'Walk walk walk!'

'You'll be wishing that she wasn't walking once she is......' These words were ringing in my ears as she was running away from me in Tesco today. I am however totally over the moon that she's walking properly, and we delighted in buying her first pair of shoes last weekend.

'Walk walk walk'

I love how she asks me to 'walk walk walk' with her. I love that she has the worlds biggest, silliest grin on her face when she stands up and runs away from me! I love that she beats her belly like a gorilla as she is stomping across the floor! I love that when she falls down, she gets back up and carries on. Strong willed and independent, that's our G.

Poxy Pox

She finally caught it. Chicken pox. It had spread like wildfire around the town, and with two other children at the childminders having it, her turn was imminent. Thankfully she only had it mildly, and is over it now (all bar a few scabs, one of which daddy picked off!). Plus like they say, once she's had it, she's had it.

As a result we did have to miss G's hearing test, but I'm not too bothered as she would have screamed the hospital down anyway.

Moomoo's shed

It's like a playhouse, only bigger and nicer! Daddy's plans of a man shed quickly evolved into plans for G's den after we saw how much G loved Pa's summer house. Now it's a sage green and cream haven, which has luxury lino floor, a variety of pretty lights and wall hangings, and could easily be mistaken for a vintage beach hut. She's obsessed with it, and it's name varies between 'said and head', but we couldn't have made a better investment. Cheaper than a playhouse too. Plus it doubles up very nicely as a Pimms and wine shed (she says sat on the sofa sipping a Pimms whilst it's tipping it down outside!).

July appointments....

We've a busy few weeks coming up:

-Gastro appointment regarding her reflux

-Dieticians apt regarding her ever growing list of food 'no nos'

-Feeding and speech appointment (what's the betting that all of her 65 words will evade her on that day!)

Best get those ear plugs at the ready because she'll be testing those lungs!

In August we'll also have our first appointment with the endocrine team to discuss G's Turner Syndrome and her future Growth and hormone treatment. 

For now, we're looking forward to some extra mummy & G time over the summer holidays, and our trip to Norfolk. 

Ice cream anyone?? Dairy free of course! 

Bugs, Cugs and wobbly steps

I've just realised that it has been over a month since I last posted. Wooops, sorry guys we've had a mad month! 

Bugs....

G experienced her first ever gastro bug this month. My goodness had we forgotten what projectile vomit and constant diarrhea was like (sorry!)! Two tubs of vanish, a bucket, a make shift bed of blankets and towels in the lounge, and a baby who couldn't stay awake for more than 15 minutes. Thankfully after 7 days she started to perk up. By day 10 we had our talking, tantruming, non sleeping baby back! 

During this time G had a couple of blood tests-one to check her kidney function due to severe dehydration, and finally her immune level test. All came back clear which was great news. 

Cugs....

G's language skills are developing daily. The word of the week this week is 'pig' as she has become an avid fan of Peppa Pig, and our personal favourite is 'cug' which is her own mixture of cuddle and hug. It's the sweetest thing when she heads towards you with outstretched arms shouting 'cug'! She has a bank of about 30 words now, of which she knows the meaning of. Some clearer than others, but when she said 'maoow' at a lady in a PVC catsuit on a music vid yesterday, we sure knew what she meant!

It's still too early to know whether her high palate (due to her Turner syndrome) will affect her ability to pronounce some sounds. We'll just have to wait and see. 

Wobbly steps....

Whilst G seems to be an early talker, the same can't be said for her walking. Crawling didn't come until around 9 and a half months, pulling to standing around 10 and a half months and standing alone only the last week or so. However, this weekend at nearly 15 months, she took her first two shaky steps!! We are looking forward to what the next few weeks bring.

So, that's us for the month of May! G has some extra mummy time this week as it is half term. I've a stack of school reports to write but I've no doubt that she'll command my undivided attention. We have a hearing appointment coming up in a few weeks, but that aside, a quiet few weeks hopefully. The same won't be said for the hearing appointment, they'll know her lungs work at least!!

Molar madness and dairy dilemmas!

G is learning new words every day, and is currently driving us insane by permanently asking 'who's that' to every person, noise and object. But what we really want her to learn is how to tell us whether  it's teeth or her belly hurting her.....

