Treasure Chest

For those who have read an extensive portion of this blog and/or know us personally, it is obvious that Hip Chick has a pacifier addiction. After seeing so many pacifier photos over the past four months, some people have offered unsolicited opinion constructive advice regarding whether she "should" still use a paci and what we need to do to break the habit.  

As we rang in the new year, one of my resolutions was a "paci free in 2013" campaign, as I wanted to wave her beloved crutch goodbye by her birthday last month.  Enter the hip dysplasia diagnosis.  What kind of parent would crush a child's primary coping mechanism just before the child is crippled for six months?  A rather unempathetic one, in my opinion.

With that said, now seems to be an opportune time.  With one month of traction and two OR appointments behind us, we can only hope the more difficult obstacles are behind her.  BUT... if they are not, then they will not stop coming for a long time.  At this point, the cast is accepted into her daily routine.

I visited a local craft supply store and purchased supplies to make a treasure chest.  Little one loves mermaids and fairies, so a treasure chest seemed to be a good way to meet her halfway.

I painted it to look like a befitting focal point in a Disney movie.  I painted her "treasure" (miniature wood carvings of hearts and stars) with two coats of sparkly paint so it would glisten and shimmer in the sun.

We have told her it is where her paci sleeps when she must leave it behind.  We have difficulty in the mornings, but evening and weekends have begun the transition.

Speaking of treasures, it was previously a custom for young women to maintain a "hope chest" of sorts, to stow away their marital trousseau.  I have begun collecting dreams and wishes for when our little hippie can walk again.  The outfit above was the first I purchased and represents my hope.  I imagine what it will look like to see her legs again or to tickle her knees. My husband awoke one morning with tears in his eyes after dreaming that she was walking toward him.  We hope and dream that her hip will stay together after her next eight weeks of casting concludes.

Lastly, the photo above is of Hip Chick's growth chart.  I had purchased it as a holiday gift for her and planned to begin marking her height at regular intervals this year.  I marked it two weeks before she began traction and again today.  As you can see, the spica has caused her to stand six inches shorter than before.  As we envision what she and her life may be like after these casts, this growth chart represents just one of so many questions and hopes we have for her.  So, perhaps it is fitting that little one has her own treasure chest now.  We each carry our own stash of hopes at the moment.