Goodbye Hip Dysplasia and Hello Fashion!

I've posted before about my experience with my daughter's hip dysplasia.  I had been told to make a follow up appointment once she started walking, so this week, we duly went in and had an X-ray with her standing up.  It took two tries to get a clear picture, but once we did, she was given the official all clear, and we're done with hip dysplasia.

Well, they still recommend going back for another X-ray, just before she turns four, on the grounds that if they have missed something that's the last point at which it's easy to fix.  But we're now off their books and on our own.  This isn't really any different from what we've been doing since she was ten weeks old, but it does feel good to be official!

The other great thing about walking is that I can now put her in floaty summer dresses.  She had a couple last summer, but they were strictly for dressing up and having a photo taken.  Totally impractical for crawling.  I was delighted therefore to find that Target has an excellent selection of pretty girl clothes this summer that aren't pink on pink.  While I like dressing her in not-pink just on principle, I also loathe the pink-and-hot-pink colour scheme as an eyesore in general.  This summer, in Target at least, there are loads of cool blues and greens and coral.  I think this was the first time that I genuinely enjoyed picking out clothes for her.

Shoes have been less of a success.  I was completely depressed when I went to buy her first pair of shoes and found I had to actively avoid buying something with a high heel.  This week, I was looking for water shoes for her, only to find that little girl flip flops tend to be shiny and sequinned and other impractical things.  I ended up buying a pair of boys water shoes that were black and practical.  They look odd when paired with her blue and white swimsuit (which, I might add, is a functional UV top and bottom set, not a bikini!), but she loves them. 

So does her brother who wants his own pair--and will be granted that wish, since he needs a new set anyway.  During the summer, we go to the beach at least once a week, as well as a nearby fountain play area.  Water is part of our survival plan for the heat.  While I dread the too-hot-days, I'm looking forward to playing in the water this year, now that I've got my hands free!  It's also hysterically funny watching my daughter go crazy tottering all over because she can go wherever she wants to go.

I am having to chase her all over the place because she isn't nearly as interested in following directions as my son was.  I can't deny that.  But I still love walking.  It's so much fun to just let her go!