at last.......

So how did it go last Friday I can hear you all asking yourselves! Friday was a good day  -  at last...... Daddy caught some fish!

Daddy had a fantastic few days away with very mixed weather and very few fish - but enough to give Maisie her first taste of wild brown trout.

beautiful views from Badenloch

Maisie apparently had a great time while Daddy was away. Maisie was out for walks, playing in the park, out to the pub - unfortunately it's only Daddy who takes pictures of his Amazing Maisie so cannot share in all the fun that Maisie had.

But Mummy did take a short video of Maisie taking her first proper steps on her own with her walker and sent to to Daddy while he was fishing so that he didn't miss out.

Maisie had her sleepover with Mummy on Friday night. Mummy as usual hated every minute of it with all the machines bleeping and keeping her awake. Maisie had a fairly unsettled night too but still managed to go without her oxygen for over 6 hours. Well Done Maisie - you'll soon be free of your tubes.

Daddy arrived home on Saturday to big smiles and hugs from Maisie, he'd missed her so much;

"Hi Daddy, I'll be with you as soon as I've finished my biscuit!" 

Megan was also on holiday with Daddy and Maisie was very excited to be able to throw her ball for her again;

It's been a busy week so far for Maisie;

Sunday she watched her brother come second in the Anstruther 10km. Well Done Zach!

Monday a trip to the bank to pay some money into her ever increasing bank account, then a coffee with Daddy down at the harbour followed by a visit to the library where Maisie met other little people and had a sing-song at the Bookbug Club.

Tuesday it was off to the new playgroup. Maisie really enjoyed her new group particularly because when she arrived she got a snack.

"I love food"

Maisie snack was followed with lots of playtime although the paint didn't taste as good as her mid morning snack;

"I don't think that this is custard Daddy!" 

Then it was time for more food - for lunch Maisie had Sausage, Chips and Beans followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding and Custard (real custard).

Maisie out for an afternoon drive

This picture is a special picture..............

Tuesday afternoon Daddy got a message to call Maisie's consultant. Daddy was straight on the phone but the consultant wasn't there.

Eventually Maisie's consultant called back - he'd looked over Maisie's results from Friday night and was very happy with her oxygen saturation.

At last..........Daddy heard the words "I think we should take Maisie off her oxygen"

........it will hopefully be the last photo of Maisie with her oxygen prongs in!

Daddy, Mummy, Zach, Meghan and Maisie all got together to help Maisie take off her tubes, it was very emotional...........

"where have my tubes gone?"

It was the most Amazing pre-birthday present that Mummy could have asked for!

My Amazing Maisie truly is Amazing! 

Maisie's visit to the eye doctor went well but not without the obligatory tears that Maisie sheds when she see's him. Maisie managed to hold her head still long enough for the eye doctor to see into her eyes and he's happy with what he saw and doesn't need to see her again until the NewYear.

Maisie, enjoying her food as usual - this time it's Daddy's carbonara

Mummy: "Why's Maisie crying?"

Daddy: "She's stuck in a tin"

Mummy: "Aren't you helping her?"

Daddy: "No, I'm getting the camera!" 

"it's not funny Daddy!"

Aunty Rhona came to visit; and Maisie had a busy time playing;

Maisie loves the swings

and being swung upside down

It was St Monans Community Arts Festival at the weekend, which was enjoyed by all the family it was the perfect beautiful sunny day to be walking around the village on Saturday (although the same couldn't be said for the Sunday).

can you pick out the visitor from London?
 - yes that's right she's the one in a wooly hat, scarf and winter coat

Maisie was treated to a lovely knitted hat from one of the stalls, Daddy mentioned that Maisie had a nice black hat that matched his - it was then suggested that Daddy should get one to match Maisie's - not going to happen!

"they made me wear it Daddy!"

It was a trip to see Uncle Douglas on Sunday for a late lunch as Aunty Cat and Uncle Alex had taken advantage of Uncles B&B services after a night out with cousins Graeme, Alan and Suzanne. Brunch was lovely especially the fried eggs :)

What a surprise - Maisie hadn't expected to see Aunty Cat

Maisie showing off her new hat 

Maisie was the main focus of the day

On Monday Aunty Rhona took Maisie brambling;

"this is fun but where's Aunty Rhona?"

there she is! 

Maisie decided that she loves blackberries;

"

brambling is fun"

getting nice and messy

Mummy is going to have a busy week as Daddy is off fishing for a few days. He'll be back on Saturday so Mummy will  go on Maisie's sleepover Friday night. 

Maybe when Daddy comes home Maisie will have lost her tubes!

