A bit of a frightening prospect - Ryan's Christmas present was a junior quad-bike.   He loves it though and with his safety hat and his boots he should be OK.    He is never out on it alone anyway.

Ryan has had a few problems this year.   We believe his shunt is not working properly and periodically blocks.   He has been in Treliske Hospital down here in Cornwall and Frenchay Hospital in Bristol a few times.   At the moment he seems fine again so we all just take each day as it comes and are prepared for him to be rushed off again at a moments notice.   When he goes into hospital his sister Rebecca comes here to stay with us.   She gets worried about Ryan and being 8 years  old now she understands a lot more than she used to and asks a lot more questions.   We try to explain as best we can and are always honest with her about what is happening.

A few photos -

February, Ryan does a floor puzzle by himself  

and here he is skating, we realize he will never be proficient at it, he needs someone to hold him up but we all try to give him as 'normal' and full a life as possible

here it is his daddy and his aunty  helping him, he does love it in short bursts - he gets cold quickly so he has lots of rests off of the ice.   

He is with his daddy in this  other photo. 

We celebrated his 9th birthday in April with a party to which he invited children from his special unit.    Here he enjoys a game with his friends     then a picnic tea.

 We notice that there are now no children of his age in the unit, all the children are considerably younger than him, the older children have all moved on, most of them having been integrated into main stream schooling.   This is not an option for Ryan so special schools are being looked at.  

In June he was on a trampoline at his cousins birthday on his own, then on another trampoline with his cousins  

  July is Carnival time here in Bodmin and Ryan enjoys a fair ground ride with his sister.

In August we had some lovely weather and Ryan played on his scooter

and generally had a good time here he helps his mum with a bar-b-q

In September he went swimming with us all and there were family birthday parties Ryan with me, and with his grandpa - doing "something important"

  with daddy at his mummy's birthday and enjoying sparklers at his sisters

He loves my scooter and it saves him trying to walk, getting tired and falling down lots or having to be carried.   We don't want to get a wheelchair for him, its much easier this way.

 Here he is with big brother Sam and little cousin Tristan 

However carefully you dress him he manages to look a bit of a wreck within minutes.   A typical little boy !   

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