Tanat Valley Parents and Carers Support Group September 2011 Meeting 2

The meeting this month was well attended once again. We even had some lovely new new members. We had a Good Chat about Autism and the effect of this on our Children and the family who surrounds them . We had a Guest speaker today from the Open University to introduce our members to the Openings Course provided by the OU and the Autism Course which is linked below.






Mean While our Special Babies were having lots of fun in the Creche. Arrianna had her first go at painting as you can see below.

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/sk124.htm

Big Brothers Party

 This week was Kellyns Birthday, and Saturday we had a party with lots of friends and family invited. We had a great time with party games and loads of food. The cake was made by one of Kellyns Friend's mummy ( HUGE THANKS YOU )

 Arrianna had to join in too, We took her special chair to the party so she could be comfortable and join in with her body supported. The chair is big and heavy so not easy to get around, which is why i am looking at other options for her.

What a totally amazing week this has been, The house has been buzzing. Each of the children have achieved something or had Fab News. Arrianna has continued to improve the use of her hands, i have now purchased some special needs toys to help gain her interest which will encourage her to develop using her hand even more. Her new toys are great and well worth buying. I am currently working out some ideas for fund raising still these are coming along nicely so watch this space, Thing take a while to sort here as i am a one man or girl band juggling 3 children. But we always get there in the end.

 This week Arrianna got to try out a Special Needs Buggy and Car Seat as you can see from the photos these will give her total support, which as a mother i feel she needs at this delicate stage of her development. however these are very expensive the buggy is over £2000 and the Car Seat is £945. So looks like we will be looking at serious fund raising any ideas, Comments or Suggestions please Message Me.

 This week has been a mad week we have been dashing around all over he place with different appointments for Arrianna. She has visited our lovely physiotherapist who is very happy with her development Arrianna was given various toys to play with she loved every one and responded well to the special needs toys placed in front of her. The most remarkable thing has happend she has started to use her hands to play which is wonderful to see. She especially likes to play with Balls and shares toys with her older brother and Sister now. Unfortunately she still is unable to use her hands for eating but this will come in time.

 As you can see her head control is much better and she is learning to told herself up now too, another wonderful achievement for her, Arrianna is loving to explore her world around her and she is able to communicate well too and babbles recognisable noises too. She continues to thrive which is totally fab news for all of us who love and care for her. 

Choo Choo & Light Shows

Today Daddy Treated the Family to a day out, He took us to Llynclys Train Station, He had arranged for Kellyn and Ceienna to collect tickets and drive the train. This was Arrianna's First time on the trains, She found it very exciting, and as always added more people to her fan list. 


The Staff were wonderful with the children, The driver answered Kellyns questions and was amazed by his knowledge he already had of the working of the Railways. 


After the Children's experience on the Trains we headed into Oswestry here we looked in the Railway museum before headed to see the reviled Trains running along the line in town. 


http://www.cambrianrailways.com/

After we visited the lime works in Llanymynech inside the Hoffman Kiln there was a light show this was great the children loved it, Fab idea. 

A Special Day

Today i witnessed something wonderful. As some of you know Arrianna chooses not to use her hands, She only uses them to grip on to someone finger, Well Today I was doing her physio with her with Muzzy lying by her side. Arrianna gripped hold of muzzy so tightly she would not let go. This was wonderful that she had decided herself to do that. Arrianna responds so well to all animals, Horses included, i have to be especially careful with her around horses as more than one occasion we have had horses lowering their head to her. It is wonderful to see Arrianna developing her own personality, She is best outdoors, Here is she happy, She watches birds and trees, It is amazing to see just how much she changes when we are out and about.

We are also lucky to have Muzzy in out family when he came to us he was so small. Ceienna was 3 months old and Muzzy was small enough to fit in her pushchair with her. As he grew he then went under the pushchair in the Shopping basket, When he was smaller while we went walking if he grew tired he would just hop into the basket, Caused Many laughs.

