a good and happy life.

Our daughter, Mikkaylah Grace, was born with Down syndrome.  She is six years old and is just starting to learn her letters and her numbers.  She also became toilet trained last fall, which was a huge answer to prayer.  For a while we thought that Mikkaylah would never get out of diapers!

Because of her Down syndrome, Mikkaylah is mentally disabled, with the mind of a two-to-four-year old child.  She also has heart problems and has been "under the knife" three times (once shortly after her birth, the second time when she was three, and again earlier this year).  She has silvery scars crisscrossing her chest like small railroad tracks; we call them her "battle scars".  In addition, she has physical characteristics of the syndrome: the slanted eyes, the short, stubby fingers and toes, fine, sparse hair, no nasal bridge, a tongue that seems thick and too big for her mouth, and a short, thick neck, in addition to small ears and a round moon-shaped face.

But to us, Mikkaylah is beautiful!  It is the way God made her and we have learned to embrace her uniqueness.

Mikkaylah goes to a school for children with physical and mental disabilities, where she has been going for the past three years.  She absolutely loves it and has made many frends.  She loves learning new things and is proud to show us, her Mommy and Daddy, what she has learned.  She has come a very long way; we are very proud of her!

Like all children, Mikkaylah loves to play, but because of her heart issues, she has to take it easy and not do anything strenuous.  She loves to swim, color, draw, paint, "read" her picture books, watch Caillou and Barney on television, play with her friends on the weekends or after school, go to country music concerts (she loves Kenny Rogers and Loretta Lynn the best; she has seen both in concert numerous times and has met both in person, which has been a big thrill for her), and go to church, where she loves to sing in the children's choir every Wednesday night.  (We also go to church on Sunday.)

Well, I hate to run, but I have to get Mikkaylah up and ready for school.  I also have to get her breakfast ready and have her morning pills ready for her to take after she eats.  I will write in here again soon; God has certainly blessed our lives by bringing Mikkaylah into it!  Take care!

~Bruce Bonaventure, Mikkaylah's daddy.  :)

~To be continued!~