If you saw my post a️bout Harry's first birthday party you would have seen the birthday "chalkboard" I made all by myself *smiles a big chuffed smile*! It was actually super easy to
make but took some planning and careful calligraphy!
If you would like to make your own birthday chalkboard,
rather than paying the £25+ that Etsy demands, then keep reading!
You will need:
*a black foam board (mine is an A1 from Hobbycraft)
Firstly you want to jot down some ideas for your board,
things like what your little one is loving right now, how many teeth they have, favourite book, what they weigh or measure, what they dislike, things that they can do etc etc
etc..
Secondly you want to draft your design on a plain piece of
paper. Use a pencil and rubber as you will need to play around a bit to see which bits you
can fit where
I used a website called da font to copy various fonts onto my board although you can just make up your own or
doodle it in your own handwriting!
Once you are happy with your layout transfer it carefully
into your foam board, again with pencil so you can correct any mistakes -
unless you are brave enough to go straight in with your pens!!!
Then go over your wording with your metallics adding
little drawings, stars, hearts, crowns or whatever fits with your theme! Use a ruler to section off your writing but be careful making sure its straight!
It really is as easy as that! I plan to do one every year
until Harry is like 21.... Hmmm!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Will you be making a birthday
chalkboard??!
If you've seen my latest vlog you will have seen that I did a short video about so BIG EXCITING news! Harry finally has a date for his cochlear implant surgery - Tuesday 3rd Feb 2015! But what even is a cochlear implant... What is a cochlear implant?!
A
cochlear implant is a tiny and very complex electronic device, that can help to
provide sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing
(Harry is profoundly deaf which means he has no natural hearing) The implant
consists of an internal part that is surgically placed under the skin and
attaches to an external part via magnets.
The
Cochlear Implant is made up of the following componants:
·A microphone, which picks up sound from the
environment.
·A speech processor, which selects and arranges
sounds picked up by the microphone.
·A transmitter and receiver/stimulator, which
receive signals from the speech processor and convert them into electric
impulses.
·An electrode array, which is a group of electrodes
that collects the impulses from the stimulator and sends them to different
regions of the auditory nerve.
An
implant does not restore normal hearing. Instead, it can give a deaf person a
representation of sounds in the environment and help him or her to understand
speech.
At
present around 10,000 people in the UK are fitted with a cochlear implant and
the number is increasing each year. You
see a lot of cochlear implants around where the external part sits behind the
ear, much like a hearing aid, however for the first 5 years Harry won’t have
the behind the ear part and instead that part will clip onto his clothing. We mainly chose this option because we felt
his ears and head were too small to have that sort of hardware and also because
the brand we have gone for is waterproof!
A cochlear implant is
VERY different from a hearing aid – which simply amplifies sound so they may be
detected by damaged ears. Cochlear implants however bypass damaged portions of
the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. Signals generated by the
implant are sent by way of the auditory nerve to the brain, which recognizes
the signals as sound.
Hearing through a
cochlear implant is different from normal hearing and takes time to learn.
However, it allows many people to recognize warning signals, understand other
sounds in the environment, and enjoy a conversation in person or by telephone
Surgery..
During the operation the surgeon
makes an incision behind the ear being treated in order to gain access into the
middle ear and cochlear. The operation lasts between 3 and 4 hours per ear -
Harry will be having both done at the same time so a mega long operation
The operation is delicate and
intricate rather than dangerous because no vital organs are disturbed. There
are no serious attendant risks with the operation beyond those normally
associated with major surgery
What does the future hold for someone with a cochlear implant?
With advancements in technology and
continued follow-up studies with people who already have received implants,
researchers are evaluating how cochlear implants might be used for other types
of hearing loss. Other
studies are exploring ways to make a cochlear implant convey the sounds of
speech more clearly. Researchers also are looking at the potential benefits of
pairing a cochlear implant in one ear with either another cochlear implant or a
hearing aid in the other ear
So there you go I hope that answers any questions you may have or improves your understanding of what Harry's going to have done! Here's my latest vlog if you fancy seeing a little snippet of Harry and to hear my thoughts and feelings on him undergoing this massive operation..
I can't believe this past November my little baby turned into a toddler and celebrated his very first birthday! Where on earth does the time go? If you have a stationary newborn hold on to them tightly guys!!!
For his borthday we threw him a Prince themed birthday party at The Tea Bar in our home town and it was PERFECT!
Firstly I had to get invitations printed and handed out so I went with a pre-made template from a company on Etsy called Forever Your Prints, who were amazing and tweaked it to perfection! I would highly recommend them for invitations
I decided to get a bit creative and made a few felt crowns and a first birthday "chalkboard" (a tutorial will be up soon for both of these if you want one?!)
Seeing as there would be a whole age range we decided to hire a small soft play area for them littluns to get stuck into and it was a huge hit! We hired ours from Little Softies who have suppliers in various areas of the UK
The cake was handmade by my beautiful friend Jennie (she also organised my fabulous baby shower!) it was huge and oh soooooo chocolatey!! She used a crown shaped cake tin to bake it and i think its totally GBBO-worthy! I got totally emotional when we all sang AND signed Happy Birthday around it!!
We were so overwhelmed and delighted at how many people turned up to celebrate Harry turning one, it was hectic but in a good way!!
Thank you to everyone who came to Harry's party and to all of you who sent gifts and left him birthday wishes!! He had the most amazing day!
OH and thank you to Sarah for taking such gorgeous photos for us!!!
