Ben's Scan Results

Yesterday was a bit nerve racking waiting for Ben's appointment with the Neurologist at 3pm but the results were good. The MRI scan did not show any abnormalities at all which means he doesn't have brain damage and the preliminary diagnosis back in November of Moebius Syndrome still stands.

Its a bit strange really - who'd have thought we'd be celebrating the fact that Ben has this rare genetic disorder but we are. Longer terms his prospects are fine - he'll just look a little bit different.

He still has to keep seeping the eye and speech/swallowing teams but has been discharged by the Neurology Department! - Yah

Happy 1st Birthday Ben

Ben celebrated his 1st birthday on Sunday 25th June at a small family bar-be-que. The weather was perfect - despite forecasts of showers and we had a lovely day. We set up the toy train and the bouncy castle for the older two which kept them entertained for quite some time.

Ben enjoyed playing football and could very well be a England goalkeeper in future years! He fell asleep just when the England game kicked off which meant that all the big boys could watch the match without feeling guilty.

He got loads of lovely presents and enjoyed his cake immensely.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Ben's MRI Scan

Yesterday was a bit of a long day for us as Ben had his brain MRI scan booked at Great Ormond Street. We travelled up there by car in the end as the trains were up the swanny but apart from getting a little bit lost around Embankment area we did alright.

We were settled into Kingfisher Ward which is in the new wing and was a lovely place. We answered several questions repeatedly with lots of different people and were told that we would be likely going down at 13:30. As it happened we didn't go down til 15:30 by which time Ben was being extremely vocal in his protests at the lack of food he was being allowed (we had been told to starve him from 7.30am!!).

It was a little bit hard to hold him as he fought against the anaesthetic mask and then to kiss him goodbye as he lay still on the trolley but 45 minutes later it was all over and he was screaming his disapproval of the entire process. To add insult to injury they had put a drip into his thumb sucking hand and he couldn't suck it with all the bandages!

By 18:30 he was back to normal and we were allowed home. Some superb driving on Steve's part meant we were back home by 8 o'clock. We just need to wait for the results now but fingers crossed it tells us nothing but that which we already suspect.

Amy's 1st School Visit

Amy had her first visit to her new "big" school today with an hours visit sans parents! I was kind of expecting her to be a little bit clingy just at the last minute as she often can be but she went in without so much as a backward glance.

Apparently, they had two stories and then she played with some toys. All the other children were nice and polite!

She goes back again next week and then for one final visit the week after and seems to like it so far.

Ben had his first taste of Moo Milk today and from the state of the completely drained bottle I think he likes it. It's a big day for him tomorrow with his MRI scan finally so fingers crossed it goes ok and I'll update later.

Ben Can Sit Himself Up

Just a quick update tonight....

On Tuesday I couldn't believe my eyes when 7 times on the trot Ben wrenched himself up from a laying position to sitting up! What with learning to crawl last week and now this he is really coming along. He'll be running around the lounge next!

Viva La France!

We all spent a lovely week, last week in Guines, France with Granny Brenda & Grandad John. We stayed at La Bien Assise campsite where Brenda & John have been holidaying for over 20 years now.



The kids had so much fun - especially Amy with all that free space to run around in and Ben worked hard to perfect his commando crawl - he's really good at it now.

The weather was perfect and we couldn't have wished for a better break.

Our New Garden

BEFORE
Our garden make-over was completed this week and the back garden now looks lovely. Before it was just a large patch of grass with a barked area by the side of the house and a wilderness bit at the very end - snake country! But now it has been transformed.

Sadly, we haven't been able to truly appreciate it yet as the weather has been horrible but we are looking forward to lots of BBQs on the new decking and summer evenings spent sipping wine admiring the plants which manage to survive our feeble attempts at gardening!.

AFTER