Debut of the Beret

Daddy's home! Okay. He's been home for a week. We've been a bit tired and overwhelmed with the eating problems, so no blogging for a while. Charlotte was so happy to see Daddy and he was delighted to see her.

Thursday was the big day. We went to the orthotics department at Children's at 7 a.m. to pick up Charlotte's helmet. Our friends the Ardells like to call it the "beret". Here's the first picture I could get up the courage to take.

For the next several days, Charlotte will wear the helmet for a few hours at a time, working up to 23 hours a day. She cries when we put it on and take it off. It breaks our hearts, but we've been told she'll get used to it quickly.

At the orthotics office we met the mother of a 17 month old, a "helmet graduate." She volunteered immediately that people will make comments and we should be prepared for that. Our friend Jenny has given us several suggested retorts:
--Charlotte is the new goalie for the Chicago Black Hawks
--Charlotte rides a trike and love her helmet.
--She's a new team member for the Chicago woman's roller derby
I'm thinking of telling people that she's decided to be an astronaut or a super hero.

Feel free to post a comment with your thoughts on a retort. I promise to use retorts only when people make rude or inappropriate comments. Nice comments and polite questions will receive all the information they want.