One of the issues that we have found is keeping that little hand of hers warm. Because she does not have fingers to always move on that hand then the circulation is not as good as it should be.

Often times her little hand will get cold or even worse it will start to turn purple. Normally we put on a sock that we got when she had flower her prosthetic hand. But a little hand sock is ok but Haylee wanted something cooler and more fun.

Well one day she came home from school with a cell phone cover that looked like a hoodie. And she had me open up the bottom so that she could slip it over her little hand. That was fun and cool but now we need different colors and more fun.

So I found someone on etsy that knitted and asked her to make us some sweaters for Haylee’s little hand. And I have to tell you it is such an awesome and fun way for Haylee to keep her little hand warm but super stylish.

If you have a little hand and want a sweater let me know and we would be happy to send you one too.

Just click on the contact form and send us an email.

Haylee is beginning to get her own personalality and really just finally becoming her own person. So as she put her hand up I had to snap a picture and wonder what is she thinking.  Does she wonder if animals are also born with little paws?  Does she even really think about her little hand or is it just so normal and natural now that she does not even really remember half the time.

A little bit after this picture was taken we were walking and a little girl noticed her hand and ran over to her Dad and started asking questions.  The Dad tried to pull the little girl away.  And I watched as Haylee’s face went from a frown to a smile as she stode up straight and tall and walked over to the little girl and her Dad and said to the Dad. “It is ok.  I was born this way and if she wants to ask questions I would rather her do that than stare.”  My jaw hit the floor.  The Dad said. “I am so sorry.”  Haylee said, “Don’t be sorry, next time just let her ask.”  Haylee then went on to tell the little girl all about her little hand. It made me one proud Mama.

Sometimes we have to explain and other times we just have to be silent.

But please remember if your child sees something different on someone don’t let them stare.  We would rather you ask than stare.

I have to admit Haylee has a pretty tough skin.  People can stare at her and make comments and normally it just bounces right off or she comments about it we talk about it and then it is done.  But there are other times when even the smallest thing really gets to her. Amniotic Band Syndrome make her skin as tough as it is because she does look different but that tough skin does not mean that her feelings don’t get hurt just like everyone elses.

I can normally tell when something is bothering her.  Either she will just come out and say what is on her mind or she ends up going into her own world.  And when she is in her own world I need to give her space until she is ready to snuggle.

One thing I have learned from Haylee is that sometimes she just needs to snuggle and pretend that she is normal like any other two handed child.  She knows that she has no fingers but sometimes in her own little world she pretends she does have two hands.

Recently her and I were talking about her little hand and she said to me, “Mom why do you wish you had a little hand?”  I said, “Because it is so cute and cool.”  She said, ” Mom I wish for just one day I could have two hands to see what it feels like to have two hands.  I don’t want it for every just one day.”  It broke my heart to hear her say that.  And that was a snuggle time when I knew that no matter what I said it did not matter that she just needed some extra love.

Don’t get me wrong these conversations are few and far between and half the time as soon as it comes out her mouth it is done but these conversations still come up and it is at that time that I have to just remind her that we love her just the way she is and that God made her that way for a reason.  A very special reason.

This weekend something happen that really pulled my heart strings.  It was a very hard situation but we made it through it.  We went camping like we do most weekends.  And Haylee decided to go play on the playground.  She was gone for about 10 minutes when she came back trying so hard not to cry.  Of course first look and I could tell something was wrong.  I asked her what was wrong and she said nothing.  I asked her again and she began to cry.

She said Mom they said I was scary and creepy.

THEY SAID WHAT???

WHO SAID THAT????

She said mom don’t go over there making a big deal out of it.  I told her that I will always stick up for her and have her back. She smiled.  She said they all gathered around her looking at her hand and then one child said something and it went from there.  She said it hurt her feelings and they would not play with her.

I explained to her that as much as we want to blame the children for what they say that often times it is not their fault because it is the parents that don’t explain to their children that every one is different one way or another and that just because someone is different does not make them scary or creepy…

I don’t understand how one child could say to another child you are scary and creepy.  How would they like it or react if my daughter told them the same thing.  They would be mad or hurt also… They would want to go have some words with my child if she said something like that to their child…. NO!

