The last few days have been a bit of a blur . We have been in the city , while Nathan has been on a course for work . As usual , we have had plenty of running around to do so Felix is pretty worn out . At the moment , he is sound asleep in his car seat , and I 'm sitting in the car taking advantage of my portable internet modem . It 's pretty handy to be able to access the internet and write my blog in the sunshine . We are just waiting for Nathan to finish for the day before we start our long drive home . Felix has enjoyed catching up with his older siblings this week and had a lot of fun spending a whole day with his Granny and Papa yesterday while I was in hospital . I was happy to go in for my surgery , knowing that Felix was so happy and settled . He stood on the front porch and waved as my Dad drove me to hospital in the morning , but it was very half - hearted , because he was enjoying being outside and looking at the birds in the garden . He wasn 't the least bit worried about me leaving ! When I got back to my parents place yesterday afternoon , Mum told me that Felix was asleep . I was so surprised , because he barely ever sleeps during the day any more , and I wasn 't sure where he would have gone to sleep because I had already packed up the porta cot . I walked into the lounge room , to see him curled up on a pillow , with his legs tucked underneath him , sound asleep . He has never gone to sleep in the middle of the floor , especially with other people around , so I couldn 't believe it . He must have been so tired . I 'm glad he was sleeping because I was still pretty drowsy from the anaesthetic , so I went and had a sleep for a while as well . Hanging things from Daddy 's ears When we both woke up , Felix showed me the new bird sound he had learnt at Papa and Granny 's house . They had been watching one particular bird for quite a while , and Felix copied the sound really well . He always signs ' outside ' when we are at my parent 's house because he knows that one of them will take him out to see what they can find in the garden ; sometimes it 's a butterfly or a flower , but mostly Felix enjoys seeing the native birds that fly around there all the time . Nathan and I were out having dinner , earlier in the week , and we were both talking about how easy Felix is to travel with . He is completely happy to travel long distances in the car , he is wonderful to take out to restaurants and he sleeps through the night no matter where we are , even if it 's not familiar to him . He particularly enjoys going out to eat and , if he is allowed to walk around , he will go up to people at other tables to say hello , and will always give them a huge smile . This morning , however , he did nothing for the stereotype of people with Down Syndrome ' always being happy ' . I had to go to the shop to grab a few things and he let me ( and everyone there ) , know that he was not impressed about being at the shop AT ALL . I can assure you , when Felix wants to be vocal , he is extremely loud ! He settled after he spotted a pet store and we went inside . Thank goodness for puppies and kittens ! ! Felix had a wonderful time yesterday . He had his first experience with waves at the beach and he thought it was fantastic ! He bravely walked out deeper and deeper , which was great for strengthening the muscles in his legs . He had to work on balancing and keeping himself steady as the little waves tried to knock him over . Most of the time he managed to stay on his feet , but when he did fall over he really enjoyed it and , by the time we left the beach , he was soaked from his neck down ( we 're still trying to keep those problem ears dry ! ) He enjoyed playing in the sand , and watching all the dogs walking up and down the beach . The highlight of his afternoon was when a military helicopter flew really low over the water , just above our heads . Felix couldn 't take his eyes off it ; he was in awe ! This morning , Felix and I met with one of my lovely friends and her gorgeous little boy , Liam . We were going to meet at a playground outside , but it was pouring with rain so we had to opt for an indoor playground instead . Liam happily toddled off to play on the playground but , Felix was a bit too overwhelmed by all the children , so he had some cuddles with me instead . Even though he was on my lap , Felix loved looking around as the other kids rushed by him . He enjoyed the sights and sounds of the shopping centre , and charmed the ladies sitting nearby , by smiling and waving at them from over my shoulder . I tried to get some photos of Felix and Liam together , but Felix freaked out sitting so close to Liam . I took some anyway , and they 're pretty hilarious . This one , on my blog , is probably the best one . Most of the others , Felix is covering his face with his hands ! Later today , we spent some time with Bekah and Joel ( a couple of Felix 's older siblings ) . I love seeing his face when he sees them ; it just lights up . It never seems to matter how much time has gone by since he saw them last , he is always so happy to see them and throws himself into their arms for cuddles . Felix enjoyed walking up and down the stairs at Bekah 's house . He wants to climb everything these days . It makes me so nervous . Yesterday , Felix climbed into the pram when we were sitting on the grass , near the beach . I wasn 't too worried because he would have landed on the soft grass if he had fallen . Tonight , however , he tried to climb up onto a little concrete ledge at the hotel we were at for dinner . Unfortunately , he felt how hard the floor was when he landed with a ' bang ' on the tiles . Nathan thought I was close enough to grab him , and I thought Nathan was close enough . The result was that neither of us grabbed him and he ended up with a big bump on the side of his head . I 'm so thankful he didn 't split his head ; judging by the look of it , it was pretty close ! After some snuggles , our tough guy was up and about again , looking for his next adventure ! Felix is a huge fan of giving cuddles these days and it 's one of the cutest things I 've ever seen ! He 's gone from just giving a bit of a squeeze , to a squeeze plus a few pats on the back . They are typical ' boy ' hugs ; the sort that male family members give each other when they 're trying to show love , but don 't want to get too gushy about it . His ' blokey ' hugs , coupled with his big , wet ( not so blokey ) kisses are pretty irresistible ! Nate spent a bit of time doing some training with the dogs today . He brought them inside , one at a time , and rewarded them when they followed his instructions . We 're really lucky to have such great dogs , who are so gentle with Felix . Even though two of them are huge , compared to Felix , they seem to know to be gentle when they are close to him and , even if they 're running they 'll stop , to avoid crashing into him . Felix