Turn the Page

This is my 100th blog post.  I wish this could be a celebratory post, but it is ill timing for much fanfare.  The timing is significant, however, in the sense that we are on the cusp of a new chapter in Hip Chick's journey- and it so happens to coincide with one of the most meaningful holidays of the year for our family.

We spent this past week nailing down lagging details, which gave space for us to observe a religious holiday at week's end. In this instance, holiday observance meant fasting.  Admittedly, I have been rather upset with G-d this year and may have attempted a bargain or two.  I found it an injustice that an innocent child should have to experience such hardship due to issues out of her control.  I wished (okay- maybe I begged a little) that somehow I could swap her hip for my own, so she may be as active as she desires.  I protested to G-d that, at age two, she belongs in dance class and on playground slides... not in spica casts!  With that said, I cannot verbalize exactly what my fast was about this year... but it was not entirely about myself.

We attended our annual family dinner after fasting.  Of course, Hip Chick is too young for such things and was in a much spunkier mood than we adults before mealtime.  We arrived early and took a stroll down a nearby pond to feed ducks, which is one of her favorite activities.  I wanted her to enjoy as long of a walk as she could handle coupled with this favored activity while she still could.  Later, she was treated to her great-great grandmother's cheese blintz recipe with blueberry sauce.  A sweet start to her new year, indeed- if only it could remain that sweet for her.  Perhaps it is better wished that her year will end as sweetly.

This morning, Daddy and I drove Hip Chick and her trusty dog to their favorite dog park.  The heat is finally breaking and the park was full of tail-wagging friends to enjoy.  After a little exercise, we dropped off our furry companion and enjoyed brunch with our hippie at our favorite diner.  Baby girl squealed when her pancakes arrived, which prompted Daddy to remark that we would miss mornings such as this in the coming months. After pancakes, we surprised her with one last bit of fun.

As we were considering what else to do for her before surgery, the question had come to mind: "What activity would no parent in their right mind do with a child in a spica cast?"  One answer stood out above all others: 

Chuck E. Cheese

We arrived early enough that Hip Chick could enjoy all of the seizure-inducing lights and sounds without much competition.  She rode a swing around a giant clock.  She bounced balls into jugs for tickets.  She threw down levers to launch pigs into space.  She danced with a "real life" Chuck E. Cheese and other kids during the floor show.  Her favorite activity of all, however, was riding in the car above.  We let her do so as many times in a row as her heart desired... which neared 20.  Daddy earned enough tickets to win her a bracelet and stickers from the prize counter.  So much fun... she fell asleep during the drive home.

And now for a hefty dose of reality.  We have bags to pack and a crib to disassemble.  We have a too-long, extra splashy bath with twice-scrubbed hair to host... which reminds Mommy: time to pull out the dry shampoo.  What is most unusual about today's preparation is a thorough scrub with the cloth pictured above.  It is one of the nagging reminders that this surgery is of greater significance than Hip Chick's experiences to date.

It is with a big sigh I also write that there are diapers to assemble.  Years from now, when this is far behind us, one of the hallmarks of her spica cast phases will be the nights of cutting off diaper tabs and halving menstrual pads for her spica cast diapering.  The most unexpected, odd things characterize life's chapters, don't they?  We aren't entirely certain what this next chapter holds for our young daughter... but it's time to turn the page.