Birthday Boy

Beautiful boy

Visiting the sheep with Daniel

Playtime with Amy. We miss you x

Today I'm feeling very reflective. Tomorrow will be Felix's third birthday and, as I think back over the past few years, I feel so proud of our little guy and how far he has come. Watching him develop and grow has been an incredible blessing. Things haven't always happenend quickly, or perfectly, but they have happened. We have watched Felix go from crawling to walking, and these days he is almost running and trying to jump. He can communicate beautifully, both through signing and his new words. He is gentle and kind with other children, and isn't so frightened of them anymore. He has a fantastic sense of humour and knows exactly what to do to make us laugh. He knows when we're upset and will either cuddle us, or clasp our hands into each other's. There have been days when I have felt overwhelmed by the number of different therapies and appointments I've had to drive to. I've been upset by medical professionals and even strangers in the street. But, the positives WAY outnumber the negatives. We have learnt so much since Felix came into our lives. We are so much more patient, we're more tolerant of others and their struggles, and we enjoy the little things in life more than we ever have before.

Bekah, with a tiny Felix

 Joel with Felix and
his son, Noah

This week, we met Felix's new Paediatrician. I must admit, I was a little anxious. I had heard very little about him, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but he was absolutely lovely! He was friendly to Felix and I, but also to Aaron (13 years). I was really impressed with the way he spoke to his Intern as well, after having experiences of Doctors being rude, not only to us, but also to their Interns. He didn't rush us, but took plenty of time to learn all about Felix's medical history, and the amazing little person he is. Medically, he checked out his 'questionable' inguinal hernias and seemed to thing he will definitely need surgery to correct them. I mentioned to him that I was worried about Felix having possible food intolerances (his nappies are revolting). He wants to rule out Coeliac's disease, so he ordered a blood test, which we had done after the Paediatrician visit. As usual, Felix took the blood test in his stride; no tears, not even a whimper. When I was able to put him back down on the floor, he blew the Nurses some kisses, waved goodbye and walked out the door. Such a little champion!!

Fun with Joshua

Sleepy cuddles with Isaiah

I briefly mentioned our chickens, in the last blog. We decided it would be good for Felix to have some more pets (to add to the 3 dogs and 3 cats). I think animals are wonderful therapy for kids and great teaching tools (learning to be gentle, feed them, have responsibility etc). Our ownership of chickens had a shaky start. Unfortunately, 2 days after our first 4 chickens arrived, we were met with a smiling dog in the chicken coop, and 4 very deceased chickens. Once we put up an extra fence and spent the day 'dog-proofing', we picked up another 4 chooks and, I'm happy to say, they are doing very well and giving us lots of lovely eggs. Felix loves the chickens. He has already learnt to shut the gate behind him, and how to throw the chickens their feed. He likes to splash in their water bowl, and thinks the eggs are balls, so we still have a little way to go with our 'learning', but he has been very gentle with them and they are amazingly tolerant of him, letting him follow around behind them.

Our two baby boys, Felix and Aaron

We are currently looking into finding a sheep to add to our menagerie. We don't want one that needs more than one bottle of milk a day. I'm way past the stage of wanting to get up at night to feed a lamb. I know Felix will really enjoy having a wooly friend. Since we moved to the country, he wants to visit the neighbour's sheep all the time. "Sheep" is a word Felix uses all the time now! We will have to see how the dogs like the introduction of a sheep to the backyard. I really don't want it to have the same fate as the first lot of chickens. It will be a very gradual introduction I think!!

I'm still so excited about the way Felix's speech is coming along. He said Bekah's name the other day, "Kah". He also says "Mel" for Mel and "Oh" for Noah. He has been calling Aaron "Aa". He says "cat" and "bubble" perfectly, and when he sees a photo of a sleeping baby, he says "Awww, baby ee" (asleep) and signs 'asleep'. Little tiny sentences, which are so exciting. After shutting the chicken's gate, Felix signs 'bye chicken'. With his fantastic grasp of signing and the development of his speech, it is getting easier and easier to understand what he is saying to us. I'm so unbelievably proud of him! He tries so hard, and I'm inspired by his perserverance.

Our gorgeous birthday boy!

As I sit here typing, Felix is sitting next to me, full of giggles. He is playing on his ipad and finding something absolutely hilarious! Listening to him laugh brings me so much joy. I'm looking forward to seeing his little face tomorrow morning when we sing happy birthday and give him his presents. He's too young to understand just how much he has changed our lives, but I hope one day he will know how very precious he is to us, and how thankful we are that he chose us to be his family. Happy 3rd birthday little guy! I can't wait to see what the next year brings.......

To all of our kids, Daniel, Amy, Bekah, Joel, Joshua, Isaiah and Aaron. Thanks for loving this little guy and for accepting him just the way he is. I know you wouldn't change a hair on his head x x x