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.

Coffee with Liz from DSRF UK

The beauty of living in Cornwall is that lots of people pop down here for their holidays during the summer. That has recently begun to include online contacts and friends and I've been delighted that they want to give up a portion of their holiday to meet up in real life.

Elizabeth Corcoran who heads the charity Down Syndrome Research Foundation UK and I met up in our favourite café, along with Daddy Downs Side Up, Mia and Natty on Saturday morning. We have chatted online, it was Elizabeth who put me forward to give evidence in Westminster re the current Disability Abortion Law but we had never met, as she gave her evidence online and by post.

Elizabeth has a younger brother who has Down's Syndrome and her charity aims to channel funds into medical research to improve the lives of those with T21. The sad fact is that the majority of research into DS currently focusses on the testing and screening process. Elizabeth and her team would like to see that balance changed in favour of studies into preventing dementia, improving cognitive function, maintaining a healthy heart and so on.

Well, Liz was one of those ladies it was so easy to get on with. We chatted away about current and future projects, hopes and fears, family and work, supporting each other, oh, and of course managed to fit in the obligatory funny face photos, instigated by Natty who immediately fell in love with her.