up in the air....

next door's cat comes eye to eye with large toy dog (won in tombola last year)





all the fun of a kitten without the responsibility! and less risk of setting off Ix's allergy as cat stays outside...



and the girls and friends created a mural on the shed....(spot the yellow submarine!)




we love our garden! didnt have one for 14 years...not gonna give up* having one now...pottering in evening watering the plants..therapeutic, relaxing...


* exP thinks we should move into the flat next door to him which we joint own still as a buy to let...(pending financial matters court hearing) it has NO garden, but that is not important, says he, I am just being selfish...the kids can play in the car park of the flats... duh!!!

a really nice break in Wales

half term, sunshine, farm visits, walks, sea, sandcastles, care for Ix so we could go out places altogether and also split for doing separate activites eg him on tour bus, girls on pier rides... and dinners cooked by mother... could not ask for more

a diagnosis...17q21.31 microdeletion

there is a lot in a small amount of missing DNA/chomosome - apparently - but considering how catastrophic other missing/warped/failed bits of DNA can be, this one is, really, getting off lightly.

Ix will not die young from this, given he is healthy now, he does not have any heart/kidney issues which can be associated. he does not have seizures....

"17q21.31" - bit of a mouthful...hmmm, maybe a new name is needed?

http://17q21.com/en/index.php
lays bare the features... 100% cognitive issues...

but this one is nice -
"Behaviour is typically friendly and pleasant""this is the Ix I know -

sure there are the autistic behaviours - but by and large he likes people - and that is a very valuable trait.

it's been a long road - the first years of desperate searching for answers, then quietly rumbling along in the background...waiting for genetics to catch up...hundreds of appointments...

and yet it is a good time to get the answer. I know what the prognosis is already, his level of need - this gives peace of mind really.

May...

May began in Scotland...

and should contonue with mini-adventures along the way.

April saw highs - family times at Easter, excellent school reports etc...

and some lows involving issues with ix's after school carers and the ex, and ex losing Ix from his own flat - found a few streets away - and he still refusing to fit security chains etc..hey ho. so Ix's visits more limited but girls' visits going ok - apart from he force feeding them eskimo oil which they hate and is rather loose with timekeeping - but hey.

but onwards and upwards...

March saw a birthday...

L turned 10! a good day with her school and Brownies friends, a science lady with a host of gooey and sticky stuff and some bangs and explosions, a large red balloon, food and cake...

busy with work, bit of a rut of work, home, kids, sleep, get up, school run, work etc...

but - had a day trip to give a lecture in Antwerp, Belgium, - dropped girls off, 11.00 am train eurostar, leisure select (large solo seat and food and wine at the table!).
finished reading "girl with the dragon tattoo"...

lecture went well, (well practised presentation) with nice bunch of interested post-grad students ( I can do this sutff! i went last year they specifically invited me back...) ...then an hour of shopping in Antwerp and home - glass of champagne with dinner and reading....home to carer with Ixand girls had gone to stay over with friends.

meanwhile, sunday i dug the bare patch in the lawn and planted gras seed, put in some shrubs - and then went to see "the girl with the dragon tattoo " at the cinema...excellent and as good as the book...now starting the next book in the trilogy...

pottering in garden, reading, cinema - a good day.

siblings and cousins

don't often catch them all in one photo so here they are...

we were visiting baby H and the nearly-three year old cousins came too. busy household.

a good day out with family.

three sisters, one elderly (great) aunt, a 13 year old, a 10 yr old, a 7 yr old; two brothers-in-law, two toddlers, one baby!

and have booked the train to Scotland to visit brother and his two girls May bank holiday.

my son's view of me as a working mum....

Ix chatting yesterday: typing.

"daddy lives in xxx street"

"aunty lives in xxxxx"

"J and I live in oxford"

"mummy lives in work"