Think Babies Born With Down Syndrome Aren’t Smart…? Think Again!

I sometimes say that our little boy reminds me of a Muppet Baby because of all the zany adventures he has in his crib when he thinks we aren’t watching.  (If you don’t get what I’m talking about do yourself a favor and watch a few episodes…you can thank me later!)  Like today for instance…..

Dad Get’s Played By A 9 Month Old….Again!

cute boy blue eyes down syndrome infant crib

Just look at those big, blue eyes!

After feeding him a nice, yummy, lunch he started to close his little eyes and get all cute and cuddly which typically means it’s nap time.  So I tip-toe into his room, quietly lay him down, and tip-toe back out.  Ahhhh…Noah’s finally enjoying a much-needed nap…and dad finally gets to work on a few things.

…or so I thought!

Within just a few minutes of me leaving his room (where he was sleeping like the baby he is)  I hear a mini-party coming from out of his nursery.

“Huh?  What?”

I just laid him down….he was sound asleep…..what in the world is going on in there??!?

So I put down what I was doing, quietly tip-toed back into his room, and guess what…..I got played.  Again. (see yesterday’s post.)

cute boy blue eyes down syndrome infant crib

"I plead the fifth." - Noah

You’ve got to be kidding me!  Are you telling me this little boy pretended to go to sleep, allowed me to lay him every so peacefully into his crib, managed to stay in character all the way until he was 100% sure I was long gone…and then decided to have a party in his crib….?  Wow.  That’s my boy!

Whoever thinks that children born with Down syndrome aren’t smart (and even a little manipulative at times) little cookies should just spend a day in our house.  Our little boy may only be 9 months old…be he already knows how to play the game.

cute baby down syndrome playing piano crib

"Naptime...? It's Playtime...!" - Noah

Well played baby Noah, well played.

Have you ever caught your little one ‘playing’ you?  Tell me about it.

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About Rick Smith

Hi, I'm Noah's Dad and I'm passionate about giving the world a window into our life as we raise our son who was born with Down syndrome. I also enjoy connecting with other families, so let's stay connected.

Comments

  1. genevie- josephs mommy says

    omg he is so cute! i love that piano toy….where did you get that and what is it called?

  2. Jennifer Jones says

    Love this!!! I have been played many many times by my sweet darling Shae Bug (and so have her teachers and other family members). For example, my brother, Davis, voluntarily took both of my children to a local children’s science museum, Sha…e (7) and her little brother Jaxon (5), I warned him “take reinforcements, Shae’s a flight risk” but…NO…he ventures out with both of them in tow. When I get home later that day I hear the story of how Shae gave “Uncle Vavis” a heartache. She disappeared for about 30 min, when he finally tracks her down she says “haha, you found me!!”. Apparently she thought they were playing hide and seek. She thought it was quite fun, “Uncle Vavis” on the other hand was none to happy (and neither was mom)!! Keep up the stories, I love to hear that I’m not the only parent out there that experiences this stuff.

    • @Jennifer…

      You’re not the only one by a LONG shot!

      “Hide and seek”…! I like that! She sounds like a ton of fun! I bet you guys have a blast!

      I can’t wait until Noah has a bother or sister to play with. 🙂

      • Pamela Reyes says

        Hi, I have a 25 year old son with Down Syndrome. Eric was a true blessing to our family as well as others. When he was younger, he could steal your heart, as he does today! We learned many things through Eric. Eric taught us that love is very unconditional no matter what. He also taught us that it is alright not to be perfect, but as we know, he is the perfect one. Eric loves movies (Pirates of the Carribeans, Harry Potter, and NCIS which is his favorite, as he tells us that when he growsn up he is moving to New York to be a forensic person. I have learned through the years to be very patient with what Eric has to say. He knows what he wants and he will presevere until he is able to communicate what it is. We have been blessed with Eric’s health. He had a Duodenum Stynosis surgery when he was a year old and have not had any other health issues. I pray for Eric, your son, and all of the developmentally delayed people that life can bring them as much joy as they bring us! So glad you have this link, it is awesome!!!!!

  3. zarina from malaysia says

    so adorable,you know my son Lutfil is very clever ,he can use a computer now,he also know what to do with a something he found like comb, he will comb his hair,pencil or pen, he will findout a paper to write and when his sister is reading a book he also want to read a book too.Ithink his is a very nice child because he can understand what we is talking and can follow what we doing but we must teach him everyday

    • @Zarina,

      So great to hear from you again! I am sorry to hear that Lutfil has the chicken pox by the way (you shared that on our Facebook page.) I prayed for him tonight, I hope he gets better very soon. You sound like a very loving mother, and Lutfil sounds like a great boy. I wish we could meet him! I still remember when you posted his picture for us, I was so happy to see him!