After finding umpteen excuses over the past two months for not starting G's dairy trial, I finally plucked up the courage this week. Starting off at the lowest level (butter in a baked product), I made a wheat/soya/gluten free carrot cake. Well as we all know, baby love d'cake, but did the cake love her??

This week, coincidently (or not), G has had the worst sleep in a while, awful reflux, major screaming tantrums, and lots of general unhappiness. 

The milk? Possibly....

Teeth? Probably.....

Reflux due to the teeth or the milk? More than likely....

So you see our dilemma! That is until I made a discovery. As I was tickling her tummy earlier, she flashed a big grin and I spied one shiny new molar, and another one waiting to erupt. WHERE ARE THESE MOLARS COMING FROM?! She's on her third. Usually they don't tend to show up until 14-24 months. Eeeek. She'll have a full set of nashers by 18 months at this rate. 

So the first leg of the dairy trial was a complete failure. I need to wait until these two molars have finished causing chaos before I try again. 

In other news we had the early years Portage team visit G at home last week. I had never heard of Portage until our health visitor referred us. I'd  presumed it was an acronym for some fancy name (it's actually a town in America where they first sent help in to the homes of children with additional needs), and to be quite honest I was a little nervous. Turns out I didn't need to be. Two lovely ladies arrived armed with books and toys and were here to help G in her development. After ten minutes of taking notes, they told me we'd almost certainly be signed off as G was (in her own words) 'WOW'!! When I mentioned my worry of not walking yet, they seemed surprised and said they wouldn't even bat an eyelid until at least 18 months. They also said that she's evidently concentrating more on talking than walking.

I must admit, with all of the appointments, the knowns, and the unknowns, I'm relieved to be told she's actually ahead of her peers in some areas. I guess I always worried she'd be behind. Not sure if that's the teacher in me, or the mother! 

What's next for us?

We are taking G for her first ever swim this weekend, along with her first ever visit to a country fayre. I can't quite believe she's not been swimming yet, but with all of the ear infections she'd had we didn't dare until they had fully cleared up.

On the not so nice list of things to do is to visit the hospital and have a blood test for her immunity levels. Let's hope G doesn't shatter any windows with her ear piercing scream! 

Happy Easter everyone, this year I'm thankful for Jesus's life and Grace's xx 

Heart scan-an unexpected result

Just a short entry this evening to update you on G's heart scan.

So yesterday morning arrived and I was surprisingly at ease. I guess the fact that things were 'normal' last May had led me to believe that they would be this time round. Only they weren't normal last May, we had simply forgotten about the hole in her heart! 

How could we forget such a major thing, you may ask.... Well the hole (or gap as the consultant called it), is present in all newborn babies. It simply closes after birth. So we forgot about it because we assumed that it was just a little late closing (I think she was around 3 months old at the time of her scan).

Back to yesterday's scan, and after the consultant had completed the scan, G was in a complete state. All appointments now cause G to have a major meltdown, so as you can imagine we were eager to leave as soon as possible. The consultant left to find Dr Archer, the specialist from Oxford who'd overseen all of G's heart scans-both pre and post birth, and took a rather long time to return. Three of them entered the room, and after lots of 'yeps' 'lovelys' and 'greats' we heard an 'ohhhhh' followed by a 'rewind, slow it down and there it is, pause'. Thankfully Dr Archer is amazing, and quickly explained to us what they'd found. I struggled to hear much over G's wailing (yep, she hadn't calmed down one iota!), but got the gist of it. The gap hadn't closed as expected.

It's medical name is Patent Foramen Ovale, meaning an opening between the right and left atria. Alone, it's not serious. Thankfully for G, she has no other heart conditions thus for now it's not serious. It can require surgery, but not until children are at least 3 or 4 years old. In adulthood it can be a contributing factor to strokes though as the hole allows clots to move through, and up to the brain. 

So, the plan of action? 

G will need a heart scan when she is three years old to determine the size of the hole and whether it will need closing via surgery.

For now, there's no point panicking. The fact that she doesn't need to be seen for two years says it all.

So, not the results we were expecting, but not the worse case scenario by a long shot.

Talking and tantrums!

Where has this month gone?! G's birthday seems so long ago. We've a fully fledged talking, but non-walking toddler on our hands.

This month has been a busy one, and I've plenty to share....

