A day in the life of Luca

Time to wind down

2010-02-18T02:53:00.000-08:00

I have my own voice now, am at school so it's only right this blog comes to an end. Yes, my mommy's been blogging for me. It's captured my progress from birth right through to primary school. My challenges, my successes and my wonderful nature.

Thanks to everyone who's read the blog and commented on it. Another blog will be starting soon, this time it will be written through mommy's eyes, please watch out for it because it will still be about me... and all things special needs.

Love x

Milo

2010-01-25T01:26:00.000-08:00

Milo is our class mascot. You get to take him home for the weekend if you're well-behaved. I was a 'joy, helpful and affectionate' this week so I got to take Milo. I had to photograph what I did with him and record it in the special book.

Big school

2010-01-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

It's now been nearly 2 weeks since I started big school. I didn't really know what to expect. It's not very different from nursery, the main difference is everyone wears the same clothes as me, on the first day I told my classmate that our jumpers matched. They've matched ever since. I haven't really made any real friends yet but hope to do that soon. There's a little girl with down's syndrome in my class who gave me a big hug today when I arrived, then signed 'hallo' to me in makaton, I'm not too familiar with makaton anymore.. but that doesn't matter. I think we'll be good friends. Oh! I've also had a haircut, I've had lice so the hair had to go.

Palate

2010-01-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

I went to Great Ormond Street today for a palate check up. There were 8 people in the room to see me, but that didn't phase me at all. In fact, I had a ready-made audience so I put on a bit of a show and sang a Killers song. They seemed to enjoy it. As it turns out I have a submucous palate. I will need further tests to see if I'll benefit from surgery or not, hold thumbs I won't need it. One doctor looked in my ear and saw that my left eardrum isn't quite how it should be, will need further tests for that too but at least my hearing is ok - well it was at the last test. They all commented on how confident I am, so to top it off I said 'bye bye poo poo' to them all when I left.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T00:45:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up, turned the TV on and chilled out until mommy woke up. It didn't take her long and she showed me all the presents under the tree that Father Christmas bought. I don't quite get the whole Father Christmas thing, but I tried to understand. I got everything I asked for, and more. My favourite present is a guitar and microphone, I can really rock out now! I hope you all had a wonderful day with your families and a special hug to all those who have angels, I bet they had a wonderful party in the sky.

Leavers assembly

2009-12-18T00:54:00.000-08:00

Today I got to sit on one of the special chairs covered in gold, because I'm leaving my nursery school next week, for good. I've been doing yoga every Thursday and I was given a certificate. I loved yoga and hope to continue it at big school. I was also presented with my year book, showing lots of activities I've done this year. Ben was doing facepainting and I asked to be batman. I'll miss all my friends at nursery, but am ready to make new ones at big school.

Dear Father Christmas

2009-12-11T02:19:00.000-08:00

I've been told you're coming through our front door, because we don't have a chimney. I've hung my stocking near the kitchen door because you'll walk that way when you come in, I believe that's where you'll put all of my small presents. If you keep walking you'll come to our Christmas tree, that's where you can leave all my big presents. I'd like a high school musical dvd, hannah montana dvd, drum sticks, guitar hero and a Ben 10 watch. I'll leave a glass of milk out for you and a carrot for your reindeer.

Thanks

Big school

2009-12-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

Today I went to my new primary school to have a look, Rob took me from nursery. I loved it! There were lots of activities, arts, books, a computer interactive board, pcs for kids with games and music. Until 11.30am we were free to do what we wanted then we all sat down and played a game. I hugged some of my new classmates and chatted to them, could barely contain my excitement.. there was so much to see and I had lots of fun exploring. Papa came to hang out with me too which was a nice surprise. I start in January and I can't wait!

We will see how I cope and if I'm struggling we will call an early review of my statement to get more funding, either way I just know I'm going to be very happy there.

Good news and bad news?

2009-11-27T10:46:00.001-08:00

The good news is I've been discharged from physio. Apparently I'm doing so well they don't need to see me anymore. OK, I insist on being carried most of the time, all 17kgs of me.. but when mom asked if that was related to my hypotonia and they said no... well, I wanted to shout out! I have no excuses now... and guess I'll be walking more than usual :(

Ok, this is good and bad news. Apparently I won't need 1:1 support at school, I'm not complex enough? But the school I'm due to start at are worrying because they already have 3 kids with special needs in the Reception year. Not really my problem, because I was accepted into the school, so I belong there and will get all the support I deserve. I may need a bit more funding though so the CDT and mommy and papa are going to fight for that. Nothing's ever simple in my world.. all I want to do is get on with my life, these little obstacles will only make me stronger though.. so bring it on!

Adenoids?

2009-11-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

I was referred to ENT for my 'enlarged adenoids'. My speech is a bit nasal so the speech therapist wanted to have them checked out. Well, as it turns out I have something up with my palate, not my adenoids! I'm being referred to a plastic surgeon at GOSH. I've been under various speech therapists since I was born, not sure why this wasn't noticed before but will try find out. Surely my palate is the first thing they should've checked? I'm no expert.. but surely? I don't really fancy more surgery so hopefully it won't come to that.

This time, three years ago

2009-11-06T03:25:00.001-08:00

.. I was weaned off my feeding tube. I used to have 4 bolus feeds per day. I went to the Austrian clinic and never looked back. My development improved so much when I started eating. The best bit though? I got to taste and experience the textures of food. I eat everything, so much so that a lady from the council interviewed mommy to find out her secret(s). There are no secrets, I never ate before so I'm just making up for lost time. http://www.notube.at

I'm a pirate!

