Mother'sday, a Birthday, Measles and stuff!

Hello my angel boy!

Well, once again my only excuse is that I was so busy at work that I just didn't have time to write my little "love-letters" to you, but I told you about them every night though!

Ok, so, where do I start, at the beginning of the title I suppose. Well, the best mother's day present ever was to see you and your dad have such a great "male-bonding" experience. I had to study so dad took you out for a fun day, and it was so beautiful seeing father and son together, so happy, such a perfect match! Your father bought me the most amazing suit for work (it's REALLY pretty and I feel all professional like!), and when I took a break from my studies we had so much fun toghether!

Next on the list...oh yes, my birthday! Lots of fun, also took it very easy because...wait for it... I had to study! But I was spoiled rotten and got some beautiful pressies. I did, however notice that you were very niggly that week, but I wrote it off to teeth (in my "rational mind). Deep down, however, something was bothering me. I decided to wait it out because I don't want to be a hypochondriac. It's not healthy, and it certainly is not cheap, lol. But Friday I knew something was up.

That very day I was bragging to someone about how you have NEVER had a fever, not with teeth, not with ear-infection, not with anything! Well guess what. That night your temps shot up to 32.9C!!! Yes, mommy was having a small embulism! I was so stressed out! Dad was kinda calm (or just seemed like it), and got ouma Rina on the phone. She said - Panado, cold cloth, check it every hour. So, being the obedient parents that we are, that's what we did. We managed to keep your temps down to about 38C, but next day it was off to the doc, and yes, you had severe mid-ear infection. So, lots of meds, your temperature broke, yay, and you were on your way to recovery...or were you? Nope. Two days later I saw a funny rash behind your ears....hmmmm...I thought... I know what starts out like this... On the phone to the doc and he confirmed that it sounded like baby measles. Ouch my boy, I felt so sorry for you. You were not a happy camper at all! Two days later the rash started disapearing and then....just as I thought your misery was over, there they were, two pearly whites right next to your bottom teeth. Yay, so now you have 8 toofies! And thankfully the pain and misery was over in just one week!

Now you are walking (yes, literally walking) around like you own the earth and that the world is your play-ground. I love seeing you this happy! You are growing up so quickly! This weekend you spent a night at ouma Rina's and I couldn't believe how big you got when we picked you up. You were walking around, looking at the trees, and just....being a big boy!

I'm soooo increadibly proud of everything that you are my angel. You are beautiful, you are perfect. You make me laugh so much when you chase the dogs out, or when you go hmmmhmmmm for a biscuit. I love you with everything and thank you for enriching our lives.

Till next time my fatty!

Love
mom

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind!

Well my angel, as you can read from the heading, you have indeed given what we like to think is your first steps.

It's been coming for a while, you've been "falling" with a little stumble into either my or dad's arms when prompted. But the night before last you gave a couple of definite, directed and controlled steps to dad and to me. So yes, there is trouble on the way! We are so very proud of you and the sheer determination on your face when you focus on the task at hand is one of the most adorable things we've ever seen. Followed by the elation of finally accomplishing that task ofcourse! So well done my boy, today the living room, tomorrow the world. We hope you will give plenty of leaps for mankind one day, and may all your steps from here on be directed by love, gratitude and sincerity.

Ohpaw sent this song to me by John Denver. It was written for his son Bobby, but as ohpaw said, it might as well have been for you:

I’ll walk in the rain by your side
I’ll cling to the warmth of your hand
I’ll do anything to keep you satisfied
I’ll love you more than anybody can

And the wind will whisper your name to me
Little birds will sing along in time
Leaves will bow down when you walk by
And morning bells will chime

I’ll be there when you’re feelin’ down
To kiss away the tears if you cry
I’ll share with you all the happiness I’ve found
A reflection of the love in your eyes

And I’ll sing you the songs of the rainbow
A whisper of the joy that is mine
And leaves will bow down when you walk by
And morning bells will chime

I’ll walk in the rain by your side
I’ll cling to the warmth of your tiny hand
I’ll do anything to help you understand
And I’ll love you more than anybody can

And the wind will whisper your name to me
Little birds will sing along in time
Leaves will bow down when you walk by
And morning bells will chime

Love you plenty my angel.

