Big Girls Don't Cry

Hip Chick has incurred quite the "big girl" transformation since last month's cast-off.  Prior posts refer to potty training, but that is only one piece of her maturation jump.  Her transition out of the upper toddler class into her  new lower preschool class took only two days as opposed to the five we had planned.  Everyday tasks that previously warranted assistance are now preceeded with a firm "let me do it," as she wants to do it all for herself.  

We had recently noticed that her quilt was no longer covering her as she tossed at night and so we took her shopping for "big girl" bedding.  Her pastel owlette nursery decor has now given way to polka dots, peace signs, and bright stripes- selected by Hip Chick herself.  The last pieces of her nursery bedding are now stowed out of sight.

The final nail in her toddlerhood coffin came in the form of a very special invitation:  Big Sis's first sleepover party at her other house!  Hip Chick responded to the news with gasps of "WOW" and she informed everyone who would listen about the special event.  I had wondered how she would respond to a party filled with older girls, but she held her own nicely- with a little help from Big Sis.  She fed off of their energy and squealed as she scampered after them.  She yelled, "Let's go, girls!" as she attempted to lead them into new rooms.  She held her own pizza slice instead of asking Mommy to cut it, she let Big Sis give her a kitty cat makeover, and she watched a movie with the group.  We drove home at her usual bedtime, but she wore pajamas for the party  just like all of the big girls.  Very grown up, indeed.

This blog is not entitled "Big Girls Don't Cry" because of Hip Chick... but because of my own feelings regarding this transition.  It is easy to feel that last year's extensive back-to-back medical plans stole away her last remnants of babyhood.  She did not really crawl and she has never run.  She has not yet been able to walk on a birthday.  During a time in which many tots plead for cuddles, we had a physical barrier of five casts.  But the timeline for such things is short and those days are forever behind us for Hip Chick.  She has transitioned into a spirited, beautiful, intelligent, imaginative, little girl and we could not ask for a better Hip Chick than the one we have!

To reinforce this point, she accompanied us parents to a very grown up outing today.  Our favorite museum is hosting a traveling exhibit of animals, deconstructed to their bones, muscles, and organs.  I had wondered whether Hip Chick may be any more squeamish than me, but she seemed to enjoy the exhibit.  We stumbled upon a human skeleton and took the opportunity to point out her hip and discuss a little more of what the doctors needed to fix to help her feel better.  Hip Chick was more fascinated by the exhibit's bull.

Mommy and Daddy found many points of interest in the exhibit, but perhaps their photos are not all appropriate for a child's blog.

Afterward, we took her to Dallas's Klyde Warren Park.  The park had opened just a few months before Hip Chick's diagnosis and we had been unable to visit prior to.  As the city soaked up unseasonably warm weather today, we treated ourselves and Hip Chick to a little extra sunshine.

Hip Chick ate her first lunch from one of the gourmet food trucks lined against the parks' border.

But she was more thrilled with a rare dessert treat of a cinnamon toast cookie and vanilla bean ice cream sandwich.

She wrapped up the visit by splashing and twirling through the kids' wading pool.  Such a happy girl today. 

Today's string of outings ended with another trip to the shoe store.  Hip Chick had been complaining that her shoes were hurting and so I wanted her feet remeasured.  Imagine our surprise when we learned that she needed shoes two sizes larger!  Two sizes?!  Alas, she just received her sparkly shoes last month... but perhaps there is a bit of a gift in the news.  This past year, we missed all of her growth spurts, as they each occurred within the confines of her spica casts.  Now, we have seen one before our very eyes!  Our grown up girl.  Perhaps it's okay for me to cry just a little.  As long as they are happy tears.