Podiatry appointment

We recently visited our local podiatry clinic with G to get her toe nails assessed. We'd hoped to get them cut. Due to her Turner Syndrome, her nails are deep set in to her toes, they are overly curved, and her two big two nails are nearly vertical to her toe as opposed to laying flat.

Unfortunately G screamed as soon as we entered the consulting room (as she now does with every appointment, everywhere), and her screaming was so unrelenting that the podiatrist didn't dare touch her toes!

We have been given advice on footwear, and been told that when she's old enough to be happy to let someone else near her feet, or near her fullstop, then we can go back for help with cutting her nails.

Weigh in

Our little sausage, who this time a year ago was so diddy that she was on the 2nd centile, is a porky 22lb and sitting close to the 91st centile. Best stop feeding her up, especially as she lurrrve d'cake!! 

Dietary advice

The time has come to start reintroducing milk in to G's diet. Eeeek! Thankfully we have contact with an extremely good dietician who is also an allergy specialist, and he has given a plan of action. Step one, give her biscuits with butter, that are cooked. The only complication is that they can't have wheat in. So the usual method of a bit of malted milk biscuit a day for a week is not going to be suitable for us. Best brush up on my baking skills! If she can tolerate milk in the form of a small amount cooked in a biscuit then we move to milk or butter in dinners, then cheese (cooked initially), then yoghurts, then finally milk as a drink. It will be a long slow process which we will halt at any point should her symptoms return. Once we've established her long term tolerance to milk, we move onto wheat, gluten and soya testing.

Sleep, hurrah!

On the subject of diets, we have made another big change to her foods. We've suspected for a long time that fruits upset her. We knew that the more acidic ones did anyway, and thus avoided them, but even the milder fruits with less sucrose in we're upsetting her. So we took the decision to do a two week fruit free trial. My oh my what a difference it made! Our baby is happy, less gassy, has (slightly) better nappies, and above all else she's sleeping for most if not all of the night.

Her dietician said she may have a sucrose intolerance and that we'll need to slowly reintroduce fruit later on once we've gone through all of the other reintroductions.....I sense a long road ahead of us on the food front.

Poorly again

G catches every germ going. I know all babies do, but we don't even get a full week in between the bouts of virus/colds/coughs, and when she is ill it an be for up to a month.

So after speaking to the doctor this week, we are going to have her bloods tested for low immunity. Not that anything  can be done should she have a poor immune system, but still it's best to know. Only complication is that her blood now gets taken from her hands (as opposed to heel prick) but they are so swollen from the lymphodema that it's impossible to see her veins. That will be a fun trip to the hospital!

'Who's dat?'

...... she says when the dog barks, a car door slams, or when someone walks through the door. 

'Woof woof' she says when we are in the car and I tell her we are going home.

'Cat' she says when she sees Grammy or Nan's cats.

Duck and baba (for her new baby) are also in her repertoire. For a babe who's been behind with her crawling and walking, she sure as Eck isn't behind with her speech. Me and hubby giggle to ourselves as she is always mimicking me. Today she was telling Winston to 'say er' or stay there whilst I was emptying the car. So funny that our little babe has a voice now.

Tantrums

Stubborn, impatient and strong willed are three characteristics which shine out brightly at the moment! Full blown tantrums occur on a regular basis, with the added effect of throwing herself down to the floor and wailing. Have the terrible twos hit early??

Parents evening and reports 

Work for me has been super busy and I've struggled a bit this month. Between G being ill, 3 nights of parents evenings, reports for parents evenings and two uni sessions for my masters, I have found it tough going. But heyho, when I get to spend my Thursday and Friday with my chatty princess, the woes of work are put aside.

So with only a week or so left of March, we have just one more appointment. The dreaded heart scan. I say dreaded, I think more so because all of her other appointments are relatively mild in comparison. Hearts are important. So here's to her heart being just as healthy as it was this time last year :)

G is 1 today!!

I won't bore you with the whole 'this time last year' speech as we all know how pretty darn lucky we are to have G here with us today. So, as an alternative post, I decided to think about what I've learnt in the past year!

- Sleep isn't overrated, that's just what we say to make ourselves feel better when our babe still doesn't sleep through age 1.

- We can sing the theme tune to a variety of Cbeebies bedtime programmes. Tim's still pretty confused by In The Night Garden and G goes crazy for Old Jacks boat. 