2009-11-02T03:46:00.000-08:00

Papa and I went to India and Tara's birthday party. It fell on halloween so we had to dress up. I loved being a pirate and loved play fighting with my sword. Don't I look smart?

Pumpkin fun!

2009-10-30T01:57:00.000-07:00

It's halloween this weekend but I'll be at papa's house, so mommy and I had our own little halloween and carved a pumpkin. Emma came over to help us. Mommy cut a hole in the top and we both scraped out all of the seeds and flesh. Loved it, so messy! Then we drew a face on the pumpkin and I watched her carve it, I helped remove the bits that she'd cut. She made a bit of a boo boo on the nose though, so I pulled the loose bit off so our pumpkin's nose and mouth was one big hole.. but it still looked scary, which is the main thing.

Flushed my poo down the loo

2009-10-29T02:02:00.000-07:00

Still haven't quite got the hang of the whole toilet malarky. I was in the middle of doing a poo when papa quickly put me on the toilet. I finished it, then flushed the toilet and watched it vanish... I wonder where it goes?

Show me the puzzles!

2009-10-25T01:52:00.000-07:00

Visual perception and cognitive are where I've struggled the most. I only have 3 puzzles, I'm not usually a fan so mom didn't buy too many of them. Today she suggested I try one, it was dead easy... so I did another, and another! At my recent developmental assessment I couldn't do them so I've really come on a lot since then. There was lots of celebrating going on and I have a sneaky feeling I'll be getting puzzles for Christmas.

New comment

2009-10-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry. Someone left me a comment not long ago, which I published. But now I can't find it and I think you were looking for information. Please comment on this post and I'll see what I can do to help. Thank you!

Aunty Elisa visits :)

2009-10-19T04:48:00.000-07:00

Baby poo poo bum bum

2009-10-14T03:07:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a common theme at nursery these days. We call eachother baby poo poo bum bum. When I'm waiting at the bus stop with mommy and I see someone, I say 'hallo poo poo'. Sometimes I like to say 'you're a baby'. People don't seem to mind, but mommy does?

Oh my God!

2009-10-10T00:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not so sure what this means or where I picked it up from, but I know it's meant to be said when something outrageous happens, or something unexpected.

IEP

2009-09-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

My toilet training (or lack of) was mostly discussed today. Nursery have been taking me to the toilet every hour, to sit there and hope that something happens. Well, I'm going entire days now without going to the toilet which is not very good or healthy. Goals are to try and increase my fluid intake during the day and not to take me to the toilet every hour, but to let me go on my own, if I want to. It's about me having some control over it. I don't like going to the toilet at home, so mabye this goal will change that.

My rough play is still an ongoing issue. Well, I'm not rough intentionally, I just love physical contact. I'm quite a big boy for my age so I tend to hurt people without realising. I am very sensitive though, if they are sad I will cuddle them. But if I see someone kneeling down outside, that is a green light for me to run and jump on them and tackle them. Some of my friends enjoy that, but not everyone does. I have to learn to respect people's space a little more.

Nursery will be in touch with my primary school to arrange a visit, nearer the transition time. The SENCO at my primary school will also be invited to my final IEP, this will also give her a chance to observe me.

My speech is coming along well. I've now got the hang of the colour blue, now I'm going to learn all about the colour red.

Picnic on the heath

2009-09-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

Such a beautiful day today so we went to the heath for a picnic. Had lots of delicious food.. a roast chicken, salads, cheese, olives, bread. Mommy had just dished me up some chicken when a tearaway puppy came and put practically the entire chicken in it's mouth. Very nearly got away with it so had to go in the bin anyway. We should've just given it to another dog, someone may as well have enjoyed it if we couldn't?

Autumn fun day

2009-09-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

Once a year nursery has a fun day for all the children in the local community. There's always a lot to do, bouncy castles, face painting (I would NEVER sit still for long enough so don't bother), beat the goalie, cakes, burgers and madness! Had fun, didn't stay in any one place for longer than a minute.

Statement for school

2009-09-17T03:06:00.000-07:00

I start school in January 2010 and my statement is soon to be finalised. Everyone submitted their reports about what support they thought I'd need. Mommy wrote one, the CDT wrote one and nursery did too. Mommy and Papa met with the council to discuss the statement. He told them that he sees many statements and feels that I seem to be one of the few children that has improved so much and will continue to, which can only be a good thing. He summarised the report and this is the support I'll have on a weekly basis:

A language development programme which is drawn up with advice from the Language and Communication Team. I need a sctructured approach to communicating using a total communication approach, including Makaton, photos and pictures to support my understanding and expression as appropriate.

Support for the development of my early basic skills including literacy and numeracy. There should be adaptation of the curriculum to meet my specific learning needs. Tasks will need to be broken into small steps with the use of repetition, visual cues and multi-sensory learning to reinforce information.

Individual and small group work to develop my attention control. I need a teaching environment that provides a consistent and structured approach to learning, with the use of visual cues and timetables to support my understanding. There should be consideration of the environment from a sensory perspective, such as limiting the amount of noise to improve my ability to concentrate and offering regular movement breaks, in order to maximise my learning.

Regular opportunities for individual and small group work to develop my social skills. I need adult support for the development of my play skills and to guide my social skills.

Activities and exercises across the curriculum to further develop my self care, motor and co-ordination skills which incorporate the advice of the occupational therapist and physiotherapist as appropriate.

I did it!

