Off to Madikwe tomorrow

I got a new handphone, the Nokia N73 but it has taken me sometime to learn the photo and bluetooth function so here we are with pictures again, all taken before / during this Rotavirus.

Ike and dada... Bubbi purposely hiding behind Ike on our dingy sofa's which bubbi is now helping me replace! Nate cuddled with his blankets and only wanting to watch TV. Bullet does not want to be left out. Jake of course has gone ball hunting. The giraffe that we went to see at the Lion Park. I managed to sketch a bit but have yet to finish the sketch. Bubbi was quite impressed by the lions and how close we could get. Nate got to pat a cub (on the bum) and then the cub decided to pat him, he wanted out. Nate in his bubble bath, the only way to clean his diaper rash area... the red marks on his chest is a tatoo saying "kiss me better".

Ike has not had a fever for 24 hours now, no diarrhea, eating and drinking so so but looks good. Loren and I are off to Madikwe tomorrow, its 3 hours from here towards Botswana, we may even cross the border and go to Garbarone which would be interesting since I have been following a novel where the heroine is based there. We will be staying in a tree lodge. I hope to sketch, read and get lots of sleep, apparently its quite cold there (I hear marcia saying hah!), I warned marcia of a cold front coming and she rolled her eyes... "would it snow", well apparently the eastern and southern cape will get some snow. I have looked up more things for Nate to do, looks like there is a big transportation museum, a children's play are with carousels and craft called hedgehog lane and a few others that he would enjoy.

Next week, two afternoons in the week will be filled with (1) art classes and (2) riding classes. Both with nate's buddies. Am still looking into cooking classes for kids. My yoga class will restart in may and I may join the PTA. I am also working on booking our Dec holiday home in Cape Town. Looks like lots of nice places to visit, like WOW places. To quote Shelley, "... you know how much I am not fond of SA (even though she is SA), Cape Town blows me away every time". Soon I have to start looking at primary schools for nate, apparently I have to sign him up now for a spot. I am so happy with his nursery school. Everyday I go to pick him up, he is playing with other kids under a big shady tree building a sand castle. We say good bye to the fish, bunnies, ducks, pig (maybe hog), sometimes chickens and horsie.

Now last thing is to teach marcia how to use the blog and then there will be infusion of new writing on life here in SA, look out for a special entry on how she loves to cuddle with the dogs while watching TV. One night I came downstairs, she was asleep hugging bullet like a pillow but actually I wasn't wearing my glasses so I am not 100% sure of what I saw. Another reason for spycams. That image on my blog would probably launch her to stardom!

Loren is back from Angola today, before going he said after Congo anything would be better... Angola is short of alot of things and a meal can set a person back by US$50.

Ike has...

tested positive for Rotavirus. Nate's stool is still being cultured! and no results. We have to watch for Ike's hydration levels and vomitting. Had high fever last night but that should be the peak according to the dr. We'll see in the pm.

Its very contagious and there was no vaccine available when we got here to give ike and you have to do it before he is 6 months. He has probably infected the whole neighbourhood!

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Took Ike to the dr and the dr said he is a big and healthy baby. He is the only 8 month old that he did not have to check into the hospital and put a drip on. Thats how bad the rotavirus can get. The worse is not over though, we will know in the next 48 hours which way it goes. He will have high fevers and diarrhea.

It looks like he may have also developed a slight diaper rash on his peepee! oh no!

nates tests came back as rotavirus too but he is definitely back to his normal tiaopi (mischevious) self.

What is worse than...

diarrhea for 2.5 days?
- having to wait 2-5 days for the stool results and no medication in the meantime
- getting a diaper rash
- infecting the younger baby

remember to read the fine print on mommyhood.

Nate is much better today, still waiting for test results from the lab which would be useful for ike, who has his first fever.

Hectic weekend

Nate and ike woke up at 4 on friday from their naps and we thought what a nice time to bring them both out. As soon as we met with our friends nate needed to poo and then he had the runs. I had to run back and forth at least 5 times before we got to leave. After a day and a half of no diarrhea he broke out into major diarrhea. Saturday was a bit better but today was worse again so we took him to the dr. He is not dehydrated adn we can't give him medication till they test the stool samples and that takes 48 hours. In the meantime he can drink whatever he wants, milk included and has not eaten much.

