More March musings....

Life has continued to be pretty busy this term. Nate has had many activities underway, all designed to help him develop as much as possible - currently he does weekly Conductive Education sessions (private paid 1:1 therapy), Jumping Beans (group physical fun), Music Fun (group music therapy), Speech Therapy (private paid 1:1 therapy), as well as many trips out and about during the week to the park, the local playground or library and so on, with Helen, or with Granny & Grandaddy.

Here are some shots of our little man at music therapy, playing with feathers and the other kiddies....

Stamps on the hands and feet at the end!

How come I have shoes on?!

We have made sure that we continue to get out and about with Nate on the weekends too - here are some shots of us recently at the museum....

Exploring the 'historic town' within the museum

In the 'historic pub' with Daddy!

Taking a stroll through the Wintergarden

And he is our little man at one of the local parks, playing with Daddy....he LOVES hanging out with his Daddy :-)

Too. Much. Fun!

And a few more shots of Nate at home, enjoying his very first Trumpet! Made famous by Rachel Hunter in the 1980/90s Tip Top trumpet ads, and enjoyed by thousands of kiwi kids over the years! And he gave it a pretty good go at finishing it all too - not too shabby for a two year old!

Nate also continues to have a few visitors and new playmates from time to time - this month we had Fred and Nancy Chipman, family friends from Canada, who were over for a holiday. Thank you to the Chipmans for the lovely new books and bag for Nate!

Nate also had a visit from Jesper, another family friend from Denmark. Nate took a real liking to Jesper, and there was great delight in showing Jesper all of his cars.....

Showing Jesper all my cars!

Showing Jesper how my car ramp works!

Jesper and Natalia also sent over his birthday present - his very first football outfit for Copenhagen! How cool is that!!! Watch this space for a photo of him wearing in - definitely one he will be rocking in the summer to come. And maybe - just maybe - he might even get to play football like Daddy dreamt of.....fingers crossed very tight on that.

Nate's first football outfit!

Bring on the warmer summer months when I can wear this!

 

 

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Nate's Second Birthday Party!

The weekend after Nate's second birthday (which was on the 9th March), we held his late afternoon celebration party.

It was a small affair, with my folks, Grandy (my Dad's Dad), my aunt and uncle Chris and Norm, my cousin Mike, Claire and little Sophie, BFF Helen, Stuart and the girls Mia and Ruby, and good friends of ours, Alison and Warwick.

Robin had been practising his pulled pork on the barbie, so the early dinner was a pretty relaxed set up of pork, fresh rolls, and lots of salads. Followed by Nate's fabulous Elmo birthday cake (and nope, before you ask, not homemade!). Oh and accompanied by lots of vino (of course!).

I had themed everything in honour of Nate's favourite toy (Elmo), although to be honest I think Mummy got more joy out of that than Nate did! Still I figure it was a rite of passage for me, and it was great fun planning and setting it up :-). Perhaps by his third birthday he will be more 'into' the decorations (although I may rue wishing that!).

Nate was of course royally spoilt on the day with lots of presents and cards - in fact, too many for a little two year old to fathom! Plus he had loads of other gifts from all our family overseas - both my brothers and their families, as well as Robins sister and her family. It's at special times like this, that we really miss having the rest of our family close by.

Thank you so much everyone for spoiling our precious boy - it is so appreciated!

Here are a few snaps of the day.....sorry so few, we were forgetful on the camera front....

Elmo was our theme!

Yep....matching everything!

Me and my beautiful boy!

Cheese & chocolate cake - what else does one need?!

All my birthday cards!

Playing with my Grandaddy and my balloons later that night....

 

 

 

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My Two Year Celebration Video

Well Daddy's done it again - summed up a magical year with our BooBoo, with an awesome video....ENJOY!

Click here to see Nate's 2 Year Journey video

 

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Two Years Old - Nate Fun Facts

Here is my second birthday check in - just a few fun facts we want to remember......

