Kyan being all 'British'
So Kyan hit the big 1 back in August. We couldn’t believe how quick it came and went. We didn’t do anything big – just had immediate family around for some party food and cake. Needless to say, both Lauren and I were still very excited and spent the day making all of his party food – his cake, the cupcakes, cookies, cornflake cake (apparently like what you Brits had at school?) and of course ‘fairy bread’ (what we Aussie’s have at birthday parties!). We also made Kyan a smash cake which he sort of liked. His younger cousin enjoyed it too, so it wasn’t a complete waste! The day was lovely and all went very smoothly. Who would have thought that this time last year we were at Great Ormond Street all worried with what lay ahead…
With his first birthday cake
Kyan’s appointments have become less and less frequent. The only thing he really has is physio (and that’s only every 6 weeks or so), Early Years Support (portage) once a week (which is fantastic!) and the chiropractor (which we chose to take him too). We have the odd check up but other than that, life is pretty normal. Lauren gets along to lots of baby groups now – both specific ones for kids with DS and our local ones. Kyan loves them. He is a very sociable baby (as long as one of his mummies is around!).
Kyan's birthday presents
The last time I wrote Kyan was standing up and trying to walk. These days he doesn’t stop! Not on his own just yet, but as long as he has hold of our hands, he is walking around everywhere. And getting quite quick too! Unfortunately his upper body strength is still weak so he isn’t able to walk on his own yet but he has a good go at moving around. He gets really strong, then has a growth spurt, and goes a bit ‘floppy’ again. He still isn’t interested in crawling. Looks like he might never do that one – he just struggles too much to lift his body. Oh well, he will move around some way I’m sure.
Dressed up for a friend's wedding
I guess the biggest news in Kyan’s life (and ours) at the moment is that we are moving to Australia! We decided (after such a horrible summer) that it is time to try life in the sun. I am Australian and Kyan has duel nationality so it only seems fair to try things Down Under (we need to share ourselves with both families!). We are off at Christmas for a new adventure. We were worried at first as we receive so much support here through the NHS and support groups both in our area and online, but we are hopeful that we will get just as much support in Australia.
Kyan loves his baths
So we have spent all of half term packing and sorting through things. What to take, what not to take…it can be quite a boring job, but will be worth it in the end. In less than 2 months time we will be on the beach, relaxing in the sun!