ActionScript 2.0 :: Assign Numbers To Each XML Item?

I've got an XML document that contains names and images for an image gallery, with a menu on the main page, allowing people to click the menu item to display the corresponding image and name.

[AS]
for (i=0; i<total; i++) {
thename[i] = items[i].childNodes[0].firstChild.nodeValue;
image[i] = items[i].childNodes[1].firstChild.nodeValue;

[code]...

I need to be able to assign each of these items a number. This COULD be done by adding a line to the XML doc with a number, then adding an extra line to the ActionScript like this: number[i] = items[i].childNodes[2].firstChild.NodeValue; The trouble is, it is intended that the XML document will be updated regularly, with new items being added in-between exisiting items, therefore, if I had item number 1, followed by item number 2, then wanted to add an extra item after 1, I'd have to call it 2, then rename the existing 2 to 3, and so on. What I need to do is somehow dynamically give each item a number in Flash as the XML is loaded so number[i] = ?(it needs to be number[i] because [i] is used later to refer to items)