Remembering when...

The thing about having to purge your house for a big move is that you unearth things you don't even remember you had kept away. Like Sophie's club foot casts.

Sophie's casts from when she was 10 days old to 7 weeks

It doesn't seem like that long time ago when we were taking her to the hospital every week to get her leg cast and how unnerving it was to contemplate the possibility that she might never have normal use of her left foot. And now, every time she annoys us by running away faster than we can catch up or when she heedlessly climbs up the play structure without us close by, I have to remind myself what a gift that actually is.

Sophie still wears her Markell shoes to sleep at night, just as she has every night for the last 2.5 years. At this point, she knows nothing else and probably thinks every child goes to sleep with a pair of shoes connected by a bar in between. She is starting to protest a little-- just because they sometimes get in the way of her getting comfortable in bed-- but we're going to try to persevere and keep her in them till she's four. Our pediatric orthopedics doctor gave us some references to specialists in Singapore who can take over supervising Sophie's progress and thankfully, they're at the university hospital and so close to us.

Markell shoes then and now

We just absolutely have no space to bring all her casts or shoes back to Singapore with us, but we are going to keep the first ones. They'll make for good show-and-tell items when the time comes.

See photos of Sophie's club foot treatment here.