Last week we had a visit from Rosie’s physio who said she’d noticed a big difference in her, which is so encouraging to hear, especially from a professional as I often lose sight of how well she is doing – mainly because of how slow Bud is to develop physically (plain lazy like her Dad!).
Every now and then I sit wandering (and worrying) whether we are doing enough ourselves to help her develop, but the truth is there really is only so much we can do without losing sight of the fact that we have two wonderful Sons who also require Mum & Dad time.
As any parent of two or more children will know, dividing time and attention equally and fairly amongst siblings is no easy task, but having a child with additional needs makes it all the more tricky. I think we manage okay in general and the boys do love to be included when helping encourage their little sister but it is something I’m constantly aware of. I’m hoping this will become easier and balance itself out naturally in time. ANYWAY I digress…
The physio left us with a new walking aid to help motivate Rosie to her feet. It enables her to hold on whilst increasing leg strength and confidence. As you’ll see from the picture below we certainly have our work cut out making such a contraption appeal to her. There were some excellent suggestions over on the Facebook page of how to ‘bling it up girlie style’ with balloons, ribbons and resprays! Unfortunately it doesn’t belong to us so modification isn’t an option. Although I have taken on board the genius suggestion by one commenter and named it ‘C3PO’!
Our challenge now lies in how to make it appeal as a game or as something fun. You’ll have to watch this space (not too closely though) as we have yet to find a winning solution!
Last Sunday, whilst relaxing and enjoying a family roast dinner we were treated to another fairly significant development by our clever little Bud. For the very first time we witnessed Rosie holding her fork, pushing it into her food and bringing it to her mouth. This might not sound like a big deal but to us it really feels like a huge leap forward in her understanding of eating. For months we’ve tried teaching her how to bring food to her mouth with a spoon but she usually gives up after a few attempts leaving a complete mess everywhere. Her food is still mashed as she struggles to get the concept of chewing so seeing her go for the solids we put in front of her in itself is wonderful progress – although quite why she chose cauliflower when carrots were on offer I will never know, she got that bit all wrong surely?!
If you enjoy reading about Rosie it would mean so much if you’d take two seconds to nominate us in the 2014 MAD Blog Awards. It would be great to see Down’s syndrome represented and recognised there again. Please enter the web address www.thefuturesrosie.com to the categories you think it fits best. ‘Blog of the year’ and ‘Best Writer’ for example 😉 Thank you x
2014 MAD Blog Awards Nominations
The Future's Rosie
I'm Tom, a thirty something father to three beautiful children and husband to my soulmate Karen. I started this blog as a means to talk about stuff, get things out in the open, a bit like an online therapy I guess and to celebrate the progress of my beautiful daughter Rosie who was born in March 2011 with Down's Syndrome (DS) and a Complete Atrioventricular Septal Defect (AVSD). Maybe the experiences shared on here will help others too, hopefully help illustrate the bright futures our children with DS will have if we can break down common misconceptions. When I first found out Rosie would be born with DS I found reading literature with open and honest feelings on the subject, extremely helpful. This is not intended to be a written masterpiece and I can promise you it won’t be. I don’t pretend to have a large vocabulary and to be honest the further behind me my school days become the more my grammar has deteriorated!... however, you will find what is written on these pages comes from the heart.
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