Watching Ella develop and grow into the independent, defiant, funny child she is today has been one of the best things about being a mum. Along the way, we’ve always been more appreciative of the little things she achieves. Small milestones that may be overlooked or not recognised as such in other children – two word sentences, starting to undo buttons & zips or being able to follow simple instructions.  She’s had to work harder to learn and perfect new skills and it’s taken her longer to get there. 

But get there she does. 

Recently we’ve been practising threading beads onto a piece of string. Putting the string through the hole in the bead was mastered straight away. However, she’s struggled to work out how to then pull the bead through onto the string (she hasn’t yet worked out what the knot in the string is for and often tries to thread onto this end -cue shouts of annoyance!). Well, this week with some frustration, perseverance and encouragement she has managed to do it! Not consistently yet, but it’s definitely getting there…

And having Ella to teach us all about the ‘small things’ has meant that we are more aware of child development. So now we have the pleasure of watching Lucy develop, we notice and celebrate her small steps too… A pointy finger, pincer grasp, her understanding of object permanence, reaching up to be picked up, taking toys out of a container… This week she’s started clapping, sitting and kicking her legs at swimming. 

I suppose these are actually all big things when you’re only 7 months old! Looking forward to what they both have in store to show us this week xx
  

Amy Dunn

Our first baby, Ella Mary, was born at the end of November 2010. We were shocked to find out soon after her birth that she has Down's Syndrome. I was determined from the start that Down's Syndrome will never define Ella or what she is able to do. We will provide for her everything she needs to become the child and the person she deserves to be. There will be hard times ahead.... there are already many hard times behind us. But I already know that the good times will always outweigh the hard times. She has taught me so much in such a short time and seeing life from a new perspective is a privilege that not many of us get the chance to experience.

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