Lots of Therapy

Felix doing his big eyes

Felix has had a very busy day today. It all started at 4.20am when he woke up because his 8 week old nephew was crying. Thankfully it's the only time it's ever happened and I have my fingers crossed that it won't become a regular thing. I went and picked Felix up out of his cot and brought him into our room. Nathan was laying there with his eyes closed and immediately Felix signed "Daddy, asleep". He then proceeded to climb on Daddy and press his face against his. Needless to say, Daddy wasn't asleep anymore!

I was feeling a little bleary eyed when Felix was due to start his therapy at 9am. His Occupational  Therapist, Speech Pathologist and Physio all came to our house to work with Felix this morning. I find it so much easier having them here than going up to the hospital because Felix seems to 'perform' better in his own environment where he's comfortable. However, this morning Felix took a little while to adjust to them being here. He was a little bit shy. I don't know if it's because he was a bit tired or because there was an extra person at the house (usually only the OT and Speech girls come).

I put my hat on by myself

Eventually he warmed up and started showing off. He cruised around the furniture at full speed to impress the Physio and showed her some of his climbing. He did some signing and did well at putting some puzzles pieces in the right spots (at least close to the right spot). They were all really happy with his progress and believe him to be pretty much exactly where he should be.

Children with Down Syndrome have such a large spectrum of what is considered 'normal' for their development. It is a much wider range than it is for 'typical' kids, so some children with Down Syndrome may walk at 12 months and others at 4 years old; but anything in between is still considered the normal range. We are lucky that Felix seems to have quite a good balance between gross and fine motor skills (probably slightly better at fine motor I think). Hopefully he will continue along the same path as he gets older.

After all the Therapists left this morning, Felix and I quickly jumped in the car and headed over to the Kindergym for the last session this term. Felix was a little bit more subdued this morning and didn't wander too far from me, but I think all the stimulation of the morning had worn him out a bit. I bounced him up and down on a giant inflatable tyre and then threw him up in the air. He giggled his head off and wanted me to keep doing it until my arms were so sore I could barely lift him anymore. We sang 'Row, row, row the boat' again this morning. I remembered to put my hands over his ears for when the kids screamed when they saw the crocodile. Unfortunately I moved them away too quickly as one little girl decided to shriek extra loudly when the song had finished. Felix threw his head into my lap and buried it there for a few seconds.

I love it when Daddy is home from work :)

I'm pleased to say that toilet training is still going incredibly well. Felix has already picked up the sign for 'toilet' which is pretty impressive considering I only started doing it a couple of days ago. He is happy to do number ones and number two's on the toilet. When he's done, he holds his arms up to be lifted off and then reaches over to flush. He's so fascinated with the toilet that he's discovered it's a bit of fun to pick up different things and throw them into the water in the toilet and watch them floating there. I have to keep remembering to put the lock on the door to keep him out!