2009-09-08T01:40:00.000-07:00

I slept in my own bed at mummy's last night, for the first time. It's taken a little while to get used to the new rules, I've tried everything to stay in mummy's bed. I've said I want milk, have a sore finger, hurt my head... nothing worked though. But now that I'm in my own bed I feel very proud of myself and enjoyed self-soothing when I woke up through the night. It's very important for my self-awareness, after all I'm starting school in January so am preparing for that. I know mummy will let me into her bed every now and then, just not every night and all night, and that's ok.

Italy with papa

2009-09-02T03:14:00.001-07:00

Back from Italy

2009-09-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. I've been in Italy with Papa for a couple of weeks. I'll upload some pictures soon. Spent last night with mommy and she let me sleep in her bed. I wanted to sleep with all my favourite things, so I took my football, High School Musical dvd cover, upsy daisy, elephant, winnie the pooh and tiger to sleep with me. There wasn't much room in the bed for mommy, but we managed ok.

Went to see my paediatrician today. She didn't do much, just asked how I was doing, listened to my heart & weighed me. She thinks I'm doing pretty well and only need to be seen again in a year, if necessary. :)

The colour blue

2009-08-14T05:08:00.000-07:00

One colour at a time. The one I'm focusing on now is blue. Blue for the sky & blue for my eyes. It's also the colour of the inter Milan football shirt.

My new obsession

2009-08-04T02:26:00.000-07:00

I'm officially a 'High School Musical' fan. I sing along to all the songs and dance too. I love it so much I even take the dvd cover to bed with me. It's also one of the first things I say when I wake up in the morning, because I dream about it. Aunty Kir bought it for me for my birthday, thanks Kir!

Happy birthday to me !

2009-07-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

I turned 4 today, but when you ask me how old I am I say 3, 8 or 9... never 4. I got lots of presents and even got a bike... but think it'll be some time before I learn how to ride it. I wish people wouldn't sing happy birthday to me, it freaks me out... find it too overwhelming. I didn't like it last year either. Thanks to everyone who came, I had lots of fun and loved having an audience when I was breakdancing.

Speech therapy

2009-07-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

My therapist comes to see me at nursery school once a week for speech therapy. At the moment we are working on the “voicing” process using a therapy technique called “Metaphon”. This technique starts by teaching the concept of noisy and quiet. We have been talking about noisy and quiet animals, noisy and quiet sounds etc. I'll need to do this at home too. Some things I'll be doing...

Making noisy sounds (banging drums, clapping hands loudly, shaking maracas).

Making quiet sounds (rubbing hands together, softly hitting the drum, blowing air).

Talk about which animals are noisy (lions, elephants, dogs).

Talk about which animals are quiet (fish, snakes, spiders).

If I hear a noisy sound comment on it, and the same for quiet sounds.

The next step in this therapy is to start talking about noisy and quiet speech sounds.

My vision is perfect

2009-07-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

I had thorough tests today and have been given the all-clear. They tested my vision first which is perfect. To test if I was colour blind they showed me pages in a book that showed images that were made up of lots of small coloured circles. I had to find a dog, a butterfly, an elephant, a flower, a rabbit etc. I got 8 out of 10 correct which means I'm not colour blind.

My visual perception will more than likely be a cognitive issue so will be working on that more and I'm sure I'll get the gist of it, with a little effort and support.

Speech assessment

2009-07-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

I have a new speech therapist and she came to nursery to observe me. The good news is that there is no sign of a 'disorder', only 'delay'. It's just a matter of time before it comes together, I will be having speech therapy in blocks of around 6-8 weeks and should respond very well to this.

I am able to produce all the sounds expected in a child of my age. This shows that I don't have an articulation disorder (inability to say sounds).

I use some delayed phonological processes; therefore I have a mild phonological delay.

I have a good ability to combine sounds in different combinations.

I have a moderate reduction in speech intelligibility (how easy I am to understand). My speech intelligibility is impacted on by reduced speech precision, reduced voice volume, hypo-nasality and reduced intelligibility with increased length of utterance. I appear to have reduced breath control for speech.

Am I colour blind?

2009-07-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

I'm being referred back to great ormond street opthalmology for an eye test. I struggle with colours and visual perception so need to find out if i'm colour blind or not. Papa is colour blind, so I could well be.

Swimming with papa

2009-07-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

HOT! We need to cool down so papa took me swimming after my hair cut.

Got the chop

2009-07-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

Papa took me for a haircut, it's so hot now and my hair was too long. I like it, I feel so much cooler. What do you think?

Italy with papa

2009-06-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

The best bit about going to Italy is flying in an aeroplane. When I see one in the sky I always want to fly in it. Anyway, on Friday morning we went out to the centre of Milan to buy books and papa bought some sunglasses. That afternoon I went to the park with papa, nonna and nonno and played football and frisbee and cooled myself down in the fountain.

On Saturday nonno and Elisa took me to the lido, had a swim and played with all the other toddlers. On Monday morning papa and I went for a walk on the navigli and met up with Lorenzo for an icecream. I like Lorenzo, have met him a few times before, hoping to see him in August when I go for my summer holiday.

I ate lots of good food, as usual, my favourite being nonno's home-made pesto pasta.

Challenging times ahead

2009-06-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

My visual perception is very, very bad. I may also be colour blind and will need to be tested. Things will be tough for me at school but I'll do my best and will remember to focus on things I love to do, as well as things I can't. I know the school I'm going to uses the phonic system for reading and writing, so that's good. :)

Visual perception is the ability to recognise, interpret and organise visual images.

