:(

I hate this...our friend's son has Leukemia, he's 5. We are understandably devasted by this news and worried about the whole family. We have spent evenings just discussing what they are going through, the pain and uncertainty. It's seem selfish that it has stirred up emotions in Dan and I that have only just gone under, but are close to the surface, when we should just be thinking of them. I keep watching Herbie and reliving some of the worst moments...I have to remind myself how bad things were at times. The JR hospital, Children's Wards, are some of the best in the country...they will cure my little train loving buddy just like they did our Herbster...I just want to wave a wand so that it's done now for all of them :(

spots and memories

It's been a while and lots has happened. Herbie has been doing well, running about, being amusing and generally in good health. Then with an outbreak of Chicken Pox (the one thing we were told to avoid) we tried hard to avoid them.
Herbsie had his MMR finally after all of the delays and was a good boy, then 6 days after he had a fever and 14 days later woke with a rash that covered his whole body! A measles rash! Poor spotty boy...
We are also trawling through our memories of our time in hospital with Herbie as good friends of ours are in with their 5 year old who is ill with no diagnosis! Being a parent is so damn hard on the soul at times, thank goodness children are also the best tonic!

More Fundraising

Only 6 weeks until my sister & two of my sister in laws do the 10K run for The Meningitis Trust. My nephew's infant school just raised over £500 for the PHDU at the JR and I have to go and spend the cake sale money on the wish list items asap. I guess as summer arrives the fundraising will end and this period of our lives will be put behind us. We are glad about that, it's time to look forward.
We did have a taste of summer with some glorious weather a few weeks ago and this gave me an opportunity to play with my 4th love (family, job, music being 1,2 & 3), my camera!
As far as Herbalicious and his recovery...well he has glue ear, not caused by the meningitis but probably the initial cold virus. He is still very snotty! Back to the hospital in August to check his ears again. His sleeping pattern is back to normal and he goes to bed without tears now. He walks most places now and is back to be a total monkey.
It is 10am on day 5 of the Spring holiday and he has only been up since 8am but has managed to break a cup, tip his breakfast on the floor and empty the cereal cupboard! The hardest part is the joy you feel seeing him do these 'ordinary' things knowing that a few months ago you wondered if he would make it, let alone cause toddler havoc! I know that I shouldn't be soft on him...he is a normal toddler now, 17 months old and into mischief!

Fund raisers, walking and tears

So we made the local rag & the cake sale & the community coffee morning fund raisers were a great success. Thanks in the main to all of my fab family & friends who baked and helped out. £307 raised!! Woooohooo!! It rounds off this whole 'meningitis episode' nicely for me. I feel like we have helped raise awareness and £'s for research & others.

It's so wonderful to be on this side of the illness but for so many this side never happens :(

I happened upon a programme on BBC 1 last week about a medical team and there was an 18 month old on there being admitted in a coma with meningitis. I sobbed the whole way through it...the emotions which on a daily basis seem so under control were suddenly unleashed and wild! I relived every moment with the parents of 'Freddie' and felt the ups and downs of the emotional roller coaster on which they travelled, just as we had a few short weeks ago.

So what about Herbs, my little trooper, well once again my baby has learnt to walk, twice now in his short 16 months here on Earth. Heck some babies don't manage to do it once in that time. He amazes me every day with his recovery.

WALK WALK WALK!

As the title suggest this is top of Herbie's priorities at the moment. He has walked quite a long way now but often he stands, does 5 or 6 steps and collapses. He just wants to practise though. We often catch him just standing there and clapping too. I am a little sad at time though when I think that had he not caught meningitis he would have been a confident walker by now and more independent. Still he is not far off. A lovely day spent celebrating our nephew's 6th birthday & a visit from the newspaper photographer which was surprisingly calm! Roll on another week.

Newspapers and photographers

What a week! Elections, hung parliament, school closed for 2 days (bank holiday & a polling station). The most exciting thing has been the interest by the local newspaper in Herbie's story and the girlie's fund raising cake sale! We have the local press photographer arriving tomorrow to get a picture of all 4 kiddos to go alongside the article. Lily & Kitty are beside themselves with excitement and I am left wondering if Herbie & Ru will 'play ball' or go wild with independence! Time will tell.

First week of work over...

Went back to work this week. My class of 29 year 1's were so lovely and gave me a very warm welcome. The staff were great too. The normality felt refreshing but I did miss my Smallie and Ru as well as my big girls. Being a working mum is never easy but if you enjoy your job, get satisfaction from it and know your children are happy with those looking after them it makes it bearable and at times really enjoyable!

Herbie continues to make daily progress. More steps , more interaction, more food!! Less separation anxiety (finally this week we can put him to bed awake and leave him to go to sleep). Ru is now totally potty trained at 2 years and 4 months...he's a clever chap and has been really easy to train.

So we are now into a Bank Holiday Weekend and really looking forward to time with friends and family...rain or no rain!