This posting was nearly called, "In Memoriam, Pistol 2001-2007", Loren came back form Congo on friday at about 7pm. At 9 pm we realise pistol is missing and we scour the neighbourhood. Nothing! we leave his cage out side for him incase he wandered off and came home. The next day we put up posters and I speak to the vet, there are eagle owls in the area (the largest owls in the world) and they pick up prey larger than pistol, we last saw him at 6pm at dusk when its their hunting time, the kids in the neighbourhood are crying when they hear he is lost... By midnight we think he pretty much has become owl food, then jake goes crazy at the cupboard near our kitchen sink, voila... pistol! first thing he did was to zip out and pee.

Today am not feeling 100%, had a fever and woken several times at night because of nate's crying. Will probably not be updating the blog next week, hope ike doesn't get the bug!

internet down

Internet has been on and off for a few days now but looks like its back to being on. Nate's diarrhea was much better after staying a day at home, it rained cats and dogs that day! Here are some pics of the resident hog in school that decided to wake up, the chickens that were seeing refuge under our car, the volvo stationwagon.

Sometimes marcia and I just sit and watch nate play after school, he climbs up the jungle gym on the slope side, sometimes on the net side sometimes on the ladder, today at some point he pulled up his shirt to bare his belly, also snuggled up on the lap of Joyce the black woman asst teacher. This week they learnt about things underground, I supplied plants with visible roots in a plastic box.

I have been taking marcia to look at furniture places and to help me sort out towels, linens, new sofa's... its all alot of work, I need her to just choose and I pay.

Have also looked at alot of properties now. Its nice taking marcia, she can see the house as a different house, beyond what is the furnishings of the present tenant. I think we will likely buy the home we are in. Am thinking of many even an investment co that will hold a few homes but not sure yet about that as taxes are alot higher on investment homes.

Here is ike at his eating the toes stage and jake and pistol cuddling up together as its now quite cold at night. Loren is back from Congo today, will hear the stories of the pit of africa tonite. So far he said he has had only chinese food there (the chinese are everywhere!) and the chinese fried food will kill whatever germs that were lurking in the food.

Week 1 : Bubbi is still alive...

and well in Joburg. Here are some pics of her stay so far. She plays trains with nate and also draws with him. We go on walks, nate takes his stroller full of toy cars and trains. Nate likes holding hands with Ike on their walk, guess the camera person has to hold his stroller.

Ike is now a big boy and takes a bath in the big bath tub.

Bubbi reads the mud puddle, nate's favourite story at the moment, nate is "bu-dan" (keeping eggs warm), with his treasure of cars and train in bubbi's lap while he sits on top guarding them like a mother hen... note little pistol on the side.

Poor nate has his first diarrhea, dr says ike will maybe get it too. Nate has to stay at home for 2 days, whcih means bubbi will be visiting the lion park and the bird park... maybe we will hit the cradle of humankind. Nate is lucky, mild case, no dehydration, dr said last month there were several cases of E Coli, salmonella, rotarvirus and one more bad sounding thing. Some kids had to go on drip.

Nate's first haircut

It was loren's birthday yesterday and loren said nate was such a good boy, he may be over his terrible twos? Nate said happy birthday dada as soon as he saw loren. Then loren took him to the organic market, htey had gingerbread people and then loren took him to have a haircut together, nate's first at a barber, not even a children's one with little toy seat. This is how loren described it...

Nate in big chair, dada says, good boy, nate is big boy... barber tries to put on cape.
Nate: no cape no cape (so no cape)
the barber tries to wet his hair...
Nate: no water, no water (so no water)
As the barber is going to cut his hair...
Nate: dada, dada dada (dada holds his hand), then as a last plea/cry, says, mama, with a sad sad face
snip snip snip snip snip
Loren to barber, "its his first haircut, he's only 2 and a half"
Barber: he is doing very well.
At the end of the haircut, Nate holds loren's hand, and says, "dada big boy, good boy" as if to comfort him for his haircut. He sees the water spray and says, "dust! dust!"

Nate was very proud of his experience after that and was talking about his haircut! Here he is later on with bubbi at the pootoom river and ike got to come too in a ergo baby carrier.

For loren's birthday dinner, we took him to a place called "Gramadulus", which is an african word play on the meaning, in the bush or in the boondocks or somewhere far away. Its actually in the newly revived part of town next to the market theatre. There is a market place outside and the earrings and things for sale were very reasonable, finally we are in africa, its more like US$1 to 2 for the trinkets but they were very nice ones, though I would have liked ot have found baskets and other things.