Pupils who have difficulties in this area may have:
* a poor sense of direction
* difficulties with organisational skills
* reverse words in both reading and spelling (eg. saw for was)
* difficulty understanding abstract maths concepts, paticularly in the areas of shape, space and measure
* problems with comparative language (eg. taller than, shorter than, longer than)
* difficulty completing jigsaw puzzles
* problems with copying from the board
* problems with interpreting and organising diagrams, charts, graphs, maps and other * visual methods of recording
* difficulties judging speed and distance
* difficulty with letter and number orientation
* difficulty with structuring and organising written work
* strengths in logic, verbal and non-verbal reasoning
* enjoyment in using multisensory strategies when learning
* a preference for a phonic approach to learning to read
* a preference to use audio methods of recording information.

Prefer to see Lazytown on the telly

2009-05-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

I went to watch Lazytown live today. No thanks. It was way too noisy and they were right there, alive in front of me. I just wanted to go home. Sportacus came on about 10 minutes into the show, was great to see him and I was very excited, but then the audience shouted too loudly and I just had to leave. Maybe I'll prefer it when I'm older. I did get some great Lazytown goodies though, activity book and a microphone that flashes which is great for my rock'n rolling.

Made mummy & I lunch today

2009-05-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

Pizza.. yummy!

Educational psychologist report

2009-05-15T05:48:00.000-07:00

It arrived in the post today. My statementing process has started and I have a copy of the first report, supporting my need for extra help at school.

My strengths...

I am active and curious about the world around me and keen to engage with my surroundings. I am a sociable child and interact well with both adults and children. I am particularly interested in physical activities and really enjoy the opportunity to play outside. I respond very well to songs and am enthusiastic to learn the actions to them. I like story time and enjoy looking at picture books.

I don't have weaknesses so won't write anything for there, instead areas to focus on when I go to school are...

build on my expressive language and language comprehension skills

improve on my attention, waiting, listening skills in group settings, such as story time and develop my social interaction skills with peers

develop an acceptance of clear boundaries set by adults, and develop positive behaviour through redirection, and making choices

build on my gross and fine motor skills so I improve my pencil grip and manual dexterity and work on my visual perceptual skills so I can copy designs and letter formation and improve my drawing skills

develop self care skills, including dressing, undressing and using the toilet independently

access a broad and balanced curriculum, including the National Curriculum, in a mainstream school setting, so I can acquire early literacy skills, such as letter recognition and phonic skills, and develop an understanding of mathematical concepts.

So, all in all I've got quite a bit to learn but there's plenty of time for that. For now, I'm just going to enjoy being the little boy that I am.

More good news

2009-05-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

I've been accepted into my first choice of school. It's very close to home and the staff are lovely. They wanted me to go there, even though I'll need extra support. Some heads are funny like that, they don't want to provide the extra help because of funding issues. The school is in a lovely, old building, only one class per year and the afternoon clubs are brilliant. I'll have the opportunity to play sport, learn any musical instrument I like... and even swing on a trapeze. They already have 5 statemented children there so they're pretty clued up already.

Good news

2009-05-08T05:20:00.000-07:00

Went for my testes check up today. Both are still descended and I have to go back in a year. They're a little small but that doesn't matter. I'm relieved I won't need them doing again, I've had more than enough general anaesthetics. :)

Developmental assessment

2009-05-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

This was done to prepare my statement for school, to give the local authority an idea of what i'll need support with. I'm doing better in verbal than non-verbal. I need to focus more on my shapes, colours, numbers and visual perception. Some questions were silly. There was a book open with pictures of 4 different houses, i was asked 'which one is the posh house?' The POSH house? I think my homes are pretty cool (I have 2!), but have never referred to either of them as 'posh', or small, or big for that matter. These assessments are good because I now know what to focus on more, but they're always to be taken with a pinch of salt.

IEP

2009-04-30T03:31:00.000-07:00

Papa went to nursery today to meet with the SENCO and the educational psychologist. I have new goals now but overall I'm doing very well.

My speech is coming along great, I have 'classes' every day for 15 mins where the focus is purely on language. I'm to make more animal sounds to encourage more words.

Time also to focus on toilet training. I'll be nappy free for an hour both at nursery and at home. I'm quite aware now so it should work out.

My concentration has improved a lot, I engage in all activities at nursery for over 10 minutes at a time. I love cooking and playdough the most. My fine motor skills need a little more work, I need to learn to draw a full circle and an 'L' for Luca. I love drawing and painting so don't think those targets will be too hard to meet.

I have my developmental assessment tomorrow, to prepare my statement for when I go to school... so watch this space!

Celebrating food, because I can

2009-04-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

I started eating orally in October 2006. I've just had a meal so thought I'd celebrate food, it's still such a novelty. For the first 15 months of my life I didn't eat or drink. I had breast milk but never tasted it, it went straight to my tummy via my nose.. avoiding all taste buds. You wouldn't believe it if you saw me today. You wouldn't believe I was once tube fed. I love raw broccoli. I love tomatoes. I love chicken. I love weetabix. I love liver. I love pasta with cheese. I love spinach. I love lamb. I drink water and milk. I use a fork and feed myself, I drink from a cup. I love the texture of food and I love the taste. I'll try everything once and so far there's nothing I haven't tried twice. I love sucking on lemons. Thanks to www.notube.at.

2nd teste descended today

2009-03-18T10:45:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm back home now after not such a long day, but a very early rise. Papa fetched mummy and I from home and drove us to hospital. I didn't really know what was going on but I handled the preparation for surgery very well. The nurses didn't frighten me like they usually do at times. We went for a long walk to a room and the last thing I remember before waking up was drawing mummy and papa pictures, I was aware of a funny smell but It didn't bother me too much. I started getting tired and couldn't draw at all, I lost all strength.

