Don't they grow up fast..

You see kids today, they seem to grow up so fast. I was in the barbers the other day and there was a young family in there, they had a 3 year old boy playing a game on a tablet, even though this boy was younger that Zac I could see he was ahead in terms of development, the way he interacted with his parents, and played the game, showed me that Zac is some way behind.

I suppose it's natural to make comparisons, is it a good thing though, what does it achieve thinking what could have been, the here and now is a little boy that has needs the same as any other.

Also though here is a little boy who actually is not so different, Zac plays with a tablet, he's a whizz on kids you-tube, he knows all the functions on his electronic toys, he just takes longer to achieve the milestones, but you know what, when he does, boy is it a joy, as it's been a long time coming.

Zac didn't properly walk until age 3 and 6 months, and even now he is a little unsteady at times, this is due to muscle tone, the walking was a massive milestone, we'd been willing it for years.

The thing is with a DS child is there is no norm, I know of others who walked at 18 month's, Zac at 42 months, but actually because Zac is slower reaching his goals, means we are enjoying Zac in a way most parents don't, as their kids grow up so fast.

Here is Zac, aged 14 months, he hadn't long learned to sit up unaided.

Communication is the area that we are working on, Zac knows and understands a lot more than we realise, but for him it's communicating his needs to us as he does not talk....yet.

Birthday

We were told at the 12 week scan that we had a 1 in 20 chance of having a DS child.

For us this news did not change a thing as basically I am pretty much 'firing blanks', so the chance of  us having a child of our own greatly outweighed any issues a DS child could bring.

We knew we could provide a safe and loving home, one where our child could develop and grow into the fine person I believe he is becoming.

The second Zac was born, I knew that second that he was DS, and for about 30 seconds, yes I was gutted, 20 to 1 is still pretty long odds, yet here we were..

30 seconds later and I bucked up, gratitude is a powerful thing, and here I was age 44 and a Dad for the 1st time, either I stepped up to the challenge or didn't, I chose the former option.

This picture here shows the Midwife basically checking how floppy he is, DS babies usually have poor muscle tone, Zac was no exception.

Mum, Dad and a camera shy Zac

Baby Zac

Emma and Zac

Dad doing Dad duties.

The hospital kept Mum and Zac in for a few days to run some checks, DS babies often have heart defects, with Zac, zero defects !

We can't thank enough the staff at Torbay Hospital, they showed us so much care, attention and love, and still do to this day..

Feeding time at the Zoo..

We started weaning Zac onto solid food around age 6 months. We found it relatively straightforward to be honest, like me the little chap loves his food !

To this day at nearly 4, there isn't much he turns his nose up at, certain meals say a Sunday roast we will mash up and he'll have it the following day, but other meals such as fish fingers and chips with steam veg he eats the same as us, just chopped up a bit. 

He can feed himself, just using a fork or spoon, we encouraged this very early on, with lots of praise for 'good eating'.

Here are some early mealtime pics, taken around age 6 months.

Ist post to my new blog

Hello, my name is Paul, I am currently 49 years young, 50 in June, I'm married to the fab Emma, nearly 10 years now, and we have a little boy called Zac, who is 4 in February.

My intentions for the blog are simple, I want to show the highs and lows, though mostly highs with Zac, that having a child with DS is not the end of the world, and for those new-to-be parents who may be thinking of aborting, an insight into a perhaps scary world, that trust me, is actually full of joy.

I am no professional blogger or writer, I have a often strange sense of humour, but I'm no wierdo either, so I'll warn you now the stuff I may come out with may appear bizarre or semi-incomprehensible, bear with me, question me, bugger off, but please do whatever feels right, that's important.

Now the legal stuff is out the way here are some pics of his majesty.. oh and Zac, this is all I could find as I have started this escapade on my old laptop, so not many pics on it.

Thanks, love and peace, Paul.

This was up in N. Devon, we hired bikes with a buggy thing on the back for Zac, who mostly screamed, I wasn't going fast at all.

Moi enjoying a favourite hobby.

Zac, Emma, Mother and numpty dog, sorry Pepe.

Sir Super Zac enjoying being camp

This was taken not long after Zac started walking, aged 3 1/2, so was probably about to make a run for it...again !