I haven't posted for ages, mostly because I can't find the stupid cable to attach the camera and download my latest photos. Very annoying. I've looked everywhere several times and have now given up. I must get motivated and have another go- the dog can't have eaten it, can she?
Speaking of the dog, she is again in the dog box for stealing a piece of steak off the bench last night as I was about to cook tea. I had it sitting there on the bench with the pan ready to go when Neil came home and I got distracted. When I came back there were only 2 pieces instead of 3 and a trail of marinade which led to Ella. It is lucky for her that the kids love her, as each time she does things like that I am increasingly tempted...!
We are very busy at the moment with Emily starting kindy 5 mornings a week now that she is getting to be a big girl. A bit worrying for mum, but not for her. They had a visit from a fire engine this week, which we have heard all about. We have also moved Ben to Neil's school for a variety of reasons, all of which were small but which added together to form the big picture. Already he is much happier and is learning far more, which is great. I ummed and ahhed about what the right thing to do was, and now that we have finally done it I wish we had done it sooner. Just goes to show that you know what the right thing is for your child, and that I needed to trust my instincts. It's not good when you have concerns and are made to feel like there's something wrong with you for having them!
I have also started going to Playcentre with the kids, and Luke and I will be going 2-3 times a week when Em is at kindy. He just loves it there and I have noticed him learning from the other kids. Luke is a keen observer and picks things up from watching me and other kids really quickly. He is very independent and was busy doing his spiderman crawl up the ramp, through the tunnel and climbing to the slide, where he went down all by himself. He had done this several times when a little girl around the same age came along. She went ahead of him, walking up the ramp. He turned to me and got me to help him walk up the ramp too. Then he sat down and pushed my feet to get me to go back down so he could do the rest by himself. He crawled through the tunnel which encouraged the girl to do the same- usually she has to have her mum at the other end encouraging her, and climbed to the slide and slid down independently. The little girl was too scared to go down by herself and I had to hold her hand on the way down. It just goes to show that although Luke has that pesky extra chromosome he still has strengths that other kids don't have, and that he can learn from others and they can also learn from him.
We have also received news that we need to move to the next clinic at the Champion Centre which came earlier than I was expecting. I thought it would happen closer to the middle of the year. This means a new challenge for Luke and a greater emphasis on communication, but I am not worried about his communication at all at this stage. My greatest concern is the walking as I feel he stronger cognitively that physically at the moment and other kids (and adults) still see him as a baby because he is not walking. I would like him to be walking more before we move on. Also the new group is only fortnightly until the transition to school stage, and because Luke didn't start until he was 1 when we moved I would like him to get another half a term to a term in the current group- after all we did miss out on lots before we moved and we have sacrificed a lot to get him here. However it seems that is not to be, and I am sure he will be fine.
As for the walking, it is coming on slowly. He has made the mental change from walking when I ask him, with lots of fanfare, to taking steps from one thing to another and standing up and starting to walk in the middle of the room just because he can. It's all very exciting, and he'll get there soon. Good thing he's just a wee dot, so it's no trouble to carry him!
Otherwise things are fine and dandy. Not so long ago I didn't think I would ever come to terms with Luke having Ds. It just seemed so unfair. And I really could not believe those mothers who said that they wouldn't take away the Ds even if they could, because then their child would be someone else. I thought they were either completely mad, in denial, or lying! Now suddenly I see where they're coming from and although I can't say I am there completely, I totally get it. Would I take away the Ds if I could- absolutely. But not for me, just to make Luke's life easier. Because he's not the problem, it's how others react to him. And there are things I would change about the others too if I could- not that I'm going to commit in writing to what those things are! We had an IP for Luke this week, and I had no concerns. For the first time in his life, I feel like things are where they should be. Phew! We've got there!
