Catching up.

I haven't done a post for ages. Mostly because Jacob has been ill then I was ill, then Jacob was ill again and as a house we have been averaging about six hours sleep a night. Jacob still isn't a fan of staying in his own cot all night. He lasts until about 4am, and at the moment I am too tired to even fight with him. So I bring him into our bed where he messes around for about an hour until he eventually goes back to sleep. I read that toddlers and babies have poor sleep habits when they're going through a developmental spurt of some kind. Jacob has not stopped chatting away for about two weeks now. And he's started to say some actual words which is hilarious. Still no "mum" though, unless its mid meltdown. His new favourite is "socks." It all started when I asked him to come get his socks on one morning, and now his favourite thing to do is get his socks and run around shouting it. He also says "oh dear" which is just as funny. The best one has to be "no." I say the best one, it's a nightmare. Everything is "no" and a headshake. "Do you want to go for a nap?" "No." "Do you want you dinner?" "No" "do you want a million pounds?" "No" It's so scary seeing him grow into a little person.

He had a new eye fitted last week. It's actually a really good match. I don't really notice much difference anymore except for the size, but this time I can really see that its changed. When his prosthetist Sylvia first fitted the new one, it moved so well, but looked slightly inwards. We decided it would be best if it was looking more forward as opposed to moving more because with Jacobs nystagmus, he tends to look inwards with his left eye a lot so it was really noticeable. Overall, this is probably the most pleased we have been!

I've been arranging a Halloween fundraiser in aid of CHECT (another reason I've not posted). I originally planned to do a kids Halloween tea party at my house for just Jacob and his friends. But Laura suggested we turn it into a fundraiser. The response we got when asking for donations etc was absolutely amazing. A local dance school, "Makin' Steps" donated the use of their hall, a bouncy castle company loaned us a castle for the afternoon and my friends brother loaned us his DJ equipment. We also had Fiona from Jo Jingles come and do a session for all the kids. I enlisted all my friends and family to help with the food, and so many people baked cakes. It was so lovely. We had an events company called Events4All there and they brought their candyfloss and popcorn machines which proved a huge hit and they also had an Olaf mascot. I also know a girl who dresses up as Elsa as part of her company MP Little Treats too so halfway through the afternoon we had Elsa and Olaf come out to meet the children. It was brilliant. Jacob absolutely loved it. We held a raffle too, all prizes were donations from various companies and friends. I haven't got the exact total yet as we are waiting on a few donations but I think we raised about £1100 in total which is amazing! It was an absolutely exhausting afternoon but so worth it as I think all the kids had a brilliant time.

We've moved on from Frozen, which I'm kind of grateful for. The new favourite is Toy Story. He will sit there beginning to end and not move. Its nuts. As he is down to one nap a day, I've used Toy Story as the second nap substitute so I can still get things done. When he first dropped to one nap, it was so hard for me to get used to more than Jacob I think, as I'm sure any mum does, I really look forward to that hour or so of downtime. Not anymore! Thank god for Woody and Buzz!

We are at the hospital again next week for Jacobs next check up so fingers crossed he's still stable!

Below are a few pics from the last week or so. We went to Van Hages which is one of my favourite places ever, especially at christmas time!!

My little vampire on Halloween!