absolutely loves them . He is getting more confident around them and will wrap his arms around each of them and give them one of his pats , like he does on our backs when he hugs us . Felix really enjoyed helping Daddy train the dogs today although , he was encouraging them to be naughty by opening up his mouth near theirs , and trying to get them to kiss him . They were very good , and only snuck in the odd lick every now and again . Later this afternoon , Nathan was pumping up the tyres on Felix 's pram , when he called out to me to come and look at something . I walked down the hall to see Felix , trying as hard as he could , to use the pump . Nathan had shown him how to do it and he was giving it a really good try . The look of concentration on his face was priceless . He was really studying the pump , like he was trying to see how it worked . About an hour later , I noticed that Felix had found the pump again and was sitting next to the pram , putting the nozzle of it up to the valve on the tyre . His attention to detail is amazing . He had obviously really studied how Nathan had attached the pump to the valve , and he was trying to do the same thing . I 'm now having visions of Felix pulling apart things in our house to find out how they work . . . . . Hmmmm . . . . Oh my goodness . . . Felix actually had a day time sleep today ! He had been in his room for an hour and I could hear him playing and laughing . I was about to go in there and get him up , but all of a sudden he went quiet . I peeked into his room and , there he was , fast asleep on the floor , surrounded by his toys . He must have had a sudden wave of tiredness come over him because , usually , he will climb into his bed before he falls asleep . For the first time , in a couple of weeks , I was actually able to get some things done without my little shadow following me . A while ago I mentioned , in my blog , about how Felix and I were videoed , and I was interviewed , for a DVD being put together about ' companionable learning ' . It was a really fun ( even if I had stage fright when I was interviewed ) , and an exciting project to be a part of . Today , the photographer came back to get some more ' still ' photos to enhance some of the things I 'd said when I was interviewed . Felix was like a supermodel for the photographer . I could not stop laughing . He pulled out his whole repertoire of different poses and expressions ; including his classic ' crazy face ' , which had the photographer in stitches . Felix has been a bit cheeky the past few days , acting like a typical two year old . He 's been giving us cheeky grins and then throwing things . He has been getting grumpy if things don 't go his way , or if he gets frustrated . When we were getting to the end of the photos today , Felix got that little twinkle in his eye and started grinning , then he started throwing his toys , rather than playing with them . It 's so hard to keep a straight face and tell him to stop throwing things and to be gentle . He does it all with such a huge smile on his face that it 's almost impossible to tell him off without smiling ourselves . The highlight for today was when I asked Felix to go and get a book , for one of the photos . He walked over , picked one up , and said " Book " . He didn 't sign it , he actually spoke it ; not just once but several times . I couldn 't contain my excitement . I kept saying to the photographer , " He 's never said that before ! " He must have thought I was mad . It was awesome ! Felix carried the book over to Nathan and said " Dad " again as well . I wasn 't sure if he would continue to say , " Dad " after the other day , but he said it about three times today . It 's so exciting to see his speech develop ; it 's like he 's just had a little burst of learning which is fantastic . I wonder what he 'll say tomorrow ! After a day and a half of antibiotics , Felix is a bit better . He 's still getting a fever every so often , but not as high as it was before . He has some energy back , but has been winding down fairly quickly in the evenings . Unfortunately , he 's still decided that he doesn 't need an afternoon sleep and , much as I 'd like to , I can 't really explain to a two year old that he would get better more quickly if he had extra sleep . I don 't like giving any of our kids medication but , on the Doctor 's advice , I 've bought a bottle of Nurofen ( for the first time ever ) , and Felix has been settling really well after having a dose before bed . I 've been giving him the lowest dose , but it seems to be enough to ease any discomfort , and helps him go to sleep and stay settled all night . He 's such a tough guy ! I have to take Felix back to the Doctor tomorrow . He wants to see if he can get a good view of his eardrums because he couldn 't see them when we were there last . If he can 't see past the wax , he wants to talk to Felix 's Specialist to see if he can put some drops in his ears , to dissolve the wax , so he can see his eardrums properly . I 've never heard of it before , but it 's another month before we take Felix back to the hospital again , so it would be good to know what 's going on . Our Grandson , Noah , and his Mummy , are back in town for a couple of weeks , which is so exciting ! Noah came over for a play today , while his Mum caught up with a friend . He gave me the biggest smile when he came through the door ; it was completely adorable . Felix wasn 't quite so excited about having his nephew arrive just as he was about to eat lunch . He also wasn 't excited when Noah decided to try and feed him his lunch . He gave him a very grumpy look and climbed onto the couch to have a sulk for a while . Granted , he 's not feeling the best , so he wasn 't a bundle of laughs before Noah got there either . After a while , Felix warmed up to the fact that Noah was here to stay for a while . He went over and patted him on the head with an " Awwwww " . He even gave him a kiss and sat and played with him for a while . It was great to see them both together again . They are pretty much the same size now ; the only thing different is that Felix looks older in the face . It won 't be too much longer and Noah will be towering above our little shorty . I 'm looking forward to watching them as they grow . I 'm so glad that Noah will grow up seeing people with Down Syndrome as just a ' normal ' part of life . He won 't know anything different because he will have always had Felix around . That goes for our future Grandchildren too . I 'm thankful that there will be a whole new generation of kids , growing up , with an acceptance and a love for people with Down Syndrome . On Saturday afternoon I thought Felix was getting sick , because he 'd been a bit flat , but by later that night , he was full of energy and seemed fine . All day Sunday and Monday he was OK too , with no signs of being unwell . In , what has become the norm for