Our family - by Loren Stow

I love you

Hi my beautiful big boy,

I'm sorry, I've been so bad, not writing as often as I should, but lately it's a miracle if I remember to put my shoes on before I walk out the door!

So what's been happening? Well, we went to Cape Town to come and steal you back ha-ha, and it was such a wonderful sight seeing you on the Saturday morning, coming into our room to greet us. The shocker however, was that you were most happy to see your brother and you couldn't stop kissing and hugging him. I think you are getting more use to him now, but it does come at a price, well, for me at least.

You are getting much closer to your dad (which definitely suits him I tell yu), and steadily gaining a lot of independence from me. I'd lie if I didn't tell you that I miss it. I miss it a lot actually, but I know it's just part of the growing-up process. You are at the age now where you want to play rough, wrestle, kick balls and get dirty, and who is a better partner in crime than your father? I think I have become a bit boring for you, understandably, but I know whenever you need advice, medicine or just a cuddle, I'll be right there, waiting in the sidelines.

So what else has been happening? Your teacher at school resigned and your new teacher is starting on Monday. This really broke our hearts as Tannie Tanya was an absolute gem and she ADORED you. But I'm sure you will creep into the new teacher's (Tannie Lizette) heart just as quickly. Aunt Lynette and Uncle Grant moved up here from Durban and that seems to be a real treat for you! You love them so much and get all excited when I tell you we are going to visit! You also got to go to Cole's 1st birthday party, which was stunning, full of the cutest sweets and decorations (nautical theme). Lisa really went to a lot of trouble and you had a ball! And last Sunday Loren came to do a family photo shoot for us! I absolutely cannot WAIT to see the pics. You were a real little poser/model...wait for the pics...you'll see!!! And I finally got some beautiful photos taken of me and you together! Yay!

What else? O yeah, in the mornings you can eat your own breakfast (porridge) which leaves me free to get all your stuff together for school. And you are also singing full songs now, not just words here and there. I think finally a person other than your mom and dad can understand your full sentences as you are communicating much clearer now.

I must say, I really really miss our quality time together, just you and me. I never get to see just you anymore. I miss just sitting by you by the swing or playing in the sandpit. I think you feel it too because your tantrums are getting worse and more severe. I'm definitely doing something wrong. When you grow older you'll probably hear a lot that parenting doesn't come with a manual, and my, how true that is. I have absolutely no idea how to deal with your tantrums. Once you start crying for something, there really is no stopping you. And it would be so much easier if I knew what you were crying for, but a lot of the times you just cry, for no apparent reason. Maybe one day when you're big you can tell me, but sho, you have really had your dad and I up nights trying to figure this one out. Most of the times it happens around 3h00 in the morning, then I wonder if it's not maybe a nightmare or something. But when the lights are on and it's been about an hour, so you are fully awake, and you still won't stop crying, I find myself at a loss as to what could possibly be bothering you.

Anyway, I suppose it's just another brick in the wall hey my angel? I'm sure we'll figure it out soon enough.

Till next time my precious big boy.
Mom

Wow, didn't know missing you could physically hurt so much

Hello my angel,

You should've been home by now, but hey, shoulda woulda coulda! Last week Thursday Granny phoned to inform us that you have MEASLES!!! Freakin measles my boy! Can you believe it! I want to say: "Why bother with the vaccinations then?", but then I see you on Skype and see that you don't look sick at all! You're still running around like the crazy little man that you are and nothing's changed, except you have a rash. So now I'm rather saying: "Thank goodness you had those vaccinations" otherwise you would've been very ill my baby and I would've cried my eyes out not being able to be there with you, to hold and love you.

Now, I'm still crying my eyes out because I miss you so much, but at least I know that you are well and healthy-ish. We had to postpone our flight tickets to this week Friday because measles is VERY contagious and you are not allowed to fly when you have it because you can infect those around you so easily. So now I have seriously been away from you for much longer than ever before. Truly though, I would much rather have my hectic, crazy, laughter-filled mornings than having it this quiet. I don't think we realised how much you "filled" the house with your giggles and cries.

