Our gorgeous, ridiculously friendly, gentlemanly cat Fry passed away on Easter Sunday. It seems that he may have been hit by a car, he was found by a neighbour in a driveway.
I was so sad. We all were, as he was such a beloved part of our household.
Today you were telling me a story about a "baby marshmallow Jesus." Actually, you weren't telling me, you were telling your imaginary friend Margot, who is a tiny fairy.
You have a knack for making up stories, we especially love this one from when you were 3 ...
So it is now 6 months since Minnie had her cochlear implant switched on, and there is a big difference.
Her vocabulary has grown, she can say short sentences like "I don't know", "please can I have ...", and "I like ...", and her articulation of the words she knows is getting clearer and clearer. Her progress slows down a bit just before we reach a transfusion, but then afterwards she has a boost and suddenly seems much more articulate.
We regularly visit the hearing implant centre, where they check the health of her ears (she usually has congestion, or 'glue ear' on top of her hearing impairment) and assess her progress, both with her implant on the right side and also with her hearing aid on the left.
They play different sounds (at various volumes and pitches) to Minnie, they can tell when she hears it by her reaction and she is rewarded with a picture of a favourite cartoon character.
And now we have moved on to assessing what words she knows, and more importantly which ones she can recognise just by hearing them (rather than lip reading or guessing). This is what is happening in the below videos.
The biggest concern I have is that she manages to get on with children her own age, as sometimes it can be frustrating for children to communicate with her. However this is where Minnie's sense of fun and confidence is invaluable, as she makes up for any lack of communication with her energetic sense of fun and mischief.
As her peers have become fully verbal, the difference between her and a hearing child has become more marked. But we hope she can catch up plenty over the next year, so her transition into pre-school/school can be as smooth as possible.
Despite tonsillitis, Penny excelled in her starring role as 'shrew' in her first school Christmas play. I was so proud, it was indeed a theatrical masterpiece!
We went skating with Yaya at the Christmas rink by the Natural History Museum. It was a lot of fun, you did so well, and we got Minnie on the ice for the last 5 mins.
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
We still don't know many signs. But Daddy did a sign language course many years ago, and the alphabet stuck. So he signs the alphabet to you and your little sister.
You get lots of the signs right, and it is funny watching Minnie try to. She loves it!
Your sister has learned to do acrobatics with Daddy, almost exactly 2 years after you learned to. And she also wants to do it again and again and again and again and again ...
The most wonderful thing about the above video is that it is just an excerpt, you had already been sharing your lolly with your little sister for a few minutes before it was taken, and you also let me have the remainder of it when you decided you wanted to go and bounce on your trampoline.
It has taken her a little while, she has been a very speedy crawler (unlike you) so she didn't see much point in it till now.
And it has been quite emotional for me (Mummy).
When you reached your milestones we were of course very proud, parading all your new tricks to the world and declaring you (slightly tongue in cheek) as very advanced. But we barely even thought about the prospect of you ever NOT hitting any of them, you just did them automatically and there was never any need for intervention. Indeed, the challenge with you is figuring out how best to encourage you so you fulfil your potential, as you are so bright and eager to learn.
But with Minnie, none of these milestones were ever guaranteed. I remember sitting in the hospital with Daddy a few days after Minnie was born. It was the evening and we sat opposite the beautiful prospect of Big Ben in the Riverside Lounge. It was quiet and empty as it was late, and Granny and Grangrad were kindly looking after you while Daddy had some time at the hospital.
We sat, and we had the most heartwarming discussion. One of THOSE discussions, you know. We declared how lucky we were to have each other, as a solid foundation as rough times had hit us with a thud. How lucky we were to have you, our spark of joy in the darkness. And how lucky we were to have our friends and family who rallied round so valiantly.
And we talked about the brutal realities. About how we would manage Minnie no matter what, however broken she was. But also being honest with each other, agreeing that what scared us most was not losing her, but for her to be left alive as a mere shell of a person. Unable to move, feed, feel happiness, independence or to properly live. But that, even if that happened, we would manage.
So with every milestone, I remember that conversation. I see her smiling with elation that she is taking her first steps, I hear every babbling word and grab onto it with glee, I love that you play together so joyfully now she is bigger, stronger and becoming her own person.
And despite all the clinics, transfusions, blood tests and hearing challenges, they are simply nothing compared to where we might have been, had fate not cut us some slack last year.
We are so lucky … and every milestone really is a miracle. I adore you both.
Minnie's honorary Uncle Alex has a very clever Mummy who can make funny sock puppets … and Daddy and Matthew G had lots of fun entertaining you and Min Min with them on the train on our way back from Cromer.
Sometimes when it's bedtime you feel a little lonely so you ask us to stay to talk "about people and DVDs". It seems to be your way of processing the nuances of the world by means of your favourite movies. For example, you explain that sometimes, like in Lion King, daddies go away and that is sad. Or, sometimes babies cry and sometimes mummies cry.
You've also started making up words sometimes. Like "fub" or "glop", which you use to try and avoid punishment when you've hit one of us during a tantrum. As in, "I didn't hit you, I fubbed you."
On an unrelated note, your sister learned to clap this week:
Mummy here. I am currently struggling to get over the tonsillectomy I had a week ago, not an easy feat!
But every cloud has a silver lining, and for you this has meant lots of time with your Granny and Yaya. They have both been here to entertain you, while I am weak and in pain.
Granny and Grangrad took you to the beach at Southend, as well as to the Lambeth Country Show.
Yaya took you swimming with Aunty Erika and baby Lucas, where you went down the elephant slide all by yourself, what a brave girl!
I love the way your face lights up when you see them, I think it is a very special relationship!
You're getting much cleverer with language. Stringing sentences together, using little words like "is," and expressing yourself.
This week your mum has been very ill with another quinsy, and as usual you were in tune with her emotions. "Mummy's sad," you said. "Mummy crying."
Thankfully, Mummy is almost all better now. Also, baby Minnie came off her ventilator and seemed to turn a corner in terms of her recovery. She's looking much more alert and well.
This has been a very difficult week, but you've helped us by being a delight as usual. Asking me to sing "Merican Pie," or asking for the "iPod please," or "Weepooh" (which means Winnie the Pooh).
Your Granny and Gragrad (as you call him) also helped us get through the last few days. We're so deeply grateful for how generous they've been with their time and willingness to look after you. You're always so excited to see them.
Here's a couple of very recent videos of your baby sister:
We've enjoyed teaching you little party tricks so that you can impress our friends and family with how clever you are. Acrobatics is an old favourite, as is getting you to point out Audrey Hepburn, Jim Carrey and Franka Potente on the film posters in our lounge.
More recently, you've been learning flags from a poster on the spare room door. So far you can identify Greece, Israel, United Kingdom, United States and France.
And now you can sing Frère Jacques. You like it so much, you've been known to conduct a group of family members to sing it in the round. You also think it's absolutely hilarious when we sing Frère Penny instead; then you tell us to sing it with Erika's name, then Uncle Dan's ("unkdan"), Norris, Alex, Andrew, Yaya, Granny, Mummy, Daddy, bath, pushchair, airplane (oh how you love airplanes!), and so on and so on until we can't bear it anymore and we have to try and distract you with something else...
Like most toddlers, once you have found something you enjoy, you want to do it again and again and again ... and because your Daddy has given you a passion for excitement and adrenalin, that can lead to some knackering results!
