Sadie is 6 months old today!!  I cannot believe where the time has gone!

If you've read my previous blogs, you'll know that this huge milestone is something that we were told we should never hope to see but we are so lucky that Sadie has immense strength and a love for life and she has fought so hard to be here with us today.  Edwards Syndrome affects around 1 in 8000 babies and most never make it to birth.  Those who do, sadly hardly ever make it through the first 2 weeks.  In fact one (very lovely and amusing) consultant told us that babies with Edwards who made it to a year old were as "rare as rocking horse s****'!"  So it may sound crazy that  can honestly say Drew and I have come to believe that Sadie may well be one of those rare and exceptional babies who do live a little longer than the norm.  We are realistic and know Sadie's prognosis will never change but we hope we enjoy being her parents for as long as we can - she is an amazing girl and needless to say we are very proud of her and inspired by her courage and determination.

Sadie had a great 6 month birthday - she had a visit from her friend Frank and his mummy Emma, managed her first half rollover, then Drew and I took Sadie to Tatton and went round the gardens before meeting Steve for ice cream.  Sadie's been hyper sensitive to the sunlight (this is common in Edwards) but she seems to gradually be getting used to it and whilst we keep her well in the shade, she seems to look around more and enjoy being outside.

Later, Sadie's Auntie Clare is coming over with Uncle Sam and cousin Nadia and on Sunday her grandparents are coming over for a little birthday tea and we'll be setting off Sadie's Chinese lantern (thanks Shanahans!)

In the past 6 months we've seen Sadie develop so much and in ways that could never have been expected...
- she is more than double her birth weight (she's still dinky but very robust!)
- she has some strength in her neck and is much less floppy (she has low-tone and curved spine)
- she can open her clasped fists much more
- she can watch us and focus on objects
- she smiles and laughs
- she is very vocal and loves saying 'la' (repeatedly with a big smile on her face), 'ga' and 'goo' and we even think she has attempted 'hello'!!
- she can kick and roll on her side
- she can put her fist and thumb in her mouth
- she can drink formula and eat some solids, so her nasal gastric tube came out at 2 weeks old

There are so many things Sadie has learnt to do despite all the odds stacked against her and we'll continue to do all we can to help her development over the next 6 months.