The past few weeks.....

There has been so much going on over the past few weeks that I've not had time to update this blog.  There's not been anything particularly newsworthy happening - just day to day family life.  Just keeping up with Katie and the housework seems to take up most days.  We've been getting out and about and doing all sorts of things as well as trying to get some sort of routine sorted out.  We now have some set weekly activities such as swimming lessons and toddler groups.  Katie is a really sociable young lady and just loves seeing other children so she enjoys the groups.  She particularly enjoys singing.  She is getting used to swimming.  She wasn't particularly keen on having to go under water in week 2's class and has been a bit anxious in the pool since then.  We had a major breakthrough this week however when I managed to help her realise that she can reach the bottom of the pool and can walk through the water unaided.  I am going to try to fit in more general swimming sessions in between classes to help build up her confidence.  We are going swimming with a friend next week to a swimming pool that is more fun-based.  It will be interesting to see how she reacts to the water there.

We have noticed a bit of separation anxiety creeping into Katie just lately.  This is very noticeable when I leave the room.  This has gotten worse since "fly-gate" when a fly landed on her arm in the garden.  She became hysterical and has become quite anxious since then.  She is fascinated and terrified of flies in equal measure.  This incident was worsened when a butterfly landed on her head the same afternoon.  I think I will put off showing her the bats in the garden for a while - I can only imagine what her reaction might be!  We had a few nights of crying at bedtime that a fly was in her room.  We have managed to move on from this by giving her a toy in her cot that speaks to her and she plays with this for a while before sleeping.  This is the first night-time issue we've had since Katie moved in with us nearly 12 weeks ago so we have been very lucky I think.

We introduced Katie to our local theme park last week.  I suspected that my daughter was going to be a thrill seeker and this was proven when she met her first roller-coaster.  She screamed with delight and put her hands up over her head as we went fast down the hill.  We are going again this week and have purchased a season ticket for the park.  We will have to bribe someone to take her to Alton Towers when she gets older because I get motion sickness and can't go on the really big rides.  I can manage a reasonable roller-coaster but anything that goes upside-down is a real no-go area for me!!

We had some welcome news from Social Services this week when a letter arrived informing us that they would be happy for us to apply to adopt Katie formally.  This is excellent news.  We have our 3 month review meeting next week and will set these wheels in motion. I have downloaded the forms from the court to start completing them!!  I hope we get through it all quickly and without any delays.

Katie's speech and strength continues to improve day by day.  Her current favourite word is "probably".  She practices it over and over again.  She repeats things that I say continually and it makes me laugh to hear her saying such grown up sentences.  She has now developed leg muscles and walks far more appropriately for a 2 and a half year old then she did when she arrived.  Her sense of humour and ability to interpet what she is seeing is amazing and I really enjoy spending time with her.  She also has an amazing strength of character, the downside of which means she spends some time on the naughty spot but the upside is that she has the ability to do well in life.  She has started counting really well and adds up how many sweets etc she has.  She can now recognise that things relate to numbers and is starting to recognise a few of the numbers when written down.  She has learned all her colours now. She struggles a bit with blue and brown but is doing really well.  It is fascinating watching her learn and absorb all this information.  She asks questions continually.  I wonder how long it will be before she realises that I don't have all the answers?

Her other big fascination at the moment is people's private parts.  She saw her first willy when my nephew was out with us.  She shocked him by grabbing it and asking what it was!!!  He was mortified as you can imagine.  She was amazed.  She now knows that girls and boys are different.  She was in the queue in the library today saying that "boys have willies".  You should have seen the look on the face of the man in the queue behind us!!! 

Well I better go and get my little lady up so we can head off to toddler group.  TTFN.......