Why I didn't post yesterday....

Cheeky monkey

Firstly I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you who have been enjoying reading about our gorgeous little guy on my blog. I have had over 4000 people from over a dozen different countries stop by for a read. Thank you to every single one of you. You are part of the future for people with Down Syndrome; a world with a focus on acceptance and inclusion!

I apologise for not posting a blog yesterday. We are in the process of having a baby. Well, not us exactly, but our son and his girlfriend. It has been a long and arduous couple of days after she went into labor late on Friday night (it's currently lunch time Sunday here). I have been awake for the past two nights and am beginning to feel like a zombie. Mel (Mum to be) is obviously feeling a lot worse than I am. Unfortunately, after reaching 5cm dilation in the early hours of this morning, her contractions have suddenly stopped! She and Joel are now taking the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep before the contractions start back up again. I just had a doze for a couple of hours this morning so I feel like I may be able to string two sentences together now!

Playing with Joel

Felix enjoyed visiting Mel on the labor ward yesterday. I'm sure he has a bit of a crush on her. Joel is always saying to Felix, "Hey, stop making eyes at my girlfriend!" Felix has special smiles set aside just for Mel when she walks in to the room. It's a little bit cute!

Mel has found sitting on the big fitness ball to be one of the most comfortable positions for her while she has contractions. Felix stood himself up on the side of the ball and stared intently at Mel while she was doing her breathing and giggled when it was over. She enjoyed having a distraction for a few minutes.

Mel has handled everything so incredibly well and with a sense of humor, including laughing in between contractions and telling jokes. During a tough contraction last night, Joel asked her, "Would you care for an orange juice?" and she responded by saying, "If it needed me!" Hahahaha! I am so proud of both Mel and Joel. They are going to be very young parents but they are handling themselves so maturely and with a lot of love and concern for each other and their son. I'm looking forward to seeing them in their new role as parents (hopefully it won't be too far away!)

In the meantime, I am enjoying being surrounded by our kids. By tonight we will have all 8 of them in one place plus Daniel's lovely girlfriend as well. I love that, in a crisis, all our kids want to do is be together and support one another. Felix is going to be in his element being able to see all his siblings at once while he waits to become an Uncle!

Oooooooh!

Felix continues to make progress. His fine motor skills are coming along beautifully and he is able to use one finger on his hand to point or push toys along. He has been playing a game on my phone where he has to pop balloons by pointing at them. Over the last couple of days he has shown more concentration and a good ability to use one finger to pop them. He pushes his little cars along the floor by using one finger and is better able to pick up food with his thumb and first finger. He's doing so well!

I had some fantastic photos to put up with today's blog, but I have left my camera up at the hospital ready to get photos of our Grandson when he decides to arrive. Hope you enjoy some of the old ones I've posted instead :)