What a day ...

Its been a long time coming but today was Hannahs eye operation!

I was a little worried they wouldnt do it as she has the back end of a cold but they didnt seem too worried about it.

We arrived at 12:15 and it took them an hour to book her in, do checks and listen to her chest to decide if she was ok for surgery.  They asked how long i had been fasting her for so i explained i had waken her at 7am and given her breakfast and she hadnt had anything since... then i remembered ...

At about 10am i caught Hannah on her hands and knees at the dog bowl and when i pulled her up she had a dog biscuit in her mouth (she has always had a thing for Bakers Complete just like Emily always had!) So of course i told them about it but explained at most it was crumbs as she spat most of it out.

Even so as a result they put her appointment slot back 2 hours to be sure so we were both starving, fed up and mega bored by the time it was her turn.

I took her down and held her as they put her to sleep.  It was horrible as she decided to try and fight it and was thrashing about a fair bit till the gas took hold, then i had to leave.  I had been given the impression it would be an "in-out" job and i had worried i wouldnt have chance to go for a cig break but when i got back from outside i still wasnt allowed to see her for a further 45mins.  Sitting in a waiting room by yourself for 45mins is like 3 hours! I quickly regretted going alone and started getting a bit unsettled until i heard her crying down the coridoor and a nurse led me to recovery and she was passed to me.

I had imagined getting a nice sleepy cuddle as she came round but no she was throwing a massive tantrum, she was disorientated and woozy and was thrashign abotu like a drunk, kicking screaming and throwing her arms about it was horrible! and she is so strong now!

In the end i gave in and put her on the bed to fight it out by herself, every time i touched or spoke to her she went off on one again :0(

Luckily after about half an hour and some toast which  she wolfed down and some juice she guzzeled she came round properly and was trying to get down off the bed to run around.

While all this was goin on Mum collected Emily from school and she was off colour and complaining of ear-ache.  Mum and Marie took the poor little mite to the doctors and she has an ear infection and a fever and has to have 3 days off school which she is gutted about as they have just switched the play kitchen to a shop and she is desperate to play with it.

Iv put a bed up in her room and will be sleeping with her tonight to keep an eye on her

Lovin it!

Emily is loving school!  During a sit down chat with her teacher Miss Haigh she said Emily was a pleasure to have in her class, she is very thoughtful and is deffinatly the born leader of the group, she takes the other children under her wing and makes sure the teachers take note of other peoples good work by saying thingslike "Miss Haigh, look how beautifull she drew that.." etc.

Im really pleased with the school, they knew things about Emily that can only have come from really taking notice of her.

She has a new best friend called Holly Sawood, she bangs on about her all the time, Holly this, Holly that.  She seems like a nice little girl, maybe a little bit rough and tumble for Emily but she sticks up for them both which is teaching Em valuble skills so thats good. 

Unfortunatly since starting school Emily has missed a fair amount of days due to having a cold and when i have sent her she has come home injured from falling over when she hasnt been 100%.

I had t bring her home on her full first day because when i visited for lunch break she had a nasty graze on her knee and her tights had healed to it and she was a snot monster, she refused to straighten her leg for 2 days, in the end i had to threaten to take her to hospital and we got all the way there and sitting in the waiting room before she gave in and straightened it.  The biggest shame about that was she missed her first school photo that day!

School so far

Emily is loving school!
Me and Nan were not so sure at first, the teachers didnt seem to have much enthusiasm on a morning to encourage the kids and i was a little dissapointed.

Last week however i went for a one on one with Miss Haigh and she said some lovely things about Emily, she is bright and intelligent, very caring, has taken a few children under her wing including a latvian girl who Emily translates for.  They have noticed things like she calls them over to show them how fantastic another child did something instead of the usual behavior of a child that would be more along the lines of "look what i did!"  Apparently she is the only leader in the class which i consider great news as i was worried about her being led by others.

Im so proud of her, she is my little superstar and im just glad these teachers have realised how privalidged they are to spend time with my princess!

So Giving!

Em - Mum, i try to get you to save things but you still throw them away before i say to you
Me - Like what darling?
Em - *thinking* um i dont know like an apple maybe that i dont want all of
Me - Well we cant really save an apple darling it goes all brown and yucky
Em - *a little frustrated because this turned out to be a bad example* Well i mean like things we could send to the children.
Me - What children?
Em - The ones you told me about that dont have nice food and things
Me - *penny dropped*

I started to tell her about the shoebox appeals that happen around the UK and explained what kind of things they send and she got very excited about it and started charging round the house picking out some toys (her favorites lol) that she would be willing to send.

So i decided to do a little research and have found a 2011 Christmas shoebox appeal organised by the Samaritans and i have ordered a resorces pack and me and Emily are going to try and get 50 people to put together shoeboxes for the children in Liberia, Romania, Ukraine, Blearus, Kenya and lots of other disadvantaged countries.

I cant wait to show her the stuff when it arrives, she is going to really enjoy putting her shoeboxes together!!

Gillamoor Farm Camping

This year we joined our family camping at Pete and Vickys farm.  Dads band had been booked to play at the village hall on the Saturday night but we all went accross on Friday after work.  Emily got very excited when i told her we were going camping and as per usual wasted no time packing her own bag and helping me get stuff ready.  Unfortunatly by the time we got their on the Friday it was already dark and the girls had some supper and went pretty much straight to bed.  Hannah slept in the travel cot in the caravan and settled quite quickly and Emily slept on her little air bed in the tent with us but didnt go to sleep till nearly mid-night as she was too excited to sleep so laid there listening to classical fm on the radio (which is her favorite music)

Emily was upset because we had invited Sara and Alicia for the weekend but they couldnt come because her aunt is poorly, Emily burst out crying when i told her Alicia couldnt come "but i love her and it will be no fun without her" bless her.  It did cheer her up when i told her Cath and Lottie would be there and that Ross and Lia wee coming and sleeping in our tent with us.

