Feel it…it is here……..

How exciting………………………………….

It is a really exciting time for South Africa in fact it is history in the making, we are currently hosting the World Cup Soccer and the atmosphere is simply electrifying, It almost seems as if South Africans have set their differences aside and united as one nation to welcome the world to our beautiful country. This is something we will remember for the rest of our lives and I’m thankful that we as a family are able to be part of this amazing time for South Africa.

So as you can expect there is loads of exciting thing happing in our country …but at the same time there is loads of exciting things happing for “Dwarfism Awareness South Africa” and “Raising Leah” as well. When I started this blog it was a way for me to express my feelings and to let others know that our family is just like any other family out there, and having a child with a “physical difference” is in no way a curse or something to be ashamed of, we opened our home to the world to show others that, love and determination can overcome any obstacle that is set on your path, all you have to do is fight for what you believe in.

Because of the blog we have had articles printed in 4 leading South African parenting magazines, 1 community newspaper which is distributed across the whole of Cape Town. I am currently challenging the South African Human Right Commission over the use of derogatory terminology (M word) being used on live radio broadcast as I have found that this violates the law of discrimination against people with disabilities and we have just finished an awareness article for another leading child parenting magazine scheduled to go to print in August.

Now for the big news… we might soon go national with Leah and some other LP friends as we are being filmed for a leading investigations and medical research television program. The aim of the documentary is to break the negativity surrounding little people living in South Africa and Leah and the blog will be one of the families featured in this documentary. So needless to say I am floating on a cloud because it seems like all that I believe and fight for is becoming a reality. So keep your fingers crossed and let’s hope the pitch goes well

When Leah was born I vowed I would fight for her equality, and I would raise her to know that she can achieve anything in life. Recently someone called me a Dwarfism awareness activist, so maybe I am but at the end of the day its all for Leah, and our family would not have it any other way, Leah has taught us that if you believe and fight for it, you can achieve it …all it takes is DETERMINATION.

A quick update…

It’s been quiet on the home front and this has left the blog without new news but I had to do a update so here goes. We are all doing well Leah has been moving along full speed her progress seems to be satisfactory, her vocabulary is outstanding and after a occupational therapy assessment we were informed by a very surprised OT that in her 18 years of doing therapy she has never come across a 3year old with such good memory, Leah’s counting and recognition skill and identifying color skills is above average… so I guess I might be changing the blog title to “Raising professor Leah” LOL. But seriously just like any other child out there Leah is a bright little spirit filled with life and she is only three years old so I don’t plan on force-feeding her any encyclopedia information  , she is a very observant toddler who learns as she goes along and most of what she knows is definitely due to having 2 older sisters who “chitter chatter” from sunrise to sunset and lets not forget to thank  Barney …… our purple friend for his repetitive number and color songs . I’m sure lots of parents will agree with me when I say Barney has a way of seeping into the “subconscious mind”

I have noticed that Leah’s memory is somewhat like the saying “Having the memory of an elephant” so I understand the therapist being somewhat surprised with her memory recall ability. A funny thing happened the other day, Leah was in a really bad mood and Grandma told her “If you’re angry that’s fine with me I just won’t talk to you” Leah responded “That’s fine…. Talk to my Lawyer” I nearly choked on my coffee with laughter and once the laughter settled I realized that she had taken that quote from a television add promoting legal aid. Sometimes when we driving she spots certain familiar buildings and she is able to tell us were we going. She has the ability to recall names of people she has only met once before, and when we pray, she always asks to pray for Danielle and Dadda in heaven and she always reassures me that I don’t have to cry anymore because she can remember my tears when my Grandfather passed away.  She remembers where to find things she packed away days before and there are times she will ask me what I did with the left over macaroni and cheeses we had a week ago, she can tell dad were he left his car keys if he cant remember were he had placed them and one thing she knows for sure is if someone has moved her sweets because she knows exactly which way she places the packet in the cupboard, so we have to make sure her treats are in the same place, facing the same direction as she last placed them!! Or needless to say there will be trouble…. as she will hunt down the guilty party for touching her sweeties  🙂

The more I think of these special qualities the more I know for sure that she is Heaven sent. And I take comfort in the fact that her assertive nature is going to be to her advantage one day, she knows who she is and she never backs down, if she sets her mind to something she is determine to finish it.

On the Dwarfism awareness front, things are moving along steadily, I recently did a live radio interview about the blog and public awareness I am currently busy with a leading child magazine doing a article on Dwarfism Awareness and I have been receiving quite a bit of positive feedback from the public so I guess the word is getting out there, and I will keep pushing, and pushing… so it seems Leah does get some of her determination from her mommy after all 🙂