Crocodiles

Mesmerised

We have such a funny little guy. It was Felix's second group speech session today. He was pretty excited to be going up to the hospital because he loves seeing the Speech Pathologist and playing games with her. His excitement didn't last long because, when we were in the waiting room, one of the other little boys in his class started crying quite loudly. Felix's response was to cover his ears and hide under the chair. Even when it was time to head to the therapy room, he buried his head in my shoulder and refused to look at anyone.

The session started with the 'welcome song'. Felix couldn't bear to miss out, so he kept his head in my lap but still managed to do the signs he knew, and wave to his little friends, by putting his hands behind his back. It looked like he had his arms on backwards and was pretty funny. All the parents couldn't help but giggle at him. He was determined to join in even if he had to reduce the noise by having his head buried. It was great improvisation on his part, and kept us all entertained.

Concentrating

As the session progressed, the same little boy who had been crying earlier, started again. Poor little guy, it just wasn't his day. It was quite noisy, especially as the room is small and Felix really found it hard to cope with. I was so proud of him though because, despite his level of discomfort, he put in an effort to participate in the activities. His favourite thing this morning was choosing from a variety of different pictures of vehicles, and signing what it was and then posting the picture into the crocodile's mouth. The crocodile was made out of cardboard and Felix thought it was great. The Speech Pathologist made it snap its' teeth when Felix put the picture in its' mouth. He loves it when we sign crocodile with our hands, and snap them towards him, so this activity was right up his alley. He hid his face when it wasn't his turn, but always joined in when it was his turn to choose. Baby steps, but we're getting there.

Felix has made such huge improvements in his ability to construct things with blocks. I kept the baby Duplo I had when the other kids were small, and it has been perfect for Felix's hands. He finds the regular Duplo a bit difficult to separate, but the baby ones with the rounded shape have been so helpful for him. He now builds elaborate towers and will concentrate for a long time on what he is making. Last night I noticed him lining up the blocks neatly in a row. He spent ages doing it and seemed quite pleased with himself when they were all lined up nice and straight. He's happy to pack the blocks up when he is finished, but once the toybox is full, he likes to tip them all back out again, so we're halfway there!

Cute little feet butterfly

Today, our new neighbour came in for a visit. Felix loved having a new audience and put on his best performance, smiling and being his usual charming self. He is into counting at the moment and, even though he can't say the words, I know what he is doing. He kept touching our neighbours' shoulder and then coming over to touch mine. I counted 'one' when he touched her, and 'two' when he touched me. He kept going back and forth for a while. He loves it when he knows he's being understood. He was making great sounds, attempting to say the words. After counting for a while, he decided to touch our noses and then his own. I'm glad our new neighbour is quite laid back because Felix didn't respect any personal boundaries today. He wanted to be up close and personal! She didn't seem to mind. I think he had her wrapped around his finger pretty quickly!