Tabitha’s old Pre-school got a visit today from the people who regulate them. The meeting that they had took 3 hours. I think it is a fair assumption that the letter I wrote has led to them having their wrists slapped over how Tabitha was treated. I am now waiting for a letter from them and a report about the meeting. With a bit of luck, noone else will have to put up with the attitude that we did.

 On the other side, she started at her new group today and it went really well. I am hopeful that we won’t get the same issues recurring. You know, I’ve been thinking today, and since Tabitha was born we have been doing nothing but fighting for her. We fought with the surgeons at the hospital about her treatment, we fought the system at the hospital, we fought to get her a place at a specialist playgroup, we have fought with the various benefits agencies, we are still fighting the PCT for the equipment she should have been provided with almost 2 years ago, and now we have to fight for her mainstream education. Given the number of people involved in looking out for Tabitha, you would think that the fighting would stop. It appears not.

Christmas and New Year are now passed, and I have a little time to be ablt to update. Christmas was great, although Ellie was disappointed about not getting a Fur Real “Butterscotch” horse (at £300 a pop, that’s something that was NEVER going to happen!). We bought her loads of stuff as usual, but the one thing she tells everyone about is the Barbie jumping horse that we picked up very late in the day and only because it was 1/2 price in Argos! New Year I have to say was yet another non-event. I became very disillusioned with it over the millenium, and ever since then I just haven’t bothered.

Tabitha received her fair share of gifts too, and we were lucky again this year that she was sick just before Christmas, but had recovered by Christmas Day thank goodness. The funniest thing Tabitha got was a singing and dancing Pablo from the Backyardigans, a progamme she loves. We all thought she would love it. Turns out we couldn’t have been more wrong. Whenever you start him singing, it becomes her mission to knock him over so he stops as soon as possible. And the look on her face is incredible, it is like him singing is a personal affront to her. I need to get it on video so we can show her when she has grown up

In other news, 2 days after Chrismas, Tabitha took her first two unaided steps. She was moving between two pieces of furniture, and I was gently moving them further and further apart, until she had to take steps. Just for once, she did it in front of a large number of people too who were all thrilled to see her walk. If only she had the confidence now, she could walk, but at the minute she is still insisting on using her baby walker. All we can do now is wait for her to get the idea and then she will be away. At least then we won’t have to keep unravelling her oxygen line from around the wheels of her walker