• How much do I weigh at the grand old age of TWO? I now weigh 12.3kg at 24months, which is on the 50th percentile, so average for my age. However that's dropped back from the 12.7kg I was back in December where I was on the 75th percentile curve. Nurse Anna says that's not abnormal for active two year olds, but Mummy will be wanting me to get cracking with some good weight gain pre winter - I need my reserves in case I get sick and end up back in hospital :-(. So I'm guessing there might be some distraction techniques used if I don't play ball on the eating front soon!
• And how tall am I now? I'm now 89cm long, which is again on the 50th percentile, about the same as where I was tracking last time. But it's 4.5cm taller than when I was measured back in December! No head circumference taken, as at the grand old age of two, I have an opinion on whether I will sit still long enough to enable that! Strong willed twos! :-)

• How is my health? It's actually pretty good right now - although we are just ending summer, so I haven't had to deal with any of the winter colds and flus for awhile. Touch wood I make it through this winter with NO hospital stays! I have my hearing aid which I'm now very used to, and I take some medication twice a day for my reflux, plus I still use an Airvo machine when I sleep at night to help me with my central/obstructive sleep apnea. Pretty soon, I have to have another surgery for my undescended testes (next week), and Mummy and Daddy want me to have another sleep study soon too - they remain ever hopeful that maybe one day I can come off the Airvo completely....fingers crossed.
• What do I like to eat? I'm a pretty good eater these days, but I still have my faves...my bottle, mum-mums, cheese, baked beans, yoghurt, creamed rice, French Fries, and smoothies being some of them :-). Breakfast is still a 200ml morning bottle, followed by a weetbix and fruit. Lunch sees a bit of variety, but is always followed by a dessert (love my desserts, and Mummy wants me with some meat on my bones in case I get sick, so I get to have them!). Afternoon tea might be a bit of fruit, some raisins, an iced cracker and a mum-mum. Dinner could be fish fingers, mince and vege, really any of Daddy's dinners!

Feeding myself :-)

• Am I a good night-time sleeper? Yep! Typically I go down at about 7.30pm (a little later than most, as Mummy & Daddy like to see me in the evenings!), and I wake up about 7am. They don't know how lucky they are to have a little sleeper like me! (Massive disclaimer note - unless I'm sick of course!)
• Do I still have a wee day-time nap? Yes, most days I have a little nap just after my lunch. I even 'ask' to go to bed when I think I need to go! I do this by signing 'sleep' and then 'dummy'.
• How am I doing physically? I'm going great guns on the walking front - love to run around and chase Grandaddy, Daddy, or Mummy! And as I get stronger, my walking is getting more even and less jilted-like. I like to walk around and stamp, although I usually only do the stamping with one foot! I'm working on climbing stairs - I can do it holding on to a wall or rail to steady me, but can't quite manage on my own just yet (balance is more my issue, than strength). I can't do things like jumping on a trampoline or jumping on the spot, yet, but I like to try and I will one day! My fine motor skills are actually pretty good, picking up little things like raisins that I've chucked in the floor, is no problem!

• How many words can I speak? Not so many as yet. Although that isn't at all unusual for a Trisomy 9 Mosaic child, and that would be my biggest delay and issue area. I can say 'more', 'round and round', 'duck duck', 'dummy', and 'mum-mum' (although that is usually for my mum-mum cracker!). I have been known to say other words like 'up' and 'Elmo' but not regularly or with much purpose yet. Mummy and Daddy are really really really hoping that I can make some good progress with my speech this year.
• How many makaton signs can I use? Now here's where I'm doing ok! I can sign a few words and I use them to communicate, like.....bottle, drink, eat, sleep, nappy, dummy, more, TV, baby, me, cat, shower, light or star, brush teeth, brush hair, open, close, up, down, come, yes and no. I can also make animal sounds for a lion and a cow! While my expressive language is still really to come, my comprehension is better - I can understand far more signs/words than I am able to communicate myself, like.....finish, wait, ball, book, car, shoes, socks, where, what, dinner, and lunch etc.
• Which is my favourite cuddly toy? Definitely my Elmo(s). I had one and after a while he stopped talking (too many head butts on the wooden floors), so I was gifted another, and boy do I love those two :-). Lately though, Bertram the teddy bear has been making an appearance on the couch too....
• What are my favourite toys to play with? Well that has to be my cars! I love to lie on the mat, and brrmm brrmm around with all my little cars. Hours of entertainment! And if anyone is hanging around, well I'll make them lie down on the mat and brrmm brrmm too! I have another toy that has cars on a ramp, that's been very popular for the last 6-8months with me, but Mummy thinks I'm increasingly into my other collection of cars now.