Felix , he suddenly got very lethargic late this afternoon . He lay down on the couch and , later , was laying on the floor . When I went over to see if he was feeling alright , I picked him up and noticed he was burning with a fever again . I still can 't believe how quickly his fevers start . Being already 3pm in the afternoon , I didn 't like our chances of getting him in to see our Doctor , so late in the day , and was dreading the thought of having to sit up at the hospital again . I decided to try and get Felix in to see the Doctor anyway . Thankfully , when I mentioned to the receptionist that he was running a fever ( again ) , she told me to bring him down there in an hour . I think they 're so used to Felix being there with a temperature , that I could probably call them and say , " Can I book him in for the usual . " I knew the Doctor was going to say that Felix has an ear infection . With Felix it is always his ears ! I also had a feeling it would be his right ear again , which it was . The right ear is the one the surgeon had trouble putting the grommet into , and the right one was the one infected last month as well . The Doctor couldn 't see either of Felix 's eardrums properly because there was so much wax in there ( something that has caused issues for Doctors since he was tiny ) , but there was definitely an infection . Poor little guy . . . he never complains when he gets an ear infection . He doesn 't scream or cry ; he just gives us all extra cuddles until we notice he has a fever . He 's such a little trooper ! The highlight of today was when Felix decided to say the word " Daddy " . He has continued to be so stubborn when it comes to saying that word , shaking his head and refusing to say it , even though we heard him say it months ago . I think it was a bit of a game to him . We would say , " Say Daddy ! " , and he would either sign the word or click his tongue and laugh . Today , Nathan was holding Felix and he looked at a photo of Nathan on the wall and just said , " Daddy " , as clearly as anything . Once he 'd said it once , he said it a few more times . Needless to say , Nathan had a big grin on his face . He 's waited a long time to hear him speak that word . Hopefully we 'll be hearing it a bit more over the coming days . Our precious little guy is tucked up in bed now ; fast asleep . Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in quickly and he will wake up feeling much better in the morning . He 's such a sweet little boy and I hate seeing him unwell . It seems to have been a week full of time spent in crowded rooms , with lots of little children running around . Yesterday , Felix and I went to help celebrate Jacob 's second birthday . I 've mentioned Jacob in my blog before . He and Felix are two , of only three , little ones in our town who have Down Syndrome . The other is the beautiful Sophie , who is a little bit older than the boys . We met Jacob at Easter time , when he was a couple of months old , and he and Felix have been little buddies ever since . Jacob is so much bigger than Felix now ( even though he 's 4 months younger ) . It 's hard to believe Jacob was ever such a tiny baby , who needed surgery to repair his heart . He has gone from strength to strength and is doing so well ! Felix was a bit of a leech at the beginning of the party and clung onto me tightly . It was OK , except that it was also about 40 degrees ( celsius ) in the shade and I was melting from his body heat . He was very interested in everything going on around him ; the balloons , the toys and the people walking around , but he wasn 't quite brave enough , initially , to let go of me . One thing that surprised me , however , was that he was happy to eat . Usually when there are other children around , including our baby Grandson , Felix refuses to eat . After I got him a plate of food , he sat next to me and ate quite happily . That was definitely a breakthrough moment for him , especially considering the amount of kids milling around . After a while , Jacob 's Mum asked me to take some photos , so I removed Felix , from my lap , and put him on the ground next to me . I asked a friend if she could look after him for me and I went and took some photos . Just as I walked away , I saw Felix throw his arms around her neck ( her son was in her lap ) , and give her a big cuddle . It 's the first time I 've been able to walk away , when Felix is feeling a bit anxious , and not have him cry . It was great to see that he was comfortable to sit with someone else while I walked away . I think he must be beginning to realise that I 'm still going to come back , so he doesn 't need to be worried . For most of the party , Felix was eyeing off a toy . It was a little table with wire bead mazes all over the top of it . I could tell he really wanted to play with it , but was too shy . I pulled the table a little bit closer to Felix , until he decided it was a safe distance away and , finally , left my lap and stood and played with the beads , pushing them along the wire . It was a fantastic toy ; so colourful , with so many different shapes . Felix thought it was wonderful , and I enjoyed watching him play alongside the other children at the party . He 's slowly growing in confidence . We have our good and our bad days , but there are a lot more positive ones recently . I 'm sure the day will come when he will run into a room , full of children , and be completely comfortable . On that day I 'll probably be wishing he was still snuggled on my lap . Felix was really flat when he woke up this morning . When I went into his room , he was laying on the floor cuddling his monkey and grizzling quietly to himself . I picked him up and carried him to our bedroom where he just snuggled in to me and lay there , perfectly still , having cuddles . Much as I enjoyed cuddling him ( he 's usually too busy these days for more than a quick hug ) , I knew that the only time Felix is that cuddly is when he is sick . When Felix gets sick , it 's generally either an ear infection or croup , so I expected him to go downhill during the day . Instead , he seems to have picked up a little bit so , fingers crossed , it was a false alarm . It was really hot today so it was a good day to get the windows washed and get some Vitamin D from the sunshine . Felix was keen to go outside , so I took the cover off his sandpit and started to wash the front windows . When I looked back at Felix , I saw him squatting down next to the sandpit , with his head resting on the edge of it . He was obviously still feeling a bit ordinary , so I took him back inside and he sat on the opposite side of the windows , smiling at me as I washed them . I 'm sure he stayed a lot cooler than I did outside ! Later in the day , I went out in the backyard to wash the back windows . Felix was feeling much better , so he came outside with me . He 's constantly signing ' outside ' lately , because he wants to play with the dogs , so he was happy to be out there . I filled up his little play table with water and he had a great time playing and splashing . Of course , he found the dog 's bucket of water as well , so he ended up completely soaked . After a while , he seemed to be getting really tired again so I walked over to get him and take him inside . Just before I got to him , he slipped on the wet concrete , fell back and bumped his head really hard . Felix has to have one of the toughest heads because , after a few tears and a big cuddle , I checked his head and he only had a tiny , little red mark there ; no bump and no blood ! After a nice splash in the bath , he was perfectly happy and ready to play again . Each day with Felix brings with it something we find funny . He has such a huge personality and never ceases to make us laugh . Tonight , Aaron had gone to a friend 's house , so we only had Isaiah and Felix home for dinner . It had been such a hot day , so Nathan and I decided to get junk food instead of cooking . I drove up the road to Hungry Jacks ( Burger King , to my American friends ) , and bought our dinner . When I got home Isaiah opened the front door , with Felix up on his shoulders . The second the door opened , I heard the word " Yum " , as loudly as anything , come from Felix . He speaks so few words , that I always think it 's awesome when he uses one of them . We only buy take away food about once a month but , for some reason , it always manages to get a " Yum " out of Felix . It makes my home cooking feel very insignificant when a box of fries can bring so much excitement . He 's such a funny boy ! Just before Felix went to bed tonight , Nathan and I were playing around with the camera on Felix 's ipad . We showed him how to take photos of himself , so he was snapping away like he was the paparazzi . When he looked back at the photos of himself , he kissed his own pictures . Hahaha . . . he has such a healthy self esteem ! After Mr . Vain had finished kissing himself , we took a few photos of the three of us . My favourite is one of the three of us doing Felix 's crazy face . I just had to post it on my blog to share it with you all : ) Yesterday we took Felix back to his dance class for the first time this year . The last couple of times he went , he really struggled in the class . He didn 't cope well with being in such a small space with so many children . Coupled with the loud music , and the kids singing and dancing , and it was Felix 's worst nightmare . For the third activity this week , however , Felix showed us how much he has relaxed being around other children . He coped so much better with dancing , than he did last year . When we first arrived at the dance class , Felix 's automatic reaction was to grab onto me ( including my hair , which I wish I 'd put into a ponytail ) . He looked really nervous as he saw all the other excited , little people filling the room . He tried , with all his might , to climb into my lap ; and I tried , with all mine , to distract him . Thankfully , the dance teacher already had some shakers ( pom - poms ) out for the kids to play with , while we waited for the class to start . I tickled Felix 's toes with one of them , and then shook it on top of his head . Before long , he was giggling and laughing . When the singing and dancing started I stood Felix up , held his arms , and moved them to the music . Every now and again , Felix would try to sit back in my lap but I would just stand him back up and keep singing and moving him around . For some of the dances , I picked Felix up and danced around with him , which he thought was really funny , especially when we had to reach up high and then drop to the ground . He was laughing the whole time . I 'm so thankful that most of the songs were Felix 's favourites , which kept his attention and distracted him from being anxious . We 're still a long way from him dancing by himself , but we 've also come such a long way from the panic of his very first lesson . It 's the little things . . . . I really despise buying toys , just for the sake of buying toys . I try hard to find toys for Felix which have some sort of educational element to them and will challenge him in some way . I 'm a fan of wooden toys . I love how sturdy and well made they are and , call me old fashioned , but I think they look beautiful too . Recently I came across a website selling wooden toys , so cheaply , in a short sale . I bought a couple of things and they arrived today . Now I wish I 'd bought more because the quality is amazing ! Felix is a real whiz at puzzles . He has a few favourite wooden puzzles which he will sit and do over and over again . The one that arrived today is a dinosaur puzzle with beautiful , bright colours . The dinosaur pieces are all flat on the bottom ( and quite thick ) , so if Felix isn 't using them in the puzzle , he can stand them up and play imaginary games with them too ! The other toy that arrived today was a box of wooden , threading beads . I figured it was probably a bit advanced for Felix yet ( the age on the box said 3 + ) , but the price was so good that I grabbed one to keep for when he 's older . When I opened the package today , I thought I 'd let Felix have a look at the beads and show him how to put them onto the string which came with them . He was really interested so , while I did some cleaning up in the kitchen , Felix sat on the floor with the beads . He is so incredibly patient ! I watched as he concentrated on putting the string through the hole in the bead . Did he give up when he couldn 't do it the first , or the second time ? No , he kept trying until he managed to thread one of the beads onto the string . When he did , he looked up at me with a big smile and clapped for himself . Felix constantly reminds me , never to underestimate his ability . We will continue to challenge him . Sometimes he 'll be able to do things straight away , and other times it will take him a long time but , what matters most , is that he tries his hardest and we celebrate every little success ! What a beautiful day ! The weather was perfect , the kids woke up happy , including Felix who was smiling from the second he got up , and Nathan didn 't have to be at work until the afternoon so we were able to spend a relaxing day together . It doesn 't get much better than that ! Nathan and I took Felix to Kindergym this morning . It 's the first time he has gone since the Summer holidays so , as with most things , we were unsure how he would react to being back there again . We finished the year , last year , with Felix starting to be a bit more settled about other children playing near him , but still very cautious . He had become a lot more agile with his climbing and was starting to really enjoy it . Today was amazing ! Felix had a smile on his face the entire time we were there . He participated in ' song