Upside-Down

Felix having cuddles with our youngest puppy, Atlas (13 months)

After my last blog about swimming lessons for Felix, I have given it lots of thought and decided to give it a try and see how he goes health wise. I haven't booked him into a class yet because I wanted to get some swimming gear organised first. I have just ordered him an awesome bright green wetsuit and some earplugs which come with a headband to keep them in his ears. The headband is also bright green, with dinosaurs all over it. I know he will probably absolutely HATE having something over his ears to start with, but hopefully he will adjust to it quickly. This is the website I got the earplugs/headband from if anyone is interested. I'll let you know how Felix goes with them. http://www.littlegrommets.com/

Not sure about the sauce

Felix was very excited to have Daddy come to Special Needs Playgroup today. Nathan hasn't had the opportunity to see Felix in action at Playgroup before, so it was fun to introduce him to Felix's friends and show him some of the things he likes to do there. Nathan and Felix spent a lot of time building a tower out of blocks. It's the first time Felix has helped build a really tall tower and then left it there without knocking it over. He crawled carefully around it from one side to the other. Sometimes he put his face right down on the ground and looked back up the tower as if he was inspecting his handiwork. It was adorable. He clapped his hands until we started clapping as well. He was very impressed with himself.

Pats for Atlas

I have spent the last little while looking through a lot of posts in some of my Down Syndrome groups on Facebook and marvelling at all the beautiful photos of these precious kids. I used to be one of those people who would look at someone with Down Syndrome and see 'Down Syndrome'. Since having Felix I see such incredible beauty in those faces. I see the kids with the cheeky faces and those with shy faces. I see teenage girls who are just as obsessed with their appearance as other 'typical' teenage girls. I see boys who refuse to wear anything other than their football team's colours. I see photos of couples taken before they leave for a date. I have also seen some gorgeous wedding photos.

It makes me so sad to think that only in recent history, people with Down Syndrome were shunned by society. They were either institutionalised or shut away for fear of what others might think. No wonder there has always been a stigma attached to those with Down Syndrome. They were never given the opportunity to have a funky hairstyle or nice clothes. They didn't have access to books, music or education. They never had the chance to show people what they were truly capable of. I am so glad that times are changing. There is still such a long way to go, but I am thankful to be part of that process. I owe it all to a little guy named Felix who decided to come and turn my life upside-down; and you know what? I've never been happier :)

Don't know about you, but I think people with Down Syndrome have the  BEST smiles!