Halloween Fun

Visiting Daddy at work

It's been a busy few days in our house. Yesterday morning Felix's new Occupational Therapist came to the house to do some work with Felix. She observed him for quite a while because she wasn't sure what he was, and wasn't, able to do yet. She watched him do some walking and climbing, and interacting with some of his toys. The end result was that she was really pleased with his progress, both fine and gross motor skills. She thought his signing was great, and told me that we have a really good set-up as far as toys and activities for Felix to play and learn. She did observe that his upper body strength (especially his shoulders), needed some strengthening (due to his hypotonia), and she was able to suggest some things we can do to help Felix get stronger in that area. She explained that shoulder strength is very important, even when it comes to things like hand writing. I hadn't really thought of that. We are also going to try some different things to help Felix feel more comfortable around other children, like maybe doing some sessions of Occupational Therapy with one other child; not just by himself. She did remind me that Felix is only little and it may just be a bit of a phase he's going through, so not to get too worried about it. I need to keep telling myself that.

Felix with his new haircut

Yesterday was Halloween. Our family has always enjoyed having a bit of fun with Halloween; decorating the house a bit and dressing up in ghoulish outfits. The kids like to do trick or treating but, it's usually pretty rare here in Australia to find homes that are willing to participate, and the kids have sometimes been yelled at for knocking on people's doors. This year was different. A local girl, in our home town, started a Halloween Facebook page where people, who were happy to welcome trick or treaters, could list their street name and families would know where to take their  children. It worked perfectly!! There were lots of homes that got into the 'spirit' of Halloween, and some of the decorations were amazing. I lost count after we had 60 kids come trick or treating at our house. It was so much fun to see all of them in their costumes, and see their smiles when they got their treats.

Had enough of Halloween

How did Felix react to Halloween? He was fine earlier in the day. I dressed him up in his costume and took him to visit Nathan at work. He was happy to walk around the Police station, strutting his stuff and smiling at everyone he saw. He was completely adorable. However, once evening came, he wasn't so impressed. Firstly, we had invited the older kids and their partners over for dinner, plus a few friends, so there were a lot of people walking around our house and making lots of noise. Secondly, there was a constant stream of ghosts and other creatures knocking on our door and shouting, "Trick or Treat". We held Felix in our arms a few times when we answered the door, to give him exposure to something a bit out of his comfort zone, but it became obvious fairly quickly that it was all too much for him. At one point, I walked into the lounge room to find Felix face down on the floor in his typical 'overwhelmed' position. He stayed that way for about 5 minutes until one of his brothers finally convinced him to sit with him instead. When it was finally time for him to go to bed, he jumped out of my arms and into the cot. Too much partying for one little boy!