This way up

sleepovers

2014-09-16T12:18:00.001-07:00

Freddie's friend amber came for a sleepover at the weekend. George had a friend too and all ended up on the playstation!!

end of term and an award!

2014-07-23T14:34:00.001-07:00

freddie won an award at the end of term for most improved communication. just got to transfer all the progress in school into home now!!

helping out

2014-06-15T00:26:00.001-07:00

Freddie was very helpful today. when I took the tent down he washed all the pegs.

eurovisin

2014-05-12T00:34:00.001-07:00

Freddie, laughing his head off at Eurovision; particularly Polland!!

Bowling

2014-05-12T00:32:00.001-07:00

Had a fun afternoon bowling. Freddie now bowls without a ramp and nearly beat me!

Bank holiday weekend in Portsmouth

2014-05-05T23:14:00.001-07:00

Freddie spent the bank holiday weekend in Portsmouth with Daddy.

Went to portsmouth's best fish and chip shop.

Went to winchester to watch brother play cricket and he was out for a duck before we even parked car.

Went to war cloister which remembers all dead soldiers from school including Asquith the prime minister's son.

Saw Inzy who is Dr Hodgins' dog named after a cricketer.

Went to Winchester on Sunday for a curry with George.

yet more climbing

2014-04-27T22:56:00.003-07:00

I'll give it to Freddie, he's stoic! yet more climbing. this time we dragged him up to the foot of suspension bridge buttress under the suspension bridge over the portway. he's astonishingly agile and happy to trust us despite his poor balance and fear of heights. he enjoyed guarding the picnic while we took turns to climb.

gardening

2014-04-27T22:56:00.001-07:00

Freddie and I got on with some gardening today, between the showers. he hates getting his hands dirty and wanted to rush in to wash them every few minutes. very different from when he was young and used to happily run around covered in mud, looking for worms!

granny's birthday

2014-04-20T12:09:00.001-07:00

we all travelled to. pub in Newbury for granny's 70th birthday lunch. Freddie deconstructed his burger!

staying with grandparents

2014-04-20T12:06:00.001-07:00

Freddie spent a few days staying with his grandparents, brothers and cousins. they played "American foot cricket" and went on a walk to find a giant pebble!

Transitions beach walk

2014-04-09T14:20:00.001-07:00

Freddie had a day of heavy exercise with the transitions team. they arrange trips for teenagers with disabilities aged 14+. each teen is paired with a volunteer buddy from a local secondary school. this trip was a combined walk/bus ride from sandbay to uphill along the sea front. it took 6 hours so there were many breaks! this is a pic of Freddie with his buddy.

Ups and Downs teens meet

2014-04-08T22:46:00.001-07:00

I am feeling guilty that I haven't put much effort into Freddie's social life recently. what with one thing and another I always seem to be so busy. so, I decided this job needed to be given more effort! today we went to the teens outing with the wonderful local support group ups and downs south west. it was good to see two teens Freddie's known for years but not seen for ages; Zac and Molly. not too sure he remembered them, he went all shy! we went to the cinema and pizza after. great fun. Freddie was all smiles. glad I made the effort.

casual Sunday lunch

2014-04-08T22:40:00.001-07:00

enjoyed a lovely casual pork and stuffing roll Sunday lunch with friends. good to see Freddie helping himself to sensible portion sizes and choosing to go off to play with the other children afterwards.

weekend walk

2014-03-22T09:19:00.001-07:00

children and dogs all exercised in Leigh Woods. very muddy.

Downs Syndrome Awareness day

2014-03-21T01:21:00.003-07:00

Downs Syndrome Awareness day 21/03 because people with DS have 3 copies of chromosome 21. To help raise awareness I have attached a video montage of Freddie's life. You might also like to look at his website www.thiswayup.org

Climbing - variation

2014-03-20T11:16:00.001-07:00

OK. Don't like climbing? How about giant bubbles? Far more fun!!

Climbing. Not.

2014-03-20T11:14:00.001-07:00

OK. Think I need to accept that Freddie's really not that enthusiastic about climbing! Look at the face! "Go near that drop? You must be joking! Put on a silly hat?etc etc"

Call it a work in progress.

Walk on crooks peak

2014-03-20T11:12:00.001-07:00

Love this photo of Freddie and Samuel having a biscuit break on crooks peak. Weather's improving.

Thank you letters

2014-03-20T11:10:00.001-07:00

All children write thank you letters! Down's syndrome is no get out clause!

With Freddie's I write the letters and he copies them. Getting better every year.

I love the concentration in this photo.

Walk on Weston beach

2014-03-20T11:08:00.001-07:00

Freddie and I took the dogs for a walk on Weston beach while Samuel was at a party. Afterwards we went to meet him on Weston pier which didn't go too well as at the beginning of the pier Freddie decided he didn't like it and refused to move. It was one of those moments when you wonder if your child's still young enough to respond to a tone of voice, and that rather desperate feeling you get when you realise it isn't working. One child one end of the pier refusing to budge and another at the other end of the pier waiting for you. Finally, after some guilt inducing g firmness, Freddie very reluctantly ventured onto the pier. He was genuinely very frightened but I took his mind off the height by turning it into a race. Sticky moment though.

Cricket

2014-03-20T11:04:00.001-07:00

Cricket in the garden at the weekend with me, Samuel and silvia..... And the dogs!

Climbing

2014-03-20T11:01:00.001-07:00

Took all the boys climbing up at red point in Bristol. Freddie wasn't particularly keen on the climbing bit as he doesn't like heights but he enjoyed belaying. Planning to take him more often to see if I can encourage him to go higher as he's quite good and it's great exercise.

Jacuzzi

2014-03-20T10:58:00.001-07:00

Am I inspired or am I inspired? As a present to all the boys, and myself (and all visiting friends and neighbours) I HIRED a jacuzzi! Did you know you could? I didn't until Samuel suggested it. All very easy and not as expensive as you would think So we had a jacuzzi for 4 weeks. Freddie lived in it! Would love to be able to afford to buy one, superb for Freddie.

Christmas 2014

2014-03-20T10:54:00.001-07:00

Christmas! Freddie loves Christmas. The presents, the food, all the relatives!! What is there not to like? We had grandparents and uncles aunts and cousins over so it was full house. Freddie was in my room at 6 wanting to open his stocking! He got lots of presents including an outrageously irritating loud remote controlled car from his god mother.

Centre Parcs

2014-03-20T09:40:00.001-07:00

We all love centre parcs! We've been going to Longleat since Freddie was a baby. One of the advantages of having holidays in the same place is that Freddie gets to know his way around and he can do far more unsupervised than he would be able to do in an unfamiliar place.

The last time we went, we got a free day pass to come back, so we used it just before Christmas.

As you can see, the boys were all very excited and even though it was only a day, we packed plenty in.