Happy Father's Day

Tshirt as a present for Daddy for
Father's Day

We've had the most beautiful day! It's Father's Day here in Australia today, so we spent the day, once Nathan was home from work, spoiling him and letting him know how special he is to us. The best part of the day was dinner time when all six of our sons were here for dinner, plus Daniel's fiancee, Cate, and my best friend, Deb. The only two people missing were our gorgeous girls, but they sent Nate some really heartfelt messages earlier in the day, which he loved (I think I even saw a little tear in his eye). We had a huge roast meal and lots of dessert, so everyone had a good feed. It's nice to see the boys all dig in and eat well, including Felix who loves roast dinners. He was being a bit of a clown when he had finished eating, and tipped the rest of his food into his lap and smooshed it up in his hands. Needless to say, a bath was in order after dinner because he was covered from head to toe. I think he was showing off in front of his older brothers!

Today I'm so thankful for my Dad too. I love him to bits and feel lucky to have had such a great man in my life, who has always been there and loved me unconditionally. He is a wonderful Papa to our kids and they adore him. Although I couldn't see him in the flesh today, we finally got Skype working so were able to talk to him face to face. Judging by the grin on his face, I think talking to the kids was probably the highlight of his day.

Hanging out with Dad
(Aaron, Isaiah & Joshua)

Felix thought that Skype was awesome!! Papa and Granny sang 'twinkle, twinkle' to him and he did all the actions with them with a huge smile on his face. Papa whistled, which is something he always does when he and Felix see each other. Felix started laughing and was touching Papa's face on the screen. It was so adorable. He started to get grumpy with the other kids when they wanted to talk, because he wanted the ipad all to himself. I'm so glad we've finally got Skype working because Felix loves listening to my parent's voices on the phone, but gets confused when he looks at the phone and can't see them. Now that our family is starting to spread out across the country, it's going to be great to be able to see each other and interact in that way. Hopefully Felix will be able to keep in contact with all of his older siblings as they leave home, and be able to chat with them through Skype even if they live far away.

Drinking the last drips of Mummy's
cup of tea

You can't tell me that people with Down Syndrome are not clever and capable of a little bit of sneakiness. Earlier today, one of Felix's 'Godmothers', Kerri, came over for a visit. Felix was eating his lunch at the time, and picked up a piece of banana and put it down next to his leg on the seat of the high chair for some reason. Kerri, thinking he would put his leg on it and squash it, picked up the banana and put it back on his plate. Felix looked Kerri right in the eye, with a 'how dare you' look on his face, picked up the banana and put it back down next to his leg again. The whole time, he maintained eye contact with Kerri as if to dare her to touch his banana again!!

Yesterday, Aaron (12), very quietly said to me that he wasn't friends with a certain boy at school any more. When I asked him why, he explained that the boy had made a lot of rude comments about Felix and had called him a silly little r***rd. Aaron (and one of his other friends) stood up for Felix and said that he is actually really smart and our family are really glad we have him. I'm so proud of Aaron. As Felix's Mum, I have had to deal with stares, unwanted comments and some negativity towards Felix. As an adult I find it difficult some days, so I imagine being a sibling would be tough sometimes too. You're at an age where you want to impress your friends and fit in but, at the same time, you have this person in your life who you love so deeply and feel the need to defend. I don't imagine that would be easy. I am so pleased with the way Aaron responded. He didn't get angry and shout at him, and he didn't shy away from it either. He just said what he felt he needed to say and then walked away without being mean to the other boy. Very proud right now!