A little girl from California who was born with a rare birthmark covering half her face was thrilled to receive a lookalike doll for Christmas.
Two-year-old Charlie Crenshaw has capillary hemangioma, which manifests in part as a large red ‘strawberry birthmark’ on her face. For the holidays this year, mother Katie Crenshaw commissioned a doll to match her daughter — and the smiley blonde toddler looks ecstatic to have received the gift.
Katie, a blogger and mom-of-three, took to her Instagram and Facebook pages to show off pictures of Charlie on the occasion, writing: ‘You guys. Charlie has a baby doll that looks JUST like her thanks to Little Plain Jane!!!
‘The time and care that this shop took to make the birthmark identical to Charlie’s leaves me speechless,’ Kate wrote. ‘Charlie hasn’t put the doll down since I gave it to her and named her (all by herself): Princess Cheek.’
‘This is the most wonderful gift we could have received this Christmas. This little girl has never been happier,’ she added.
Charlie was born with a rare condition called capillary hemangioma, a vascular tumor that develops early in pregnancy. While not life-threatening, the tumors can cause complications if they are located near an airway or an eyelid. As Charlie’s is located on her right cheek, it is monitored to prevent it from obstructing her vision.
Most hemangiomas eventually disappear, and Charlie also takes medication to prevent her tumor from getting bigger.
Mom Katie had previously spoken out about the stigma surrounding the little girl’s facial mark, which is roughly two inches wide and two inches long, in a powerful essay on her blog Typical Katie.
‘We don’t need to talk about it every time you look at her,’ Katie wrote. ‘We see past the color of her face. Charlie is Charlie and it’s part of who she is. It doesn’t need to be constantly commented on, critiqued, or questioned.’
‘It’s a part of her unique beauty. It may never disappear, and guess what? It doesn’t have to,’ she added. ‘I would much rather chat about her latest milestone achievement, her amazing smile, or how gorgeous her eyes are.’
And now Charlie can see her beauty reflected in her new go-to toy.
The special doll was made by Little Plain Jane, which is owned by mom-of-two Kayla Baker and specializes in custom-made dolls that retail for $50.
Writing on her Etsy page, Kayla revealed that the brand was inspired by her three-year-old daughter Paige, who has autism.
Taking to Instagram, she shed some light on why she felt inspired to create dolls that look like their owners: ‘I have a sweet 3 year old daughter with Autism, who is non-verbal, still in diapers, and doesn’t have a way to really functionally communicate yet,’ she shared.
‘So my mama-heart knows what its like when your little one isn’t „normal” or looks „different” than the other children around you, or to get those stares in the check-out line at Target. And lets be honest, these dolls are just as much for us mamas as they are for our littles!’
She added that she felt thankful she could make dolls to match the needs of individual children and thanked the parents for giving her the opportunity to do so.
‘I love getting to meet each of you and seeing photos of your beautiful babies!’
By AoibhinnMcbride For Dailymail.com
Read more:
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