Yo, Ho-Ho!

Charlie is just in love with all things Peter Pan. He commonly refers to himself at Peter (with a British accent, mind you).  Mom-mom bought Charlie Captain Hook and Peter Pan dolls last weekend, and they have not been put away since! I was taking pictures of Lilly one day and he says "Mom, take my picture with my friends!"  He is so cute. Here is Peter-Charlie, Captain Hook, and Peter Pan on their Best Friends photo shoot!

Baptism

  These photos are of Lilly's baptism. It was beautiful.  Almost the whole family was there - Even my sister, neice. and (sick) bro-in-law Cameron came. Such a trooper.  We feel so lucky and blessed to be part of our Catholic community here in Flagstaff.  It was touching to have so many friendly faces wishing us well on her holy day.  The whole experience was joyful and moving. There is something about holding a little naked baby while they are washed clean that gets me every time. Welcome to the club Lilly my Dear. You are Loved!

Her Hips Don't Lie

Lilly, is no longer in her hip brace! Here is the scoop.  We all traveled down to Phoenix Children's Hospital last week for a special ultrasound and visit with Dr. Lee Segal.  The results show NO need for her to be in the hip brace.  Dr. Segal and the radiologist believes the diagnosis was premature.  Meaning, many children have hips that slightly dislocate at such a young age (2 weeks in her case). Given time the hip firms up and becomes normal (what we saw at 4 weeks).  So, Lilly is free to go on wiggling and kicking those chunky legs however she likes. I am so delighted!

Lilly's New Accessory

Miss. Lilly is sporting a new snazy accessory these days. Our precious little angel has been diagnosed with DDH - Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip.  This was first noticed upon her first physical exam with her pediatrician.  He found that when he flexed her hips there was a clicking sound. It is common to have this, but we were asked to get an ultrasound to check on the hip when she was two weeks old.  The ultrasound was conclusive for DDH.  Lilly's DDH is relatively mild.  Her hip does not dislocate, but the ball and socket joint is not fully formed. The socket covers less then 50% of the head of her femur.  To correct this, doctors have fitted her with a Pavlik Harness.  It holds her hips in her sockets to force the bone to grow over the head of the femur.  It is our hope that this is all she will need, and she will be crawling/running in no time.

She is in the BEST of hands.  By the grace of God, we got in to see Dr. Segal, who is the Chief of Pediatric Orthopedics at Phoenix Children's Hospital.  He will be seeing her periodically, and tracking her progress. His thoughts are that she should be out of the brace in 3 months or so (the brace is worn 24/7).  It will be a long 3 months, but she is trooper. I, admittedly, am the weepy one about all this. It is hard to strap your child into a brace every day. But, she is perfect in my eyes....brace or no brace. It might be better if it came in PINK.