Next thing I woke up in a strange room and my throat was very dry and I was so thirsty. Mummy and papa came and i sat on mummy's lap, but I was so disorientated I was trashing about a lot. I just didn't want to calm down, only managed to when we were back at the ward and eventually fell asleep for an hour and a half. When I woke up I was right as rain. I had some water to drink and mummy let me eat her lunch, it was yummy! After that I went for a wee in the toilet, I told mummy and papa how much I loved them and had a little walk around the ward. I was allowed to go home an hour later. I'm doing so fine and feeling great. Hopefully that'll be the last general anaesthetic for years to come.. touch wood.

HALLO!

2009-02-28T05:07:00.001-08:00

How much effort does it take to say hallo to me if I say hallo to you? When mummy takes me to nursery on the bus I greet the bus driver first, they always greet me back. Then I say hallo to the passengers, there are never very many at that time of the morning. It works like this, if i say hallo to someone and they say hallo back, we pretty much say hallo to each other for the entire journey.. repetition and all that. But sometimes I say hallo and they don't reply, they ignore me. So I say it a little bit louder because maybe they didn't hear me the first time... they ignore me again? So I shout, as loud as I can .. H-A-L-L-O!!!!! And guess what? They say hallo back. But I don't bother saying it again, not with those types anyway.

Bed time..

2009-02-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

.. is different now at mummy's home. I've slept in my very own bed for 2 nights. I've always slept with mummy or papa because I've not been very good at self-soothing, it stems from the tube feeding days.. and think mummy secretly liked having me close to her. I love to have human contact too. Well, for the past two nights I've been in my very own bed. The first night I went to sleep very quickly because I was tired, but woke up 10 minutes later, and then every 10 minutes after that until around 9.30pm when i fell asleep. Woke up at 1am and went through to mummy's bed and spent the rest of the night with her. Last night I went to bed with winnie the pooh. I slept right through to 5am before I went to look for mummy. I like my room and my bed and I'm rather proud of myself. I'm going to be 4 in July so about time I did this, at least I know I can always climb in with mummy if I want to. Think next time though I'll sleep with upsey daisy.

Kings of Leon

2009-02-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

Ooooooooh ooooooooooh, i bought a papaya!!!!!

I'm a lyric king!

The secret garden

2009-02-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

I can count to 10

2009-02-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

It's no big deal but mama and papa seem to think it is, I surprised them. I can count to 10, easy peasy lemon squeezy. I do wish they would stop underestimating me.

I'll do it!

2009-01-30T08:47:00.001-08:00

I am highly motivated at the moment. I want to do it all. I want to take my jacket off myself, using the zip... I want to put my shoes on, I want to tie my shoelaces and I want to start using the toilet soon. These things are all a bit tricky but the important thing is I WANT to learn how to do them, so therefore, I will.

Night night

2009-01-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

When I go for an afternoon sleep I say 'night, night' even though I know it's day time. I say 'night, night' to all of my favourite things.
'night, night football'
'night, night Mr Tumble'
'night, night Bob the builder'
'night, night higgledy piggledy house'
'night, night papa'
'night, night mummy'

Not a happy bunny

2009-01-19T08:22:00.000-08:00

I went to Great Ormond Street Hospital today to have a testes check up. One was descended a while ago, and now the other needs to be done as well. I'm confused, they assumed the other would descend naturally... how can they just assume that? I now have to have another general anaesthetic. It'll be in March and I know I'll be scared because I'm much more aware now. At least mama and papa will be with me when I smell the funny gas that puts me to sleep.

My holiday in Italy

2009-01-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry I've not blogged for so long. I've been busy having too much fun! I'm back from Italy now and had the most brilliant time with papa, nonno, nonna and elisa. I loved flying in an aeroplane and I loved the snow. Nonno and nonna gave me a guitar for christmas... it's the real deal! I love it.

I get to celebrate Christmas twice!

2008-12-20T01:01:00.000-08:00

Yep, I'm a lucky boy. I get to celebrate twice. Tonight I celebrated with mama. She let me choose a christmas tree... I don't think I realised what I was in for though. When we brought it home it terrified me, it was much bigger than me and kept falling over. I thought it would smother mama, but it didn't. She decorated it with little mirror balls, silver pinecones and pretty red lights. It didn't look so scary after that. Emma and Simon came over and made some mulled wine, then I got to open my pressies. I got a scooter and a sportacus outfit. When I put the outfit on I got right into character and attempted handstands and flick-flacks! The scooter was a bit tricky but i'll get the hang of it. I got lots of other little presents which I'll enjoy playing with when I get back from Italy. I go to Italy Christmas eve with papa. I'm so excited to see nonna, nonno and elisa. I talk about it all the time, but I'll miss mama and reckon she'll miss me too.

Rock star in the making

2008-12-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

i'm back! things i like....

2008-12-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

I love playing with straws (still!)
I love saying 'hallo mummy' and wrapping my arms around her thighs.
I am so gonna be a rock star. As soon as i find the cable for the camera i'm going to put my video up on here.
I love people. I'm so social and love having mummy's mates around. I've just met lindy for the first time. i love lindy. i love scott too and emma and dawnus.
I'm happy to be back and looking forward to blogging some more. I've been a tad lax lately cos it went private.. and I'm sorry. I've made it safer on here now, so there are no important details about my life if someone wanted to find me.

