It’s been a busy but brilliant couple of weeks since I last posted an update on here. The long Easter weekend was spent with Uncle’s, Aunts, Cousins and grandparents as we descended on the London branch of the family. On Good Friday us men were left to fend for ourselves (and the kids) whilst the ladies took a well earned break and treated themselves to afternoon tea at the Savoy!In typical male fashion, weeks of meticulous planning for the ‘men and kids’ day took place… okay so we spent 10 minutes deciding we can’t decide what to do, jumped in the cars and ‘winged it’ ending up at a farm in Lee Valley which proved to be a great success.Needless to say there were lots of animals which gave me the chance to do some much needed practice with Makaton signing – something I do struggle to use (and remember). I keep persevering but it really doesn’t come that naturally to me if I’m honest. Bud knows far more than I do which is great testament to the time and effort Karen puts in with her.She wasn’t keen on any of the animals at first as she would point to them and shout, “No!” before turning her head in the opposite direction in a rather stroppy manner. It was funny to witness but I was mindful that I didn’t want her to be in fear of them so kept her at distance until she felt more comfortable with the environment. It took a Grandad and an Uncle to convince her it was okay and before long she was feeding a pony some grass and stroking it’s nose!In less positive news Rosie has recently re-introduced her vicious face grabbing, hair pulling and general attacking of the face. Whilst it seems nobody is exempt from the wrath of the Bud, the majority of it is felt by Karen and Rosie’s friends of similar age – especially ‘Layna’ who spends a lot of time with Rosie. They’ll be playing together nicely then suddenly Rosie will grab her hair. Thankfully, ‘Layna’ doesn’t make a fuss and will just wait for adult intervention then carry on playing. Karen received a swipe the other day which scratched the surface of her eye causing a lot of discomfort so we are having to be extra vigilant at the moment. I’d like to say it’s a show of affection as we previously thought but it’s obvious now by her face that she knows it is wrong, it’s clearly a form of attention seeking but how to resolve it is giving us a few headaches (and Karen sore eyes!).Jumping back to better news again… For the past few weeks Rosie has been getting herself into a crawling position, holding it for a while then falling back to her bum. A couple of days ago she was in this position again and suddenly attempted to crawl which ended up being a kind of half crawl half bum shuffle – I really can’t explain it very well so I’ve included a video below!Then only yesterday to our amazement she crawled properly for the first time, again there is a video of her doing this below. She was very pleased with herself and rightly so – it’s a wonderful achievement and one which we’re all very proud of especially as we thought she would bypass this stage altogether. New Crawl from The Future’s Rosie on Vimeo. Rosie’s first crawl from The Future’s Rosie on Vimeo.
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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