Daniel is 15 months now and has started at nursery two afternoons a week. His favourite activity is messy play, especially painting.
Daniel also enjoys reading books - mainly about animals. He doesn't say many words yet but he can make quite a few animal noises! His first word was, "Duck". He also enjoys watching the same Playschool DVD over and over and over again. Thankfully, Grandpa sent over some more taped episodes so we got some variety!
Daniel is also showing signs of being musical, something that is definitely come from his Dad! He enjoys playing the harmonica, the drums, the recorder and the piano.He is also enjoying swimming lessons with his Dad every Sunday morning. He loves splashing and blowing bubbles and he doesn't get upset when Shane dives him under the water.
Daniel is getting more steady on his feet and can walk along with us holding only one of his hands. He enjoys walking so we don't think it will be long until he is doing it himself. No rush though - we can still catch him at the moment!
Daniel's first prosthetic was adjusted a couple of months ago to make it a little taller but he is due to have a new one made in January when we return from our holiday in Australia. Shane (Daniel's Dad) has become a bit of a novice prosthetic technician and has made some adjustments to it so it will last through to January.
We haven't made any definite decisions regarding Daniel's treatment plan. At this stage, we are still in the information gathering stage. We have a few years to make our decision.
Finally, thank you to our friends, family and those in the PFFD community who have supported us in 2008. Shane, Kristen and Daniel wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
PS - One more bit of exciting news, Daniel is going to be a big brother in May 2009!
Posted by Kristen (Daniel's Mum)
Videos:
1. Daniel playing his new set of drums (Thanks Auntie Fi!)
2. Daniel entertaining his Gran on the harmonica
3. Daniel displaying how well his walking is going!