Mom

To Err is Human, to Forgive Divine

My Son,

I am writing this as you are peacefully sleeping like an angel. It's been a tough couple of weeks for me. At work I'm so busy trying to get everything right and doing my best so that we can give you the life you deserve. At home I'm trying to study so that one day I can teach you the value of education, along with being able to afford it. In between that I am trying to give you all the love and support that you need so that you can grow to your full potential as a whole human being.

All of this I am saying to you not because I am complaining (because we're very fortunate to be able to do all these things), but rather to pass on some of the lessons that I have learnt during these hectic past weeks.

I want to tell you that you should never doubt yourself, your beliefs, your intentions or your capabilities. You know that saying "You can't please all of the people all of the time"? (Okay you don't yet, but when you are old enough to read this you will). Well my angel, it is one of the truest things you'll ever learn. People differ my precious, and sometimes you'll hurt someone, and sometimes they'll hurt you. Sometimes you'll have a hold on everything and sometimes you will feel a complete loss of control. Some people will think you're bubbly and spontaneous, others will think you're loud and obnoxious. Some people will think that you are such a bad parent that you need to be prayed for and others will think that you're doing a great job with the resources that is available to you.

Either way my only, the only truth is the one that you know for yourself. Always remember that people do the best they can with the knowledge that is available to them. And just as your purpose is to understand, accept and love them, so it is that you must do it for yourself as well. I think my point is that you can only do your best and that is all that matters. If someone hurts you with their words, always assume that they are doing what is right for them, at that moment, with the knowledge they have. Try to learn something from it because they may be right. Maybe they are completely wrong, but then again, that's only to your knowledge.

Reality is very subjective my fatty and your job is just to appraoch everything with love and kindness and again, do the best that you can.

I hope this will make sense some day.

I love you with all my heart and remember, everything I do, I do it for you (Kind of feel that I should break out in song, lol).

U are our everything

Mom

From Matthew

Hello my poopie-pants,

My cousin Debbie e-mailed this verse to me today and it really struck me for some reason. Maybe it's because it's from the book of Matthew:

25At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
26Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
27"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Pretty isn't it?

Anyway my angel, will update you later on all the events of the weekend.

Love you plenty!
Mom

Ah, the perks!

So yesterday Wes and I got up ready to go and vote, but when we got to the line it was sooooo long! So we decided to go back a bit later, and once again the queue was soooo long, but it was shorter than before so we decided to just face it. After all, we just had an energizing lunch at Spur and we may as well "walk" it off. To our extreme delight, as we got ready for hours and hours of waiting, an official came to us and escorted us to the front, yay! Apparently if you have a baby in a pram you get some perks. So thank you my angel, you saved us a lot of boring queuing. I won't tell you how dad offered to rent you out to the rest of the people in the line at R50 a pop (I might have been an accomplice), because surely we'll never do that....ha-ha. Just kidding my angel, we'll wait till you're a doctor before we try to make money out of you,lol.

Baie Baie geluk Ane met jou eerste verjaarsdag. Hoop jy't 'n wonderlike dag saam met jou mamma en pappa, en dat die Here jou stewig in sy hande sal dra in al die jare vorentoe!

That's all for now!
Love
Elriza

A lot of firsts

Hello my angel,

I'm so sorry for the long pause again. You just won't believe how busy I am at work. And when I'm home I just want to play with you, so no time to write then!

I think first and foremost I have to tell you that you blessed us with your first definite word this month. Tata, as easy as it may sound. But the trick is that you meant what you were saying, and weren't just babbling. You waved goodbye to ouma with a firm and definite tata, and from then on you began saying it a lot when waving. So you know the meaning and why you are saying it! You are also standing on your own for about 10 - 20 seconds, and I think your first steps are definitely on the horison! Oh, and you are clapping hands and dancing to music as well!

On Friday you had your first aeroplane trip and you were so well behaved. I was very proud, becuase usually the thought of having to "restrain" a 1 year old for 2 hours on a plane sends chills down every parent's spine. But you decided to "chat" to everyone and were just too curious about what's going on outside the window!

We went to go visit granny and grampy and ohpaw also game along for a well deserved holiday! Once again we got spoiled (especially you little man). Thank you very much granny, grampy, granny grey and brendon for making our holiday a very relaxing one! We enjoyed every minute of it!

