Board game review: Othello

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othello, board game, john adams, ideal games

Othello,  what can I say? What a fantastic game this is!

Both me and my other half love this game so much! It is so addictive! I wish I had more time to play it with him, maybe once we get ourselves sorted, we will be able to play it more! I am not sure whether Miss A is ready to play this game, maybe I will need to try!

Info from the website:

Othello takes a minute to learn and lifetime to master! It’s the internationally acclaimed two player strategy game.

Trap and capture your opponent by placing your disks on the board.  “Sandwich” at least one of your opponent’s pieces to turn their disk to your colour….but look out, your opponent will do the same to you.  The lead can change with the flip of a disk in this classic fast-paced strategy game.

I failed to win at this game every time I played it. My other half has such a good brain on him, he is a web programmer! But that doesn’t put me off! As you can see, I did very well at losing.

Othello, board game, john adams, ideal games

I can see this being a regular game and is coming with us when we go away. If only we had a travel one! We are going away to stay on a canal boat at some point this year so this will be coming with us then. I think to spend time on a peaceful canal boat playing Othello would be amazing! We will be having family with us as well so it would be great to take it in turns!

To find out more about Othello, visit the John Adams website

An update on Master A’s development.

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four year old. developmental delays, autism, legius syndrome

The main purpose of this blog post is to document how Master A is getting on with his development. I think this is important for me as well as others who are going through similar.

I realise I haven’t blogged recently or regularly at all. It has been busy and chaotic. Lots of things have happened, some bad and some good but I don’t want to discuss them here. I just want to update you all on how Master A is doing.

How is Master A doing? He is doing a lot better than a few months ago. But he is still not where he should be in terms of his development and speech. I haven’t really gone into too much detail on here. I have on my social media channels. This will change. I want to blog about him a lot more. Blog about most things really. Fingers crossed I have the time to do this. I have lots of things planned to make sure I can fit a lot more in than what I have done before. Just a quick note about what has happened and why I have been a bad blogger…my mum’s death had a lot to do with it. My anxiety hit the roof, I got depressed and so many other things happened. I struggled a lot with Master A, the whole idea of him being so delayed and having his other issues really got me down. It shouldn’t but it did. But now I see clearly now and have lots of things planned and have spent a lot of time trying to get him the help that he needs and deserves.

So what is going on with Master A? To cut a long story short, after lots of meetings, assessments, speech therapy and everything else, Master A has a developmental delay of about two years. He still has speech issues, that is still very delayed.

We are waiting on genetics test results for a condition called Legius Syndrome. To find out more visit The Neuro Foundation website. Now we know he hasn’t got NF1 (neurofibromatosis) I have discovered a condition that is like it called Legius Syndrome. This can affect the child’s learning, development etc. Reading about the symptoms, it exactly matches what Master A is going through and has, the developmental delay, including the cafe au lait marks.

One major thing that has happened very recently is that Master A has had an autism assessment and the result from this assessment is that he IS showing signs of being on the spectrum. The paediatrician wants to wait for him to get a bit older before diagnosing him. What do I think? I think he is on the spectrum, as time goes on, more and more signs are appearing. He is having meltdowns, he is stimming a lot. The stimming has increased a lot recently, certainly since he has been assessed. Not sure why. He has hurt his bottom lip, I think, by scraping his bottom lip with his teeth and also he is fiddling with his bottom lip a lot. These are the newest things I have noticed him doing. He also bites his clothing and anything else nearby when he gets stressed or has a meltdown and he flaps his hands.

There are so many things that Master A does that makes me think he is definitely on the spectrum. I think I was in denial with it all when he was assessed a few weeks ago. I think I ignored the signs, maybe. But now I am embracing Master A as he is. He is an awesome little boy who I love very much, I have always loved him the same. I want what is best for him and I will not give up fighting until he gets what he deserves.

To be honest, I can’t complain about anybody who has dealt with Master A..his nursery, speech therapist, health visitor and paediatricians (yes he has two!) and anyone else that has dealt with him or helped him are all amazing and they have his best interests at heart.

Master A is starting school in September. I am very concerned and nervous about this but I know for the fact the SENCO and his teacher at primary school is fantastic. They do what is best for him. He is going to get a specialist teacher to provide advice for the transition to primary school. He was assessed for this on Monday. I am waiting on the report for this.

Wow this is a long blog post, hopefully the next one will be shorter!

Lexicon-GO! review

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A post shared by Kelly Wiffin (@charliechinuk) on


 

My girl loves games. We love games. We were sent Lexicon-GO! to try out. What an amazing game this is!

