Final Playgroup for 2012

Busy drawing

This morning was Felix's last Special Needs Playgroup for the year. We got there a little bit early today, so I took Felix out of his car seat and sat him next to me in the front while we waited. It was pretty warm in the car, so I wound the windows down a bit which Felix thought was great. He leaned out of the window and 'talked' and smiled at the people in the car parked next to us. After a while, he sat on the seat and took his shoes off and then, the cheeky monkey, threw one of them out of the window. He thought it was a good 'game' to play with the man in the car next to us because it meant he had to get out of the car to pass Felix's shoe back to him. I quickly hid his shoes before he could do it again!

Relaxing with Daddy watching the football

Felix clung on to me a bit when the other children came close to him today, but he didn't seem panicked like he is sometimes. He just wanted to sit on me and observe the other kids for a while before he felt confident to wander off a bit. At one point he actually sat and played with an activity centre right next to another little boy. I was so excited; they were less than half a metre apart and Felix wasn't bothered at all. They were both focussed on what they were doing and sat quite happily which was awesome!

Admiring his handiwork

I sat with Felix and helped him to glue some pretty paper and shiny sprinkles onto the picture of a Christmas tree. He did a really good job of maneuvering the tiny little shapes onto the paper and pushed them down onto the glue. He was enjoying it so much that he decorated two Christmas trees instead of just one. He was also fascinated with some butterflies the kindy kids (who use the centre), had made and stuck to the windows. He kept looking up at the windows and signing 'butterfly'. He liked them so much that I think we might make some at home and put them on his bedroom windows. They were so bright and colourful and he'll love looking at them.

Sophie (Felix's little friend who also has Down Syndrome), came over to Felix to give him a cuddle. As usual, Felix looked horrified and leapt around my neck. He didn't cry though, which is an improvement, but poor Sophie looked a bit sad. I decided to try something different, so I asked Sophie if she could give Felix and I a cuddle together. It was the best cuddle. She wrapped her arms around both of us and squeezed us tight. Felix felt relaxed in my arms, and Sophie had a beaming smile. It was one of those very precious moments!