Speech assessment

2008-11-14T03:29:00.000-08:00

I'm about 10 months delayed in speech overall. I'm making good progress, here's my report. Mama and papa are very proud of me.

Attention and Listening- stayed engaged in all the table top activities I wanted for 20 mins+, we had the room to ourselves. When getting restless accepted 1-2 minute breaks and then back to the table. Visual attention for assessment pictures/booklet a strength.

Social interaction: happy to come with me but started asking for the other children outside- which I was pleased about – asking for other children, not distracting himself by wanting to go to another adult. When really proud he had done something he called out “Yusuf look” when Yusuf had come into the background of the room.

Expression: coming on leaps and bounds in this area. More and more spontaneous 3-4 word phrase phrases, all very appropriate “say bye bye Dora” as soon as I suggested packing up the dolls (which included a Dora the explorer doll– who he has asked “who’s this?”). Using Negatives “no, not this”, labelling pictures, showing all the vocab teaching you have done, using plurals, -ing endings answering what, where , and yes/no questions. When Luca didn’t know the correct name he offered his own pillow, Luca: “oh sleepy head”. So overall on the assessment I used (Preschool Language Scales – 3) Luca demonstrated all skills in the 24-29 mths range and developing skills (half of the items passed) in the 30-35mths range. Given in August 07 his age equivalent was 13mths – I am pleased with this progress.

Comprehension: again showing pleasing progress. Understanding spatial concepts in, on, off, full range of body parts (and proud of it!) developing pronouns ie. “give it to me, give it to him, one for you, developing quantity – understood Give me …‘all’, ‘one’, ‘the rest’. Not sure of ‘some’

Recognizing actions in pictures e.g. where’s blowing?. Luca understands what objects are used for e.g. “which one can you ride?” Luca using lots of gesture to keep me entertained and keep my attention on him. Similarly on the receptive language parts of the assessment (Preschool Language Scales – 3) Luca demonstrated all skills in the 24-29 mths range and most skills in the 30-35mths range. Given in August 07 his age equivalent was 14mths – I am pleased with this progress.

Speech

2008-10-28T04:58:00.000-07:00

Oh wow, I'm starting to talk, and quite well at that. All of a sudden words are starting to pour out of me. It's great... I find it's less frustrating for me now, so don't have to push others to get their attention! It's taken me a little while to get here but so worth the wait. I have a lovely little voice and can't wait to have proper chats with mummy and papa.

I wanna be a rock star!

2008-10-08T05:11:00.000-07:00

Air guitar is my thing at the moment. I love music and singing along to the tunes. I don't have a real guitar so every evening i go to the kitchen drawer and choose a spoon of some sort. My fave one is the pasta spoon, followed by the salad spoon, followed by the wooden spoon... and last, but not least.. the serving spoon. They all make for great guitars. I strum on them, stamp my feet, jump up and down, dance and sing (the spoons also double up as microphones), all the while shouting 'mama look!'

I'm so gonna be a rock star when i grow up.

IEP

2008-09-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Mummy and papa saw nursery today for my IEP. I'm meeting all my targets and they all said how well i'm doing. I'm due to move into the big room soon but they're going to hold off until January... I'm doing so well where I am and am starting to form new relationships so why change a good thing?

I'm loving to play fight at the moment.. but I don't know when to stop. I am sensitive to other people's feelings but I get so ahead of myself and excited sometimes, I need to learn when i'm being too much.

Some pictures from Italy

2008-09-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

I'm going private...

2008-09-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

it's not because I don't want you reading about me and about how well i'm doing, I just want to be safe. I know that I've given lots of mummys hope over the past couple of years, because i've proved most of the doctor's wrong.. haven't i? If i know you, or my mummy or papa knows you, please message me through my profile, you can click on 'email me'... I'll send you a password to access my blog in the future. I'll be doing this in about a week. :-)

If we don't know you we won't give you a password. I'm sorry... but it's all good in my life now so this blog is going to be about celebrating that and I think my friends should do that with me rather than the whole world.

I'm back and mummy's the word!

2008-09-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

I've been back since monday... it's good to see mummy again. I call her that now, instead of mama. When i first saw her i ran up to her and shouted 'mummy, mummy' and gave her the biggest cuddle, mummy burst into tears.. but i think they were happy tears, not sad ones. I had such an amazing time with papa in italy, wow! I'll upload some pics very very soon.

I'm going to see Nonno, Nonna and Elisa soon and i'm excited!!!

2008-08-19T04:59:00.000-07:00

I go to Italy on Thursday with papa for 12 days. I'm very excited to see everyone and to have a swim in the sea. I'll miss mama and she'll miss me, but we'll speak on the phone every day, I'll have so much to tell her!

Leila @ Highgate Woods

2008-08-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

Mama and I went to visit Leila and went for a play in Highgate woods. I went on the swings and down the slide, chased some birds and dogs, said hallo to random strangers, as you do! We went for lunch at Giraffe afterwards, I had salmon with broccoli, carrots and corn... didn't want a balloon though.. that's gotta be a first.

I did it!

2008-08-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

I love cheese, it makes me dream about nice things. I love the babybel cheeses, is that how you spell it? I'll have to check. But i took the wrapping off then i took off that funny red stuff that coats it... and pulled the cheese out, all by myself. Mama said 'you did it!' so now, every time i do something that i think is quite nifty... could be brushing my teeth, more cheese things or building towers i shout out 'i did it!'

'I did it!' has definitely replaced 'mama look!'.. for now.

