A Wet Weekend

Paul looked after the kids this w/e while I went to an excellent course run by CYFS (the agency we foster for - equivalent of UK social services). It was called child health but also covered Attachment Disorders and made some of the behaviours we see easier to understand - and even a little easier to cope with.
I also met a lovely lady who has fostered 71 children and is still smiling!

When I got back it was still just about light so we went to Feilding to see our old house on its new site, it looks quite big there.
We also visited the old site which has now been cleared. Someone was there in a van gathering wood while his son played in the playhouse. Paul went over to say it was quite alright to take the wood as the site clearers couldn't put it in the dump they use - only to find the guy was not actually taking wood but delivering it - it was the pegs that will mark out where our concrete block should go - so it looks like we should soon have some progress on our new house!

Lily went with Sam to see the new Batman movie on Sunday so there was only Paul and Noah for lunch (J was feeling unwell and didn't want to eat) so they ended up having fishfingers and beans for Sunday Lunch. Paul said Joe did send a text to ask about coming but when Paul texted back what was on the menu Joe didn't reply!

Isaac's development, Noah's party

We have had therapy or health visits for Isaac almost every day this week;

Tuesday was the physio who managed to repair Isaac's standing frame (Noah pulled this apart as one early morning activity and when Paul tried to put it back together he managed about 25 different nuts and bolts but there were 5 pieces left over and the knee supports sagged forwards and the whole frame gradually squashed under Issac's weight)

Isaac showed off how he could stand up from the floor and she was most impressed and will order orthopedic supports to go in his shoes.

Wednesday was the eating clinic which was cancelled then the dentist in the afternoon. She said Isaac has a congenital absence of two of his incisor teeth at the bottom making the canines prominent which is why his teeth look like sharks teeth. She says the teeth look healthy though which is great as we can't get a toothbrush in to brush them because of his issues with things in his mouth.

Thursday was ABCD therapy group (Aiming for the Best for Children with Down Syndrome) Isaac is among the oldest there now - there are two 1 year old girls, a one year old boy and a 6 month old boy (who's mum had driven for over 2 hours to get there). This was a great place for Isaac to show off his new standing skill - although continuing to do it even through music time wasn't so great.

Today the Speech language therapist and early intervention teacher visited, followed by the home care nurse. everyone is impressed by his progress, even though he still has not managed to get back up to the 11kg he once weighed.

Isaac is certainly much more interested in things now and you can't leave him alone for long . He proved this when I heard him in the kitchen - I went to see and found a boy stuck in our island unit while everything that had been on the unit was on the floor!


Isaac stuck in the kitchen island unit!

Isaac also enjoyed the birthday party Noah went too, as lots of the older boys played High 5 with him. These kids are so natural at including children with special needs, most of them are "buddies" for Noah or others with special needs.

centre of attention playing Hi 5 with Noah's classmates

Noah was pleased to give D his present - I was impressed how all the children had found appropriate presents - soft toys, bells and simple books.





Noah enjoyed the bowling and was cheered by all around him - he was also very keen on all the racing car arcade games that were there too. Noah and Isaac wore their matching tops that I bought from Disneyland Paris.

hair cuts

For some reason, Noah often says "Isaac is a sheep." Over the last few weeks this has begun to make more sense as Isaac's hair has grown longer and longer and he has come to resemble a sheep somewhat.

It is a 3 person job to cut his hair, but last night Paul finally decided it had to be done.

Isaac showed us in no uncertain terms that he hated having it cut.

But afterwards, once he stopped crying, had a bath and hairwash and a cuddle in the towel, he forgave his dad and looked very smart.

Then this morning I got a surprise morning off when the speech therapist suggested it would be best if Isaac didn't attend his messy play feeding therapy group as he had a cold - the physiotherapist who visited yesterday had told her - being the week after the school holidays we have loads of therapy visits to make up for 2 weeks off.

Like Isaac, my hair also badly needed cutting and I was lucky enough to find a hairdressers that could do it today. I behaved much better than Isaac and now I have a few less grey hairs and a much shorter cut.

I asked Noah if he could see anything different about my head and he just looked at me and laughed - I hope Paul will be able to do better than that when I ask him!