The restaurant is owned by brian and eduard and is 40 years old. Clinton and the Queen have been there, the food is based on the 17th and 18th century traders of spices from all over the world, which was then india and the malaya and indonesian spice islands. The food I thought was not far from restaurants I have tried in Batavia/Jakarta with the "old theme".

It is such a gem of a place, although the decor was a mish mash of things (all collected from S. Africa), they had silver and chinese porcelain and african baskets, on the walls were old maps and a portrait of Vasco da Gama (the portugese explorer that sailed past the Cape and into Asia). Africa was their outpost for refuelling of fruits to prevent scurvy.

Brian said the old portugese building in malacca smelled the same as the old market spice buidling in cape town. The food was yummy, wine excellent but best of all the hard to recreate personality and warmth of the owners. They were so interesting that I forgot to take a picture of the place for the blog. We found this place from the economist city guide!

Future visitors, another place to entice you to S. Africa.

Its Friday

Nate woke up looking for his trains... but was also happy to go to school to feed the animals with food from our home. Here's a photo to prove Bubbi is here... I take Marcia to so some grocery shopping and then send her home, she takes ike for a walk and I go for my riding class. Here's a pic of the school's car sticker for my car.

At the stables, the trainer tells me they tried to contact me but they could not find my number, instead of victor, I get bizkit, a much rougher horse. I know tomorrow I will be sore. I run some errands and get home an hour later to find ike in his walker zipping around as if it were a sports car! he is happily zoom zoom zooming all over the place. I think maybe I should have waited to find an exsaucer that doesn't move as opposed to a walker. He however has a really pleased look and feels like he can get where he wants now. Then he passed out and napped.

I am moving him to the "pink" room, the curtains are pink there, I need to retrain his sleeping patterns, since his cold he now wakes up 3 times at night and refuses to sleep after 5am. In the pink room, he won't wake nate up...

Bubbi is here

Ike has already had more exposure to the world! After sending nate to school, I took Marcia to the Bryanston organic market to pick up loren's birthday present, will post a pic of that after his birthday. Ike got to come along, he is such a good boy, looking around and just absorbing his environment, we get back home and he went for a big nap. Look at his big smile when he gets to sit in the carseat.

I then popped by Michelle's place, Michelle and Erik just moved into our neighbourhood, Erik works for Loren. They are leaving tonight to DC for a wedding and so when we got there she was having her nails done. We had some time and Marcia got her pedicure and manicure, not bad welcome to Africa.

Marcia thinks Dainfern looks like california where aunty Mary lives. She says nate looks bigger in the pictures than he actually is but Ike is chunky.

I managed to pick up the Volvo while she was having her "spa" treatment. Nate is so happy to have her here that he asked for the CD that she brought him last time to be played in the car. He then took a big nap and I had ot wake him up at 430, he usually surfaces at 330. I wonder what he does in school! Anyway, the first thing he said was "bob the builder toy" (which bubbi gave him in the morning" and then "where is bubbi".

When he got downstairs he got alot of toy trains! (from Uncle brahm) he was in kiddie heaven! he played the whole afternoon with bubbi building the train tracks, lucas and axel came by so did cailyn and ethan. Ike was so happy with all that company! and happy chewing on a piece of the track.

Thank you all for all the gifts and books and presents from Canada. Tomorrow Nate gets to wear some of the new clothes (instead of the 18 month ones that are for cooler weather which we an now put away) and over time Bubbi will bring out the remaining gifts, she even brought him a Mater that is "unrusted", now that is a special toy car!

Herb Garden

Here is a pic of my herb garden, when we moved in, this area was a fountain, I am not too keen on fountains so I converted this into my herb garden, its got lemon grass, basil, rosemary, two types of thyme, small spring onion and large onions, a ginger somewhere, aloe vera and carrots. To date, our pasta has had fresh basil, my ginger beef has fresh spring onions and I need to figure out how to use the prolific thyme.

The second pic is a bigger view of the fountain, water used to spout out of the lion head, the room next to it is the guest room, I am also thinking of maybe adding panels to convert the area into a conservatory. The initial costs are US$3,000 for just a glass roof, then I can use the area as rain won't come in or a conservatory will be US$6,000, then its like an extended outdoor area. Maybe I'll do it if we buy the place and we live through winter and consider using that spot. Its a nice spot. We don't really use it now as if I put furniture there then the rain will get it wet. We'll see. Maybe I can put the mosaic table I plan to make.