Anyway my angel, just wanted to tell you how much I miss and love you and I think I'm gonna explode with joy when we get off the plane to fetch you!

Lots of love!

Guess who's coming?

Hey my angel,

You've been such a complete pleasure the past couple of days, and how very handy that came in just as your brother got sick. I've been quite busy with him and somehow, you've managed to keep yourself busy and happy all by yourself! I'm so proud of you, and it is an absolute joy to see your imagination take flight as you play!

On another note, your granny is coming to visit you tomorrow which I am sure is going to be a BIG treat, and as the schools are closing anyway, you'll get to stay at home with her for a bit. I had to make one of the toughest decisions of my life so far, but I know you're gonna love it, so I had to do it. Dad and I thought it would be nice for you to visit granny in Cape Town for a couple of days (4 to be exact), so next week Tuesday I am saying goodbye to you for the longest time ever!!! I'm not sure how I am going to manage, but at this stage with your brother being sick and with the schools closing, it seemed like the best time to send you for your first (of many) holidays down to Cape Town. Please please bear with me if I hold on to you for extended periods of time before you leave. I'm still not sure how on earth I'm gonna do it, but I have a week to prepare myself. At this stage I am just continuously focussing on holding you again when we go to Cape Town to fetch you. I can just see that beautiful smile of yours and being able to kiss and hug you all over again...so that'll remain my focus. I know I'm talking like you're gone already, but I'm just prepping so long.

Anyway my angel, just wanted to let you know how wonderful you are and what a pleasure it is seeing you learn every day!

Love you plenty!
Mom

Our holiday

Hello my liefie

We went on our first official family holiday these past couple of days and my, was it interesting. Dad and I played it up in our minds a bit because we were going to the beach, a lovely place in Pennington where you open your doors and you are right on the beach. So dad and I, having such fond memories of the beach when we were young, couldn't wait to give you the same pleasures that we enjoyed, swimming in the sea, playing in the rock pools, buying silly toys from the stalls next to the beach...

We left Saturday morning and you were soooo well behaved in the car, there and back, not a single complaint! Saturday night we slept over at aunt Nettie's and as usual you LOVED the attention from the girls. You also got very spoilt with lekker sweeties a noddy book and some counting and spelling cards. (Thanks aunt Nets, Candice and Tanya for spoiling us once again!). The next day we went off to our destination. You absolutely loved the big sand pit and imediately grabbed your spade and bucket. But when dad took you to go play in the sea water you...ran away screaming like a girl, ha-ha! You were so scared and you clung to dad like a little monkey. I know I shouldn't laugh, and at the time our hearts broke for you because you were truly terrified, but in hindsight it was really funny. Even the rock pools weren't as alluring to you, you were only interested in playing there if you couldn't see the sea. As soon as you saw a wave you went running again. We went back to the flat where you found a mop and broom and proceded to clean the house, as you love doing. So there we were, 600km from home at a beautiful beach with beautiful weather and you wanted to stay inside and clean...????

Anyway, the next day we took you to a little pond close by to go "fishing" which was adorable and you kind of seemed to enjoy it, but that only lasted about 40 minutes. Other than that you mostly preferred to jump on the trampolines and be around us, just chatting. Oh, and there weren't any stalls to buy cheap, useless toys because it was off-season, so it was basically dead quite. The most amazing thing was probably how slowly time seemed to go there. By 9h00 o'clock dad and I ran out of ideas because we already went to the rock pools, already played in the sand, already flew the kite etc. And at night, both you and your brother were asleep by about 6h15, so dad and I would fill out cross-word puzzles and chat for what seemed like hours, by the time we were ready for bed we were sure it was close to 11h00 but when we checked it was only 8h30. So we definitely caught up on our sleep!

