Miss T at 10: Happy Birthday

A couple of months ago,  Miss T turned 10. As this blog was started the year she was born back in 2012 to keep track of all her baby milestones, it seems only right to make  sure that her 10th birthday gets a mention on the blog too!

She had the biggest growth spurt during lockdown and is now nearly as tall as me! She can fit into all my clothes. This used to be my dress at one point! 

I didn't have the energy to bake a cake myself this year but we thought this rainbow cake from Ocado was rather lovely. 

And Miss T was thrilled to have granny and grandad round for her birthday. 

Still making an effort to be socially distanced - so this was the alternative to a hug. 

Big bro helps to light the candles. But the wind kept blowing them out, 

So it was indoors for the candles in the end. 

She was also lucky to have a garden visit from her bestie on her actual birthday too! Her wonderful friend stayed in touch throughout these difficult couple of years whilst Miss T missed a LOT of school. When I compare that to my own childhood, it seemed that as soon as I was away from school for hospital stays and when my JIA (juvenile idiopathic arthritis) was so bad that I couldn't go to school that it was very much a case of "out of sight, out of mind". I remember being visited by school friends for my first hospital stay but I don't remember many, if any, school friends staying in touch beyond that with my second, longer, hospital stay and the rest of the time I was off school. So I'm forever grateful to her wonderful friend for being such a good friend and staying in touch with Miss T. 

Miss T has grown her collection of Maileg mice in recent years. It all started many years ago with Miss Mouse (shown on bottom right of photo). Then there was Amber (sitting next to Miss Mouse) and then her collection grew from there. So her mice along with a couple of new ones that arrived for her birthday got together for a birthday photo for Miss T. 

It goes without saying that we are incredibly proud of the young lady that Miss T is growing into. She shows so much courage and resilience with everything she goes through. It was tough re-starting her injections in March after a break without them but she knew and understood that it was the best way to get her arthritis under control again after it has started to flare in her jaw since last October. 

Thankfully the methotrexate seems to be working again and though she has some damage to her jaw from when her JIA began and possibly more damage from the flare, the pain seems to have subsided with her weekly methotrexate injections. 

We love her passion for the planet and always being conscious of things like her plastic consumption. She adores penguins - one of the core reasons for her eco ways and dreams of being a penguinologist. She already researches facts about penguins and draws pictures of penguins all the time! 

Miss T you are amazing. Your smile lights up our lives. We love you so much!