Living with Cerebral Palsy 🍋🍋

Saturday 2 December 2017

Elin’s Diary #2


Wow. Just look at this year’s School photograph! It arrived yesterday and looks even better than the proof they sent home for ordering, which is a good job since I ordered enough to keep the photography company in business for another twelve months! We both actually had a little cry when we opened the package that came home with her on Friday and saw what a truly beautiful photo it is. She looks so grown up and the way the light in her eyes is shining is just so perfect. I think it really captures Elin’s cheeky spirit. A massive shout-out has to go to the School staff here -the eagle eyed among you might notice that there is a person holding Elin draped in black cloth (genius solution to the dystonia/seating issue which can hamper school photo day and has done in the past). This person is Elin’s ever amazing key worker and I know her class teacher and possibly others would have been there too working hard to orchestrate a good shot. It can be so difficult and we so appreciate the outcome. It’s the best one we’ve had for years I think Elin looks like a movie star! So any family reading this you WILL be getting a copy of this and any non-family members who fancy a wallet sized snap or bookmark give me a shout.
It’s been another good week in the land of Elin. To my knowledge there has been no more sleeping/snoring during lesson time and Elin has started rehearsing her school Christmas play! Exciting! Perhaps the best news from school this week though came from the vision people who visited and gave Elin her annual eye test. Her vision has improved again since last time they tested her. This is fantastic news obviously and we are so proud of her. One of the most difficult things for me to grasp over all these years has been Elin’s reduced vision. I think it’s so cruel that the one thing that could greatly aid her understanding of the world around her also eludes her. Sight. But we have always known she does see, albeit in a very different way to us, so it’s been a constant attempt on our behalf and her school’s behalf to try and improve what she does have in order to keep maximising her quality of life and opportunities to communicate. It’s so wonderful and gratifying to discover that this hard work has not been in vain as she begins to track, briefly focus and follow images on a screen. Once again the kudos has to go to the experts she works with at school on a daily basis, who we use also as our guides in vision development. Once again Elin has proved the doctors wrong, since I distinctly remember being told when we were discharged from Alder Hey aged five that her vision development would probably plateau between the ages of 5-8. Go Elin!! 
This weekend will be a quiet one for Elin really as we have nothing big planned! She really enjoyed opening her advent calendar on Friday (I think it’s the sound of the foil) and even enjoyed a few licks/tastes of chocolate number one!
 
 
Safe to say I think she enjoyed it!
Finally we managed to get out for a nice walk today and Elin was largely good in her chair, hurrah! One of the things I absolutely love about where we live is the range of walks close by. Only last week we discovered a new one which looked like something out of a fairytale as you weaved through the trees on a blanket of autumn leaves without seeing a single soul. I can’t wait for it to snow because it will look exactly like Narnia there! Not all of these walls are suitable for Elin sadly, but lots of them are and we don’t even have to get in the car first. We are very lucky. I’ll leave you with two beautiful photos I got today of Elin as we were out trying to get our daily step count to 10,000 (well that’s just me in an attempt to combat the muffin top or should I say mince pie top?) Hope you have the best week, I can’t believe it’s December again already. Fun times ahead! 
Thanks for reading,
Ruth x
 
My girl:Rainbow chaser 😊🌈
Xx
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1 comment

  1. Winona Shopbell-Fryberg7 December 2017 at 11:25

    Aww beautiful baby girl! I've missed you both on Instagram but so excited I've found you here. Love the updates and pictures! Thank you so much for sharing. Can't wait for your next update. Much love to both!
    Winona-dakotawoman8 ����

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