The cutest thing you did which had dad and I in complete stitches was when you found a steel rod or thread or something, that resembled a fishing rod, you pretending to fish with it, calling the fish saying "fishies, fishies, come now dudes". I don't know where you heard that but it was hysterical. You also started giving a lot of "orders" saying to dad "Kom nou dada, gaan spring" of "Loop hierso dada" or to me " Mamma staan daar, sing Wielie Wielie Walie". I think we are quite obedient parents... Well, to end the story off, we decided to come back a day early because you had a little cough and we worried that the humidity might not be good for your chest, plus you weren't enjoying it THAT much anyway, and just as well we did because in the car you started getting a big fever and by last night you were looking terrible. Today you seemed fine and happy so we didn't take you to the doctor, but as I am writing this I am listening to you coughing terribly so I think I'll take you tomorrow, just incase you need antibiotics. I don't want it to turn into something like pneumonia.

Anyway my sweet, I promise to post some pictures soon.

Love you plenty!

What I love about you...

Hello my precious big boy,

I know it's been ages since I've written but it's exam time for me again, and then you know the entire world comes to a stand still, lol. I wanted to take some time to tell you about some of the things I love about you, new things you've learnt and how your little personality is taking shape.

First and foremost I think is your vocabulary. You are a VERY chatty little man and if I don't hear "Mammie" about 150 times a day, I know there is something wrong! You can communicate your wants and needs nicely now saying things like, "baba huil, eina toemaar, okay baba", "dadda in die shower, kom nou nou", "wag 'n bietjie", "oh no, I broke it", "mors, sies man" (imitating me when you mess something), "dis koud daar buite", "water is nat" and my favourite "baba poep, sies man, gagga doek", refering to your brother's dirty nappy. I almost fell off my chair laughing the other day when Noah cried and you said "No baba no, stop it, genoeg nou(enough now)" because when you throw a little tantrum and cry for nothing that's exactly what I say to you! You are also really getting the hang of your little bro trying to feed him all sorts of food and trying to put toys in his hand to play with saying "hierso baba, vat". When you see a phone most of the times you bring it to us and say "oupa praat" or "granny praat", meaning we must phone them so that you can have your long chats to them. You do the same when you see the computer, saying "granny kyk" because we phone them on skype regularly.

You still don't really like new food and would probably live on viennas, bread and rooibos tea if you could. I have no idea how to get some vegetables into you, it's absolutely impossible. But you are growing by the day and seem to be getter smarter at a rapid pace. If prompted and helped a little, you can count till ten, when we drive in the car you will point to a sign saying "triangle" or "circle" or whatever shape it is. You LOVE singing songs, favourites include "twinkle twinkle" "wielie wielie walie" and "old MacDonald" and you love dancing as well, but that's not new. You have this new thing of trying to jump (you still leave one foot on the floor) and singing "hasie hop"! Cutest thing ever!

On mother's day this year, you walked onto the room carrying a present and singing "happy birthday to you", because that's what you associate presents with. It was ADORABLE!!!! But came my birthday, you didn't want to sing it once, lol, irony. We also had a sports day for you on saturday and I was soooooo looking forward to seeing you run and participate. I even signed up for selling pancakes! But when push came to shove, you wanted nothing to do with the event. You cried your little heart out when we tried to take you around the obstacle course and we ended up sitting at the back where you enjoyed playing with some dried leaves...all by yourself...so....I'm really hoping you don't turn into a serial killer my boy, dad and I are getting worried, ha-ha. Not really, we'll just have to enroll you for single sports like golf or race car driving.

Anyway my angel, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I can write pages and pages about the cutest things you do, but you would get tired of reading it, so I'll just stop here.

Love you plenty!!!