Will be meeting with a banker to see what type of loans are available here. And also check out a few more houses to see whether we are getting a good deal. I think buying on leverage is better than paying cash, since we will have Rand to spend and as there is still currency controls, it may not be so wise to bring in more cash than necessary.

The other pics are of my bean experiment, there are a few trellises around the house but all with nice flowering plants, I had to get a few bean stalks in there. I think I can get my first bean harvest in the next few days.

Rinky Dink Pony Academy

Now that Bubbi is here, I will be able to take Ike out on little afternoon outings as well to expand the number of places he gets to go. Today I wanted to take him along to Nate's riding class but since it was Nate's first, i wasn't sure how it would turn out.

The location is great and the stables exceeded my expectations, I guess thats because where they have gone riding to date at chartwell stables (where I go for my riding lessons on friday) is more for older kids, its dustier and there is no mini restaurant. Rinky Dink is next to a child friendly (again!) restaurant called thyme. It has a jumping castle, slides, sand pit and best of all kids under 5. Thyme is also on a lovely green green lawn and you can also see the horizon and at the same time watch the kids on their pony class.

Nate would go to chartwell stables but never go on a horse, lucas loves it, ethan goes but its just a pony ride. Here there is a teacher and they are very good with kids, nate got to get a ball and throw it into the bucket, learn to balance on the pony and the pony even trotted a bit.

He did however whine alot in the beginning and even cried, wanting to go home. He reminds me of Terry as a kid, scared of everything! but after 5 minutes he was enjoying it and at the end he said he wants to come back. Here he is on the pony throwing the ball and then giving "sweet pea" a carrot.

Broadacres Farm Nursery School - first day

Sorry for the tiny Qing Ming pics, not sure how I will rectify those, maybe if my cousin sends the images to me directly I will upload them.

Today is Nate's first day at his new nursery, it was a big success, from the moment we drove through the fences and he got out of the car, he was mesmerized by the resident bunnies in black, grey, white, patchy, then the ducks and the cockle doodle doos. He then started to sing old mac donald!

Then he saw the small stream with koi (first pic). His teacher said he should bring stale bread or vege's like carrot tops or the parts that don't get eaten to feed the animals. The kids feel like they take care of them too. Every morning at about 10, they get to tour around the farmyard.

The school logo is not quite kosher though, the car sticker I got is of a big pig, maybe its a hog? and yes they have a resident big black hog. Nate is in the duckling class, I have included a pic. The walls outside are painted with many duckies. The play yard also has lots of colorful tyres and he was naming the colors as he passed each one. There is also a boat which he took interest in.

When I came to pick him up, the teacher said he ate all his lunch (I had told her to be strict or rather consistent with him and she had a big sign on her door saying exactly that), in the car I asked what he had for lunch, he said, fish and chips, hmmm, I better go check out their menu again. I like the school alot, they even have a big suggestion box for the parents.

Now I have to look into the extra curriculur activites... of which ballet (I mean stretch class) is on the list... hmmm?!

For those who want to check out the school's website, its on www.broadacres.com

Cultural Shots

The first pic is of me and nate at the bird park. Nate had his first sleepover for nap time today, I think he was too excited but finally did settle down for a short nap. When we ask him who is coming this week, he knows to answer "bubbi".

The other pictures are of my chinese clan at my grandfather's grave, it was Qing Ming recently or the day to respect the dead. My mom's side of the family is rather large, my grandfather's grave was built to include him and his 4 wives. The two names in gold on the tombstone have deceased, ie my grandfather and his 3rd wife, tho I think she was christian and may have been creamated, I guess her name is engraved there but her ashes are elsewhere.

Anyway, the members that made it to Qing Ming look like they are from my grandmom's side and I see a my uncles, aunts and cousins, respect is paid by lighting some joss sticks and burning some paper money (to be used in the next world, I am not sure why he would need it as at his funeral we burnt a pile as big as a basketball court, along with paper cars, houses, dvd's etc... probably hyperinflation!) as well as leaving some fresh fruit.

I wonder if they will also dig up those graves when the land is needed as it is now quite close to the city but then again it could be bad luck? who would buy any apartments on graveyard land?

