Heidi has ever jolly this week.  Still trying to master moving in some direction, she perseveres.  She really is pushing those little legs but the ground is too “sticky” for her to move forward.

 

We received an invitation a couple of weeks ago, to go to the CLIC Sargent Ruby Ball this weekend, which was being held at The Brewery in London.  Rachel wanted to stay and look after Heidi, so Frances agreed to accompany me to the capital.

 

Friday 21 November 2008 saw us head from Yeovil Junction to London Waterloo and then tubed across to the Travelodge, not far from the venue.  Amazingly, we arrived there in good time (given the circumstances) and got changed into evening dress and arrived promptly for the “unlimited champagne reception” following a short trip in a taxi. There were a few people already there as we walked up the red carpet into the Reception area, so we were not the first.

 

Up the large staircase to the Reception, we consumed a reasonable amount of champagne, which required our glasses to be refilled regularly.  Not too much though. There were magicians wandering around joining various groups of people to do some tricks and Jamie came to us.  He performed a few simple ones that were fascinating to watch as he was so close.  He even slowed down the tricks so we could try and see what he was up to, but still he got the better of us.

 

One of the best tricks was that Frances held a pack of cards in the palm of her hand, whilst he tried to distract us.  Still holding the cards in her palm he asked “where they were now?” to which she replied “in my hand.”  He asked if she was sure and she said yes, only to find  some seconds later that he’d replaced it was a block of glass…..  amazing really and good fun.  He also had a wallet that when he opened it a big ball of flame went up into the air, and I want one of those for Christmas.

 

There was a photographer there taking photos, and printing them on to an OK! Magazine template, and you dropped a donation in the wine bucket which was stuffed full.  After some confusion we walked away with three copies as one went missing for a bit, and more was printed out.  There is one on this ‘blog anyway.

 

We started to meet some CLIC Sargent staff and we were introduced to Wetherspoons staff whose table we were on.  It was nice to chat to people about the article and Fred, and everyone seemed pleased we were there.  I understand that there was an increase in direct debit instructions to CLIC Sargent as a result of the articles and that there had been two “significant” one off donations recently too.

 

At 1930 the curtains went back to reveal the dining tables and so we went down.  Food was really good and comprised starter of mature feta, wood roasted pepper and sweet potato terrine served with a bloody Mary shot; main was daube of British beef with crushed potatoes and shallots, served with steamed root vegetables and a red wine jus; and dessert was chocolate and praline cheesecake served with chocolate and mocha kernel  All washed down with red and white wine by the bucket load.

 

We all entered the £20.00 draw which amazingly costs £20.00 for a ticket.  Frances won a prize of a bottle and gin and bottle of vodka which she kindly shared with me.  Both bottles remain intact though as there was plenty of other refreshments around.  I had the Millers 1L gin.

 

After dinner there were guest speakers whom  were very interesting and later an auction went on.  The Bogus Brothers came of for some dancing and then the evening finished with a DJ until we were kicked out at 0100h.  Always good to be one of the last I think, and keeping on our family’s tradition.

 

Tired (but not hung over) we headed back on the train at 0920h on Saturday and I got back home at 1400h, and went to bed for several hours.

 

June, Rachel’s mum has been down this weekend to assist with Rachel and Heidi and they have been out doing Christmas shopping so the office at home looks like a department store stock room.

 

Heidi has enjoyed all the activity immensely and I reckon will be crawling in the next few weeks.  She will also hopefully accept Christmas lunch not pureed, but mashed finely but we will see at what speed she will go at, as she sets the pace in the house now.

 

 

This week has seen Heidi happily roll onto her front and stay there for sustained periods of time, getting the hang of trying to use arms and legs to motivate herself.  No moving from A to B yet but at least she has got the hang of it.  And rolling back again too which removes the need for us to assist her unless she calls out.

 

One method of moving that is progressing however, is her backward bum shuffling and so that is now meaning she can move from the bottom of her cot up to the top to get at her toys which are stacked there.  And she brings her bedding with her, leaving the dummy behind.

 

She continues to eat well and happily goes through some pureed cottage pie, pasta, lots of different fruit and vegetables and seems to like them all.  Even fruit and veg and meat in one mushy meal.  It is a messy process though and she loves to smear her hands all over, grinding it in, with the occasional sneeze fit.

 

She had her first meeting with other toddlers on Friday this week, where Rachel and she attended the Jolly Babies class in the village hall.  It was her first time and there were six other babies there as well.  New rhymes have been brought back to the house and she (and the others) loved the music and singing.  It will be ballet classes next.

 

I understand that there is another article on Freddie in the Wetherspoon magazine this month.  When I drafted the last one in July they contacted me and asked who they could do a profile on who works for CLIC Sargent and could I suggest one.  Our contact was mainly with Sam, the Play Specialist, who helped Fred whilst we were in Bristol.  She arranged to look after him when we popped out and perhaps he woke to find us missing.  She got him lots of different toys and other things to try and keep his mind stimulated, and from getting bored.  I have not seen the article in any form (other than the draft Sam kindly emailed me) so it may be of relevance and is on the lines of “A Day In The Life Of…”.  I did submit some photographs as they requested, so I will have a look when I am next in a Spoon.

