Friday 21 December 2012

Happy Christmas!

It's been quite an end to the year, far more exciting than this time last year when Christmas was spent in hospital. My concerns have shifted now from whether Rosie will be well enough to spend her first Christmas at home to whether I will manage to get my presents sorted in time! Obviously I prefer the latter worry and my heart really goes out to those who will be spending Christmas on a ward.

The first bit of excitement came in the form of our first magazine interview. It is an open and honest insight into our life with Rosie from the beginning and features as part of a really positive three page article about DS in Elite Magazine. If you fancy a read you can download a pdf copy for free by clicking here... (it may take a short while to load depending on your internet speed).

The other bit of excitement came (rather bizarrely you may think) by the slow destruction of our tree decorations!

On Wednesday night Karen, Nanny and the boys headed over to Buxton Opera House to watch my really rather talented niece performing in Pantomime. This mean't the Bud and I got to spend some valuable uninterrupted time together. I had, sorry I mean 'she' had loads of fun playing with her toys, we had lots of laughter from tickles as well as endless amounts of cuddles. She was also rather taken with a 'Christmas present' hat that Karen had made for Joe, she would pop it on her head and laugh away to herself whilst peeping out at me.

It was soon time for tea and so I placed her in the middle of the living room floor (out of harms way) then rushed into the kitchen to heat up her 'pre-prepared by Mum' tea. I popped my head back in the room to check she was okay only to find her sat by the Christmas tree happily pulling down the lights and baubles! Unsure whether to tell her off or applaud her I moved her away slightly to assess the damage (after taking photo's of course!) and immediately she leaned forward, arms outstretched and shuffled on her bum back to the tree. She has managed to move around on her bum before but this is the first time to our knowledge that she has shuffled with any purpose. At this point I decided a round of applause and a great big cuddle was in order!

There are lots of potentially exciting things in the pipeline for next year which I'm having to bite my tongue about, but for now I intend to down tools and stay away from the computer (as best I can) and enjoy every second of our first family Christmas altogether at home.

Thank you to each and everyone of you that continue to read and share my ramblings, I have been truly humbled by every single comment sent, both here and on our Facebook page. I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

xx








Tuesday 4 December 2012

Daddy!

Saturday morning delivered the most perfect start to the weekend for me – considering I was about to spend the majority of it decorating!

I was sat playing with the kids on the living room floor, both my sons vying for my attention telling me different things at the same time, when amidst the chaos the Buds little voice says, "Daddy" and reaches out to touch my face. She immediately won the battle for my attention and gave me a little knowing smile – my heart did a little summersault.

Rosie has been saying "Dadda" and "Daddad" for a few weeks now but never has she said "Daddy" with that all important 'eeee' sound on the end. I was so excited I shared the news to TFR Facebook page. I tried every trick I could think of to try and get her to repeat it (which of course she didn't) and as the weekend progressed without even a 'Dadda' I began to feel cheated and a bit of a fraud! Especially in light of all the lovely comments I'd received earlier in the day too. Sunday evening came and I had to face up to the fact it may well have been a fluke after all...

I came home from work last night (Monday) hoping my absence all day might have triggered an excited shout of "Daddy" – no such luck! However I was told by an enthused Karen and Harry that Rosie had been giving them kisses!

Obviously she doesn't go short of kisses herself and we've been trying to encourage her by saying kiss kiss and exaggerating the action, however she hasn't (to our knowledge) ever reciprocated until now. Karen duely demonstrated by asking her for kisses and Rosie leaned in to gently touch Mummy's face with her lips.

I couldn't wait to receive my first Budlington kiss so I quickly picked her up, sat her on my lap, asked for 'kisses' then closed my eyes in anticipation of her soft little baby lips pressing against mine... What I actually received was a slap followed by a couple of sharp grabs to my face! I made a sad face and for the first time pretended to cry by rubbing my eyes, she put her head on my chest for a hug then quickly looked up at me with her bottom lip quivering (at which point I felt truly awful for pretending to cry) then she gave me the longest cuddle.

After a minute or so she raised her head, looked up at me with those big brown eyes and said, "Daddy" then leaned in and gave me that kiss.