Full time at nursery

2008-08-01T01:36:00.000-07:00

I'm now at nursery full time, all day Monday to Friday. I like it there and am very well looked after so it's not too bad. Mama has a job now, she has had a lot of time off lately so our time together from now on will be more precious. Mama seems very happy to be working again so that will make me happy too.

Happy Birthday Papa!

2008-07-24T23:32:00.000-07:00

I didn't know what to get you for a present so i decided to paint you a picture and frame it. I had a lot of fun painting it as you'll see from these photos, from the start right through to the finished product. :-) I hope you have a fun day.

My birthday party!

2008-07-19T04:14:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun... got SO many presents, was very spoilt. All my friends came and we danced, wrestled, made stuff with play dough. Everyone wanted to sing me happy birthday but i found it a bit much, all that attention on me... no thanks! So mama did a video of it instead, while papa gave me cuddles in the lounge. I had such a good time, thanks for coming everyone! A big thank you to Richie for letting us use his home and make a right mess in the process! :-)

I'm 3 years old today... WOW!

2008-07-18T02:26:00.000-07:00

Ah I'm 3 today. It's great, you get given loads of presents to open! Papa came over and helped me rip the paper off. I got so spoilt and am going to have lots of fun playing with them all. I went to nursery today and we went on an outing to Golders Hill Park. I loved playing in the sandpit and running around with everyone in the big, open spaces. It's my birthday party tomorrow... can't wait!

I love you, and you and you and you!

2008-07-14T03:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, i'm saying those 3 words a lot. I love you. Mama and papa say it to me in the mornings, in the evenings and when i speak to them on the phone. They say it a lot and i like to hear it. So now, when i greet people... the guy in the shop, the stranger on the street... i say 'hallo, i love you'. I want to make them feel good too. So, to all readers of my blog... 'hallo and i love you'. !!!

Mama look!

2008-07-05T00:52:00.001-07:00

There's so much to show mama. When i build a tower block i shout 'mama look!', when i spin around and around to make myself dizzy i shout 'mama look!', when i dance i shout 'mama look!'.. also when i play the air guitar. In fact, everything i do at the moment i want mama to look.

I have the pox.... YAY!!!

2008-07-01T01:19:00.001-07:00

I've finally got chicken pox. It's been going around at nursery on and off and i've always missed it, but not this time. I'm covered in spots, but they're not bothering me at all. It's good to get it over with when you're young. :-)

Elisa visits!

2008-06-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's day Papa

2008-06-15T02:37:00.000-07:00

I made you 3 cards at nursery, loved giving them to you. Happy Father's day, you're the best papa in the world and i love you very, very much!!! Had so much fun with you today and you cooked such delicious food on the braai. I ate chicken, sausage, baked potato and some salad. I loved the potato so much I took half of mama's!

Perfect

2008-06-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Being without defect or blemish

I went to Great Ormond Street today for a heart check-up. It was a long day. I had an ECHO done.. at first I was a little nervous but mama and papa chatted to me about what I was going to have on my pizza for lunch, so I calmed down a bit, cos I love pizza! We met with the cardiologist afterwards and he said my heart was 'perfect', I only have to go back again in 2 YEARS!!!

My third hole in the ventricles has closed naturally, and I no longer have to have antiobiotics every time I have dental treatment or if I fall and cut my mouth open, what a relief! He did say that I have to keep my teeth nice and clean though, because bacteria can travel to the heart that way... but I'm getting really good at brushing my teeth now so that shouldn't be a problem really.

ALL IN ALL A SUPERB DAY!!! :-))))

I love you

2008-06-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

Mama and papa say this to me a lot. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside when they do, so i figured it must be a nice thing to say to someone, so i'm saying it back to them now! mama nearly cried when i said it to her the first time.

BBQ at dad's place

2008-06-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

I stayed with dad and we had a bbq. I saw Tara and India for the first time in ages. They've been in Goa for 4 months, lucky things! It was great to see them, although pushed them a bit in the beginning, i don't mean to hurt anyone... it's just a silly phase i'm going through. By the end of the day we were getting along just fine though and we had fun! Lizzy brought some balloons around, she often brings me balloons and i love them, thank you Lizzy!

Had a ball with papa this weekend!

2008-05-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know why i'm blogging papa as dad and also mama as mom? I call him papa and call mom mama so will be accurate from now on! Mama went away for the weekend to see a friend of hers. Papa came to stay and took care of me for the whole weekend and we had a lot of fun. He took me to Waterlow Park (mama's favourite park).

Not 100%

2008-05-10T05:07:00.000-07:00

I've been ill on and off all week. Had a really bad night, had a temperature and didn't sleep much at all. I'm a bit better today but still coughing a lot. I'm going to hang with dad today so am excited about that!

Cool rider

2008-05-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

The meaning of my index finger

2008-05-07T05:04:00.000-07:00

I've finally figured it out! My index finger fits perfectly inside my nostril. That's what it's there for!!! .. it's too much of a coincidence don't you think? It also fits in mom's nostril with space to spare.

I'm poorly :-(

2008-05-05T01:28:00.001-07:00

I'm not feeling great. Been fighting a temperature for the past couple of days and i have a runny nose. I haven't been ill for months, in the fact the whole of winter I was pretty much ok, big difference to last winter! I think my immunity's getting stronger now. I'm tired so i'm going to have a little ziz.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Gunter!

2008-05-03T23:56:00.000-07:00

You would have been 68 years old today. I know I haven't met you but I hope all the angels are throwing a big party for you tonight. We'll be celebrating ourselves. Till we meet...

My fave TV programmes

2008-05-02T08:16:00.001-07:00

Well i love footie the most, any game will do.