Lots of stuff

Playing with your clay


All the goodies we bought from your school market day


Kissing the dolls when I went to go look for a present for a girl for the Christmas party in December


All your Easter Eggs (that are left over)


Yum Yum ice cream


You and dad admiring the grass at the cheese farm


Feeding the turkeys with Kelly at the cheese farm


Your first hair cut certificate


Your first school photo


Your class photo

Hello my beautiful big boy,

We had a wonderful easter, of which you haven't even gotten halfway through all the chocolates and easter eggs you received. Between Ouma, Granny and Aunt Lynette I think a conspiracy was formed because we have a whole fridge full of Easter goodies! They just don't want me to sleep at night, lol. But we had a wonderful long weekend with me and dad taking you and your brother absolutely all over. We didn't go away, so made up for it by keeping really busy, ha-ha. We went to visit my cousin Amelle, went to the cheese farm in Hartebeespoort dam, took long drives into nowhere, had a braai at Ivan's and had breakfast with Ohpaw, among other things.

Then this weekend was family time! Granny and granny Grey came up on Thursday and Aunt Lynette, Uncle Grant, Tanya and Candice (dad's cousins) came on Friday. What a fun weekend and you mister, got spoiled rotten! You were so happy to have all the people around you and constantly showed off your vocabulary. You got so many clothes and sweets from gran and Aunt Lynette, and you even got to pick your own clothes when you went shopping! Thank you very very much! Unfortunately, being a typical 2 year old, you had to show them what a tantrum is supposed to be and on Saturday night 01h00, threw your worst one ever. You woke up, asked granny for sweeties to which she obviously responded "no" (in a much nicer way than your mom would've my angel) and then it all came apart. Dad and I were ready to put you in a cold shower just to calm you down! Luckily it stopped after about 30 minutes (which felt like days!!!) of hair-raising screaming! So unfortunately you had to go on a detox on Sunday and didn't have any sweets again...One day you'll understand, lol.

Anyway, just want to say thank you so much to Wes's family for coming to visit, it was wonderful having you all here and thank you for spoiling our boys so much! And a big thank you as well to all the girls from granny's embroidery club for Caden and Noah's presents, we appreciate it very much!

Till next time my precious.
Mom

My reason to celebrate!

Hello my angel,

Today I want to some space on your blog to honour another man. This is a man who gets up at 5 every morning to sit in traffic for an hour and a half, gets to work and goes full-out to give his everything, gets back in his car to sit in traffic for another hour and a half (if there isn't an accident, which is highly unlikely) and gets home at about 18h30. This man then walks in the door ALWAYS with a smile on his face, after all that and gives you kisses and hugs and all the attention you demand. Why does he do all that, sitting in traffic, working late? Well, it's all for you my angel.

He loves you so much that he wants to make sure that you get a good education, have a safe home, and something nice to put in your tummy, with the occasional sweet here and there. He wants to make sure that you have warm running water to bath in, electricity so we can see at night, warm clothes for winter and swim suits for summer, books to learn and get smart, a school to go to, a car that we can take you places in and so the list goes on. This man does absolutely everything just for you and even though I know he may not like it at times, he does it without complaint.

This man is your father, daddy weasel, and he is one of the most admirable men you will ever meet. I urge you to follow in his footsteps my angel, because a better rolemodel cannot be found.

So why am I writing about this today? Well, because today we celebrate our 4 year anniversary, and it has been an amazing journey, starting when you were just a twinkle in our eyes. I have been blessed to become the wife of the most amazing person ever, someone who appreciates me, who motivates me, who inspires me every day to be the best that I can be, someone who looks after me and most of all, someone who loves me for who I am. I hope that you can find this kind of love someday my angel, because it is truly precious and a gift to be treasured and without it, you would not have been here today.

So to big daddy weasel, THANK YOU. Thank you for being who you are, for doing what you do. No one can do it better and we love you!

P.S. Don't be surprised to find the exact same post on your brother's blog, after all, he does this for both of you.

Love you plenty!
Mom