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..