Lots of Laughs

Felix has been so hilarious today. From the second he woke up, he's been an absolute joy. He climbed into bed with me this morning, faced me and looked me straight in the eye. Then he lifted both his arms above his head, smiled and grunted at me. The little monkey wanted me to pull the quilt up over his head so he could play under there like he was in a tent. He was in fits of laughter inside his little cave. There's nothing I like better than to hear him laugh that hard; it's such a beautiful sound!

I found Felix playing quietly in the lounge room today. He was making cute little whispering sounds under his breath. He had spread out a little piece of cloth he had found, so it was nice and flat on the table. As I watched him, he carefully sat a small teddy bear on top of the cloth and was attempting to sit a second one next to it. He was being so patient as he tried to bend its' legs and get it to sit up by itself. It sounded like he was talking to them as he did it, which was completely adorable!! I love that he is using his imagination so much lately; it's such a vital part of his development and he has been spending at least a small part of each day in imaginative play. He got a tea set for his birthday, and we bought him some mini saucepans and pretend fruit and vegetables from Ikea. They have become his favourite things to play with, and it's really exciting to watch him having a tea party by himself, or sharing with his toys or his brothers. Nothing more delicious than an imaginary cup of tea.

Our funny boy is usually demanding his dinner by about 5.30pm, but tonight he was still just playing and being a bit of a clown. He found the cloth shopping bags we use when we do the food shopping and he started pulling them out and throwing them around. When he found the biggest one (which can be zipped shut at the top), he climbed inside of it, put his head down on his lap and pulled the top of it shut. We couldn't see him at all; he had folded himself up like a little contortionist. It never ceases to amaze me how flexible people with Down Syndrome can be. Felix is like a little rubber man the way he can bend and flex.

Today's fact for Down Syndrome Awareness month:      The reason why the medical term for Down Syndrome is Trisomy 21, is because there are 3 copies of the 21st chromosome in people with Down Syndrome whereas the rest of us only have 2 copies of the 21st chromosome.