For the past 2 years Treya has been wearing Ponsetti shoes at night to help correct her clubfeet. During that time she rarely complained about wearing them. In fact, at times the routine of wearing her shoes seemed to bring her comfort. We have cut the feet out of many a pair of footed pajamas during that time, arranged her bed so that she could sleep with just a light weight blanket over her or no blanket at all to keep from getting the connecting bar all tangled in sheets, and have carried her to the bathroom in the middle of the night with one eye open on many an occasion. Outside of a night here or there with growing pains, at no point during this time did she have issues over wearing the shoes. They even made two trips to Mexico with us. Treya has been a trooper through all of it.
But as the days leading up to her latest foot appointment at Chrildren’s Hospital ticked away, Treya’s patience had grown thin. Every night she had an itch between her toes, her legs hurt, her socks were bunched up, the shoes were too tight or one of countless other maladies were ailing her. At 4 years of age, the bones in one’s feet solidify so this is the cut off point for this form of therapy - a fact we've all known throughout the process. We were all hoping we could kiss those blue suede shoes goodbye, but none more than Treya. (By the way, they really are blue suede!)
Dr. Mosca was extremely pleased with the angle in which she can bend both feet, how her feet support her body weight when she walks, and the fact that she can hop on one of her legs. So having passed all those tests, he declared her a boot with bars graduate! Treya cheered, fist bumped and gave high fives to the doctor and he presented her with a certificate of completion. Though we still will make six month visits, no more shoes need to be worn at night! Whoo Hoo!
Treya couldn’t wait to wear footy pajamas that night and dashed upstairs to change the moment we returned from our celebratory dinner out...with durt (Treya’s word for dessert). She also slept under her covers for the first time AND took herself to the bathroom in the middle of the night...not because she HAD to go, but that she COULD. Night time has taken on a whole new kind of excitement with our new and improved routine. Both girls are ready to hit the sheets in no time and sleep usually follows 5 minutes after lights out. No longer do we find Treya in odd and compromising positions that look so uncomfortable that sleep seemed impossible. Instead she has reverted to that incredibly tight face down ball with legs crossed beneath her, reminiscent of when she first joined our family.
Treya’s communication skills have improved as well and with it has come the Treya twist on discovering the world around her. She is obsessed with driving a car. Leaning way over in her car seat, she is able to see through the windshield, announcing EVERY TIME the car in front of us has applied the brake pedal or the gas pedal. She also gives driving advice to me as I drive, such as red light coming, green light now, slow down - brake, speed up - gas. All of this help comes free of charge.
She also has had a lengthy conversation with me about wanting her own live baby, claiming that she is ready. I asked her who would take care of her baby and she said that she wanted to dress it and feed it, but when she is in preschool daddy and I could care for her baby. I immediately set her straight on that point and then asked who her husband was going to be, because he should help to care for their baby. After explaining that her first choice of daddy was all ready taken, she said, "no husband" to which I said yes, she needed a husband. Then she said, “husband does not matter, any boy”. I don’t know if this is cause for concern yet or not, but we will definitely expand on THAT conversation.
And while on the subject of babies, Devi’s class has been studying the human body. It is not uncommon for her to be in constant jabber mode, listing the name of all the bones or commenting on how there is actually acid in your stomach with arms that grab your food or some other remarkably fascinating body fact. In her ramblings the other day she also threw in, “ oh... and mom...did you know that babies don’t always get cut out of a momma’s belly? Sometimes they come out of a hole, but I don’t remember which one. How DO they come out”. That sparked a long conversation about how a momma’s hips widen to make room for when the baby is ready to be born. After about 20, “Yes, but how?” questions she said, “Oh! just like an orchestra, the mommy and baby work together!” Well....yes, I guess they do.
With childhood obesity so prominent these days, we’ve found that our kids get informed at school as well as home. The girls have been all interested in how I plan a meal, helping to decide what goes on their plates - protein, carbohydrates, vegetables and fruit. We DO have dessert in our house every night, but the kids think dessert is yogurt or fruit and occasionally a sweet treat. After Valentine’s day, Treya had a piece or two of candy from school. When I asked Treya what she would like for dessert she said, “I choose yogrette for durt, cause candy not healthy.” and on another occasion answered, “No durt, I so full my brain is hurting.” I guess that is pretty darned full!
Moments before...
Lastly, there is the dog. With all this talk about feet, I have to mention his latest mishap. Though you would have thought he was dying when it happened, he managed to break a toe. Poor baby. After 8 weeks of healing time we hear he will be good as new!
$500 later!
