Looking a lot like Christmas!

Big Kindy boy

As usual, so much has happened over the past few weeks. With the busy-ness of the Christmas season/end of school year, the days just seem to fly by.

Felix starts early entry at Kindy halfway through next year so he was invited, with all of next years Kindy kids, to come and spend a day at the centre to experience what it's like to be a 'big Kindy kid'. He was a little bit apprehensive when we first got there, pulling his hoodie over his head as far as possible. It didn't take him long to settle and start enjoying all the activities there for him to play with. He spent some time in the library corner, did a drawing and a painting, and played outside. He even managed to climb a very tricky climbing wall on the playground. Eating was the only thing which Felix found a bit uncomfortable. He's starting to eat around other children in his small playgroup, but Kindy was a bit different because there were so many kids. We found a compromise and he sat at a table, by himself, away from the other children and was happy to eat there. I was pleased with that, because at least he felt comfortable to eat even though he could see and hear the other children. He has come a long way in that regard.

Clever at climbing

Unfortunately, Felix's immune system didn't cope very well with being exposed to a large group of children and, by the time he woke up the next morning, he was quite sick. His nose was snotty and he was pretty miserable. As is the usual pattern for Felix, his cold developed into croup. His breathing was laboured during the night and he had that awful barking cough. Nathan and I debated whether to take him to the hospital (38km away), but managed to get him through the night without needing to go. Thankfully, we always have Prednisilone on hand so we started him on that straight away so, by the second night, he was a lot more comfortable. I'm now dreading him starting Kindy because I have a feeling he's going to pick up every 'bug' that is going around and we're going to have quite a long period of sickness until his immune system gets stronger :(

Our clever little man continues to learn and develop. His speech is coming along in leaps and bounds. Recently I had a candle burning during a storm because I thought we may lose power. Felix pointed to the candle and said "ot,ot,ot,ot" and signed 'hot'. He said the same thing last night when he was looking through the oven door. He puffed out his cheeks and blew, like he was blowing out a candle, saying "ot,ot". We were watching the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics and Felix saw the fireworks. He smiled and said "tar, tar" (star) and said "gen" and signed 'again'.

Bit closer to Santa this year

A few nights ago, Felix pointed to his name on his drink bottle and said (phonetic) "X", which is his way of saying Felix. Nathan told me he thought he had read his name. Neither of us were 100% convinced, so we waited for about half an hour and then showed him something else with his name on it. Straight away he pointed to it and said "X" again. How awesome that he is recognising his name!!  He usually looks at photos of himself and says "X" as well, but yesterday he pointed at his photo and said, "me". I can't even explain how exciting those tiny little developmental milestones are to us. With every little bit of progress he makes, we are in awe of him!

Cheeky!

Something very exciting happened this week. We applied to join a Facebook group where people with disabilities are matched with runners, who use them as their inspiration. Felix was matched within a day (the runners sometimes have to wait for over a month!) He now has a 'buddy'; a beautiful American girl who uses Felix as her motivation to run. Already we feel a connection with her and have fun exchanging photos and messages to each other. We can only hope that Felix inspires her as much as he inspires us! We're cheering you on Krystah-Jo!!

Merry Christmas chook

Felix is enjoying all the Christmas preparation. We have made lots of Christmas crafts; his favourites involve painting and making lots of mess. He loves the lights on the Christmas tree and has had some sneaky peeks into some of the gift bags underneath. We are looking forward to having all of our boys (and their partners) here for Christmas plus our extra 'adopted' son. We will be needing to pitch a couple of tents in the backyard to fit them all into our tiny house, so it should be a bit of an adventure. I'm thankful that, even though our girls will be away this Christmas, that they are together. I hope they have a wonderful day (even though they're working), and that they get to make some great memories together. Love you both and will miss you more than you know x x x

Snotty but cute!

I have to have a bit of a brag about a few of our big boys. We were proud to watch Joshua (17) graduate from year 12 a few weeks back. He has worked incredibly hard this year and we think he is amazing! We have our fingers crossed that he gets into one of the University courses that he's hoping for. Isaiah (15) got a great report for year 10 and we're excited for him that he has just got his first part time job as well. We watched Aaron (13) do a presentation for one of his year 8 subjects, this week. He did a fantastic talk, injected with some of his unique humour and, as a result, he got a really good grade for it. Proud of you all!!

Once again, thank you for stopping by to read my blog. I continue to be overwhelmed by the number of people who take the time to have a read and for all the messages of support throughout the year. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and take the time to appreciate the little things in life that give you the most joy. Try not to get caught up in the chaos that is Christmas, but make sure you take a moment to put your feet up, take a deep breath and relax! I'm going to try and put all the worries and stresses of the year aside for the day, and enjoy watching the smile on Felix's face as he experiences the magic of Christmas as only a 3 year old can!  Much love x x x