time ' , shaking his shaker enthusiastically , and standing up when the other children stood up . He was just like all the other kids , laughing and having fun . He even went and put his shaker back in the box when the singing was finished , which he has never been brave enough to do before . It really was a joy to watch him today . Felix was still slightly cautious , checking the tunnels to make sure there were no other children inside before he climbed through , but for the most part he was really confident . He was happy for the other children to touch him and brush past him . He didn 't even worry when one of the babies started to cry , or when the little girls were squealing ( which is great because he used to just melt into me when it was too noisy for him ) . He has come such a long way . The big trampoline was a huge hit today . Felix had stood , watching a little boy bounce up and down on it , for a while . When he was finished , Felix looked at me and started ' jumping ' ; the top half of his body bounced up and down but his feet were still firmly on the floor ( I think jumping will take a while to learn , but his way of doing it is pretty cute ! ) We figured he was telling us that he wanted to have a go , so Nathan picked him up and lifted him up onto the huge trampoline and got on there with him . What followed was hysterical laughter from Felix as he attempted to jump and bounce on the trampoline . I 'm pretty sure he would have stayed on there the rest of the day if we 'd let him although , I think his stomach would have started to hurt from laughing so much . I haven 't had this happen to me for quite a while , but a few days ago someone said those familiar words , " He doesn 't look too Down 's , does he ? " I 'm never quite sure how to respond when people say that about Felix . I 'm assuming they think it 's a compliment ; expressing that he looks more ' normal ' or ' acceptable ' and not ' different ' . What people don 't realise is that to us , as parents of children with Down Syndrome , we are in love with those unique facial features of our children . We don 't see our children 's features as imperfect or strange , and don 't consider our children to look any more , or any less , like they have Down Syndrome than any other child with Trisomy 21 . It is what it is ; they have Down Syndrome . Much as , I 'm sure , people are trying to be kind when making a comment like that , it 's actually quite hurtful . Imagine if someone came up and said , " Wow ! Your child 's ears don 't look quite so huge today ! " I can guarantee that , as a parent in love with their child , you think those ears are quite beautiful and certainly don 't see them as a fault . Having someone infer that your child looks a little bit less ' ugly ' or ' unattractive ' , is awful ! That being said ; for every one person who makes that ( well meaning ) comment , there are dozens who see Felix exactly as we do ; an adorable little boy ! I have lost count of the beautiful comments we have had from people about how cute Felix is , and how much he makes them smile . I think that making people smile is a gift Felix will have his whole life . He is so full of character and already has so many hilarious quirks . I have no doubt he will bring happiness to everyone he meets . Since having Felix , I have a new appreciation for the ' look ' of those with Down Syndrome ; the stunning almond shaped eyes , the tiny little button nose , and even the protruding tongue which seems so much more prominent while concentrating or tired . I see these features as something beautiful ; in the same way I look at someone with a different ethnic heritage to myself , and marvel at the physical differences between them and me . It 's made me more appreciative of the diversity of the world we live in and , I think , I 'm much more aware of those around me . I can 't get enough of looking into Felix 's eyes . In the sunshine I can see the beautiful Brushfield Spots in them which sparkle like little stars . I love how his short , stumpy fingers comb the hair out of my eyes , and the way he kisses me with his tongue poking out just a little bit . I laugh at how much I have to roll up his pants at the bottom because his legs are so short , and the way his sunglasses slide off his nose because it 's so tiny . But , for all his physical differences , I love how much he looks just like his siblings , with his facial expressions , his hair which grows in many different directions and how skinny he is . I love it when people say he looks just like his Daddy , or looks similar to me . He has so many similarities to all of us , and is much more like us than he is different . Next time you see someone who has Down Syndrome , try to look beyond the features which are different and see how similar they are to the rest of their family . I think you will be surprised ! Felix and I had the best morning . It was the biggest group of kids , at the Special Needs Playgroup , I have ever seen there before . As I 've mentioned , many times , Felix isn 't a huge fan of a whole heap of noisy kids all in the one room , so I wondered how he would go today . The little guy was a bit hesitant when we first arrived , but he warmed up really quickly . His teacher , Jackie , set up a pop up tent and a tunnel , which Felix loves , so he was pretty excited about that and started chatting and smiling . The parents , of the kids in the group , are all really friendly and they love Felix . They always make him feel welcome , by getting him to give them ' high fives ' and bringing him the toys they know he likes to play with . When he 's comfortable with the adults in the room , it makes it easier for him to adjust to all the little people who are there too . He really likes ' mat time ' , and today he was very assertive in expressing how much he wanted it to start . He went and picked up a couple of photos , of other children from the group , and took them up to his teacher indicating he thought it was time to get started . She made the comment that it was the first time she 'd ever been bossed around by Felix ! It didn 't take long for Jackie to round up all the kids and have them sitting on their chairs in a circle , ready for the welcome song ; Felix 's favourite part of the morning . Usually , I sit Felix on my lap and , although he holds on fairly tight to me , he still enjoys participating from the safety of my knee . Today I really wanted to get a photo of Felix sitting on the chair by himself , next to the other children . I sat him on the seat and backed away , sitting in front of him . He leaned towards me , with his arms out , but Jackie distracted him by starting to sing the welcome song to the first child in the circle . To my absolute amazement , he relaxed back into the chair with a big smile . I was so excited , I started snapping away with my camera , only to realise I had left the memory card