Happy New Year

Nate has gone off with dada who today was excited to find the jewsih bakery and jewish butcher shop. Ike is asleep for his morning nap and seems in less pain after the sprouting of his first tooth. Hopefully the rest come much later. I bought him a NUK bottle which resembles his pacifier and so now he is happily back to having the bottle when I am out.

This place is really child friendly, the pizza place around the corner has a high bench for kids near the pizza making area and oven and kids can go there to make there own pizza's, they also get priority in the oven. Nate so far has made 2 and likes it... spreading the cheese, then the onions and placing the mushrooms then gobbling up his creation. They also have an outdoor area where kids can jump on big blown up things and slides and swings with a child minder there to watch them.

The malls have a car that nate can sit in while the parents push them and have a more enjoyable shopping experience, same with the zoo and the supermarkets all have small carts for kids to push and pick up their own groceries.

Next week as life slowly returns, Nate is already signed up for karate, will have to look for a swim teacher for him as well. His school starts on the 10th and the headmistress says we can ease him in there by spending 2 hours a day hanging out.

Our things hopefully arrive on the 15th. The dogs seem happy with their big walks. Since I last wrote, Nate has been to a croc farm, a place called carnivore where they serve deer, bok, impala, crocodile, ostrich and other meats, he liked the chips best.

Dada is teaching or should I say bribing him alot, every time he wants something he has to say, "dada I love you" or his version is "I lub you".

we went to a jewish play a few nights ago and that was quite funny. Loren is off to Dubai tomorrow and then end of the month he has a trip to the "real" africa.

In South Africa

So we arrived almost 2 weeks ago, the flight was ok, though olivia was airsick the whole way and took 24 hours to recover, we weren't sure if she was going to make it but she was up and bouncy after staying in bed and alive enough to go for the christmas church service at the clubhouse.

We are living with minimum furniture at the moment and averytime I am up in the middle of the night breastfeeding I am thinking where to place our furniture...

I think i better make this short, the computer beeped at me. Nate is bored at home, we need ot find more activities and structure his day, his school starts Jan 10... he has some rash now and is on antibiotics again, his cough is much better and since arriving he has fed giraffes, pat baby lion cubs, had a bird kiss his nose, been to the zoo, the craft market, swimming and maybe sometime this week the zoo.

ike has sprouted a tooth and prob one more on the way, just as his nose got better and his sleep extended.... he is now waking up again often. sigh... he does get out more often here, on long walks...

the walks are lovely, lots of birds and small streams and interesting things to see. Everyone has such lovely gardens and things are blooming nicely. We also have big big thunderstorms with big cracking lightnings. Nate isn't scared as he thinks and can "relate" to the sky "farting".

Bullet and Jake like their long walks, pistol wants to be carried... today he sat on the back of the stroller home. The trail unfortunately has ticks and we need to take them on an alternative route.

I have interviewed some help hopefully the ones I like will take a medical test and come up HIV negative. One woman I really liked tested positive, so sad as the gap for rich and poor is quite big. The part time help all seem so grateful to get our leftovers.

Loren is in olive and feta cheese heaven, he's bought all sorts of breat, cheese, olives, dips... and we have been to a number of the restaurants which serve up BIG portions.

Anyway I hope this gets posted and will also hope to get our permanent internet connetion once these people come back to work which is mid Jan and then I can start posting properly again.

Up and down

After a good nite, then a not so great day! Didn't get to nap as I gave nate some of the steam medication and one of the side effects is that it makes them hyper but happy, so he didn't sleep. Just as i driffted off to a nap, we hear a BANG and he had climbed his set of drawers, it ahd fallen down, luckily he wasn't hurt just a bit shaken.

That night Ike didn't sleep so well big globs of nose stuff, even with the steam it didn't help too much, no sleep for me. Today I go to the clinic and there is no more medicine of the second dose for cough, we have to make do with the stuffy nose dose and if serious cough then the dr still has some but low on supply too till tues or weds.

Ike made his poo yesterday and nate's last words before sleeping today is "kaikai do yoga"

Finally a break...

Brought Nate to the dr, he said nate's condition is quite bad, the stuff is in his lungs so we had to rent a cold steam machine that delivers steam and the medicine. He said to plop nate in front of the tv so that he isn't running everywhere and can breathe the stuff in. It is also very contagious and to keep ike away tho ike has early signs of the flu already.

he gave me doses for both of them. it is quite complicated, you have to stick a needle to take out the liquid from the plastic sealedcontainer because you are not using all the liquids at once but it didn't work for me, several bent needles later, I decide to just drip out from the holes in the syringe (try doing this in the dark with a wee light). Nate had two doses, once when we got home and once before sleeping, no cough that night and slept well.

Ike woke up at 1130pm with quite a clogged nose and small coughs.... now the dr said babies are easy you just put the steamer thing in front of them and let them breathe, he didn't say how one could load the container with the medicine while carrying the baby and that the machine is so loud that the baby is suspicious.... so with the help of my toes (holding the steamer tube), and dexterity of my big toe (thanks mom for that genetic material), I pour the medicine carefully into the container (haha kidding), I use my hands while ike is draped over my shoulder. The loud buzz scares him, so I have to breast feed him while sneaking the steam near his nose, it doesn't smell bad but isn't that great either. Sometimes he is mesmerized by the steam other times he is upset at the sound and smell but quickly he sleeps, which makes it challenging to load the part 2 medicine to complete a course.

