Fun in the park

Anabelle teaching Lilian 'Cool girls wear sunglasses'



Lilian first time on a swing, Anabelle is a bit of a speeder on the swing and you can see her flying past Lilian on your left



Lilian and mummy

Lilian and daddy

Pictures

We went to our local park with Ida and Anabelle. Its always nice to see them both and we had a great time in the park. On the picture we are feeding the ducks

Lilian in her pram.

Lilian relaxing in her pram

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Lilian having a sleep after doing her daily physio exercises with daddy

Anabelle's 1st birthday party. From left Lilian, Anabelle and Alice plus their mummy's

Lilian making daddy's birthday present.



Happy (corrected) birthday!

Happy birthday to Lilian who's corrected age is one today. Lilian was meant to come into the world on the 12th March last year (a day before Daddies birthday no less) but it was decided she make her appearance 9 weeks early so she turned up on the 8th January instead.

Happy birthday for the second time this year my darling little girl.

Scantastic

Both Mummy and Lilian went into hospital for scans today. Lilian had a CT scan on her brain and Mette had a 28 week scan of the 2nd baby.

Lilian's scan was to check if she has developed a chiari malformation which apparently can be caused as part of the Costello syndrome. It's performed every three months and this is the second one so far. Lilian was first on the list at 9am sharp. She had to lie very still in a doughnut shape machine for a few minutes whilst it hummed and burred all around her. Taking into account the Lilian was wide awake and is just over 1 year old she did very well indeed. I stood next to her shaking a rattle in a really heavy lead line jacket. We'll get the results in a few days/weeks.

Mette is having a scan of her bump every 3-4 weeks. This is partly to monitor progress of the new baby given Lilian's traumatic start in life but (probably) mostly to reassure both Mette and I. We are ultra nervous at the moment and still a little bit broken inside. Anything to help reassure us and take the pain away is good at the moment, The scan went well and the little fella (we already know it's a boy if you missed that one on Facebook) is doing okay. He's a good size and has lots of hands, feet, fingers and toes. I saw a glimpse his face front-on which was pretty cool as normally this things are in profile.

Say what!?

On Friday morning I took Lilian to have her third hearing test so far at Guy's Hospital in London Bridge. She passed with flying colours and appears to have no problems with her hearing. This is great news for Lilian as her developmental issues would only be compounded by a loss in her hearing. Go Lilian!

She has had an ear infection recently though. The Doctor tried to look in her left ear but she went crazy. Must still sting a bit. I'm off down to the local GP tomorrow to pick up some antibiotics to help clear it up.

We're going back in 3-4 months so they can test both ears in a clean state (without the infection) just to ensure her hearing is good in both ears.

First time in Denmark and on a plane too!

We've just gotten back from a few days away in Denmark visiting the Viking half of our family. It was Lilian's first time over there (outside of the womb at least) and also her first time on a plane! This was our third attempt at getting over a trip out in the last few months. The previous two attempts were cancelled due to medical events. It was also out first holiday since Lilian arrived with us last January. We'd both had a couple of days off work here and there for relaxing but otherwise all our holiday was taken for hospital appointments. So much in fact that I've been negative with holiday since Feb last year. Only now am I in the positive again!

Oooh. The people look just like ants!

On the plane Lilian did us proud. A bit of noise when we got on-board but I think she didn't like the PA and the cabin crew trying to sell their commission tat. When we started to rumble down the strip and off into the blue she appeared to love it. Smiles came in plentiful. Banging on the window was pretty funny too. The only problem was I'm normally Mette's hand-hold-guy as she hates taking off and landing. She had to grab the seat for all she was worth this time around. When we broke cloud cover we saw that the whole of Denmark was covered in snow. A winter wonderland compared to rainy old London town. Only problem was I had my rain jacket and Mette's coat doesn't cover her pregnant belly very well. At least we had hats!

We stayed with Mette's big sister Vibeke and her husband Martin with boys Tobias and Anton. Lilian absolutely loved it. She had so much to watch and do. Nothing like at home as our two cats (Derek and Clive) just can't compare to two little boys under the age of 10. She had so much fun in fact she barely slept during the day and just sat around playing with toys and watching the boys do their thing.

Tobias did an excellent job looking after Lilian. She couldn't keep her eyes of him for long waiting for the next fun thing to do or watch.

Great friends!

Tobias and I got down to some serious snowman making activity and produced this masterpiece.

Hello I have potatoes for eyes.

Martin took Tobias and I to the woods behind the house for some serious sledging activity.

Offfff!

It was great to see all of the Danes again as they don't get to see Lilian as often as they'd like. We'll now stuck in the UK until the next baby arrives in May so we're aiming for a late Summer trip out again.

Great times.

Lilian and Dagmar say hello for the first time.

Hanne og Jan

Lis and Lilian chillaxing.

All the photos can be seen online here.

Ha ha hats! ha

Mette's been trying to load this video for ages but it kept failing so Daddy had to step in and sort it out. Lilian saves up all her laughs but when they come she keeps them coming!

Total roll over

Lilian chose to roll over onto her tummy all by herself today for the very first time ever. She's been okay at rolling over when we hold her by the hips but today was the first time she managed to get over all by herself. When she'd done it once she did it all afternoon!