But I have to remember.  Haylee has been loaned to me from God because he has huge plans for her and I need to go the direction he points me.

SO I am sure you are wondering how things ended.  Well I told Haylee come on I am sure they just don’t understand.  Let’s go teach them.

So I went back with Haylee and when the first boy started to stare I said.  You know it really is not polite to stare but if you have a question we would be more than happy to answer your questions.  And let me tell you the questions started coming.  We answered all of them and by the time we were done playing Haylee had tons of new friends that were educated on how to react next time they see something different.

So as much as we want to over react and freak out sometimes we have to take a step back and look at the big picture first..

As most of you probably know we moved to a new town about 7 months ago and although Haylee did to go to school here for half a year she still has not made tons of friends and to be honest Jim and I have not made too many friends either.

So today I noticed as we were standing in line at a buffet Haylee began to hid her hand and cover it up.  This confused me and puzzled me for a minute until we were able to get to the table and talk about it.  I asked Haylee why are you hiding your hand?  She said everyone was staring at me.  I said no sweetie.  This is a small town and our whole family is new.  They were staring at Mom and Dad way more than you trying to figure out who we were and what we were doing there.   You know how small towns are.  She smiled right away and said oh yah I forget and the little hand came back out.

But I have to also remember that Haylee is going to be 10 years old soon and has become more worried about her appearance and what people think of her and also has become worried about fitting in and making friends.  She is worried about standing out in the crowd since she has a little hand and no one else around here does.

I often times sort of forget about Haylee’s hand because it is so normal to me and I have to remember that she is different and she needs those extra special hugs and kisses to reassure her that everything is ok and that she is going to have the most amazing life imaginable.

So as our children grow older we have to continue to talk to them.  Tell them how special and important they are.  Tell the that standing out in a crowd is not always a bad thing but also a good thing too.  Remind them that they are beautifully made and that God has huge plans for them.

A couple weeks ago Haylee had a chance to go to summer camp with her cousin.  And yes the Mom I am, I was a little concerned about what the other kids would say to her or how they would treat her.   And you know what.  There was no reason at all for me to be concerned.

First on the way to drop her off I reminded her that remember God made you with a little hand for a reason, and I went through the whole spill about how if people say something to her to not let it hurt her feelings too much because they just don’t understand and maybe have never seen something like that.  And I went on and on and honestly I think she was probably like… Yah, yah mom whatever..

But when she came home and told me about the amazing time she had swimming, acting, singing, playing in a mud pit and praying.  And I was the happiest Mom in the world.

We as parents always worry about our children getting their feelings hurt when it comes to other kids staring and saying things.  But with that being said we have raised Haylee that she is just as normal as anyone else is out there.

One of the questions I asked Haylee when she got home was, “Was there anyone else with a hand or arm like yours?”  and her answer was NOPE! And it was so cool Mom we did this and this and this.  And just went right on telling me all about her camp.  So she has just showed me that all my hard work of not making a big deal out of her little hand has paid off because her little hand is now not a big deal to her at all.

So the next time you wonder if your child can or can’t do something because of their little hand or nubs remember.   They can do anything we can do but better because they do it with one hand, or one leg, or no fingers.

Haylee absolutely loves her kindle.

The first issue we have is that because Haylee has no fingers (only nubs) on her little hand then we have an issue with circulation to her little hand. Because we have an issue with circulation we have to watch that we keep that little hand extra warm. Her little hand turns blue very easy and very fast if it is not kept warm. As Haylee has grown up we have taught her to keep an eye on her little hand and if it starts to turn blue the first things she needs to do is put it under her clothing in her arm pit to warm it up fast. And Haylee has done very good about knowing when her little hand is getting too cold and does exactly what we have showed her to do.

The other issue we have is finding gloves for her little hand. It is very hard to find gloves for both hands and normally we have to buy two pair. But before we put on her glove we have socks that people (including us when Haylee had flower) us for prostisis. She wears that a lot. Sometimes she wears it under her gloves sometimes she just wears it when she feels her little hand getting cold. I noticed her recently that she has been carrying those socks in her backpack so that if her little hand gets cold at school.

My little girl is growing up more and more each day.