Thursday photo #210

We’re still very much in birthday mode here. Lia’s birthday was last Thursday and in her own inimitable way, she didn’t want much. We bought her a bike last September when we felt she was ready for one, and she had a scooter last year. So, her birthday consisted of lots of little things wrapped up and put into a big box, and an impromptu day out with friends.

The birthday party

The girls’ birthdays are relatively close together and I am relatively lazy. So, I managed to persuade them that it was a good idea if they had a joint party. They went for it, and I took it as a victory. But realistically, it was harder than it sounded.

After much searching, I finally found somewhere that would accept such a large number of children. We whittled it right down to just Libby’s class and ten of Lia’s friends, and sent out the invites. True to form, not everybody has replied but it looks like a reasonable number will be coming. So, we’ll be spending the weekend getting party food ready and baking a cake. Oh, and crossing our fingers that it doesn’t rain – it’s a Forest School party outside.

Against the odds

For the past few months, Libby has been wearing patches on one eye for a few hours a day. It was supposed to improve the sight in her left eye, which was quite weak in comparison to her right eye. This morning, after traffic related chaos and disaster, we finally saw someone at the eye hospital to find out if they were working.

Remarkably and in her own inimitable way, Libby has astounded them. Not only has the sight in her left eye improved, but the sight in her right eye has too. She’s going to keep going with the patches for a little while to see if they can even out her vision. Then we’ll be back to discuss again whether she needs further surgery for her squint. We’re all hopeful that she won’t, but don’t want to run the risk of her not being happy with the way she looks when she’s older if it remains noticeable.

Four weeks of weight loss

For the past month, I’ve been working with XLS to review their meal replacement shakes. I’ve been having two shakes a day, except when I’ve been doing an enormous amount of exercise, when I dropped to one a day on the advice of the dietician.

At the end of the four weeks, I’ve moved into the ‘maintenance’ mode for the next month, where I’ll be having one to two shakes per day. So far, I’ve lost a total of 9lbs. This seems like quite a good amount for four weeks, and I’m hopeful that the weight loss might continue.

The way the shakes work is that they are 250 calories each and act as a meal. I’ve been much more aware of the calories in things and I’m hoping to stick to the 250 calories per meal for two meals a day as time goes on. I’ve only lost 1lb a week for the past fortnight, which seems like a reasonable rate to maintain for another month. Especially in weather like this, when I’m inspired to get out for a run most days.

Our Thursday photo #210

I hadn’t taken any photos of the girls together all week, but I had the perfect opportunity yesterday. The girls had a pyjama week at their ballet school. This was them about to go into their ballet classes.