13Apr08 - Out of Africa

I have just returned from a week working in South Africa which is why I have not blogged for a while. (Yes, I did fly BA and Yes they did leave my suitcase behind. Fortunately I did get it back 4 days later) I have got quite a bit of catching up to do.

It was school holidays the week before I went to SA and Lucy was involved in a school holiday play day. Sammi, the schools brilliant family liaison officer, sent some photos of the day while I was away. It is great that they always take photos so we can see what Lucy did. They went to a park in Leeds which has a "Tropical World". The children are always very well looked after and Lucy had a ball.I had a little chuckle to myself when I knew they were going there because the paths a quite narrow and I can just imagine what chaos a train of 13 or 14 wheelchairs would have caused. So what, I say, let the un-disabled people have access problems for a change.Helen was heavily involved in the day which was really good for me because we arranged for her to bring Lucy home at the end of the day which meant I could get a full days work in. I could tell that Lucy had had a good time because she was shattered at bedtime although it looks like she might have managed to get a little nap in during the day.Lucy went back to school while I was away. Dawn had bought her some new school clothes including a really cute cardigan.Not sure why she was in a deck chair but I am guessing they must have had a beach theme in the classroom last week. Lucy was also trying out a new chair for most of the week. The suppliers had brought it into school so she could get plenty of time in it, to really test it before we make the final decision on which she will have. The unique feature of this chair is that when Lucy pushes back, as she often does, the chair will give a little to allow the movement and then rebound back into position when she relaxes. Most chairs are simply fixed forcing a certain position. There are two schools of thinking on seating/support but we are going to go for the one which Lucy is most comfortable in because she will tolerate sitting in that for longer. She will need to spend more and more time in a chair as she grows and becomes less manageable.It has been a while since I have had to spend a whole week away. I guess it is just part of the job but I really missed Dawn and the kids. It was lovely to get back and find that Lucy still recognised who I was. I could just see it in her eyes. I wish I could bottle that feeling and take it with me.Dawn's mum was visiting from Portugal so when I got back on Saturday we all went out and spent a few hours eating and drinking, passing Lucy around while we finished our meals in turn. Lucy was very good but still much prefers sitting on knees rather than in her chair. In the end the socialising and cuddling were all a bit too much for Lucy and she succumbed to the sleep fairy.Not seeing Lucy for a whole week allowed me to see when I came back that she has changed. She is no longer a baby. I noticed it straight away and now I can't think when it happened, but what I saw when I came home was a little girl. She has grown up and is no longer that little baby that I have been so protective of. Its probably a normal feeling but it made me feel a little sad to realise that that first stage of her life has passed. At the same time I feel so proud of her, she overcame so much as a baby. Writing this down I realise that this is just the same way I would feel about Lucy if she had lead a normal life but because she hasn't, I believe the feelings are magnified and the developments become so much more significant.