Old MacDonald

Getting so clever at building

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. I get really excited to make holidays special for our kids and, with Felix being at such an inquisitive age, it's extra fun. I decided to do a trail of tiny Easter eggs for Felix to follow, rather than an Easter egg hunt this year. The older boys asked to be woken up so they could watch Felix follow the Easter egg trail; it was nice to see them so excited for him. It was every bit as good as I had hoped. Felix's eyes couldn't have been any wider when he saw all the little eggs. We gave him a basket to collect the eggs in, and he started picking them up, one by one. It didn't take long for him to catch on and he started picking up handfuls at a time. He followed the trail (a very long process), all the way up to the top of his little playground to find his chocolate bunny. The funny thing was, he wasn't really interested in eating any of the chocolate. He preferred the fried eggs we cooked, later, for breakfast!

I took Felix to see the GP yesterday, to get the results of his ultrasound. He doesn't have a hernia, but will still require surgery to close off gaps in his inguinal walls (just like Isaiah and Aaron's surgery). Apparently, in the womb, after the testes have descended, the inguinal walls are meant to close over, but Felix's have stayed open. What that means is that he could develop a hernia, or his testicles could move into the gap and then get stuck. Thankfully, the GP doesn't think the surgery is urgent, but he would like Felix's Paediatrician make the final call as to when he needs it done. That means Felix has one less general anaesthetic, in the next couple of months, which is a relief! Hopefully we will be able to spread the three of them out over a period of time.

Love our funny boy!

Last year, Felix's Great-Grandma gave him a glove that has an animal on each finger, to sing Old MacDonald had a Farm. He has always loved it, but he has just started interacting with it and 'singing' all by himself. The other morning, I was in my room and I could hear Felix making some funny noises at the other end of the house. I listened more carefully and was sure he was saying "Ee,ei,ee,ei,oh". I snuck into the lounge room and found him, with the glove on his hand, 'singing' Old MacDonald. It was the cutest thing. He was trying really hard to put up the finger, with a particular animal, and then sign the animal's name while singing along. It's so beautiful to watch him entertaining himself, and to incorporate signing, singing and fine motor skills, is just awesome. He has come such a long way!

Singing Old MacDonald

Felix loves music. It's a well known stereotype that people with Down Syndrome all love music. I'm sure they probably don't. After all, people with Down Syndrome have their own unique likes and dislikes, but Felix does nothing to break that stereotype. He has loved music since he was a tiny baby. He even danced to it in my womb. I felt privileged to squeeze in a really quick (45 minute), visit to Early Intervention at Down Syndrome South Australia, before Felix's last hospital visit. They were having their last session with a wonderful team of people, using movement, music and dance to work with the children. It was so much fun. Felix was a little bit shy to start with, but by the end he was really getting into it, dancing and moving to the music. I was so disappointed that we had to leave. I hope we get the opportunity to participate in a similar class in the future.

Today, Felix had some group therapy at the hospital. His favourite part of the session was the singing and, wouldn't you know it, they sang Old MacDonald had a Farm. He didn't sing out loud, but he moved his mouth, to the parts he knew, and signed the animals. He chose a cat first and then a horse. Jacob (who is 4 months younger, and also has DS), chose a crocodile, which Felix thought was pretty cool. There was a lot of snapping of hands and giggling as we sang about Old MacDonald's crocodile. The very first song, was the 'Hello' song. Felix was being shy and had his head buried in my lap with his hands underneath him. When we sang hello to Felix, I could see him signing his name even though his head was still in my lap. Then when he had to wave hello, he reached his arm behind his back and waved, without looking. It was so funny. He's such a crazy character sometimes. He may be tiny, but he makes up for it in personality!

Following the Easter egg trail