I saw a graveyard in Joburg from the highway but have not figured out whether they bury or cremate people. I just bought car insurance over the phone and a question that I have never been asked before is, "would you like to be covered for HIV medication in case you contract HIV through accidental means". Hmmmmmm....

My mom-mobile arrives tomorrow. Loren thinks it will be trashed by me, I think its hard to maintain a car when there are grimy kids in it and then also ferrying dogs, there is a reverse beeper, ie when you back into a spot a beeper goes off... and the sound system is better than loren's car, but the solution is simple, to preserve the value of the car (that we have to pay for, ie the volvo), loren and I should exchange cars! He actually somewhat agrees, so I may yet have the tank to drive.

The tank is a toyota prado, it is huge and will go on any terrain, its gas tanks are so big, it takes a month to use up the gas. To fill a tank is like US$200. When the gas tank is full, the car actually feels alot heavier and sturdier but sluggish. I like the height though and loren has fitted in steel bars such that we can crash through another vehicle or roadblock if necessary.

Easter part II

Here are some shots from the montecasino bird park, the big ABSA balloon from the last post is very near the bird park. Nate with the neighbours cat.

These yellow flowers have been popping up everywhere. I am not sure if they are weeds or planted but they sure are lovely. Also when driving on the main roads a new flower has started sprouting, they are purple and pink and white, like daisies, they are used as filler flowers for bouquets in Asia but here they grow free of charge along the roads. very nice!

Overheard:
Loren: Nate here is a car
Nate: ooo
Loren: Say thank you dada
Nate: thank you dada
Loren: Say I love you dada
Nate: I love you dada
Loren: Who is the master?
Nate: Dada is the master.

Nate is being influenced too much by the parrots in the bird park!

Easter Holidays

The runny nose that nate brought home from school has infected us all. Poor ike has it the worse coz he can't blow his nose. So fora few nights he was waking up several times, back to my trying the eucalyptus oils and raising one side of his mattress. Last night he slept through the night but I was as usual watching my watch, wondering if he may have suffocated.

Easter is one long weekend here! Nate must have had like 8 easter chocolate eggs from the easter egg hunts in school. He even recognizes them in the supermarkets. It was a bit of a scramble to get things done before the weekend and next week being a short week will probably be a slow week for S Africans.

here are some of the activities we brought nate to do, we also took ike out since he can't sleep and sleeps better upright in a pouch attached to me. We too nate to snow city, www.snow.co.za, for tobaganning. Its actually a big slope covered with white carpet, they also have ski lessons there. Nate was scared at first but after some M&M bribes he wanted to go then he wanted his bribes. I think he'd like it more when he is a bit older? Zeda can take him to real slopes.

We also found this great place for breakfast, its called the secret tea garden and its outdoors and the kids can go jump in jumping castles or the palyground, the space is really big enough so you don't feel stressed by older kids and too many things going on, the gardens are of course lovely.

Here's a shot of montecasino and the big fountain and of course we pulled out a few cars to keep nate occupied, the big mack truck killed many hours... do buy that if your kid is into disneys' cars!!!

poor pistol

This move I have neglected the dogs teeth, yesterday when I finally got down to brushing them I noticed that pistol has lost a tooth and his gums were in not so great shape and immediately booked his dental appointment with the vet. Poor guy had to have 5 teeth removed! The dentist said he can still eat hard dog food and will live to a long age and he had a funny dental structure. Tomorrow jake and bullet go in, although they have thick plaque, it doesn't look as bad. I had their teeth cleaned before coming out but since olivia has left, no one is brushing their teeth, a responsibility I have now assigned to peter.

Ike is starting to talk, it baba baba baba, I may be able to get a few mama's out of him?

Here are some pic of our walk, a flock of pea hens and a big rose, like a peony. The tree stands in front of our house, other similar trees are now in full pink bloom which from afar looks great like a pink tree among green ones, somehow ours is not blooming and although i have nate pee on it for nitrate, it is still not blooming, maybe it needs to be threatened but I sure am not going to kick its thorny bark!

The last pic is of the motor vehicle dept in randburg, I had to go there to get my driver identification number assigned for my future parking tickets, since I don't have an ID book. To drive there, take 40 mins from our home and is definitely out of my 5 mile comfort zone radius but not bad, I made it and no wrong turns into funny parts of town. I had studied the map meticulously and with the help of my GPS got there and back in one piece.