Happy Easter to everyone! Hope you had a wonderful time with friends and family. May we remember the sacrifice our Creator made for all mankind.

Yesterday I got a bit tearful because a year ago I had the pleasure of taking you home to sleep in your own bed for the very first time. My, how time flies. That was probably one of the most memorable moments of my entire life, so my angel, I just wanted to tell how incredibly proud I am of you. Just for being the beautiful, enthusiastic little man that you are. I learn so much from you every day, how to be excited about the smallest little thing, how to take every day at a time and how to fight for life, because it is sooo worth it. I love you more than life itself and I hope to be able to give you everything that you need, to grow to your full potential!

Love you little man.

You are my everything.

Mom

Photos of Caden and Oumagrootjie

Ah, some rest....then it was over...

Hello my beautiful,

Well as you can see from the title, I had some rest, but just for one night. Sunday night was a very bad night for you. You were awake every hour, and at 4h00 it was playtime (ouch).

On Monday your ouma Rina came to say hi and she took one look at me and realised that I was close to the end. She offered to take you for the night so that me and dad could get some rest, otherwise we wouldn't be able to give you our undivided attention you know. So off you went with ouma, and as could be predicted, you decided to sleep through the night. She said you woke up at 5h00 and she gave you to ouma-grootjie on the bed while she showered. Apparently you were bouncing up and down when you became a bit tired. You then proceeded to crawl into ouma-grootjie's arms and make a little bed there for yourself, on her chest. She sang to you a bit, and one two three, you were sleeping again. Well, I'm very glad you were so nice to your ouma-grootjie and ouma, because when you came home last night you once again decided that you wanted a bottle at 01h30, and again at 5h00. I took the 01h30 shift and dad took the 5h00 shift. I'm starting to wonder my angel...is it me????

On a lighter note, your cough cleared up a bit, but now you are hoarse again (which is actually very cute, especially if you want to laugh). You now understand gogga, light, hello, bye-bye, tata and dadda, and you can point to them (light and gogga) when asked where they are. Yesterday we were pretty sure you said (and meant) dadda when dad came back from work. And I'm also sure you said (and meant) tata when you said it while waving goodbye. So all and all my angel, you are becomming a very clever little boy and dad and I are enjoying every minute of it!

Until next time my angel!

Love
Mom

So, it's not asthma....

Hello my angel,

Well, what a tough couple of days. Monday night you started weezing and I thought you might be having an asthma attack. Obviously I was terrified and on the phone with ouma Rina to find out what exactly to look for. I steamed your room with some eucalyptus oil, but to no avail. You were up most of the night and in the morning your chest was still very tight.

I took you to the doctor yesterday morning and the diagnosis was Bronchiolitus, a viral lung infection. But I actually think the treatment is worse than the illness because you have to be nebulised 6 times a day to keep you out of hospital. You hate it and 6 times a day, for 5 minutes you cry without stop (Five minutes can feel like a lifetime!)! I think what makes it worse is that I have to keep your eyes closed while nebulising. The medicine in the nebuliser contains cortisone, and as far as I know cortisone breaks down some of the proteins in the eye, that's why we should try and avoid contact.

I feel very sorry for you, but I know it's for the best, because the last thing you need now is to be hospitalised.

On a lighter note...we've been nominated for a blog "award", yay! Thanks so much Samm and Claire for the nomination.

This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.

Here are the rules:

Step 1: respond and rework -- answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.

Step 2: tag - eight other bloggers to do the same.

Seeing as WE were nominated, I'll try and answer what I think Caden would've said, and unfortunately I don't know what Wes would've said, so I'll wait for his answers.