This Week, Arrianna and i will be spending it in various Hospital and Doctors as we have a week of appointments ahead. Currently i am fighting for her to have a more support Pushchair, She is so happy in her new Chair she has in the house and is a totally different little girl in it as she is able to have more independence She is quite high up and loves babbling away while i carry on with chores in the Kitchen. I feel it is only right she should have the same comfort and security while out and about as well, so i will keep you posted on the fight we have just begun.

Arrianna's New Chair

Arrianna now has her new Chair. This means she has more support and is more free to use her hands. What this space to See how it going to Help Her. xx

Mums Escape Online Forum

Recently i was asked to Join Mums's Escape. This is a totally wonderful Mums Forum with lots of topics. Well presented and easy to use. you can also Find them on Facebook. 

http://www.mums-escape.com/

Good Luck with the Site xx

feeding your toddler annabel karmels

I had this book recommend to me for Food ideas for Arrianna, I found it totally invaluable for the whole family there are so many helpful hints and tip as well as easy to do recipes. There are also some fab meal plans inside for various age groups. 

Totally Recommended.  

Pendine Sands & Museum of Speed

What a Totally WONDERFUL evening we spent at Pendine Sands. Firstly we headed to the Museum of Speed. I always remember my Dad taking me to see this when i was little, while Mum stayed on the beach when i was little so it was fab to return and show my own Children Years later. We walked around the Museum Discussing the History of Pendine Sands and the the Story of BABs. Kellyn as ever had lots of Questions and loved every minute of it. 

Next we got the Dogs out of the car and made our way down the beach and into the sea. There was very few people on the beach so we let the dogs off the lead and we all ran wild and free enjoying a beautiful warm evening diving in and out of the sea jumping the waves. There were lots of special things we found on the beach , including sea shells i have never seen before. I then got very told off by Kellyn for not bringing him Shell book so he could research then there and then. We have since sat with his book to name them. 

Reluctantly we then left beach to get a lovely chippy supper. 

Dinosaur World ~ Tenby

Since the start of the Summer Holidays Kellyn has wanted to visit Dino World, so that is what we did. We got there for 10am. The rides did not start till 11am so we took the 1 mile Dinosaur walk, The walk is divided into Various sections of time, and as you walk through you come across various Dinosaurs which lived at that time. Each Dinosaur on display has an information board, Kellyn wanted to read every single one around the walk, Which as you can imagine took some time, Ceienna then told Arrianna her version of what she had heard which was quite comical to the adult around us. After Completing our walk, We headed for the rides. There was lots to choose from however you had to cue up for tokens for the rides and then you had to cue to use them. As Kellyn and i went on one of the water rides i ended up getting soaked, Kellyn and i were laughting so much i headed realised we were being watched by our new friend who were also laughing at us. After lunch we again met up with our new friends and headed into the indoor play area. The Children head off to play while me and the chap from the camp site sat chatting. Our time soon crept away so we said our goodbyes and headed back to the camp-site. 

This for me was not all it was cracked up to be in the info leaflet, However it was easy to get the pushchair around. There was only one lot of toilet on site which is a slight pain if you have a training toddler with you. Also we didn't really find the staff friendly or helpful. 

Mamas and papas Luna

Good Light Weight Pushchair available in a Vary Wide Range of colours and designs. Great Light Weight Easy to use though folding is complicated, Though once down it is small, Though not as compact as the Zia. 

Petite Star Aruba Travel System

This was a Lovely Nice Easy to use pushchair, Easy to Fold Down just by twisting the handle. However it is massive when folded down and it was hard at first to work out how to get the car seat off. 

You Never Know What You'll See

Today we have been in the Valley and we have seen lots of wildlife including a cheeky polecat running up the lanes. Totally Wonderful Place. 

Mars Bar Cake Totally Yummy mmmmm

INGREDIENTS

• 3 standard mars bars
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 3oz butter
• enough rice krispies to coat
• 200g milk chocolate, melted

METHOD

Serves: 0

1. Melt mars bars, syrup and butter in a pan.
2. When combined add rice krispies, and stir until coated.
3. Press into a greased and lined oblong tin and leave to set.
4. Top with melted chocolate and cut into square when cold.