A year already!

Lilian turned one on Saturday. Has it really been a year already. But then it seems like forever! I really can't remember life before Lilian arrived on the scene and nor can Mette.

Mette and I tried our best to put together a birthday party with all the UK family coming over for a buffet lunch and drinks. I think it went okay in the end even though we didn't even start to cook or prepare the house until 11 in the morning with everyone due to arrive at 1. Instead we choose to spend the morning curled up with our little darling enjoying the moment.

Mette ordered some choice food from the "Scandinavian Kitchen" so she could spice up the food with some traditional Danish fare. However, they messed up the delivery and instead we got a load of fishy food that was supposed to go to Aberdeen. Bit of a shame as Lilian missed out on her "Kagemand" which is a traditional Danish birthday cake for kids. Instead she made the British equivalent using a sponge cake and teddy bear tin. The result was...errr...tasty

Here's some choice photos from the day. I choose "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" as the theme but unfortunately they're weren't enough hats for Mette and I to wear! ha ha.

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The cake!

Erin and Mina help to blow out the candle 

The UK Family with hats on. 

The food 

Daddy telling Lilian a pretty good joke. 

 Look at the camera.

Mina helping Lilian open her pressies.

Lilian's first Christmas

Lilian opening her first Christmas present. It was a xylophone from Grandma and Grandpa.



Daddy and Lilian opening presents.



Grandma, mummy, Lilian and a Christmas pudding on fire

Granny's birthday cake. She turned 87 on Christmas day

More presents from the Danes which came via postman pat. The hat and present in the picture is from granddad (morfar) and Hanne.  

Breakfast Time

A few pictures of Lilian having her breakfast on a snowy Sunday morning. She has 1 teaspoon of puree for breakfast everyday. She doesn't swallow the puree just tastes it and then blows bubbles. The more mess the better



Lilian and daddy having a conversation over breakfast



Look at me I can hold onto the spoon without holding it



Lilian blowing bubbles

 

Lilian's first taste of snow

Picture of Lilian’s first time out in the snow.

Big sister

Lilian is going to be a big sister in May next year. Mette had her 12/13 week scan earlier this week at Kings. We're both super excited. Here are the results.

Visit from Denmark

Auntie Vibeke, uncle Martin and cousins Tobias & Anton came to visit us in London. On the Sunday we decided to go up in London Eye. Picture on the left is off Vibeke and Lilian having fun on the bus up to Waterloo.

On the Eye and nearly by the top. Both Anton and Lilian were tired by this point. It's a long journey to the top... We saw a couple of police boats with flashing lights on the Thames which the boys thought was very interesting.

The view from London Eye














On the Tuesday we went to our local playground. Lilian enjoyed her cuddles with auntie Vibeke and uncle Martin.

Lilian's first time on a slide. Uncle Martin and cousin Tobias shows her how its done.

Anton having fun at the playground.

Snapshot of Lilian's Diary

You migth be wondering what Lilian and mummy is up to everyday. She is an extremely busy girl and we don't have many days to relax. Poor daddy has to spent all his holidays going to appointments. Below is a snapshot of Lilian's diary.



20 Sept: Physio therapy appointment
21 Sept: Hospital Appointment - Ultrasound to check for cancer in pelvis and abdominal
22 Sept: Dietitian appointment
23 Sept: Cranio therapy
24 Sept: Hospital Appointment - Heart Scan
25 Sept: Danish mummy meeting
26 Sept: Olivia 1 year birthday party
27 Sept: Grandma Lis is over from Denmark this week so a day of fun.
28 Sept: Physio Therapy session for babies with special needs
29 Sept: Hospital appointment - Check feeding tube healed OK
30 Sept: First aid course
1st Oct: KIDS Playgroup - playgroup for children with special needs.
2nd-5th Oct : Visit from Denmark - Uncle Martin, auntie Vibeke plus Tobias and Anton
6h Oct: Occupational therapy appointment
7 Oct: Physio therapy appointment
8 Oct: Hospital Appointment -  Endocrinology
9 Oct: Visit uncle Stuart and auntie Sarah in Surbiton
10 Oct: Marie Louise birthday party but had to cancel - Sorry Malou
11 Oct: OFF
12 Oct: Hospital appointment - pediatric doctor. Found out Lilian has too much water on her brain and MRI scan needed to find out how serious it is.
13 Oct: Cranio therapy
14 Oct: Hospital appointment to discuss cancer risks at Great Ormand Street. Lilian has a high fever and heart rate and we get admitted immediately.
15,16,17 Oct: Recovering at home
18 Oct: Speech and Language and Occupational therapy appointment
19 Oct: Dietitian appointment
20 Oct: OFF
21 Oct: Hospital Appointment - Dermatology
22 Oct: KIDS Playgroup - Playgroup for children with special needs
23-24 Oct: First weekend this month with no plans but Neil was working
25 Oct: Saw Ida and Anabelle for the first time in ages. We went to the ceramic cafe in Dulwich and enjoyed being creative. I also tried Ida's cupcakes for the first time and they were divine.



Lilian and mummy



Ida and the lovely Anabelle