Blind as a bat

She really is. I don't say it in a mean way and I know she can see a lot, but Charlotte's blindness is becomming more apparent to me as time goes by. I wish I could keep her as a little baby forever and then it would be normal for her to be completely dependant on me. I am going to struggle to move her toward independance as she gets older.

The lights and things that the low vision teacher recommended don't seem to be holding her interest very much any more. She does play beautifully with toys in her close range, she'll happily sit for ages. Her standing is coming along really well and I tested her on it the other night, she was happy to let go with one hand to reach for a toy.

Many of the fears I first had about having a blind child will not come to pass: she won't walk into walls, she will be able to read, she will be able to be independant and mobile and that is all such a gift. But we always want more, don't we?

We have found a wonderful school that I am hopefull the girls will be accepted into. When I say "we have found" that's not really true because lots of people know about it. It is the best school in the country, consistently ranked no 1 in the league tables with 100% of their graduates attending university, 40% of them to Oxford and Cambridge. The founding mission and driving ethos of the school is the thing that impressed me most (more even than the extensive gounds and facilites): it intends to provide an ambitious academic education for women. That's what I keep reminding myself, particularly for Charlotte: aim high (little bat!)