Friends

Just checking if the kids are scary!

Felix has had a busy day today. After we took the boys to school, this morning, he and I sat outside and played in the sandpit for a while. It was already beautiful and sunny, so it was a great chance to spend some time outside before the day got too hot. He really loves being out there, on the front porch, playing in the sand and watching the neighbour's big tree in their yard; he's fascinated with it. Every now and again he will stop playing and sign 'bird' when he hears them in the tree. He also likes to watch the cars drive up and down the street, and has a particular interest in the motorbikes. We have quite a few of them on our street so he's never disappointed.

While Felix was playing in the sand, his Speech Pathologist arrived. We packed up quickly and went inside to start his session with her. She asked Felix if he would like to look at the book she held out in her hand, or play with the bubbles she had in the other one. Felix chose the book first, but after a few pages he looked at the bubbles and made some excited "Oooooh" sounds. I think he remembered playing with them last time. I started blowing some bubbles and he started laughing and smiling. Straight away he pointed his finger and popped them as they moved towards him. We focussed on the word "Pop" again as he popped the bubbles. We both noticed that Felix has different verbal sounds when he is doing different activities. They are not words, as such, but they vary depending on what he is doing. It's a really good sign that his speech is developing.

Bailey and Felix

The Speech Pathologist brought a new toy with her today. It is a big, pink piggy bank which she showed Felix how to put chunky, plastic coins into. Once all the coins were inside the pig, Felix had to pull down on its' tail and the coins rolled back out of its' mouth. A really important exercise, for children with Down Syndrome, is repetition, so again we focussed on the words "in" and "out" as the coins went in the pig and then back out again. The slot where the coins went was quite narrow and at first Felix needed a little bit of help to put them in correctly. Being the stubborn little man he is, he kept trying and trying until, by the end of the session he could do it by himself. He made definite 'in' and 'out' sounds every now again, so we will keep repeating and repeating the words until he gets them.

Beautiful Miss Ava

Later in the afternoon Felix had his, much anticipated, play date with three of his friends (Jacob, Bailey & Ava). Their Mums read on my blog about Felix's fear of other children, and offered to bring their kids around to our place for a play. They thought that maybe Felix would feel more comfortable in his own environment while he gets used to other kids being around. I'm pleased to say, they were right. Apart from a few little 'coy' moments, and a bit of a cry when I left the room to get someone a drink, he did really well!

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to these lovely ladies. I don't know two of them very well at all, but they went out of their way to help out with Felix and try and make him feel comfortable and I am so grateful to them for that. I look forward to more play dates in the future with them and their gorgeous kids. Thanks girls x x x