We have had lots of fun with Lexicon-GO! Miss A loves it! So what is it? This is the description from the website:

  • Fast paced educational word game
  • Great family game – suitable for all ages 8+
  • Perfect travel game – all tiles pack into a neat canvas pouch
  • Part of the globally renowned Waddington’s Number 1 travel game family
  • Get ready – shout ‘Lex Go’ and race againt other players to get rid of all your tiles by creating words

Lexicon-GO! is one ‘L’ of a super-fast word game. Race against other players to get rid of all your playing card tiles by creating words, swapping letters and even attacking other players’ words. This game comes in a cool, portable bag which makes it the perfect game for on-the-go and any holiday! Lexicon-GO! is great fun for any age, including the whole family.

Lexicon-GO! is a fantastic game. It is so much fun and it teaches a child to learn the spelling of words and have fun while doing so! I really enjoy it too. I have to stop myself from being competitive and help Miss A win most of the time. Only fair but I am amazed how good she is at Lexicon-GO! She is so competitive with it. She found this game really easy to understand and even though she made some of the spellings of words up, she was happy to accept they were wrong and tried a different word.

Me and Miss A have had so much fun with this game already. I can’t wait to play it with my other half, then I can be as competitive as I want!

To find out more about Lexicon-GO! visit the Winning Moves website.

Rash! Miss A and her allergic reaction

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brockholes, muddy puddle

At Brockholes – Look at Master A’s trousers. He found the only muddy puddle!

Rash! Miss A has been prone to them. The last two ones have been…odd!

Almost two weeks ago, Miss A had a rash, it got worse while I was at Blog On in Manchester. She also felt poorly. My other half thought it could be Scarlet Fever. It wasn’t. We didn’t know what it was, nor did the doctor, but she got over it.

Monday was a different story, similar rash but more obvious and a bit different. Miss A also had a mottled tummy. My other half is the most level headed, non-worrying man ever. He was worried.

Off to out of hours (primary care) they went, 8pm, as it always is. After waiting four hours, we had a diagnosis.

An allergic reaction.

To what?

Don’t know. Can’t tell. The suspicion is it is something Miss A ate or drank due to her symptoms but it could be anything.

So what’s next? Phoned our doctor the next morning. They won’t test her. I have to keep a food diary. Which is fine, a bit annoying but if it proves to be beneficial then it is worth it. Miss A is now on Piriton. Every time she has a flare up she has to take it until her symptoms disappear. Thank goodness she doesn’t get drowsy with it. Can you imagine how she would be with all her hobbies, especially ice skating!

Fingers crossed it doesn’t happen again but if it does..we have the right medicine as since Monday, her symptoms have cleared and she is back to her usual self again.

I am wondering if all her times she has had a dodgy tummy it has actually been part of this. Time will tell I am sure. This experience has one positive. Miss A doesn’t drink much water at all. She is like a camel. Since Monday, she has been drinking lots! I have bought her a new bottle with flamingos on (she LOVES flamingos) and a carry strap. She LOVES that bottle!

Fingers crossed we have some answers soon or even better, it to never happen again!

Ice Skating – Miss A has passed her Skate UK!

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After 2 years and 4 months, Miss A, My lovely ice skating girl,  has finally passed all eight levels of Skate UK! My goodness I am so so proud of her. She has spent hundreds of hours on the ice to achieve this.  On Sunday morning, she completed the final element of level 8, her step sequence.

I can’t get over it.

Miss A has always loved ice skating but it hasn’t come naturally. However she has worked so hard and has achieved so much. The dedication and determination she has at the moment is amazing. She struggled at first but she soon breezed through the last few levels. Amazing girl!

I miss out on so much in terms of her ice skating as I can’t be there to see it as I don’t drive. This means that my other half takes her. But it’s OK, I get to see her dance more than what he does, plus he is the skater. I gave up ice skating a while ago. It just wasn’t for me.

I am looking forward to finding out what Miss A learns next, this isn’t the end of her ice skating journey, far from it.

I have had a long break from the blog so I haven’t updated you all about skating at all. Miss A took part in her first gala in March, she was fantastic, so was the rest of the children! She is preparing for the next one now. Can’t wait to see it.

I would like to thank all of Miss A’s coaches, they are amazing! And I would like to thank my other half. If it wasn’t for him starting skating, Miss A wouldn’t either. He has got up most Sundays at 6:30am to take Miss A to her lessons at Blackpool Ice Arena. I am so thankful, both of them amazing. Miss A has hardly moaned about getting up early and she now has a bit of a late night on Thursdays too.  She takes it all in her stride!

I am one happy and proud Mummy!

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