Our Christmas Elf.

Ben looks just like our very own Christmas elf. He's the baby Butterfly at the moment - only 9 months old - and he is quite tiny. He has liver failure, just like Ysmael.

 You can see that his skin and eyes look very yellow from the buildup of bilirubin in his system. His liver is just not doing the job it's supposed to do, so toxic substances are accumulating up in his body. The toxins are just the byproducts of normal life, and usually the liver gets rid of them in the bile. But for Ben, and for Ysmael, that process is not working properly.

 But that's not what we think about when we are watching Ben enjoy the Christmas season. We love the way that he is interested in these new bright decorations which have appeared all around the place. He is probably a little baffled by the sudden explosion of bright, sparkly colour - normally our Home is decorated in sweet relaxing pastel tones. He seems to like these bright bold colours. It's so cute the way he is staring at the Christmas bauble with such fascination. Maybe he sees his reflection in there, and is wondering who that handsome kid is!

Ben is such a sweet little boy, and it is our privilege to be giving him the best Christmas possible this year. His cot is called " Blessed" - we know that we are blessed by sharing Christmas with Ben.