Chasing Butterflies Daily

In this post I will be speaking highly of a product, I am however not affiliated to the company and do not receive any payment for the recommendation.  For the most part our son hasn't needed many things adapted for his needs yet. Other than clothes due to sleeve and trouser lengths as his limbs are shorter than average. As well as an orthopaedic feeding chair he used while weaning he has been able to use the same things as an average height child his age. As I cover in other posts we have had to be extra mindful of how his spine in postured as he's more prone to curvature of the spine and more seriously, spinal stenosis (compression of the spinal cord). Even so, that has only really meant that we've needed to make sure he doesn't use certain seats, baby carriers and always lies down on a flat, supportive surface. This was especially important during the infant year.   During summer we had one new piece of apparatus introduced into our life though. A type of t...

This photo is from a few weeks ago. Our middle child is crazy about the famous Swedish children's character, Pippi Långstrump (Longstocking), created by our most revered author Astrid Lindgren. Although she calls her "Hippi", but that's ok because she asked for the same crazy braids and loves to sing her songs. Generations have been brought up on Lindgren's books and we all have our favourite characters; there are so many to chose from. (My personal is called Ronja) The thing all the children she created have in common is being strong, independent individuals who take on the world they live in. My littles aren't really old enough for my favourite yet. But they love the character that truly won the whole of Sweden's heart. The young girl with freckles & carrot coloured hair that lives in eternal braids that stick out and superhuman strength: Pippi. If you've never heard of her, look her up! She lives with her pet monkey & horse and a bag f...

This top is actually one I bought for our eldest when she was little, I always loved it but it feels even more apt now. It also made me think of all the other things that don't matter to Elis' height, this is by no means a complete list. But hopefully it gets across my message that we need to focus on the positives. I want you to learn about my son's condition but I mostly I just want you to look upon him as just another person. I'm small but I'm loud I'm small but I'm strong I'm small but I'm determined I'm small but I'm cheeky I'm small but I'm good at climbing I'm small but I'm surprisingly heavy I'm small but do the fastest commando crawl ever I'm small but I can run I'm small but I'm clever I'm small but I'm capable I'm small but can throw one hell of a tantrum I'm small but I'm good at problem solving I'm small but I'...

It's that time of year again. I started this blog at the beginning of October last year to spread awareness about our son's achondroplasia. The blog isn't just about him, it covers a lot of aspects of our life, but I want to make use of the blog as a tool in teaching others more. I thought I'd have a more concrete plan for this year as I managed to share a few posts last year but I only have a couple of ideas, more will hopefully come to me. In the meantime I thought I'd give a little recap of some of the facts about his condition, achondroplasia: the most common form of dwarfism - there are over 200 different types! It is a genetic condition which affects bone growth, known as a disproportionate form of dwarfism it means the person has shorter limbs than average. The degree of the disproportion varies greatly from person to person, just as height in average height persons varies. Another common characteristic is a larger head circumference due to a promine...