By August 1999 Ryan had started crawling.
Watch out world here he comes.
OK
you've noticed he is a bit cross eyed. 
Yes, he has problems with his eyes. The trouble is
how do you test a child's eyesight properly when they can't tell you what
they see! We were told that a squint is common in children
with hydrocephalus. He wears a patch over one eye part of the
time to try to encourage his other eye to work normally. To be
honest I don't see that it makes much difference. As soon as
the patch comes off his eyes go back to the way they were before.
Never mind, he recognizes us all and is vain enough to enjoy looking in a
mirror.
On this one you can see the lump on the back of his head caused by the
latest shunt.
In September 1999 there was a big event in his life.
He had a new baby sister.
Here
they are, Ryan with his mum and his baby sister. His newborn
sister is wearing a suit he wore when he was 6 months old (it was a bit
big on him even then!)
During the winter Ryan seemed to catch every illness
going. It seemed like he was never going to be strong enough
to fight off infections, even "common" colds without hospital
visits. He's a resilient little thing though and bounces back
each time grinning.
By Christmas we are all excited. Ryan could
drag himself up on furniture (and people) and was interested in everything
going on around him. A big change from Christmas 1998 and things were
getting better all the time.
Not the best picture but he's on his feet!
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