Little Guy

Little Guy, age one, who goes to day care with my own little man, got his new arm yesterday.

Little Guy's foster (hoping to adopt) mommy is the daughter of Little Man's day care providers. She's had him since he was very young. Little Guy was born with only half of his right arm. His mommy took him to Shriners Hospital in Sacramento. Over several visits in a several month period, they evaluated him, casted the very first of many prosthetic arms he will use in his lifetime, and presented him with it just yesterday. We had dinner at their church this evening and his mommy was proudly showing off how well he was doing with it.

Being only one year old, Little Guy doesn't quite understand all about it, how it works or what to do. The new arm is very simple and doesn't have too many functions. After all, it's mostly just for him to get used to the feel of wearing a prosthesis.

Little Guy will have many choices in his life. Will he mostly use the prosthesis, or will he be more comfortable simply learning to do things one handed? (I've been impressed by how well he does one-handed already.) How will he deal with his disability, and what will his attitude be? Right now, he's a sweet little baby and his mommy is encouraging him to do everything he possibly can in whatever way works best.

He's fortunate that he has the Shriners, the Ronald McDonald House, and that wonderful woman who is the mommy of his heart even if the social workers haven't yet made her his mommy on paper.