at home . . . . Oops ! Thankfully , the sister of one of the other little boys in the group , came to my rescue and took a few photos of Felix for me . Felix continued to sit beautifully the whole time . He got down from his chair and put his photo on the board and then happily sat back on the chair again . When the group sang ' Incy , Wincy Spider ' Felix signed ' spider ' , running his fingers up his arm . I had a few tears in my eyes , seeing him sitting up on the chair , like an independent little boy , participating enthusiastically . It was the first time I had ever seen him so relaxed and attentive , without having a family member holding him . It 's the small milestones that still continue to encourage me . There were so many special moments between the children this morning . Felix 's little friend , Sophie , hasn 't been able to come near Felix in about a year without him pulling away from her , or hiding his face . She sat next to him during mat time today , touching him on the arm occasionally , and Felix was totally fine with it , even reaching out to touch her at one point . It was fantastic ! Another little boy from the group , who has Autism , often won 't interact a lot with the other kids . This morning he went and sat down next to Felix , on the step outside , looked at Felix and said , " Hi " . It was so cool to see him relating to Felix , and equally great to see Felix totally relaxed about another little boy sitting right next to him ! To parents of ' typical ' kids , this wouldn 't seem like a big deal but I could tell , when I looked at the other little boy 's Mum , that she was feeling the exact same way that I was ; so proud . When we left group this morning , Felix gave out cuddles , high fives and , best of all , he gave Sophie a kiss . He leaned in and gave her a sloppy one , right on her eye . She looked a bit disgusted and wiped it off , but then she puckered up and leaned forward to give him one on the cheek . He looked pleased , but still wiped it off ; I mean , he wouldn 't want to catch girl germs , would he ? We 've just got back from a farewell . The boys came with us and had a great time hanging out with the other kids there , and playing on the jumpy castle . They were well and truly worn out by the time we got home . I expected Felix to be grumpy and miserable tonight . He didn 't have a day sleep again today and was getting quite irritable by the afternoon . Instead , he was just a delight ! He smiled and waved at everybody . He gave out high fives , and showed off with his signing . He ate dinner beautifully ; eating some of his own and sharing some of ours as well . He prompted conversation with a few people , about Down Syndrome , and I was really pleased to have some positive discussions with people about life with Felix . I was encouraged to be told some great stories about other people , with Down Syndrome , as well . One person even said to me that the world would be a better place if there were more people with Down Syndrome in it . That was pretty awesome to hear , and quite different from some conversations I 've had . It definitely put a smile on my face ! Recently , a friend of mine ; a young woman , with a gorgeous little boy who has Down Syndrome , just announced her second pregnancy . I was horrified to find out that , instead of congratulations , several people had made comments to her such as , " When do you have your testing done to find out if everything is OK this time ? " I was so disappointed to hear that people had made such insensitive comments . I really urge anyone , who knows someone in a similar situation , to offer your congratulations , just as you would to anyone else announcing such exciting news . To make comments , like the ones my friend has received , is like telling someone that the child they already have , who is much loved and much wanted , is less than ideal . If your pregnant friend wants to discuss testing , or the possibility of the child they are carrying having a similar condition , it is up to them to broach that subject with you . Be excited , be positive and be encouraging ! I really hope my friend has a healthy pregnancy and a baby with no health issues but , I know for a fact , that if her second baby has Down Syndrome ( or another disability ) , it will be one of the most loved and most wanted babies ever born . I am so proud of all she has done to raise awareness for Down Syndrome and Heart Kids . She may only be young , but she has done more for people living with disability or heart issues than most people will do in a lifetime ! ! Tonight , as I said goodnight to our perfect little man , I was overwhelmed with love for him and felt an immense pride . He is beyond amazing to me . I love him more than I could ever say . When Felix woke up this morning , he had a revolting nappy which is not entirely unusual for him . Since he 's been toilet training , he tends to hang on until he 's got a nappy on before he goes . This morning , however , he was crying and flinching when I picked him up . When I took his nappy off , I noticed his little bottom was bright red and looked so sore . Poor little man ; that has never happened before . At first , I wasn 't sure what would be causing such a horrible rash , but then I remembered that , over the past couple of days , we have given Felix milk to drink , instead of diluted juice . We stayed away from cow 's milk for a long time , and only used soy or lactose free milk , because he used to vomit a tiny bit each time he had cow 's milk on his cereal . In the past few months , we have tried him on cow 's milk in his porridge again and he has been fine with it , so I thought I 'd try him on some milk drinks . After seeing his reaction today , I think we 'll be putting him back on soy milk for a while ! ! I was SO happy tonight because Felix actually ate all of his dinner . He has been so fussy lately . I know that 's pretty typical for a two year old , but it 's also frustrating for us , as parents , trying to get him to eat something nutritious . He seems to think he can survive on peanut butter covered rice cakes and bananas ! For the past few weeks , Felix has refused to be spoon fed by us . He clamps his mouth shut and shakes his head from side to side , ' No ' . I wouldn 't mind , if he was happy to spoon feed himself ( which he can do quite well ) . Instead , he has just played with his food ; happily finger painting the tray of his high chair with it , and occasionally licking his fingers . I 'm pretty sure that , unless he is absorbing food through his skin , he 's not getting too much of it into his mouth . Tonight , we had a BBQ and Felix ate most of a sausage with sauce , some onion relish , potatoes , raw tomato and cucumber . I couldn 't believe my eyes ! Feeding children with Down Syndrome can be quite problematic due to some anatomical differences , poor muscle tone ( affecting swallowing