Special Blessings: Christmas Party

It’s that time again for a reunion with our friends with limb differences like Bella’s.  We love being in the company of this group.  Everyone is super cool.  I have always thought that people with a limb difference were given something extra when it comes to wit, wisdom, spunk, and sass.  But, of course, I could be just biased.  Everyone’s limb differences at the party were unique in their appearance (some are shorter, some are longer, some have five short fingers or one long finger or none at all) and how they were acquired (some were congenital – this is the majority, and some were lost traumatically).  But they all knew what it is like to have just one full hand, and perhaps more importantly, what it is like to have one shorter one.  The younger kids were able to see how the older ones do things and learn from their modeling, but also perhaps more importantly, from their strong sense of self-confidence and ability.

This get-together had a smaller turnout than usual, but that didn’t make for any less fun.  The kids played baseball, ate pizza, sat on Santa’s lap, and even got a couple gifts from the guy in red.

Everyone except Ari visited with Santa.  She was terrified (like large animal terrified circa 2010).  Not being discouraged by her apparent horror, Santa approached her after the party and offered her a candy cane.  You could literally see her change her mind about him.  After very cautiously taking the candy cane from him, she happily waved goodbye and yelled “ba baaa!” at him.

Bella was so shy that she was speechless and couldn’t even tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas.  She believed that he was the real deal, and she could not stand that kind of pressure.

Gabe rose to the occasion and made sure that Santa knew exactly what Bey Wheels were.  He left no room for error after his lengthy description, complete with hand movements depicting the toy’s motion patterns.

Liam played with and stared intently at the beard.  It was real.  Not from Party City.  But a beard-pulling Liam made skinny Santa more than a tad nervous.

I was digging through Santa’s bag for the perfect stuffed animal (I was asked to do so, thankyouverymuch), when I came across this gem.  What I found was the much younger and spryer version of Biggidy Bear (Gabe’s most beloved lovey since babyhood).  Gabe was over the moon with excitement at now having two of the same bear.  We left it up to him, but planted the suggestion that he give it to his baby brother, because what could be more true to the real spirit of Christmas than this act of selfless generosity.  At first, he told us that he would give this new bear (named Higgidy) to Liam when Liam asked him for it (using words) or took it from him on his own.  He eventually came around on his own, however, when he saw Liam cuddle Higgidy and rub him all over his face tenderly.  We’re so proud of our sweet boy, Gabriel.