Last time we wrote on our blog was almost a
year ago and we were introducing you to baby Josiah. As some of you will know,
we were having some concerns around his development as after
7 months he was
still very uncoordinated, unable to use his hands much and also unable to sit. Having
had a spell in hospital where a whole raft of tests were taken, we have
recently found out that he has a rare chromosomal disorder where a small part
of one of his chromosomes is missing. There have only been 13 children who have
been studied with this particular disorder as it is very rare, and it is
unclear exactly what to expect other than some level of developmental delay and
learning difficulty. It certainly explains why he has been behind the curve and
also interestingly accounts for his slightly funny ears, which we had of course
just assumed he had inherited from his dad!! Also, following an abnormality on
his CT scan and seeing that he seems to struggle more with using his left side,
it may also be that in addition he has some cerebral palsy. Despite this we
feel confident that God is in control and after lots of prayer and focused
attention on helping Jos, we have had lots of encouragement and seen a vast
improvement. He is now sitting, using his hands a lot more, able to feed
himself and is generally a very sweet and cheerful little man who brings us all
a lot of joy! He also seems very sharp and engaged with the world, which is a
good sign! Noah and Emily are both very doting older siblings, and Jos is
always keen to reciprocate this affection by giving their faces a good grab and
going in for a good old chomp of any part of them he can get hold of!
Family issues aside, it is also worth
mentioning that back in September Tim had his first trip back to Uganda for
over 2 years. It was a fantastic time catching up with many different people,
gorging himself on Matooke, and checking in on Synergy and the Baby Unit. The
main highlights were enjoying the hospitality of Elder Emily and her family,
whom he stayed with, having some great one-to-one time with Brian to hear about
developments with Synergy and seeking God regarding the way ahead, and finally
seeing some of the lads that he used to mentor who are all doing amazingly
well.
It was a seriously blessed time for Tim, and much praise must be bestowed upon Sarah who (just about) survived 12 days alone with the kids. Having said
that she still says she still hasn’t quite recovered 6 months later!! Give that
girl a medal!
