Claws, Cuddles and New shoes!

I've been well and truly put to shame recently by Rosie – as my exercising efforts dwindle away to almost nothing the Bud has been working harder than ever on losing that 'holiday belly' by performing a cross between a pull up and sit up. She has developed the strength and ability to grip hold of my fingers and pull herself forward into an upright seated position. I think the motivation to do this comes from her seemingly endless desire to grab my cheeks and claw at my neck! (I even have the scars to prove it). She is playing of course so I really don't mind, in fact I'm probably guilty of encouraging it a little because it makes her smile and giggle so much and thats something I could listen to all day. She'll then round the whole thing off with a big cuddle and all is forgiven.

Rosie is waving a lot more now as well as copying our signing for 'hello', which is not only super-cute to watch but also shows continued advancement in her social skills.

The physiotherapist also paid us a visit this afternoon and delivered Rosie her first pair of shoes – I say shoe's but they look more like a pair of pink DM's! She is being encouraged to wear these in order to support and strengthen her ankles which are hypermobile. Hypermobility is the term used to describe joints which stretch further than normal and I'm led to believe it's very common in babies with Down's syndrome.

In other news this week I was extremely proud to discover that The Futures Rosie blog is featured in Hayley Goleniowska's first entry as SEN Editor for Brit Mums. It's not only a huge honour to be recognised by someone I have a lot of respect for but it's also helped take my message to a wider audience which is great. You can read the entry by clicking here and I'd also recommend a visit to Hayley's blog Downs Side Up to see why she and her daughter Natty are such an inspiration to many.

I've included a couple of pictures below from our recent holiday in Scotland where Rosie was doted upon by everyone from Great Aunts & Uncles through to my nieces Hollie and Martha who have been like live-in Nannies for two weeks! I must give them both a big 'thank you' as they never tired of feeding her, changing nappies, entertaining, bedtime bottle feeding and giving her copious amounts of love. We now know where to head whenever we fancy a break!