Party Hat

My baby turns 1 this week.  Eek!!! What happened to the last 12 months?  I made her birthday hat today.  I forgot to take in progress photos - need to get better about that.  I just took an existing paper party hat that you can get anywhere and covered it in pink and white chevron scrapbook paper.  Then I made a pom out of yarn for the top.  To make the pom, I wound the yarn around three of my fingers several times then took a smaller piece of yarn and tied it in the middle.  Then I just clipped the ends with fabric scissors and fluffed it up!  I glued a few rows of the same yarn at the bottom and cut a glitzy ribbon into a 1 for the middle.  I couldn't find my fabric glue until after I was done (naturally) so I super glued it, but hot glue would work too (I was lazy and wanted to finish it before nap time was up).  And that's it!  A custom party hat for my little one.  Now if I can just get her to leave it on...

"Unfortunate" is Not in Our Vocabulary

Today while checking out at Target, the cashier noticed my daughter's arm cast.  When I explained what she was born with, he said "how unfortunate", along with some niceties about how doctors can do all types of things and surely they could "fix her hands".  I was caught off guard and said something about how great her doctors are and what a great and happy baby she is.

Up until her cast, most people didn't even notice her cleft hands (or they certainly didn't mention it if the they did).  Now with the cast on her I get questions all the time about what happened to her arm and judging stares like I did something to hurt her. 

I guess the new parent in me shows when I'm caught off guard and can't think of the perfect response at that moment.  Unfortunate is not something that comes to mind when I think about my daughter.  Beautiful, strong, funny, determined, smart - these are just a few words that describe her perfectly. 

Yes, my daughter's hands look different than what is considered "normal".  Can she still do things other children can do?  You bet.  Is she loved any differently?  Not in the least - that child is loved so much I can't even begin to explain it. 

As her first birthday approaches at the end of the month, I look back at how far we've come as a family.  We had the initial shock at her birth and lots of doctor visits and stress.  We've had to learn how to be parents quickly and make big decisions - some I hope most parents never have to make.  But we've all three come out stronger and closer and better for it. 

We were given so many special gifts when our daughter was born.  The gift to accept others for who they truly are.  The gift to not be so critical of ourselves and others.  The gift to realize how blessed we are and be thankful every day.  The gift to make the most of life and to teach our daughter to do the same.  We are all three so blessed and lucky to have each other.  So when someone says we are "unfortunate", they must be mistaken.  Unfortunate is not in our vocabulary.