New Bike

Luke has been keen on having a go on the trike outside with the kids, but has no idea what to do with the pedals. He can stick his feet on them, but the idea of pushing with one foot, then the other is crazy as far as he's concerned. Which means I have to push him. Fun.

So on Upside of Down ( NZ online community for parents of children with special needs, and in particular DS) recently, there has been an ongoing discussion about our kids and bikes, and what is successful and what has not. One mum had seen one of these bikes and raved about how well her daughter did on it, even though she is not yet walking. There are lots of two wheeled runner bikes on the market, but apparently (don't quote me on it!) this is the only one with three wheels, is the lowest to the ground to begin with, and converts into a 2 wheel running bike, as well as having the ability to adjust the seat height by moving turning the bike frame up the other way, as well as moving the seat up and down.

I was a little sceptical at first, as they are quite a lot more expensive than the standard two-wheel type, but seeing as several parents raved about them I took Luke into the shop in Christchurch to have a look. He can ride a ride-on, but has never really steered it properly. He tended to lift the front to steer, and not turn the wheel. So I put him on it in the shop, and he was away! Mum and I told him to turn the handle bars to turn a corner, and I couldn't believe it when he did!

So this is the result. It was going to be for Christmas, but seeing as I have no self-control, plus the weather has been so lovely, he has had it for 3 weeks already, and he absolutely LOVES it. So do the others, but they get kicked off it by me!

Ben

This is Ben with the sculpture he and Neil made for Country Day at school. For those of you who are not familiar with Country Days, Ben goes to a little school in the country where most of the parents are farming, so on Country Day the kids bring in their pet lambs and calves, as well as dogs, cats, goats, ponies and other pets for competitions such as the fastest drinker, leading and calling, and the best pet costume. There are also entries for baking, floral displays, the iconic 'sand-saucer' and 'aqua jars'. Ben and Neil created Dumbledore from milk bottles, as the theme of the day this year was 'Milk'. They won first place. Ben is being Harry Potter, in case you aren't sure!

This week Ben's class were having a spelling test. All was quiet. The teacher called out the next word, 'cemetery'. Children were diligently writing their attempts down, when my son calls out "If you can't spell 'cemetery', can you write 'graveyard'?"
The teacher tells me she was in stitches. That's Ben for you!

My Boys

There are lots of things, some good, some not so good, that you can learn from an older brother.