Maisie taking a wee rest from playing

It's all go at the moment with Maisie, you can't turn your back for one minute as you don't know where she'll be. Maisie is constantly on the move crawling from room to room to she what is available to destroy. Lucky she's so easy to find with her oxygen tube trailing behind her.

enjoying a walk along the shore

Maisie took the high road and ended up at Loch Lomond to visit Aunty Stella and Uncle Mike for lunch. Maisie as usual ate a lot and decided that while salad was not for her (Daddy's not keen on it either) she did like sweetcorn and raspberries.

full of energy Maisie decided to help Uncle Mike with his work

All Maisie's energy must come from the large amount of food she is eating. Maisie particularly likes all the dinners that Mummy is making with the excellent fresh produce she gets from the farm down the road  http://www.ardrossfarm.co.uk/  (Daddy has thoughts of maybe a little less food for Maisie would lead to a  a little more peace and quiet for him).

Maisie has many photographs taken and is so used to have her picture taken that she now happily poses and smiles for the camera - even when a picture is not being taken.

"what do you mean you're just looking at your phone Uncle Colin -
I'm smiling at you for a reason!" 

Maisie enjoys playing with other children and it is a huge benefit to her development even if she's not quite playing in the same way;

Maisie would rather eat than play games

Maisie had a meeting on Monday at the Child Development Centre with her support team to discuss her needs going forward. It was agreed that Maisie would benefit from more playtime with other children and as there are only a couple of other children in Maisie's group she has been moved up a group where there will be more children.

Maisie enjoys painting......herself! 

It would be wonderful if Maisie was able to go to a local nursery but as winter will soon be upon us there is a large risk to Maisie from infection. The Child Development Centre provides a safe environment.

Daddy and Maisie are very excited about attending the new class but the excitement for Maisie was followed by a little disappointment when she found out that she'll have to wait a fortnight until she can go as Daddy is away fishing with Grand Uncle Carl next week - poor Maisie.  Lucky Daddy!

Where's Maisie? 

There  she is! 

Maisie is looking forward to Thursday as Aunty Rhona is coming to visit  - Daddy's not going to risk upsetting Maisie by telling her that before picking up Aunty Rhona from the train station she has a visit to the Eye Doctor. It should be an interesting visit as the Eye Doctor sent Daddy a message to say that photo's of Maisie's eye's will be published in the British Medical Journal.

Once published Daddy will be able to share them on this blog.

Maisie's weekend was busy as always. Maisie was both a visitee and a visitor.

It started off with the majority of the Wardies arriving for lunch on Saturday bringing a gift which was, as most gifts seems to be a noisy one - it was a bell with a frog design all the way from Portugal. Thank you

everyone tucking into Daddy's soup

Maisie did a good job of putting soup everywhere but her mouth and as usual Mummy wasn't very happy with Maisie getting dirty;

"look Mummy this is the optimum height for me to drop the spoon from to
make the biggest splash" 

After dinner Maisie invited Alfie, Olivia and Harry to play with her which she enjoyed a lot especially sitting on Harry's knee; 

Maisie was wondering how many people can fit in her
hiding place behind the settee

Maisie went to visit Aunty Eleanor and Uncle Carl on Sunday as she hadn't seen them for a while. They hadn't seen Maisie crawling and were surprised to how well she was getting around. Maisie also took Aunty Eleanor for a walk around the living room, stopping to listen to Mummy. It must have been interesting as Maisie doesn't usually listen to Mummy, or Daddy come to think of it. 

Not sure what they were listening to but it must
 have been interesting (as it always is)

As usual there was plenty to eat and drink - Mummy loved the cheese and toast!

Uncle Carl making sure that Maisie had enough to eat

On Tuesday the Physio came and gave Maisie an examination - it was the Bayley test. If you remember back Maisie had already been tested for this and showed no interest whatsoever and didn't achieve any of the tasks she was asked to do. 

The Bayley Scales of Infant Development is made up of a series of developmental play tasks. The results show how Maisie is in comparison to her age - her corrected age. Maisie's corrected age is 1 year and 1 week and the results showed that Maisie is as least in line for her age on all the measurements - Maisie did really well and everyone was very proud of her achievements! 

"look how clever I am - I'm drawing!"

Once more I'm afraid to say that the camera is lying - Maisie can't draw. This was the only picture Daddy took that didn't involve Maisie eating the crayons. 

Here's another picture that's quite a one off; 

Maisie napping during the day  - it's so peaceful

We're all extremely happy with Maisie's development - she truly is Amazing. 

We never imagined that she would be doing so well at this stage - we are very lucky indeed!