Hips Don't Lie

Due to low muscle tone and increased joint flexibility, children with Down syndrome tend to sit frog-legged.  Ellie is a potential froggie, so her physical therapist suggest hip huggers.  I mean, hip helpers.  I say "huggers" almost every time, which I think is a bit suggestive for a baby who can't even sit up yet.

Anyway, hip helpers are essentially spandex shorts with the legs sewn together.  Ellie's are purple, and they look like little purple bike shorts.

(The helpers.)

Too bad she hates them.

(A moment of almost-joy in spandex.)

Hip helpers provide the following benefits, so we deal with Little Miss Hater.
* Teaching muscle memory for future crawling and walking
* Potato sack race preparation
* Impressing all our biking/tri friends with an early introduction to spandex
* Increasing attractiveness to woo the baby boys
* When worn with a side ponytail and off the shoulder shirt, preparing Ellie for 80s parties

(Stop tying my legs together!)

Although we appreciate the hip helpers for Ellie, they are torture for the parents.  (OK, so we're not talking about the rack or the iron maiden, but still, some level of torture for us.  The tears, oh the tears!)  As Ellie grows, her ability to express herself increases.  She wanted to let us know that she was unhappy at church.  She told us, loudly, that she was feeling a bit hungry and we were too slow with the bottle.

Despite the screams, her grandparents mentioned her angelic behavior on the way home.  Maybe they were watching another baby.

(As I've been writing, Matt has been dealing with our nightly hip helper crisis.  My help has been taking photos, writing about it all, and laughing.  The crisis has been averted, and Ellie is asleep on the living room floor.  The hip helpers are next to her.)