and chewing ) and general developmental delays . A lot of children with Down Syndrome may choke or gag as they eat , sometimes aspirating on their food . Some of my friend 's children , who are the same age as Felix ( or older ) , are fed through a peg ( a tube which goes through the abdomen and into the stomach ) and are completely ( or partially ) nil by mouth . Others are still only eating pureed food or soft lumps . Some are eating everything that other children their age are eating . Felix doesn 't have too many issues with food but does tend to choke a lot more easily than our other children did . We still don 't give him any hard fruits or vegetables , like apples or carrots , unless they are grated , and he doesn 't manage to eat meat unless it is minced up , or in tiny pieces and , even then , only one piece at a time . We have always had a hard time finding a cup which is suitable for Felix to drink from and , when he first weaned himself from the breast ( at 18 months ) , he refused any liquid at all . The cups we eventually found were great , when he had less teeth , but once he had more , he chewed the spout shut so he couldn 't get any of the drink out of it . Now , he prefers to drink from a straw , but still gags quite regularly because he hasn 't worked out how to swallow the liquid and breathe at the same time . I still find drinks , such as smoothies , are much easier for Felix to handle than any thin liquids , like water or juice . I gave Felix a bath after dinner tonight . He was wearing quite a bit of his tomato sauce from dinner , and I 'm sure he had half of the sand pit through his hair . His bottom was still looking very sore as well , so I figured a soak in the tub might soothe it a little bit . When I lifted him out of the bath , he looked at himself in the mirror , like he usually does , but tonight his reaction was a little bit different . He actually recognised that it was himself in the mirror , and not just another baby . He blew kisses to his reflection , but then he blew kisses , using my mouth , while he studied the mirror . I could see his little mind ticking over as he did different motions with his hands , sometimes looking at his real hand and sometimes looking at the one in his reflection . I love it when he learns new things . I have a feeling he 'll be spending a lot more time in front of the mirror over the next few days . It will be just like old times . . . . We 've just got back from another trip to the city for Felix 's hospital appointments . He actually slept two out of the four hours each way this time . I think he must have been catching up on some sleep since he hasn 't been having naps during the day at home any more . He usually stays awake for the whole trip , so it was pretty cute to see him sound asleep , with his little mouth hanging open and his legs crossed , tucked up on his seat . He looked so peaceful , and remarkably flexible ! Felix had two post - surgery appointments ; one with the Ear , Nose and Throat Specialist , and the other with the Opthalmologist . We had some mixed results . The Opthalmologist was really happy with Felix 's eyes . The probe of his tear duct seems to have been successful . One of his eyes still gets a tiny bit watery , particularly in the wind , but it hasn 't been sticky or runny since a couple of days after the surgery , which is great . The study of his optic nerve showed that the back of his eyes look exactly as they should and his vision is fine . We were expecting him to need glasses , like the rest of his siblings and Nathan , but it appears he has perfect vision like me ! What are the chances of that ? At least we have one less pair of glasses to buy for the time being . The appointment with the Ear , Nose and Throat Doctor was a little bit frustrating . The Doctor seemed very nervous and her hands were shaking as she tried to look in Felix 's ears . She appeared a little bit annoyed when she told us she was unable to get a good view of either of his eardrums . She mentioned that his ' good ear ' ( not the one the Surgeon had trouble with ; and the one our GP thinks the grommet has fallen out of ) , was a bit " mucky " ( her word ) . She wrote us a prescription for ear drops and said to use them , not straight away , but ' when ' he got another infection . She also made an appointment for him to come back in another 2 months and said , " We 'll see how many infections he gets between now and then " . Nathan and I are a little bit frustrated that we didn 't question her more about it . We probably should have asked to see another Doctor for a second opinion , and see if they could see his eardrums . After all , we had just travelled 4 hours for the appointment and her advice was unclear . Hanging out with Cate We are still learning to be assertive when it comes to Felix 's medical treatment . I guess we are quite new to having to deal with so many different therapists and specialists . We know that we need to be Felix 's voice and his biggest advocates but , sometimes the labels ' Doctor ' , ' Surgeon ' and ' Specialist ' can still be intimidating . It 's easy to assume that , just because they have the title , they know more about our child than we do . In future , we will try to be ' politely ' assertive if we have questions regarding Felix 's health . Although we only had a quick , overnight trip to the city , we were able to catch up with some of our family , which was really special . Daniel ( our eldest ) , and his fiancee , Cate , drove into the city last night to have coffee with us at our hotel . We 're so thankful that they were able to come and see us , and it was nice to have a quick catch - up with them . This morning , our daughter , Bekah , our son , Joel , our gorgeous Grandson , Noah , and his beautiful Mum , Mel , caught a tram into the city and met us for breakfast . It was so good to see them and to give our little man a big snuggle . Felix was so excited to see them all and loved it when they came and sat in the waiting room at the hospital with us as well . He was kept very well entertained , surrounded by so many people who love him . Stories with his nephew , Noah , in the waiting room The day got even better when , between appointments , we were able to go and meet our brand new baby niece in the Neonatal Unit . She was born 8 weeks early and is a tiny bundle of perfection . It was great to see Nathan 's sister and share in her excitement . There is something so beautiful about the face of a Mum who has just brought another precious life into the world . My , much missed , friend , Deb , also drove into the city to have a quick lunch with us before Felix 's second appointment . Felix threw himself into her arms and had a beaming smile on his face . She even shared her coffee froth with him , just like old times . Daniel 's fiancee , Cate , happened to be working at the hospital today , so she was able to join