You might be asking what a chewy tube is exactly. Well, it something my daughter needed. So many children with autism need to be orally stimulated by either sucking on things or chewing on them.
If Mari didn’t have one on, she’d put her shirt in her mouth and suck that. She did it to the point sometimes that she’d put holes in her shirts. So at all times she had one attached to either her shirt or her dress to take care of that need.
We have one of Mari’s chewy tubes attached to the pink hippo stuffed animal she received from her last teacher, Sarah Ciciora, had given to her. The lock of hair they also clipped off her head on her last day alive is also attached to this hippo. We keep it on the top of our headboard along with her other favorite stuff animals or the ones she received while in the hospital.
Here are some pictures of our Baby Girl with her chewy tube:
Here’s a pictures of the hippo. You can see her lock of hair, the hospital bracelets she wore, her chewy tube as well as an autism awareness button:
That looks well loved. 🙂
Melanie, if you’re talking about the hippo, it is. I still remember Mari’s last day and the nurse clipping her hair then putting it into a pretty little mesh bag. Then I took a safety pin and pinned it to the hippos heart. Then when I found her chewy tube, I add it to the hippo. The same for her hospital bands and the autism awareness button.
How sweet she is so pretty and what a wonderful way to remember her. I have my daughters animals as well although she was 16 when she passed away.
Oh thank you Glenda. Oh my heart goes out to you. I have no doubt how special her animals are to you.