• What's my favourite song? No contest here!! It has got to be Wiggles Dr Knickerbocker! An absolute timeless classic masterpiece! (ESP when repeated ten times a day).
• What's my favourite DVD? Although I have many that I love (like Baby Signing Time), my favourite to date has to be 'Wiggles Sing and Learn' - it has all the best song and dance tracks! I sign 'TV' so Mummy or Daddy turns it on for me, and when I realise it's my favourite one starting, I get super excited! I start to dance (which consists of me bending my knees and dropping my butt!) and I look to make sure everyone is watching me bust my moves :-). Just lately I seem to have discovered Hi-5 too....
• Which is my favourite book? This is a bit of a tricky one, as I love all my books! I used to just love 'where is the green sheep', and 'the wheels on the bus', but now I'll happily have any one of my many books read to me (as long as I've picked them that is). Right now, I'm pretty into a 'Thomas' books which introduces the Thomas engines to me.....

• What's my favourite colour? Hhmmmm. Well I probably don't mind so much on colour just yet....but let's go with what Mummy thinks it is...BLUE!
• What are my favourite clothing brands (this has got to be asked, Mummy is a marketer and Daddy is in sales!)? Well I'm not sure about favourite, but certainly the ones that dominate my wardrobe right now would be....Rock Your Kid, and Next. I look pretty sharp most days! And all matched with my size 21 Bobux and Supefit shoes.
• What are my party tricks? Well I have a few that I rotate round depending on my audience! One of my all time most popular ones would have to be clapping (until everyone else joins in), and then throwing my arms above my head, while everyone yells 'hooray!'. Another one has to be how I make my way around a room of people, with a series of 'ring a ring a rosie', once with every person in the room, until I have got through everyone. Fave part is still the falling on the floor though - bit harder for Granny and Grandaddy to hit the floor though - I think they kind of fake that bit! I also like doing the same thing with reading one of my books....although generally I don't let anyone actually finish the book, before I move on to the next person in the room. A more recent one would be how I like to prod people to come and play ball in the the hallway - I give them a gentle prod to get them off the sofa or chair, and directionally push into the hallway - I'm hard to argue with but very charming :-)

• What activities/therapies do I get up to each week? Well, no doubt about it - for a 2year old, I'm a very busy little man! Mummy and Daddy have me on quite the schedule of activities to help me get stronger, to work on my speech, and to socialise with other kiddies. (And that's not even counting any of the hospital stuff I have to do on occasion - like hearing, sleep studies, and paed appointments). I go to Conductive Education for a 1:1 one hour session once a week with Ildi, Jumping Beans for an hour every week in term time where I hang out with a bunch of kiddies, music therapy with a bunch of other toddlers for an hour a week, and a 1:1 speech session every week with a speech therapist too. Outside of that I go to the park to play, or for a paddle, for a walk around the neighbourhood, or even ultra fun stuff like my recent trip to the museum with Helen! At the moment I'm starting to induct at Bear Park Daycare, where I will be attending two days a week post Easter - exciting!

Jumping Beans with Helen

Too cute!

• What's my idea of an ideal weekend? Hanging with Mummy and Daddy! And sometimes with my sisters too! Anywhere! We usually go for a walk in my trike down to the local park, or we drive to a different park around town for a change of scenery. I get super excited and my favourite thing to do at the park is hang out on the swings while someone pushes me. Sometimes we go for a paddle somewhere too. If I'm really lucky we get a bite to eat out and about, and I might get fries (love my fries!).

• Do I like me? Yes I love me! One of my favourite things is to grab Mummy's phone, sign 'me' and gesture at it - that means I want to watch videos of me - swinging at the park, playing in the sprinklers, chasing Grandaddy around the house, dancing to my wiggles songs and so on. I often sign 'baby' when I'm looking at myself and have a giggle :-)
• Who are my favourite people? Has to be mummy! LOL! Gosh I have a few...Mummy, Daddy, Granny, Grandaddy, my sisters Mia and Ruby, my BFF Helen, my therapists Ildi and Justine! But I can be friends with just about anyone if they give me a little time - as long as they don't crowd me too much when we meet (I can get a little overwhelmed and anxious), and if they play with me with my cars or one of my balls - although all on my terms though! But actually I'm a pretty happy camper with people and most of the time!
• Could I be any more adored, cherished, or loved? Bluntly, no :-). I'm AWESOME.

 

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