Cookie Man!

Robby is beginning to notice that his Mommy is different. He is becoming more aware of my prosthetic and of my stump. He knows that I need to wear my prosthetic to walk, and helps retrieve my liner and leg for me in the morning. He has started referring to my residual limb as "Mommy's little leg."

I was at the grocery store last week where we saw another amputee. Seeing another amputee in the community is a relative rare occurrence. There is an unspoken respect among amputees. We typically exchange the discrete "knowing nod" and continue without interacting.

Of course, Robby doesn't understand the concept of "discrete." He saw the prosthetic, and became ecstatic. I tried to quietly talk with Robby about his "discovery" without drawing unnecessary attention. He began to frantically scream, "Momom, Momom, man with special leg like Mommy." He drew the attention of everybody in the produce section, including the amputee.

I knew that Robby was not going to be quiet until we met the man. I quickly tried to devise my introduction on the walk from the sweet potatoes to the lettuce section. It turns out, introductions were not necessary. After all, I had Robby!

He ran right up the man and pulled up my pant leg. "See... See... Momom has special leg too... See... See..." Robby was very proud that he had "found" another amputee just like his Mom. I knew a smile was coming over my flushing face and I couldn't help but laugh. Luckily the man did not mind the intrusion and was kind enough to talk with Robby. My little boy chattered about the other special leg the rest of the shopping trip. He even said good-bye and hollered, "Bye-bye special leg" when we saw him leaving the store.

Today Robby asked for a cookie. We have been making Christmas cookies and he is particularly fond of the "cookie man." This morning he was playing with his cookie man on the table, having him "walk" to the sippy cup for milk. After carefully examining the cookie he proceeded to bite off one leg. He then smiled at me, with cookie crumbs falling out of his mouth, and showed me the cookie. "Look Momom, look. Cookie man has little leg like Mommy."
Maybe he'll grow up to be a surgeon...