1) What are you wearing right now?
Me: Navy dress, black shoes and navy jacket
Caden: Brown and white track suit and white t-shirt
2) What is your biggest fear?
Me: I can't really say losing the people I love because I know they'll go to a better place and that I won't really be losing them (even though I try to stop my mind from wandering that way), so I'll go for being eaten!
Caden: Don't know yet, being hungry maybe? Or maybe going back to hospital?
3) Do you nap a lot?
Me: Nap?? Can I eat it?
Caden: Less now that I'm getting bigger, but still at least twice a day
4) Who is the last person you hugged?
Me: Caden
Caden: Mamma
5) What websites to you visit when you go online?
Me: Gmail, all my friend's blogs.
Caden: Whatever mom or dad goes to, I don't really have a choice...yet...
6) What was the last item you bought?
Me: Palm Centra, for Wes, and lots of medicine and a nebuliser for Caden
Caden: No need
7) If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Me: The Pyramids in Egypt and in Peru, New York and all the ancient sites in the world
Caden: Wherever my little legs will let me go!
8) If you could go to the Oscars, who would you want to sit next to?
Me: The cast of Friends
Caden: I'll be on mom's lap...so...the cast of Friends???
9) If there was something you could do over, what would it be?
Me: I'd try and finish my degree earlier so that I don't have to get up at 4am now
Caden: Hmmm, I'm just guessing, but maybe I wouldve stayed in mom's tummy a bit longer. On the other hand, I wouldn't have been the little fighter that I am today, so I'm still thinking about it.
10) What is your most frightening moment?
Me: When Caden turned blue in hospital.
Caden: Probably birth, I was just chilling and then all of a sudden I was pulled out of there, and I didn't even do anything wrong!
11) What was the last movie you watched?
Me: Can't remember when last I actually sat and finished a movie
Caden: Baby Genius under water adventures
12) What is the luckiest thing that ever happened to you?
Me: Well duh, my son survived
Caden: Well duh, I survived
13) If you had a whole day to yourself with no work, commitments or interruptions what would you do?
Me: Sleep, take a long bath, and maybe do a pampering session
Caden: I'd try the whole day to get my leggies stable so that I can walk and run around! It's terribly frustrating at this stage.
14) Is there a major goal you have that you haven't yet achieved?
Me: Uhm, Perfection? But if I achieve it I'll probably die, so I'm postponing it....lol....
Caden: Yes, WALKING!!!
15) What is the first job you had?
Me: Waitress at Ming Woo Chinese Shop
Caden: Keeping mom from sleeping too much
16) What is something that those in blog land might not know about you?
Me: Hmmm, don't know, I'm pretty transparent. Uhm, maybe that I'm studying Communication Science?
Caden: That I have two little marks on my belly from where the monitor was when I was so tiny.
17) What is something simple that relaxes you and you enjoying doing?
Walking with Caden and Wes, drinking a glass of wine while having good conversation (my mom and dad are GOOD options)
Caden: Bathing and going for walks
18) Do you make time for yourself everyday, and if so, what do you do?
Me: Not yet, maybe someday....
Caden: Well, I'm only alone when I sleep, does that count?
19.)What is the last book you read?
Me: The Pilgrimage
Caden: A hard band book that Samm bought for me

Ok, so my nominations are people whose blogs I follow regularly and who have all taught and inspired me. They've all been nominated before, so this is atleast their 2nd award, but hey, the more the merrier:
- Deqlan Higgins Blog - by Samm Higgins
- Malakai Stow's Blog - by Loren Stow
- Keaton du Plessis's Blog - by Megan du Plessis
- Ferreira Family's Blog - by Claire Ferreira
- Lisa Reid's Blog - by Lisa Reid
- Growing baby Pomario - by Lee Pomario
- Loren Stow Photography - by Loren Stow
- All-hands-on-Deq - by Gillian

That's all from our side my angel! See you just now...

Lots of Love
Mom

Some Catching Up!

Wow my angel, I'm so sorry for only writing now. I've been SOOOO busy, I honestly don't know whether I am coming or going. It's been great being so stimulated, espescially at work, but I feel so scattered!

You've been such a little character. You've had hectic seperation anxiety the last couple of weeks, espescially when it came to your dad. You didn't want to leave him alone! I don't think he knew what hit him, because he honestly couldn't put you down without you howling. Shame, but I think he secretly enjoyed all the attention from you.

You started playing games with us, teazing us, rolling balls, having crawling races (you should see the blue marks on my knees from trying to crawl!). It's been a real pleasure so far watching you learn and experience new things.

Well, that's all for now my angel. Just know that you are growing beautifully and that you are our whole lives!

Love you plenty!

Mom