The Nerd Fest!

Ben in his costume with some evil character.
Ben with the Princess Leias

Ben with another Storm Trooper and Darth Maul.

Ben with Jango Fett?

Ben before he was brave enough to get his costume on.

Okay, now I'm scared- I have far too much knowledge of Star Wars for my own good! This is the result of having a 5 year old who is Star Wars mad!

As you can see, Neil took Ben to Armageddon over the weekend- a Sci-Fi Expo on in Christchurch. Glad it wasn't my job! He had a great time, and had lots of people wanting to take his photo. Thanks to Uncle David and Aunty Nic for bringing him the costume all the way from the UK for Christmas :)

One Proud Mummy

Master Luke had a fabulous session at the Champion Centre on Friday, and I couldn't have been any prouder! We started with Pip the physio, and Luke has been working on sitting (which he is technically capable of and totally uninterested in!), crawling up on all fours and pulling himself up to stand. Well, he sat on the mat with the others like he had been sitting still for months. Usually he lies straight down on his tummy and commandos off somewhere. Then he pulled himself up at the bench to standing from a side-sitting position, and to show it was not a fluke did it again straight away. By this stage I had tears in my eyes- can be a bit of a leaker I'm afraid. But wait, there's more... he then did two proper crawl steps, witnessed by Paddie the SLT and myself. So I was beside myself with pride.

Next we worked with Gae the EIT and he proceeded to post items 'in' to two different pieces of equipment, an activity that has previously seemed to bore him rigid and in which he has show very little interest. He also did really well at lifting things up to get off a ring etc, and was laughing and smiling all the while and being generally cute.

Then we had Paddie and I had lots of good things to report about his understanding of language and how he interacts with us, so a high score all round.

It was a fabulous session, and nearly our last in this clinic, as Luke graduates next term from Babies into whatever it is that comes next- bigger babies? crawlers? movers and shakers? I'm not sure. It has been great to see him start to make such progress so quickly, and it's been a pleasure, so thank you ladies for all your work and support of Luke. It's much appreciated.

And what happens after he has finished school?...

I was recommended this article in The Aucklander, about life after school for those with DS. It's a great story, so have a look. Hopefully there will be lots of options for Luke by the time we get to that stage of his life :) http://www.theaucklander.co.nz/

As for the wee man himself, he now has quite a few words including up, quack, more, mum, dad etc, commando crawls around the house at the speed of light and is NEVER where you left him, and his therapy focus for physical therapy is to practise kneeling and then standing up at the couch, and to climb (yes climb!) up onto the couch. He can now side sit and play, and although he is physically strong enough to sit he refuses to do so- places to go, things to do. So he is flying along.

Look- No Training Wheels

Neil taught Ben how to ride his bike without the training wheels over the weekend. I have to admit I was sceptical at first, but they both did a great job, and in only about 30 minutes Ben had it sussed. He is super proud of himself and is now nagging us to let him ride to school...

Inside continued

Our ensuite
Our bedroom

The family bathroom

Luke's Bedroom

Ben's bedroom

Inside the New House

The entrance way, complete with Duplo robot by Ben.
Emily's 'fairy' bedroom

Kitchen/dining/family room.

Lounge looking into family room

Lounge again from opposite direction, study door open in corner.

The New House

I have a vege garden behind the trampoline. The room here is our bedroom.
From the rear of the section looking towards the road- rooms (l to r) family room, lounge, Ben's room.

The infamous fish pond, which we wanted to remove but the kids love.

From the patio outside the family room towards the back fence.

The furniture is in front of the lounge, and the bbq is next to the family room door. To the right is Ben's window, and Luke's is far right. Em's room is opposite Ben's on the other side of the house.