The Eyes Have It

What big eyes you have!

One thing which can become a bit exhausting when raising a child with Down Syndrome is all the appointments. In the last few weeks Felix has been to see the Speech Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, Paediatrician and Opthamologist. Throw in a trip to the hospital (400km away) for an MRI and an upcoming trip to the Doctor for immunisations. Phew...makes me tired just thinking about it!

It's a busy schedule sometimes but I'm so thankful Felix is being observed so carefully. We are able to keep on top of any potential issues with his development and health before they become a problem. I really feel for the families of children with Down Syndrome who, many years ago, did not have the same sort of support we do now. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been.

Trying on Amy's glasses

Today, we drove 78km to the next town for Felix to see the Opthamologist (Eye Doctor). She is very happy with Felix's vision at this point in time, but would like us to take a trip to Adelaide towards the end of the year for some more tests. I'm sure he'll probably need glasses at some point just like the rest of his siblings, but it will be much easier to keep glasses on his face once he's a little older. At the moment he likes pulling them off everyone else's face and throwing them on the floor.

Felix has had two big drives for appointments this week, so today Isaiah (who came with me) and I went to the shops once the appointment was over and bought Felix a little toy truck. I found him pushing a Duplo tractor up the hallway the other day and chasing after it, so thought it was about time he got his first truck!

Putting away the shopping bags

When we got home, Felix and I went to visit Nathan at work. As usual, Felix signed 'Daddy' all the way there; very excited to be going to see him. He had his new truck with him and sat on the floor in Daddy's office playing with it. Felix knows he's not allowed to crawl out the door of the office and down the hallway, but is always very tempted and often pokes his head out to look around. Today he showed just how clever he can be by pushing his truck out of the office and into the hallway. He figured that gave him a good excuse to go out the door. I mean, who else was going to get his truck for him? Cheeky boy! You can't tell me that kids with Down Syndrome aren't smart!