Grandma, We Love You! How to Celebrate Being 70 in Style

Grandma Downs Side up was 70 last week. So how did we celebrate?

"Grandma is pretty. 

Wonderful. Fantastic."

Beautiful fresh flowers sent from FloraQueen

This is how Natty summed up her grandmother when asked for a quote to weave into my brother's speech at the occasion of her 70th birthday.

Her sister chirped,

"I love spending time on my own with Grandma at her house."

For a few weeks we all squirrelled away, wanting to make the occasion as special as possible for our Mum/Aunt/Sister/Wife and it all paid off.  So, what would our tips for the perfect 70th presents be?  

Natty's breakthrough moments: writing, sewing, staying dry

Does your child go through times when development stops still or even seems to regress? Are they then suddenly able to do several new skills all at once? We've just had one such Eureka moment with Natty.

She is a visual learner, as most children with Down's syndrome are, and she watches, waits, practises quietly and independently in her own time and almost seems to want to be sure of absolute success before she demonstrates any new trick. Perhaps she is afraid of getting egg on her face! Or maybe this is a trait other children and young people with Trisomy 21 share?

Natty: Our star of the week!

There are some weeks when our children astonish us with new milestones and achievements that all seem to tumble out of them at once. It's as if they've been working on them all for a while and then suddenly, booom, they crack it.

I'm convinced that Natty has had a cognitive burst post tonsil and adenoid surgery. I like to think its all that fabulous oxygen whooshing around her body all night while she sleeps uninterrupted!

Our little 6 year old star has bowled us all over recently with her amazing artwork and handwriting. So here's the bragging rights evidence:

Natty received the Star of the Week Award for writing a 2 page long story. 

It took 3 weeks and lots of support, but it was all her own work.

Then we entered a Christmas card competition. 

I provided the sponge and paint and this is what she created, including drawing the antlers.

And my absolute favourite is her drawing of Willy Wonka as part of the Roahl Dahl topic at school. You can see he's dancing.

Natty's comment was, "I'm very very proud of Natty."

And so you should be darling, so you should be.