Noah's party Invite

Noah was delighted to get back to school and be given a party invitation for D's 10th birthday . He wanted to show it to everyone we met. He has been to very few parties so is already excited.
I think most of the kids with special needs have been invited - they are going ten pin bowling and having pizza on Friday after school.

Noah hasn't been bowling before but I think they can put up buffers along the side of the alley and a slope that you can roll the ball down - this means that the most disabled children just have to lift their hand off the ball to play.
D is one of the severely disabled children - he doesn't walk or talk and I don't think I've even seen him smile or look at things. He does like shaking things though.

I found it hard to think of a suitable birthday present that isn't too babyish, but shopping this morning I found a Little Tikes hammer designed for pre-schoolers that has a nobbly rubber handle and makes woodwork noises when you shake it. I think Noah will like it too - I hope I can persude him to give it to D.

A wet Sunday afternoon

Sam and Anika came for lunch which was great as we hadn't seen them for about a month.

We were racing to get ready as Sunday lunch often ends up really late and J was being picked up for an access visit at 1.45. Nearly ready at 1.15 and someone shouts "There's a car outside" Somehow we'd got the time wrong, and the access supervisor was waiting so instead of having roast chicken and the works, I had to make J a quick cheese sandwich to eat in the car.

Paul used this time with J away to give Noah some undivided attention and the two of them went to a model railway exhibition that was on this weekend and is only held each two years. Paul said Noah was so well behaved he just quietly followed all the tracks round then stood and watched the trains, while making an "aahing" noise to himself.

Hannah and Lily persuaded Sam to give them a lift to town. Lily had left her school bag behind in Farmers and wanted to pick it up before going back to school. Hannah and her flat mate had decided they need a pet so wanted to look at fish.

So I was left with an afternoon to myself with Isaac - well actually with a table to clear of a full Sunday lunch and a dishwasher to load! I decided to go for a walk as I've been rather trapped with all the kids over the holidays. Once I'd made this decision and was looking forward to it, it started to pour with rain, so I postponed my walk and read a library book instead.

We finally got out just before it started getting dark and I managed to remember the camera and get a photo of the site of our old house. It's about a 20 minute walk from this one. The site is supposed to be cleared over the next few days, so this is the last time it should look so bad - the dismal weather didn't help either.

You can see Isaac in his pushchair (feeling pretty fed up) the remains of the steps to the front door, the concrete slab the garage was on and the playhouse Paul built at the back of the garden.

Isaac can stand

For a while Isaac has pulled himself to stand on soft surfaces such as our bed, but this afternoon he pulled himself to stand in the lounge. When he realised the applause this got - and not just from him - he did it time after time (although still very hard to catch on the camera!)

here he goes

and proud to be standing (Noah is in the background trying on Hannah's shoes for some reason!)

but oh the exhaustion afterwards!

Oscar night

look how beautifully Hannah and Diana decorated the tables



We enjoyed the Down syndrome “Oscars”. Hannah and Diana had gone to a lot of trouble decorating the tables, and thinking up categories so each teenager got an award. There were categories for best basketball move, best smile, best lifeguard (I didn’t quite understand this as there didn’t seem to be a swimming scene in the film but the kids had no problem!), best dance moves and Lily got best celebrity as she’d been in the newspaper.
Some of the parents had dressed up for the occasion and were able to supply applause for all the Oscar acceptance speeches. These were very similar to a genuine acceptance speech as they tended to go “I’d like to thank my mum and dad …”
Although some of the kids had very poor speech which we couldn’t understand, all but one managed to say something even if it was only the name of their favourite movie.

J had a great time helping clear the tables and getting praised for her help and being complimented on her beautiful new dress.
Noah ran around a bit and tried to copy the Oscar nomination speech up on the stage afterwards. I brought out his Christmas tree decoration to calm him down. This is a silky red tassel he can run through his fingers – I keep it in my bag and it only comes out when he sits still. We made a prompt getaway after the desserts as it was well past bedtime and Noah was fast approaching his best before date.



three matching children just before we left

Lily and some of her friends dressed for the occasion