In anycase, he sleeps with a clear nose for 5 and a half hours tho the last hour he is tossing again as the nose gets cloggy again. First time I got a 5 hour stretch......

Loren Trovolta

I never thought I'd see loren in saturday nite fever gear so here it is for a laugh!

I realised that poor ike only sees stuff at home and the dr's office, I think i read to nate at this age but ike just gets swaddled and eats and sleeps and grows.... today I took him in the baby bjorn around the nieghborhood and soon he was asleep, probably too much stimulation. He slept pretty well last night, except for the last 1.5 hours into 6am, he woke up around every 3 hours and fed and went back to sleep

Afterwards I have to take him along to go and pick nate up from school as Olivia is at the ministry of manpower to have her exit interview.

Poor nate too, he had about 2 days of clear nose, all better after last friday's dr appointment but yesterday his nose was like a waterfall, just poring out! poor guy also started coughing at night, the whole night. He woke up with hair plastered (by snot) to his head (which may have been how hair gel was invented?) and lots of coughing. Will be off to see the dr again after his nap.

Hope Ike doesn't get this but I see small signs of coughing!!! oh oh!

Feefaifeediai O

Nate like a few of the songs from sesame street, one of them involves an old banjo that cookie monster eats up at the end and says, "num num num". I always get a laugh out of him when I sing feefifeediai O, feefifeediaiiii O O O O, feefideediaiiiiiii OOOOOOOO, strumming on the old banjo and then he says, num num num, cookie monster. Today he started singing it too, but his version is peepeediaiOOOOOOO num num num.

Took him to Tom ball, I now too have Tom dragon socks as I forgot my own pair, today is much warmer, the cold front has gone which means the mosquitoes are back... I wanted to get him a small rubber ball but the machine was broken, he looked at the woman behind the counter with big big eyes and said broken? and she pulled out a free ball for him. He was so happy showing his new ball the Tom dragon layout, then how to eat then how to bathe then how to brush teeth. That is a magical ball!

Ike poor ike had a stressful morning. The pediatrician said that he may take up to 7 days to poo which is still ok for breastfed babies. She decided to helphim clear his bowels and he had two shots of liquid up his bum and he cried alot but still no poo. Hope he does before sunday otherwise back to the dr's again.

Since the weather is warmer, I did manage to take both of them out for a walk in the neighborhood, Ike's world consists of the house and the dr. I think he doesn't know that there are parks.... Sally the dog came up to nate affectionately (she doesn't like strangers) and nate did his rounds around the neighborhood. The por pors seem sad that we are leaving and even know how many days to go!

Spoke to the vet... seems that there are no sand flea incidences in Taiwan and if Jake has them the other two should as well. I think we have a strong case.

Poor Jake

First apologies to the new readers of the blog who had to see those scary teeth pictures and wrote to tell me so... but hopefully will be motivated go and see your dentist soon!

So, Jake apparently has been diagnosed with some sandfly thing and we are waiting an email to find out more about that. He will be tested again on Thursday with results next monday. If he fails he has to leave for Taiwan or get euthanised!!!! :(

The test is apprently very sensitive so it is likely to be wrong, anyway Jake and Pistol sleep together in the same cage if Jake has it, Pistol should have it too? Bullet tested positive for something as well but apparently treatable and he is being treated for it. Pistol has passed with flying colors.

Everyone, fingers and toes crossed, send all your acuumulated mitzvahs, accumulated good deeds and positive energy in the direction of the quarantine area in South Africa!

As for Ike, 3 days no poo poo again! tomorrow may have to take him to get a baby colonic again! poor guy.

Took Nate to the park today, he sure likes running, he was playing speedy gonzales running round and round and fast, till I showed him how to run backwards then he had to figure that one out a bit. He doesnt take the steps on the slide anymore but the ladder... then he started pulling weeds at some point in time and throwing a tantrum of which I walked 10 feet away and the Taiwanese seemed perplexed at the method but then he stopped and came running over.

8 days to go....

Brush brush brush

Took Nate to the dentist today for his teeth cleaning, not bad experience for him, tho he sure had bright shiny teeth afterwards! I have to now think of ways to clean his teeth... they were not in the cleanest of shape although we brush them twice a day and he does his own teeth in school.

Here are some pictures of his before and after cleaning, am sure only his grandparents will even enjoy these pictures. The pink one is the staining bit, he had strawberry flavoured coloring and then chocolate tasting cleaning paste. He got alot of dental things to play with post and of course balloons and stickers.

I think Nate does not have a peanut allergy, he had a quarter of a cashew nut and seems fine.

Ikes nose doesn't seem to be getting better, last night he woke up screaming because his nose was blocked, he was sleeping on his back and tilted upwards, he also could not sleep well on his belly, maybe I try his side tonight. He is wearing Olivia down in the day and me at night... hopefully in SA it is warmer and his nose stops acting up. The cold front isn't helping.

Nate hit 15 kg and Ike is known as the giant baby at 7 kg, everyone that sees him says, WAH big baby! My left arm hurts from carrying him.