Going out to the woods has become a definite highlight in Toby's weekend. A few months ago he would cling on to me when we were out but now he's more confident and likes to skip off and explore a little. It's lovely to see him enjoying the different textures of the path under his boots as it travels through crunchy leaves, squelchy puddles and over echoy wooden walkways. It's a special and gentle time together.

In keeping with our drive to build on his communication I'm going to be using these walks to add to his vocabulary by using a comment board. I'll be trying to teach him to name what he notices so that when he comes home for instance he can tell Amy and Daddy that we saw a dog in the woods.

Hopefully we can add to this and in time help build him a functional language.

Thanks so much for all of the kind comments on the last post. It's always really helpful to hear from anyone else with experience and great to read some different ideas that we may be able to adapt for Toby, it's also a very nice feeling to know that there are people out there just wishing us well – many thanks x

At least that is what my husband is calling it, as according to him it is lined with a load of old tat! Of course he is completely and utterly wrong. For a start the shelf is brand new – hand built and installed by him during the school half term break last week. And secondly, my collection of bits and bobs is decidedly not tat! Granted it may be an odd collection of bought, gifted and thrifted stuff but each and every thing makes me smile.

And smiles have been in rather short supply here over the last week. With it being school half term break Toby has really struggled with the lack of his familiar and comforting routine and despite my best efforts to keep him occupied he's frequently become very frustrated and aggressive. He's a big lad now and almost as strong as me, so keeping everyone safe when he's in full on meltdown mode is quite a tricky business and I have a few bite marks, scratches and deep bruises up the backs of both arms where he digs in his fingers when I try to cuddle him. Eventually when he calms he's quickly back to his gentle, sweet self but these tantrums are like ferocious storms that blow in with no warning and sweep away leaving the sun shining for him but a trail of emotional carnage for the rest of the family.

Luckily Amy had a theatre workshop which kept her out of the house a lot and it wasn't all dark and dismal for the whole of the week. There were a few special moments that I'll replay in my mind many times more – like walking in the woods and seeing Toby skipping ahead of me down the woodland track and a sudden shaft of sunlight turning both his hair and the autumn leaves to bright gold and there have been lots of giggly, tickly playful times that I've shared with him. There are happy moments in most days and those are the best ones to commit to memory.

Anyway, the smiles are returning here along with the return to routines and my happy new shelf is helping in it's own simple way. What's making you happy today?