In March the whole Smithy family and friends gathered together in a cottage near Haslemere to celebrate Uncle Matthew's 40th birthday.
We had a fun and relaxing time, playing with the massive tree and swing in the garden, croquet, werewolf and all sorts of other games. You enjoyed hanging out with Ben (Gerald and Bernie's son), as always appreciating the company of an older child, and it is fascinating to see you adjust your behaviour accordingly.
A good time was had by all, and you and Min-Min had fun collecting the eggs at the farm where Uncle Andrew and Chaya were staying.
We have learned to be so very patient with the healthcare and support that Minnie needs, but sometimes it can be hard.
We are now gearing up for our THIRD attempt at having her right cochlear implant operation. The frustration comes a lot from our excitement, as Min will hopefully be able to learn to speak more easily when she has it. And she is at the age where she is learning so many words and phrases, we are so eager for her to learn to say them all properly.
She speaks very well, considering how deaf she is. She has lots of little words and phrases, including now saying 'I love you', which is a guaranteed way of making Mummy and Daddy's hearts melt when she has done something mischievous.
The first cancellation on 26th March, Min and I spent all day in the hospital, with poor Min not allowed to have any food, only to be told at 2pm that they wouldn't be able to do it. Apparently she had had a test result saying her blood wasn't clotting normally, and so they had to do another test to check it was just an unusual result rather than a separate underlying condition on top of her PKD. Which it was, but there was a lot going on with the person they had bumped up in the queue, so they just ran out of time.
The second cancellation was due to an ear infection. We all had a chesty cough, and Minnie's ears were all gunky just a couple of day before she was due to go in, and so we didn't even make
