Just look at this little beauty all snuggly in her winter Aran jumper! Lately I have been catching myself staring in complete shock at how big Elin is getting. It makes me feel so proud that she is so well, healthy and happy as she slowly approaches her 10th birthday. It also makes me panic. I'm not ready for her to be bigger, or older. I worry about what this means for her. I know she has years and years left of schooling before we have to think about what happens when she is no longer in full time education. But the last 10 years suddenly appear to have passed in the blink of an eye. Caitlin was 20 yesterday (coming home for snuggles with Elin this weekend) and believe me it feels like she was 10 about a week ago!! Paul is great at not thinking about things until we absolutely have to, but I am a bit more of a worrier. I also hate change, so it's difficult to think about Elin growing up from a child into a teenager without having an element of fear underpinning my pride in the amazing person she has become. I guess I also have to think about just how far she has come in those 10 years too, though. The difference in her now to when she was a baby is incredible. She has developed and improved in ways we never thought imaginable. So from that angle, the next 10 years are also potentially very exciting. That's what I have to remember when I feel scared.
As well as looking forward this week I've also been looking back a bit! This is a photo of Elin with Alfie. Alfie is the son of one of my oldest friends and one of my four fab flatmates from Drama College in Edinburgh. Laura and I hit it off right away when we met back in 1999, both of us hundreds of miles from home and sharing a black sense of humour, a love of cheap fizzy wine and an obsession with the Spice Girls (I know, I know, don't judge me it was the 90's!). Anyway Laura was able to visit last week from Stratford where she and Alfie are living with Alfie's brilliant Daddy who is currently performing with the RSC, a bit closer to us than their permanent base in London, so we could finally introduce Elin and Alfie, which was just lovely. It's so weird when one minute you're holding each other's hair over the toilet bowl after an over indulgent student house party and the next minute you're children are getting to know each other!! Elin is one lucky girl to have so many people who care about her in her life.
In terms of actual activity this week Elin hasn't been up to much outside of school, what with the weather deciding to be apocalyptic again. She took her traditional Valentines balloon into school for her little boyfriend Llew and enjoyed making a snappy green crocodile baguette! She's also been enjoying some painting and listening to sensory stories. The above picture was taken today at her weekly horse-riding session at the Clwyd special Riding Centre. Paul and I were super impressed today as she had been pretty dystonic in the car on the way, so we wondered how much benefit she would get from today's session. But as soon as she was on the mechanical horse she totally relaxed and settled into it's rhythm once again which was so lovely to see. Today the physio worked on getting Elin's hands into a nice relaxed position and we were thrilled to see how well she did! Her hands stayed like this for the duration of the session, so good progress was made again.
Well today marks half term for us! We are looking forward to seeing Caitlin tomorrow when she pops back home from London for her birthday and then we are going to visit family in Yorkshire for a couple of days. After that, Elin has a couple of appointments (one important one at the Movement Centre!) so I know I'll have a lot to update with next time. Until then, thanks for reading and have a great week!
Ruth xxx
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