us for lunch too , which was great . Felix has taken quite a shine to Cate and she went home with some sticky toddler fingerprints on her sunglasses , and some of Felix 's pizza slobber on the top of her water bottle . She 's definitely one of the family ; there 's no turning back now ! Today was Felix 's first day back at his Special Needs Playgroup . It was also Superbowl , so it was always going to be a busy day for us . Superbowl is a bit of a tradition for Nathan and I . We always make a day of it ; cooking some yummy snacks and just hanging out for the day . Being Felix 's first Playgroup , after a two month break , it was really important to take him to that as well . Thank goodness for a ' record ' button on our cable TV ! I got Felix dressed into his NFL jersey ( Even though our team wasn 't in the Superbowl , we still wanted to get into the spirit of it ) . I told him we were going to Playgroup to see some of his friends . He looked at me blankly because he hasn 't been there for such a long time , and can probably barely remember it . When I said we were going for a drive in the car , he was pretty happy about that and was keen to toddle out the front door and into the car . I 'm so glad he loves the car because of all the long drives we have to do . It took Felix a little while to warm up at Playgroup . He 's still usually a little bit thrown when there is a room full of other children , playing and squealing . One little girl , in particular , has quite a shrill scream which makes Felix tense up and hold his ears . I 'm thankful , however , that it didn 't make Felix throw himself into my arms , like it used to . After a while , he settled a bit and was happy to start playing with some of the toys there . He particularly likes the metal frame with wooden beads on it . He pushes the beads up and down and round the bends . He was smiling and laughing , and thoroughly enjoying himself . During song time , Felix got really involved and must have remembered what to do , because he proudly took the photo of himself and put it on the board when it was his turn . Every little glimmer of confidence makes me so happy , so I couldn 't contain my smile today . I had to cut Playgroup short this morning to get home and watch the Superbowl with Nathan . Felix quite enjoys watching the football too , so he was happy to sit with us . He loved our array of snacks , and had his own lunch box of goodies to enjoy . We tried to put him down for a day time sleep at 12pm but , once again he was still playing after an hour , so we got him up and had a fun afternoon playing with him instead . I still can 't believe how suddenly he has given up his day sleeps ! At dinner time tonight , Felix was exhausted . He wasn 't interested in one of his favourite meals ; a roast dinner with lots of gravy . He picked most of it up off his plate and moved it onto the tray of his high chair , refusing to eat any of it . He didn 't have a tantrum , but he was just a bit miserable because he was so tired . I finally got him to eat a rice cake with some peanut butter on it , but he was falling asleep eating it . I 'm not quite sure how he finished it in between nodding off . We put him to bed as soon as he was done and , believe it or not , he STILL didn 't go to sleep . He played in his room for another hour and a half ( until 8 . 30pm ) before there was silence . A few minutes ago , I crept in there to tuck him in . It was the first time I 've ever found him asleep somewhere other than his bed . He was sound asleep , on his belly , in the middle of the floor . Poor kid was too tired to climb back into bed . Hopefully the later nights might mean he 'll sleep in longer than 5 . 30am . . . . I can hope ! ! In an attempt to tire Felix out , so he would have a day sleep today , I took him down to our local gardens for a long walk this morning . He loved being out in the sunshine . He was excited to see people walking their dogs , signing ' dog ' every time one walked past . Being his usual charming self , Felix came across a couple of female joggers on the path , and got them to stop and talk to him . They stood and smiled at Felix and told me how adorable he was . It made me puff out my chest a little bit ; I 'm always so proud to show off our little man . We stopped at the playground , but Felix wasn 't too sure about that . There were a lot of kids running around , squealing and talking to each other . I think the noise level was a little bit too much for him . It took him a while for him to feel comfortable enough to explore but , eventually , he did . He particularly loves slides , so I lifted him up and helped him slide down until my arms were worn out . I wish I could have got a photo of his beaming smile , but my hands were otherwise occupied . He 's going to love it when he has enough dexterity to go down the slide by himself all the time . I can see a lot of time playing on the playground in the future . My best laid plans weren 't terribly successful . I kept Felix up until 12pm , thinking he would be well and truly worn out and would fall straight to sleep when I put him to bed . He looked so sleepy ; his eyes were red and puffy , and he was yawning and rubbing his eyes . I was pretty excited , thinking that I might get a couple of hours to get some things done today , without my little helper . It wasn 't to be . After an hour , I could still hear Felix playing with his toys and having a great time . Little monkey ! I opened his door and he wandered out , totally bright eyed and happy , ready for his afternoon adventures . This afternoon , while Nathan and I were doing weights in our shed , Felix came out there with us . It was a good Physio session for him , climbing over the weights and the barbells . His style is very unique ; opting to go backwards over the bar , feet first . He is learning to problem solve really well and concentrates hard on navigating himself through obstacles . He even managed to keep his balance when the dogs rushed past him and almost pushed him over . At one point , Felix climbed into the middle of the trap bar and leaned forward , picking up the bar with his hands . He pulled so hard ( the little veins on his neck were popping out ) , until he managed to make the bar move upwards ( it could roll because of the weights on each side ) . He looked up at us with a look of amazement on his face . It was so cute . Anyone would think he had lifted the whole thing by himself . Nathan 's pretty excited at his interest in weight lifting . If Felix ever makes it to the Special Olympics , I think that might be his thing ! I 'm a proud Mum to 8 amazing children . My youngest son , Felix , has Down syndrome . I am passionate about raising awareness and increasing acceptance of people with Down syndrome . I feel privileged to have Felix in my life and have learned , and are continuing to learn , so much from this incredible little person .