Which way is up?!

'I am your biggest fan,  I hope you know I am, but won't you just slow down...'
We are thinking about schools. Big girl schools. My girl isn't big-she's my little girl! Please slow down...

What a whirlwind of a few weeks-4 hospital appointments, 1 emergency booster jab, 1 short admission to hospital and lots more visits to the bathroom. That said, we are happy, healthy and thankful xx

Ear Nose and Throat appointment
I forgot to mention that Grace had a nasal swab at her ENT appointment. I thought it was a redundant detail.  Not so...

Brief spell in hospital
After 3 solid weeks of the squits  (there's no nice way of discussing diarhhea!), the doctor sent us to our local hospital assessment unit. He feared dehydration and felt that 3 weeks was quite long enough!
Six hours later we were discharged with strong antibiotics and a diagnosis of secondary gastroenteritis, caused by a bacteria known as strep pneumoniae residing in her nasal canal. This non-symptomatic bacteria was not a nice one. Turned out that nasal swab wasn't so redundant after all!

Endocrine appointment
G has grown 3.6cm in 4 months, woop woop! The paeditraican reduced our 4 monthly visits to 6 monthly with the view that G would hit her annual target of 5-8cm growth.
(To our dismay, when we returned home and checked our notes, we found that G had only grown 3.8cm in nearly 11 months. It doesn't look like she is on target...)

The paeditraician was happy with G in general-her bone age scans came back fairly normal, as did her bloods.

One surprise result was that her childhood phneumoccocal vaccination had been unsuccessful.  For 3 years we'd thought she had been protected against meningitis C, and she wasn't! I had faught for the meningitis B jab to help protect against as many strains as possible. Little did I know it was possible that her  body had not built up the antibodies after her baby jabs. Cue the emergency booster and a form for repeat bloods to check for antibodies.  I'm so thankful for vaccinations, and our NHS!

Gastro appointment
G has officially been discharged by the gastro team. Woop woop! One less appointment every 4-6 months.

Dietician
G's tummy issues will now solely be under the care of the dietician. Once her digestive system has settled after the gastroenteritis, it's time to start that dreaded dairy trial again. Perfect summer holiday gap task!!

Sleep solutions?
Have we any? We are close to being signed off due to her sleep improving, but I use the term loosely.

So that's us up to date. Time to run- church house group. I've a lot to be thankful for!

Naughty and nice!

'Thank you for spritzing my hair mummy, it's very lovely'.....'you're welcome mummy'.....'your new work boots look amazing daddy, I love them'........
'AGGHHHHHH, NO OOOO! ' (Kick scream, bite, kick, push, bite) ...
It's safe to say we very much have a Jekyl and Hyde on our hands at the moment. One moment sweet as pie, the next a raging tornado who takes down everything in her path!
Still, the incredibly polite babe who showers us with kisses definately more than makes up for the tantruming two year old.

E.N.T.
Our most recent visit to the consultant for Grace's ear check involved a short (1 hour) wait, and an eagerness to discharge us. It did however put our mind at ease about the current state of her ears. No fluid behind her drums, and the burst drum has repaired itself. Back again in 4-6 months where I no doubt will be fighting not to be discharged.

Health check
I'm not sure what the health visitor was expecting when she visited Grace for her two and a half year check, but she was genuinely astounded at her progress. She was either at or above in all of the key areas, and her speech and memory were particularly impressive.  The HV did mention meeting a few babes with Turner Syndrome, but having never seen them beyond their time in special care she didn't know what to expect of our girls in terms of their development.  Their sheer determination and ability to shine can never be underestimated! 

Memory
I'm sure I harp on about this but I actually cannot fathom how such a young child has such an incredible memory. 
During a conversation about Grace's broken trike, I mentioned that at some point we'd put it in the bin. I could literally see the cogs turning in her brain, then before I knew it Grace was listing every event that I had mentioned we would do at some point. ..at some point we'll need to cut my toenails, we'll need to go to the chemist to pick up my milk, we will go to the Dr's for your letter mummy, we'll buy Winston some poo bags...... each and every one I HAD said at some point in the last month! The teacher in me wonders if I should start on some algebra some time soon. The mother in me stops me from getting carried away. Numbers 1-15 will do for now.

We are having some time out this summer as we have had a tough few months. Family time, the beach, and lots of giggles will be on the cards.  We have of course still got 2 remaining hospital appointments. Woop woop (who am I fooling?! )
I'll always be amazed at how blessed we are though. With many amazing acts of kindness in the past few weeks, and an incredible daughter who never fails to make us smile,  we are exceptionally blessed.