Snappie - one year on

Snappie the Snapdragon came into our lives a little over a year ago; she has not solved all of our problems - far from it! - but, with time, she has brought fun to our family (just as Dan from Dragonmobility promised). Snappie is most definitely a girl: temperamental, bolshie and really quite gallus - perhaps she has inherited this characteristics from her proud owner? Snappie is fast and can turn on a tuppence; she even does wheelspins!  She's travelled through parks and fields, seen the sights at museums and now ventures to nursery.  She's been clarty, mankie and pretty maukit too.  I think that Snappie thrives on thrills and excitement  - a bit like Eilidh! 

extreme flowery makeover

april '12

With Snappie we have come far in the last year from a point of hatred  (yes, I would put it that strongly!) to one of acceptance - well kind of!  We have said goodbye to the buggy and moved on to independence through the wee Micro first then to Snappie.  From her first moves, to becoming more confident, to now playing "tig!" with Niamh, Eilidh is blossoming. 

Eilidh loves Snappie - that much is evident as her eyes light up at the mention of heading out with her - and loves the independence that she has gained from having a friend like Snappie.  Eilidh's love is contagious, she is teaching us about life with Snappie; she is breaking down walls and leading the way in her own definite and distinguished way.

So once again, thank you to everyone who made this possible through The Whizzy Wheel Fund and thank you to all at Dragonmobility who made and continue to make this possible. 

We, as a family, can now look forward to many, many more Snappie adventures. 

And here's the latest instalment in the Snappie tale:

Eilidh's Moves!

I am so, so sorry that I haven't posted in ages, but here is a world exclusive! (well, not quite!)

After some "peep-peep"ing

and

"up.... down"ing

and

lots of

roundandroundandroundandround

and with some tantalising and teasing with marshmallows...

Eilidh finally moves with purpose and direction...

Check her out!

We are so very proud of her...

Thank you once again to everyone who has made this possible:

We are forever endebted to your kindness and generosity.

Tears of Joy

In all the commotion I haven't told you about Tuesday...

What a momentous day!

Eilidh's Panthera Micro arrived...

What a beautiful moment...

She knew what it was as soon as she saw Stewart from GBL Wheelchairs

and after some initial hesitation we put her in the chair and

whoooosh!

She was off...

For the first time in Eilidh's life she moved towards me, independently and under her own steam, to give me a hug...

I cried huge tears of sadness, but they were tears of happiness and joy too as Eilidh took her "first steps" to independence.  And I can tell you, mine were not the only tears shed that morning...

And since then...

Crikey, there's no stopping her!

She's turning circles, going backwards, negotiating doors, tormenting her sister, raking in bins, pulling out books from the bookcase, touching sockets, getting burnt on radiators, eating chalk... you know... all the stuff toddlers do naturally, the stuff that teaches them about their environment... and the naughtiness and intrigue that they do everything with amazes me ... and now EIlidh can have some wheeler fun too!

Joy.

Deep joy.

And you know what?  And this surprises me.  I still only see Eilidh and her smile. Just Eilidh. No chair. Eilidh is just Eilidh, but perhaps she's a little happier now too: she's finally independent.

 

I promise to post photos and perhaps a video link soon.

The Panthera...

what a lovely day...

heart-breaking too though as I saw Eilidh in a wheelchair...

independent in a wheelchair, mind you!

A rep from GBL Wheelchairs arrived this morning with this dinky little chair and, after quickly assembling it - and it literally was a two second job of putting the wheels on - I went with Eilidh through to the kitchen... without the rep as Eilidh certainly had a wee touch of stage fright!

I strapped her in and added the wide neoprene band which we used as additional truncal support, adding in Bella-Bear too for company.  Within seconds she was moving the chair with one hand, then two and then, gaining momentum, she pointed outdoors; she was off!  After much waiting, and some heart-break too, here were Eilidh's first "steps"... what an amazing moment!  There is hope, so much hope where a few months ago there was none,  for Eilidh's independence... And what a proud mummy I was too...

D was unable to join us today and so tonight, with the girls tucked up in bed, I showed him short video clips of this momentous day.  He was moved and quite rightly - sadness that our child is wheelchair dependent but happiness because, finally she had gained a little independence and she was so happy and proud of herself...

I found out today that Eilidh may be able to get a Zippie Simba through the NHS.  After a test drive of this chair tomorrow I'll try to find out how quickly we can be seen at WestMARC so that we can make a decision as to how long we can wait until we get Eilidh the chair which will, to some extent, change her life!  And then the toddler or "wheeler" fun will begin...  Watch out everyone, Eilidh is on the move!