      He sounds like he’s doing very well..you must be so proud of him. Thanks for keeping us updated, and please post often. I like knowing how you guys are doing. It’s fun having friends on the other side of the world. 🙂

  4. Om my gosh!! He sounds like an adorable little stinker!! 🙂 <3

  5. I just found this site (my friend Jacolyn posted the link from the Target ad story). She has 3 beautiful triplets (2 girls and a boy). One of the girls, Grace, has CP, an my friend said “Grace would make a terrific model”, and so she would! Also I am a pediatric nurse working at a small Pre-School/Child Development Center that serves many “special needs” kids and some “typical” (I hate those awful designations, by the way: all children are special and they all have needs!) Anyway, I am already in love with Noah! What a doll! I have had in my care a couple of kids wth Spina bifida, 3 with severe seizure disorders, 2 with autism and 3 precious little ones with Down Syndrome. I must say, they are my favorites! They are very smart, and charming, and beautiful exactly the way they are. I wouldn’t change a thing about them (well, OK, maybe the one little guy’s fascination with spitting, but..) I get to witness miracles every day that make life so much more precious and sweet. It’s awesome how the children don’t point out the “disabilities” of their friends. They just say “that’s my friend Andy”…”oh, that thing on his leg (brace)… that’s just how he walks.” It’s so good that the “typical” kids get early exposure to differences among their peers, and that the “special” kids see what their peers do, and don’t doubt for a minute that they can do it too. Well, I will pray for Noah’s heart condition to be healed; please pray for one of my little sweethearts, “M” (can’t share her name) She has very fragile lungs (she was a preemie as well as having Down syndrome). She is in the hospital struggling with a severe respiratory infection. I’m so glad i found your site and I will definitely tell my friends about it. God bless you!

    • Hello Noah’s Dad, I’m so glad to read your writing. I also have a baby like you, age 3 months. I love to read your writings and inspired me to take care of my child.

      regards
      Rahma
      Indonesia

  6. those eyes! I can’t get over his eyes, what a beautiful child

  7. My oldest niece has Downs. When she was really little (1 year old or so) she was incredibly stubborn about going to bed. My sister would eventually give up and let her stay up later until she became sleepy. I was visiting one weekend and in my never-been-a-parent arrogance insisted that my sister just had to be consistent and wait my niece out. She responded, “Fine. YOU do it.” So I took my niece to her bed. She immediately got up and started hollering and making all sorts of noise. I went in, laid her down, and left. She got up again. I went in and laid her down and stood by her bed, thinking if I stood there she would be forced to lay still and would eventually drift off. Well, she began shaking her left arm to keep herself awake. So I gently laid my hand on her arm to keep it still. She then started moving her right arm. So I laid my other hand on her right arm. Then she started moving her legs. I basically had her pinned to the bed (very gently, not forcefully). I stood there like that for 15 minutes. And then I realized she was moving her thumbs. I gave up. She won. She was allowed to stay up another hour or so until she became sleepy. Well played, indeed. :^)

  8. hahahahaha! They are characters that is for sure. lol

  9. Twilightmomsa says

    Hi! I’m Matthew’s mom. A ten year old with down syndrome. I thought it was me. I thought no way is that smart thing happening. What is smart? When people who are smarter then you tell you your child has down sydrome it is given as “bad”news. As you search for answers from other smart people and  you start to feel dumb. Ok don’t laugh…I knew very little about raising a child with down sydrome. I raised a dog, a cat, and a baby brother. Forgive me but, that was my resume. After he learned to walk at two, he started going after the things he wanted.Things that did not belong to him, such as videos, lipsticks, and toothbrushes. After running out of hiding places, my husband suggest we placed them up high, out of his reach. Problem was, he saw where we place the items. We had no clue how dumb we were. Matthew pulled a stool up to the kitchen counter and climbed up and grab the videos all the while he just looked at us. I stood there thinking, omg, he can problem solve, he is not dumb, I am! No one had told me that! Ok, there was one lady but in my defense, I thought she was drunk. Anyway, she grew up with a sister who had down syndrome and she said her sister was smart. I just didn’t believe her.
    Yes, I have learned the hard way how smart my son can be. At ten he is a movie critic. He chooses the film he wants us to see and if it is not interesting or boring, we are out of there. He hated ” Tin Tin” and ” Thor” loved “Harry Porter” and  “Stars Wars 3d”  Who can agrue with that?
    You are just starting out with Noah. Have fun, laugh, brag,and show him off.
    These kids are amazing.
    Someday, I’ll tell you how my son cons strangers into giving him stuff!!!!!!

  10. Rosebud Melarkey says

    My little boy Ryan is super smart! From the moment he could grip my finger with his little strong grip hand he has used it to show me exactly what he wanted. Before he got his first tooth he took my finger and placed it where it hurt then placed it on the same spot in my mouth.If he wanted a drink he would take my hand and throw it towards his drink or anything else he wanted. He uses my finger to point out words and pictures in books. Before he was 1yrs he not only recognised his own name and other words when written but new that capital E and little e was the same letter! He’s now 21mths old and knows all his letters, numbers, colours and animals and food. Ryan loves sitting on his nans knee reading her cook books! he knows all the moves to his favorate songs. And we have sat for hours at the laptop picking songs on utube for his own list( we now have fifty songs) I’m sure if he could talk he would sing along to every word!!

  11. okay. so maybe im only a kid (7th grade) but I already know that I am going to adopt a little boy with Down syndrome when I get older! We got to pick a genetic disorder (hate that word, because kids with downs are truly a gift) to study and do a project on and guess what I picked!!!! Down syndrome!! We are supposed to use pictures to put on our board that we present to the class so I guess Noah’s one day modeling gig paid off 😉 I think Noah is just such a sweet heart and it gets me excited to have my life blessed by a kid with downs one day <3

  12. Omg he’s so cute I love this story people are so mean about kids with Down syndrome but they are really some of the nicest people on earth like they really just want to fit in but most people these days are so mean they don’t let them play with them and they just judge them I love kids with Down syndrome I hope to make a nursery full of young babies with Down syndrome and I’ll look after them

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