Happy New Year.......

We had quite a few visitors between Christmas and New Year. It was really lovely to catch up with everyone, but it did make it even trickier to find time to fit in all the home exercises! The children particularly enjoyed catching up with their little cousin Sam, and being a bad influence on him (introducing him to breakfast TV in their pyjamas.......)

Once into 2013 we have again plodded on doing about an hour of physio ourselves with Daniel each day. Plus we had a visit from our private physio on Wednesday, have continued to get Daniel walking whenever the opportunity presents itself, and have also had him out on his trike as much as possible, which is great for strengthening his legs. This photo also shows a landmark for Lucy, because she had a 'big girl' bike from Father Christmas, and despite all the rain, which meant we could only venture out in ten minute bursts, she has learned to ride it! She is very proud of herself and her achievement, and for me it has been quite nice to help Lucy struggle (albeit temporarily) and persevere to achieve something physical, instead of Daniel.

The big event of the week was our trip to Brainwave on Thursday. We have been going to Brainwave every 4-6 months since Daniel was two and a half, for his progress to be reassessed, and for him to have a new exercise programme. We were therefore looking forward not only to showing off Daniel's new skills, but also having Dawn's perspective about the areas we most need to focus on. The day started well, with Daniel walking into the centre for the very first time, which earned him a certificate....

Certificate presentation ceremony...

He worked hard all day, and we came away with a few new exercises to look at, as well as our other home exercises.

At the end of the day, he also had his big reward, something he has been eagerly anticipating for weeks and weeks..... to go in the hydro pool! It's the first time since before his operations that he has been able to go swimming. Ever since he was a baby Daniel has loved being in the water, and has no fear at all! He particularly enjoys swimming under water and 'diving' to the bottom of the pool to pick up a brick or similar - this requires someone else to push him down and pull him back up again, but he absolutely loves it.

All in all, it was an excellent day (although Daniel was totally exhausted on Friday), and our thanks to Dawn, Mike and Mervin for their input. We hope Daniel will have even more to show Dawn by the time we next see her in the summer.

Tomorrow it is back to school for both children, although Daniel will only be going mornings for now. I will admit to being rather apprehensive as to how on earth we achieve the right balance between his schoolwork, physio and rest / play time.