At the moment the shows i love and that really make me giggle are...

In the night garden... I like upsy daisy the most.

Brum... i love dancing with them all at the end.

IEP

2008-05-01T23:44:00.000-07:00

It was my IEP at nursery today. I've reached all my goals except for one!!! I had to repeat words, well i'm now trying to construct sentences!!! I had to increase my attention span which i'm doing too... the only thing i'm not doing is taking my trousers off by myself. That's not my fault though, nursery, mom and dad haven't been pushing me to do this (tut). They are very pleased with my progress and have set new goals. I have no doubt i'll be able to meet those too.

Speech Therapy

2008-04-28T10:14:00.001-07:00

Kristin came over today for a session of speech therapy. We played with a doll and some teddy's and i pretended to feed them a drink and some food. We played with puzzles as well... one of animals and the other one had an aeroplane. We blew bubbles, i didn't want Kristin to blow them, i wanted to do it myself... it went really well, i blow really good bubbles but need a little guidance with the stick. Mom get's me to blow bubbles in the bath through a straw as well, sometimes i drink the bathwater by mistake.. yeagh!!! She's really pleased with how my speech is coming along, she said it's developing nicely and she can see a massive difference from when she first started these sessions 6 weeks ago. I've got so much to say for myself so when my speech does develop i'm not gonna be able to shut up! :-)

Highgate Woods

2008-04-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Mom and i stayed the night with mel last night. She made a delicious chicken stirfry for us. I loved playing with Leila, she's only 4 months old though but i said 'hallo leila' to her in my baby voice. Today we went to Highgate Woods for a play. I met an 18 month old called Adrian. We had a right giggle together, we both went on the swings at the same time. Adrian's mom pushed him higher than mom pushed me. Mom's a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to things like that. I hugged lots of strangers today, i ooze love. We went to the coffee shop afterwards and mom got me a kiddies breakfast, i had egg, mushrooms and beans. yum!

I love Wednesday's :-)

2008-04-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday dad comes over and has dinner with me and mom. I love it, we all sit at the table and eat together. I have to sit on a couple of cushions though cos i'm still a bit small and can't reach the table top. We had pizza tonight, mom didn't feel like cooking. I like pizza, i eat mine really fast so i get to eat some of mom and dad's too.

Milan with dad

2008-04-15T02:47:00.001-07:00

I went to Milan for the weekend with dad, to see nonno, nonna and elisa. I had so much fun.. it was a very busy time! They can't believe how much i've changed and how much more i'm doing now. I played with cicilia and tobia, we had a brilliant time jumping all over their sofa and throwing balls around. I missed mom a bit but it was nice to spend lots of time with dad. Dad doesn't live at home anymore but i get to see him as often as possible. He loves me very much and i love him too.

Snowing in Springtime?

2008-04-06T02:56:00.000-07:00

I watched big snowflakes falling from the sky today. They made everything white. Mom took me for a walk in our local park, she tried to get me to touch the snow but i didn't want to. I don't really know what it is, i prefer to look at it rather than touch it.

Speech update

2008-04-02T03:14:00.000-07:00

I'm slowly starting to talk :-)

I'm saying:
Eyes
No (for nose)
Mou (for mouth)
Ear
Up
I want out (When i'm done bathing)
I want ball (When i wanna watch footie on the telly ... this is what i say the most!)
I want book (When i want to be read to)
Dasta (Pasta)
Nana (Banana)
Apple
Yaya (yoghurt)
More

Mom and dad are going to start using more Makaton with me. They'll have to choose some signs that i don't speak the words for yet. I have 4 speech therapy sessions coming up soon, can't wait to show Kristin how far I've come!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2008-04-01T04:13:00.000-07:00

Learnt a new tune

2008-03-26T03:14:00.001-07:00

Most nights mom watches Eastenders on the telly (she's a bit of a fan.. yawn).. i like the beginning and the end the most, I sing along to the theme tune with incredible accuracy!

Elisa visits!

2008-03-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

It was brilliant seeing her again. Mel came around for lunch and i played with Leila for a bit. I love babies, the whole tone of my voice changes when i talk to them.

Things i like to do III

2008-03-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

i like to walk around with a bucket on my head with my arms outstretched, feeling my way in the dark.

i like to use my sponge in the bath to clean all the bath toys, the bath and the walls. I also like blowing bubbles with a straw, but sometimes i drink the bath water instead of blowing it.

i like football .. a lot! every time i get home i yell 'ball' at the telly, but don't always get my own way :-(

i like to look at photos, especially of hannah because i can say her name.

i like to eat everyone's food, even after i've eaten myself. I'll move from person to person getting what i want. When one plate's finished, i move to the next.

Speech therapy

2008-03-04T14:53:00.000-08:00

Kristin came around to my house today. I usually see her at nursery so it was a nice surprise. She chatted to mom mainly... about my speech. Mom has to make me work harder. I understand a lot and i gesture really well so mom knows what i want when i need it... but from now on mom has to make me 'speak' for my needs. Make more effort. tut. I'm quite happy the way i am. Mom must also repeat words more, it's all about repetition. She does that already quite a bit, but not enough. Things are going to be more challenging for me, but it's for my own good, apparently. :-(

Oh the games people play now!

2008-02-26T07:05:00.000-08:00

After every bath time, when mom is drying me.. i do a runner! I run away screaming with excitement before she can catch me. Sometimes she's really quick and gets me before i reach the lounge... other times I'm way quicker than her. It's great being naked, if the heating's on of course! :-)