Walking - and it was great!

Nathaniel loves Asda - FACT! We have to take him shopping as he loves going, he loves looking at all the aisle numbers and the Asda logo. Today when we went (only for baby wipes that we didn't really need but Nathaniel had signed 'shopping' so much this morning that we had to take him!), we decided to let him walk from the car to the trolley park. This was about 30 feet away and much further than he has ever walked holding hands with someone. But he LOVED doing it, looking at the cars as he went past them, holding onto Heaths hands and telling him what colour the cars were. When we got to the trolley park he held up his hands and said 'Dada' and went straight into the trolley without a fuss (a first for a long time!). 

He was such a superstar and I cannot get over how well he walked, how confidant he was and how steady he was! His walking and balance has come on so much since he got his little ankle splints and there is nothing stopping him at all now! He is such a determined little boy and will try and try again to achieve his goals!

Anyone, its just a quick one but I wanted to share with you all Nathaniel's little 'YIPPEEE!' xxx

Worry? Me? NEVER!!!!!

Today has been a funny old day - sun, rain, thunder and lightening! And its all been mixed up together so not really been a day where we could do much at all!

I seem to spend my whole life in a state of worry at the minute, I worry whether I'm doing enough physio with Nathaniel, whether he'll notice that the neighbours that he loves right next door to us have moved today (he really  loves them and saw them everyday!), worry whether we have enough money to do all the things I want to do with and for him and I worry that I worry too much! (Figure that one out!).

The Clinical Psychologist and Learning Disability Nurse asked Heath and I too keep a record of Nathaniel's behaviours for the past week and it was quite hard to do as we were recording 8 behaviours!! Headbanging himself, headbanging others, slapping himself, slapping/hitting others, pinching others, breath holding, hair pulling himself, hair pulling others! We managed it after a fashion and it was quite a shock and kind of a surprise to see the patterns that emerged - early mornings and between 4-6pm were prime times when his behaviour deteriorated drastically. We knew it was worse at some times than others but we never really put the behaviours and the times together and made a connection! So now we know the times of day that Nathaniel gets more stressed and frustrated we can counted this by putting in measures! This is thing that I worry about on a daily basis - are we doing enough to help him? do I have the patience to put the counter measures in place? I doubt myself everyday, but this afternoon I realised that I do the majority of them without even thinking about it now, its second nature to me I think. Like pulling out his vibrating cushion when I can see him getting frustrated by something or getting Lau Lau out for him to cuddle! Being a mum I think means that you worry about things all day everyday, this doesnt't mean that its wrong, only that you are striving to do your best, and whatever you do will be your best! Heath says I'm nurotic sometimes and over analysis things and worry about things that may never happen at all! I just think that I'm a mum!

PS. Nathaniel has eaten 3 ASDA (Walmart for my US friends!) receipts today! He loves shopping lol!

He makes me smile so much!

This is my first posting on my blog! I'm not sure what I'm doing tbh but I'm going to have a real good go at it! I'm doing that as I would like to share thoughts, feelings and opinions on my son Nathaniel and all matters to do with Cri du Chat Syndrome and all matters related! Hope you like it and let me know if I'm doing it wrong!! 

Love Vicki xx