Fun in the sun

Love those beautiful almond eyes

Felix and I had a day of sensory play today. We drove down to our local beach which is only a few minutes away and enjoyed some fun in the sunshine.

Feeling the sand

Learning to shovel the sand

Felix has always enjoyed the sand, but previously he has spent most of the time at the beach trying to fill his mouth with it. Today, however, I could see how his play has developed. He concentrated for a long time on raking his fingers through the sand, making a pattern. He did this over and over in the same place. I loved watching the concentration on his face.

It was fun to watch him learn to use his spade to scoop up the sand and put it in the bucket or fill the bucket with shells and little rocks. He dug a hole big enough to fit his foot in and enjoyed wiggling his toes inside it. It kept him entertained for a really long time.

Loving the grass

A bit scared

After a play in the sand, we walked up to a garden near the beach for a play on the grass. Felix loved running his fingers through it. He grabbed handfuls of grass and tried to pull them out of the ground. He looked so cute with his teeth gritted together as he pulled with all his might!

We wandered up to the aviary near the beach and stood and watched the birds for a while. One of them came up close to the fence and wanted his head scratched. Felix had huge wide eyes as he watched the big bird so close to him and touched its soft feathers.

A bit further up, Felix stood against the fence and looked at the kangaroos. One of them was quite curious and came right up to him and they stood face to face for a while. Felix tried really hard to push his hand through the fence to pat the kangaroo. He made lots of excited noises. It was so cute to watch.

Felix had some new sensory experiences today that he didn't enjoy. I sat him down under a big tree and handed him a stick to hold. He looked petrified. His bottom lip dropped and he looked quite frightened. He responded in the same way to a big crunchy leaf. I'm not sure why he was scared, but I will have to make sure we try the same thing again in a few weeks. Hopefully he will overcome his fear.

Learning to stand

Exhausted!

To finish off our playtime, we went to the playground. Felix loved spinning the big balls around on the giant abacus. He practised his balancing when he realised that if he touched two different balls with each hand at the same time, they moved. Every time he got wobbly on his legs, he managed to regain his balance beautifully. I think that with a little bit more confidence he will be standing soon without holding on to anything.

By the end of the day, Felix was exhausted. Learning and experiencing new things is very tiring! So proud of our little guy. I think he will sleep well tonight.