Chuck Norris

Dirty face; such a boy!

A couple of days ago it was mine and Nathan's wedding anniversary. Some people like to go out, exchange expensive gifts and have candlelight dinners. Not Nate and I. We like nothing better than to hang out at home, watch some shockingly bad movies and eat junk food in bed. The older kids are always great; they bring us cups of tea, keep an extra eye on Felix and make sure they all behave extra well for us. I think we're pretty spoilt! Our anniversary started with a Chuck Norris movie. We were in fits of laughter as we watched the, very predictable, plot line unfold and saw Chuck Norris bust out his best fighting moves to save the day (as he always does). Very romantic, right?

When Nathan got home from work today, Felix seemed to be even more excited than usual. He was full of energy and wanted Daddy to pick him up and play with him on the bed. If we didn't know better, we would swear that Felix had been practising his best Chuck Norris moves. He was laughing as he threw himself on top of Nathan over and over again. At one point he looked like he was trying to strangle him with his legs, and did some good bone crushing moves. It was the funniest thing to watch; the smiling assassin giggling as he wrestled with Daddy. I don't know who was having more fun, Felix or Daddy! I was exhausted just watching them. I think they'll both sleep extra well tonight!

Signing 'Donkey'

This morning I took Felix to the Special Needs Playgroup. We haven't been for a few weeks, because of school holidays, so it was nice to take Felix out to play with some other kids. At least, that was the plan! Felix had other ideas. He had one of his mornings where he was frightened of any other child who, so much as, walked/crawled towards him. Sophie was there (she's a bit older than Felix and loves him to bits; she also has Down Syndrome), and Felix is petrified of her. Poor Sophie! She just wants to cuddle him and touch him, but he won't even let her get close before he shakes like a leaf and then leaps into the nearest adult's arms!

Felix did venture away from me to walk along the inside of a home-made sensory box, which I was pretty impressed with. It's a shallow cardboard box, about 1 1/2 metres long, which has several different textures stuck to the bottom of it. This one had coloured rice up one end, then some smooth paper, some beads and some popsticks. The idea was for the kids to walk up and down inside the box, experiencing the different textures under their bare feet. Some kids with Down Syndrome have sensory issues and would find something like this quite challenging. Felix has certainly had his own unique concerns over certain sensory sensations, but he really loved this box today and walked up and down it quite happily. He stopped and squatted down sometimes to touch the bottom of the box with his hands too. It was a proud moment for me because, not only did he confidently walk in the sensory box, but it was the first time he had walked properly at Playgroup, so it was very exciting.

Mr. Serious

As usual, Felix loved song time. He always sits, with a smile on his face, completely mesmerised watching the other parents and children singing. Today, when we were singing the welcome song to Felix, he picked up the little photo of himself (with velcro on the back), and walked across to the felt board to stick his picture up. He didn't hold my hand, or lean on anything; he walked all by himself and put his photo up without anyone needing to explain to him what to do. It's great to see that he is starting to recognise different routines and know what to do in different settings. Our little boy is growing up.