- Food can be both a fabulous tummy filler and the root of all evil if your babe has a sensitive digestive system.

- When your babe smiles at you, it can make even the crappiest of days better.

- That car parking at any hospital, regardless of county, is awful.

- Reflux is also the root of all evil (and lack of sleep)

- It's ok to discuss baby poop on a regular basis, and maybe even take a photograph should it back up your argument.

- Family and friends are amazing! 

- When your friends have a chilled out baby, and you have a screamer who can go for hours on end, you'd give anything for just 5 minutes in their shoes. But then you remember that you wouldn't have YOUR child, and that actually you'd give anything not to swap. 

- Teeth are also the root of all evil (and lack of sleep). For Gs birthday she's received her first molar! 

- Going to the toilet is no longer a time when you have 5 minutes to yourself (unless you lock the door and put your  fingers in your ears!)

- There's no point trying to wrestle a dog toy from G or infact Gs toy from the dog. They've certainly learnt the concept of sharing.

- You could watch your babe practice a new skill over and over again, and some more. 

- Looking after a baby, whether newborn or 11 months old, is the toughest job ever.

- We know every country route in Our county and the next! Tim's particular favourite used to be passing the police helicopter base!

- When someone tells you your babe looks like you, you beam proudly. 

- Your babe can't speak for themselves, so you'll do everything humanly possible to make yourself heard on their behalf.

- When they see you first thing in the morning, it's like they haven't seen you in years. I love that smile! 

- Ewan the dream sheep really is a dream, for G that is. I'd quite like to throw him and his repetitive lullabies off the nearest bridge! 

- Having a husband who isn't afraid to do the housework, cook the dinner or  change the babies diarrhea-filled nappy (albeit with gloves and a peg) is a godsend. 

- Baby sick has the potential to cover you, your baby, the floor, and require whole new outfits for all involved.

- Baby wipes make for the easiest cleaning tool. Once upon a time our house was cleaned by a multitude of products, now a quick run down with a wipe will suffice.

-The dog will do anything for a lick of a dirty nappy, or a meal of baby sick!

- God given miracles do happen.

- It is possible to love a little person sooo much that you couldn't imagine a single second without them. Well, except 5 minutes of peace in the bathroom! 

So to our little miracle, our 2%er, HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! Xxx

Winston & G's conversation-part 2

A Truce??

Winston: Hey little taileater, I'm presuming we've called a truce on the whole 'operation give mother no sleep'?

G: What makes you say that?

W: Well, this past week I've not really heard you much at night, and well I've really quite enjoyed sleeping all night.

G: To be honest windoggy, I've just been finding it soooo hard to stay awake. I don't know why, but I can only really wake up once, and then after 10 mins I'm in the land of snooze again. Then the next thing I know I see mumums smiling face and it's time to get up!

W: Hmm well I think I know why that may be..... I overheard mother and father last week. They said they'd just discovered that a side effect of your reflux medication is insomnia.

G: In-whatia?!

W: Insomnia! It means that it can stop you from sleeping.

G: Well that explains why I had the energy to have a rave in my cot for at least 90 minutes every night, and sometimes 3 or 4 times each night. But what I don't get windoggy is why I'm so sleepy but mumum is still giving me this medicine?

W: Have you not noticed, mother used to give it to you before bed, meaning you were wide awake during the night, but now she only gives it to you at breakfast time!!

G: Oooooooooh, that explains why I'm finding it so hard to wake up in the night.

W: I must admit, I'm kind of pleased that you've given up on the 'stop mother sleeping in the hope that she'll give up work' shenanigans. I do lurve my sleep. Plus mother has been back at work for 4 weeks now, and she's showing no signs of weakness. Maybe we need to accept she's going to be one of the mothers who juggles home and work.

G: Oh don't dispair my furry friend, I haven't given up....just taking a short break. I've given mumum 7 good nights, I'll throw a spanner in the works soon. I've good a new tooth-that'll be amunition for an all nighter!

W: Well give me plenty of notice when you wish to resume this sleep deprivation game. Plays havoc with my routine. 

Oh, by the way, I love that new game you've started...

G:What new game?

W: The one where you throw me pretty much all of your breakfast, lunch and dinner, and let me lick your hands. Scrummy!!