Halfway Done

6 weeks from today Cecilia gets her cast off. I've been looking forward to today for 6 weeks. I expected myself to be so happy that we are halfway done and look forward to the next six weeks going fast. But surprisingly this milestone is just depressing me. It feels like we should be done and instead of getting a new cast this week we should be getting it taken off. I feel like it has been a long time and don't want to go through another one as long. Shaun says I'll feel better after we get the new cast and have more days behind us than in front of us. I hope that is true. So to try to convince myself of this I decided to write about the good things about this cast. It will be a short list and I can think of bad things for each of these, but that's beside the point. Here goes,

1. We have been able to enjoy Cecilia's learning to feed herself more than if she were also learning to be mobile. Who knows maybe because she isn't mobile she is developing faster on this front? I love to give her a "treat" and watch her pick it up, open her mouth, and put her hand in her mouth. Most of the time now she gets it in there and chews it. I can see improvement everyday. She gets better at picking them up, getting it in her mouth and opening her fingers so it goes in the mouth instead of on the lip or falling on the ledge (her cast). Shaun and I have both really enjoyed watching the progress.

2. I have been able to hold her more than I would if she were mobile. I love my daughter but she is not a cuddler so every chance I get to hold her and rub her back is time I probably wouldn't get if she were mobile. I have to enjoy it now and remember it when she is running around.

3. Being able to go to church and sit in the lessons. We have a lot of babies in our ward about Cecilia's age and they have formed what I call "The Baby Brigade." Their children are just learning to move and the last thing they want to do is sit for three hours. These women miss Gospel Doctrine and part of Relief Society (the last two hours of church) because their children don't want to sit and play on a bench any longer. They all sit in thr foyer and let their children crawl or walk around. Cecilia is kinda noisy, but because she can't crawl on the floor I take her to class anyway. I want to actually get something out of this thing I'm making her skip a nap for(well to be honest, she usually skips the nap on her own so we take her to church). She loves to sit backwards and flirt with everyone behind us. she will do what she can to get their attention and then smile her big cheesy grin and coo at them. Melts their heart (and ours), they stare at her for the rest of the class and always come up to us after and say how cute she is. Shaun and I were discussing how we think she knows how cute she is and that everyone dotes on her so she exploits it to the fullest of her ability. You should watch her in action. Shaun and I are in trouble when she gets older!

4. I will appreciate her mobility so much more in the end. I look around my house and see all the things I need to baby proof and the floors that I will need to sweep daily. I'm kinda glad I can put off doing it for another 2 months or so. But when she starts moving around I know I will be so happy for it that I won't mind keeping my house clean. I will appreciate every day that she runs around and never wish for her to be back in this cast.

5. I will always have a special place in my heart for my "hip baby". Several women in the HipBaby web group, one in particular that I corrispond with, say they have a special bond with their DDH child. There is just something about going through a rough time and feeling so sorry for your child that binds you in a different way. I'm sure this will be the case for me as well. This dear, sweet, little child is so special.

There... I feel better about another 6 weeks already. I'm sure Shaun is right, once we have moved on to the second phase I will be excited we are on the downhill.

Here is Cecilia in her spica chair (the one thing that makes this doable) with the chain countdown I made behind her. It is really fun to see the chain get smaller everyday. Only 6 colors left! (this was taken a little over a week ago)