Emily loves to be outdoors, it doesnt matter if there is entertainment or not, she will entertain herself collecting things and pretending to build things or catching mini-beasts.  The kids spent most of the time playing with an old mucky wheel barrow taking it in turns to have rides in it (curtesy of Ben and Joseph who pushed them about in it all weekend)

Id taken some drawing pads and skipping ropes for the kids.  Hannah must have been watching the big kids closely and was trying her best to have a go dragging it behind her and hopping along laughing.

 On the saturday at the village hall Emily was excited to see Big Bobs grandkids (her new best friends) and couldnt wait to dance with them on the dance floor.  Unfortunatly early on in the night she was rolling down a grass bank with her new friends and got a nasty nettle sting on her arm that came up in massive hives.  I spent the best part of 30 mins trying to find a dock leaf but couldnt find one anywhere which is typical when you want one! 

Poor Emily was so upset, it really ruined the night for her, she cried for ages even after a neighbour gave us antihistamine cream to put on.  She was so upset she curled up in the buggy and eventually fell asleep which didnt suprise me as she was very overtired from her late night and running about all day.

When we gotback from the party the girls were worn out, Hannah went straight to bed without a muff and Emily climbed in her sleeping bag and was out like a light.  They both really enjoyed the weekend and didnt want to go home so im sure they will really look forward to next year!

Hannahs Eye

Since Hannah was born she has had a snotty left eye.  Most mornings i have to bathe it open as it is crusted shut.  She had this all through her hospital visits and on numerous occasions swabs have been taken and medicine given to treat for conjunctivitis which has been hell to put in and made no difference.

At the beginning of April she saw a specialist at pinderfields, we were left waiting in the coridoor for nearly 2 hours and had to put extra time on the car because the receptionist put our file on the wrong pile.  That explained why people who came in an hour after us were seen before us! 

The doctor put dye in her eyes and admitted she needed a small procedure to unblock her duct.

Beginning of May we went for a Pre-Op assessment at Dewsbury where i had to sit and discuss how they would put my poor baby to sleep with anesthetic yet again.
The lady said it may be a while till her operation appointment as the doctor works Mondays and what with all the bank holidays he was a bit behind but she said to sit tight and we would hear something.

9 weeks later im getting a little miffed, not heard a thing, so i rang the central appointment team to find out what was going on.  A young lady called Gemma did allot of shuffling about and putting me on hold to finally admit that no paperwork has been sent over from Dewsbury therefore Hannah isnt even yet on the waiting list ...  I made my displeasure known and Gemma was very embarrassed that this had happened and promised she would personally sort it and told me to pencil in the 5th September and she would confirm by post.

Last week i rang them again (this is 3 weeks since i spoke to Gemma and still heard nothing)  A lady called Katie answers the phone, Gemma is off sick.  I explained the entire situation to her, she diddled about on her computer and couldn't find Hannah on the waiting list, "oh no hang on here is her file, it hasn't been processed yet, I'm terribly sorry i will personally ensure this is sorted ASAP"

Today i got a letter from Kate telling me Hannah is on the waiting list and asking if i can ring the appointment line to book a slot within the next 14 days or it will be presumed we no longer want the operation.  ERM HELLO!!!

I just rang Kate and she said the very soonest they can book her in is 3rd October, that will be 5 months after her pre-op where she was weighed, measured and a full health check was performed to check she was fit for surgery .............

This is crazy! Im so cross! I know she is not in any pain and there are people out there with more pressing medical problems but these people are the eye people, they only do eyes, why should my baby still have a gunged up eye at 19 months old when she has seen the amount of medical professionals she has seen in her lifetime.  Unbelievable!

August Sunshine

We have had a couple of weekends of lovely weather which hwas been great and in true Dolben style we have seized the day as much as possible.  We have been to Oakwell Park a couple of times, Wilton Park and out playing on the trampoline as much as we can before the autumn kicks in.

Hannah is getting such a big girl now, she is so independant and loves doing what she considers "big girl" stuff likes drawing, colouring and making a bee-line for anything little that has been put out of her way.  She still loves climbing and is very robust but just of late she has been very cuddly and has learnt that a mummy kiss can fix almost any bump or scrape.

 Emily is a beautful sweet sensative girl, she loves her little sister very much but gets very frustrated when Hannah copies her every move, even yawning which really gets on Emilys nerves hehe

 Emily is getting allot braver too, im not sure if it is an age thing or that she sees Hannah being very brave and trying new things, she really enjoys playing with Liam too now they can chat away to each other, they really enjoyed climbing on the spider web.

 Hannah is trampoline mad like her sister, this leads to many arguments as Emily bounces much harder than Hannah which makes her fall over.  She thinks its funny the first couple of times but gets tired of having to get back up and gets frustrated and cross. She does have her own 5ft trampoline but thats not good enough for her she wants to go on the big one like Emily so we try to take it in turns now.

Hannah is saying quite a few words now like Nanna Mummy Gaddy Gargar (grandad) Dog, Ball, weeze (please) and when you say "love you" she blows you a kiss.  She likes to say bye and knows all the farm animal noises.

We are getting ready for Emily starting school in a few weeks, im absolubtly dreading it, im going to miss her like crazy, she seems fairly excited about it so far but is worried she will miss me.  Im sure she will be fine, i just hope she makes some nice friends because she is easily led and gets a little bit too giddy at times.
She is a super smart cookie and knows her numbers to ten and beyond, she can write up to ten and knows the first 3 sections of her phonics already so i hope she will impress the teachers :0)