 

As a result of that article I was contacted by CLIC early this week to find out whether Rachel and I would like to go to the CLIC Ruby Ball, to celebrate 40 years of CLIC and Malcolm Sargent Homes.  It is at The Brewery in London so I will be attending.  Rachel was not keen to go all that way and leave Heidi so I’m going with Fred’s godmother Frances.  We were very kindly invited to be guests of J D Wetherspoon for the evening, so that is a nice acknowledgement for the article.

 

It looks to be a really good evening as the tickets are £150.00 each normally, with an “unlimited champagne reception from 1830h and dinner with fines wines” afterwards.  It is a black tie event so I have wheeled out my faithful dinner jacket and patent leather shoes which have served me well on my social circuit.  There is an auction and raffle and other fundraising events during the night, plus guest speakers and entertainment.  The starting bids on some are pretty eye watering on my budget, but I guess I might have a go in the draw.  The guest list looks good with lots of well known people going, but I’m not sure who they all are.  I can always Google them on my ‘phone quietly if they get the chance to speak with me.

 

The five shrimps that I bought for Heidi’s fish tank suffered substantial losses during the two or three days they lived in the tank.  They were too quick for the fish most of the time, but every now and then we’d peer in and see a carapace and black eyes bobbing about with a tail attached which was sad.  The rest of them were later found in bits, in the filter when Rachel cleaned it out.

The last few weeks have been really busy though looking back, I’m not sure what we have achieved. Heidi continues to thrive and is becoming even more interactive each day.

The big smile is always there but she does keep an eye on what’s happening around her, and happily figures out where sounds are coming from when I tap on the window, or call her name, out of sight. Television is a big attraction at the moment, and obviously brightly coloured fast moving images fascinate her. At the moment, the household is transfixed by In The Night Garden. Plus I have wheeled out my Bagpuss DVD which is a hit, and I reckon theTin Tin boxed set will go down a storm.

Initially I wondered what all the fuss was about In The Night Garden, but then became hooked myself. The website explains what it is all about and seems fairly logical to me. The nonsense the Tombliboos babble is beyond me but Heidi and Rachel are occupied by it on a daily basis. Normally it is watched in the morning when Heidi is taking breakfast, or just after her bath, wrapped in a fluffy pink gown, eating her tea.

She ploughs through a fair amount of milk each day still, supplemented by cereal, fruit puree, yoghurt and now – pureed adult food. The only food she has not liked was the sprouts really, and made her nappies smell even worse. Obvious I suppose, but needed to be tried. Not sure about beetroot and stuff like that, wonder whether it will permanently stain the cloth nappies, but who knows.

We will progress her to more normal meals in her own time but she seems happy to accept whatever is thrown at her. This moves us on to highchairs and the like.

Prowling Mothercare last week end we identified a chair that looked good. She has one already that is kept at Grans, and she likes the sitting up, watching what’s happening. It’s much easier too of course to feed her at her level rather than sit on the hard floor and try it.

Today saw us head over to a colleagues house, to have a look at a Chicco high chair they no longer needed. It was just what we were looking for, adjustable height, reclining, things slide on and off and was really sturdy. Heidi has now realised she is coming up the pecking order in that she is at our level and can sit happily upright, playing with things on her little table. She initially appears a little concerned then it’s all smile for her. Another little milestone.

We also supplemented her fish tank with some new inmates. These are not fish but crustacea – little shrimps normally for live feed, but hopefully big enough and wily enough to survive our three tiddlers. Gerry has grown somewhat since his arrival and could be a source of trouble for the shrimps, but they are agile and defensive. We will have to see but five went in and 30 minutes later five are (or were) still creeping about. I love shrimps!

Heidi is happily rolling now on to her front and her legs are starting to try and propel her forward, though the strength is not there yet. Her head is up and she can sustain the weight of her bonce for quite a while. It must be tiring though as after a while she gets a bit grumpy. She needs to sort her strength too, as they tend to lurk below her and she is not sure what to do with them yet.

Another new trick is to hold her moocow by the leg and violently shake it up and down with quite a force, but not letting go. She hit herself in the eye I suspect, but she laughs so much whilst she doing it, it must be good for her.

Yesterday was the CLIC Sargent coffee morning arranged by Rachel, her mum and some others in Chagford. The weather was good and the flea market was on too, and so it was another great success. 36 draw prizes ranged from the slow cooker to many bottles of wine and grub. It was predominantly craft and foods so in the two hours we raised exactly £1000.00 which was good. This brings the total of all the fundraising our friends and families have done to somewhere in the region of £9500.00 since Fred was diagnosed. Thank you very much for all of the generosity, not just with money, but ideas and effort to actually get things moving. That will be going off to CLIC Sargent shortly. We normally specify where it can go, i.e. to a particular section which would be in the South West area, probably Bristol as that is where we were helped so much.