This last week James has gone back to having afternoon naps again, due to the fact that he has had a coldy virus thing, which we have all been suffering from.  So our new routine (did it ever start!) has gone out of the window slightly.

We have been enjoying the sunshine, and this has enabled us to look at all the different kinds of wildlife in our back garden.

At the moment he seems to like worms, he plays with them for ages, like they are his pets.  Then he feeds them to the chickens!

He is still being a faddy eater, one week we had to get him chips in a cone from our local fish and chip shop every day, as that is all he would eat.  This is all very new to me as my elder two never had any problems with food, they still don't, so am a bit uncertain how to handle this really.

However, we have discovered that he really likes, beef stroganoff, lots of spaghetti and chicken, so that's a step forward from greasy chips.

Becky and Danny have been so good with him, and Danny has recently taught him his left from his right, and Becky is teaching him the alphabet song.

I have been monitoring his attention span - as with his medication, we have to always keep an eye on his behavioural patterns, and this was something I had noticed  a lot of (but haven't been too concerned as Becky is was like that too).
He does like to have something to concentrate on though, and a few days ago we had harvested our new potatoes, and James spent ages taking them from the sack and putting them into his wheelbarrow, then back again and so on. So it isn't really that he has a short attention span, its just if it doesn't interest him, he doesn't want to continue with it. I am a bit like that, and so is Becky.

I am subscribed to Play Activities and this week one of the ideas was to draw a face onto a chalk board, then get lots of wet sponges and throw them at the board until then face had been erased - great fun:-

For all my time, money and effort in creating a craft area with lots of crafty things to do for him, he just doesn't seem interested.  He eats crayons,pencils, glue, paint etc and it just ends up being too stressful,maybe he will be ready for this when he is a bit older.  The elder two like to do the craft though, so all is not lost.

I have been feeling a little more confident in going places with him now, and we have just bought a family railcard, so am looking to get him out and about, as he loves to go on buses and trains and see new places.  Also it uses lots of his energy up, which he has lots of.  I think the meds must have some effect on him as it is very sugary and has a few e- numbers, so despite me worrying about his epilepsy when we are out, it is also easier as he is more settled when we are going somewhere,seeing people and not stuck inside  (unless of course he is strapped in his car seat - he doesn't like this for too long either).

So, things going OK, no seizures for almost four months, Thank God, really hoping that this really is the medication working.   Still has screaming tantrums though, usually through frustration, which I have tried to tell the rest of the family about - like not touch his stuff without asking him, or take anything off of him without explaining why you are doing it first. Some of the time though, it is because he cannot get his own way.

Terrible twos have gone, to be replaced by terrible tiresome threes -Oh well.

Lou x