Monday, March 31, 2008

The adventures of spiderman continue





Here's Nate sleeping... maybe instead of spidey he should be called boogerboy, even in his sleep he does the dig. Later that day we go for dinner and Ike bumps his head badly, his first egg shaped bump on his forehead.

When he stopped crying, I said ooo you had a big kaboom, he put his hand on his forehead and then goes "oooooo" and mocks a cry. He can signal "please" and loves his chocolates.

Mom suggested I post how we dry our large sheets, I have been lamenting that the pool is a white elephant, hard to maintain, takes up space... well and is our clothe's dryer, I'd much prefer to have a huge rosemary bush that i could put sheets on to dry with that tinge of rosemary smell!

This spideyboy pic is from today, nate comes home to school finds his top but not his pants, his top had just been washed and was already dry his bottom was still in the pile to go to wash..... he was very upset! Today after taking off his suit for a shower, he takes it to Mabo and says, "Aunty Mabo, please clean this so I can wear it tomorrow".

Nate thinks he is spiderman






Nate has hit that developmental stage in boys where he likes super heroes, he found his spidey suit.... On saturday night, he took a long nap so came to dinner with us to a friends place in his Spidey suit. Here is Ike before bedtime in his Incredible pajamas.

When we got home from dinner we tossed him in bed in his spidey suit and the next day he still did not want to take it off so here he is at the Science center with his suit on. He also got a new pair of sneakers and you should see him run, he is going to be a jogger like his dad. He likes them so much he shows everyone his shoes. Nate passed out again on Sunday.

he must have had a growth spurt as he was 16kg for a long time and is now 17.5kg, or is that porpors cooking??

Cyrildene Chinatown, part 2





So while waiting for this nanny to shop, we should have actually parked ourselves at one of the restaurants to eat, we did not realise she would take so long, that will be our plan for the next trip.

While waiting, Ike came upon 2 types of brooms... a man making tofu... mom bought a big box of grapes and a box of 5 large mangoes for Rand 30 or under US$4, we did not bargain and the guy offered us a 25% discount so fast that mom had to say yes. The back of our car trunk after chinatown, the bulk being christines 4 week supplies.

Cyrildene Chinatown, part 1






On Friday, we went along with Christine's driver and one nanny to go grocery shopping in Chinatown, apparently there are 2 chinatowns in Joburg, one is in the city that is too dodgy to even consider going.

Ike woke up on time and so he got to come along. Its about 30 mins away from dainfern and although we thought we would not buy much, while waiting for Christines nanny to stock up for their 3 to 4 weeks supply, we ended up picking more and more items. Here is Ike on the ramp going up and down while we wait for porpor to buy meat, ike in pram waiting for porpor to emerge from cake show (with Zhongzi, edd tarts, moon cake....), porpor also bought all sorts of chinese vege's, we think they are grown here.

Since porpor has been here I have gained 1.5 kgs. We had really yummy wanton mee the other day along with charsiew from chinatown and wanton from Christine. I was in heaven but porpor thinks the quality was really bad, some of us are desperate and happy for anything we can get. We may attempt a bad nasi lemak but it will be so good for the desperados like moi.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Life in Dainfern






We have had so much rain this year that mushrooms are popping out of the ground! they are quite huge ones too! My egg plants are fruiting and when porpor cooks, its quite fun only having to go to my vege boxes to get her the ginger or spring onion. My basil is still growing like weeds. Finally harvested 3 of the 25 tomatoes that are on the plants.

Nate often picks frogs out of our pool, this one had one last twitch, I thought it was still alive. As he placed it on the shrub area, it was upside down, he said, "awww. it was so tired from swimming he needs a little rest now".

Here are some pics of the water tank being installed. I really wonder if we will need to use it?

More pics from Safari



They were home the next day at 845am... Nate is a bit too young for safari's and the place did not have too much to do for his age group.

Nate's first Ferarri






Well nate could not quite get the word "safari", he kept referring to it as a Ferrari. At least he does not have problems with pronouncing r's. I remember my cousin's son, used to like talking about Fewawi's.

The night before the Safari trip, Nate had quite a severe diarrhea. It was not fun... I had to have the bathroom floor disinfected the next day. He must have woken up about 6 times that night needing to go... then shivering at the potty and then crawling back to bed. The next morning tho as I struggled to even open my eyes... the door bell rings and I said, "porpor is here", he bounced out and I heard his little feet tapping all the way down to go see porpor.

The dr gave him some antibiotics and he seemed to be alot better. Here are pics from his safari with dada. Apparently the highlight of the day were the chips served on the game drive.

Ike seems to have turned a corner as well, the past 4 days he has woken up after 5 am, no more 3:30am or 4am awakenings. His nap is at around 11:30am and he sleeps for more than 1.5 hours and pops back to bed about 6pm. Nice! He has also discovered something more effective than pointing, he pulls your finger to where he wants to go.

Porpor made a really delicious ginger beef dish yesterday with a yummy soup that both boys gorged on.

Today was nate's first soccer day, he is called a mud puppy, but it rained so next week will be his first session. Last week was cancelled because the field was waterlogged.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Loren takes the boys





pics from their outing together, I just laid down on the bed and popped asleep, these pm power naps are great, I heard them come back and could not even move to get up. I have had enough of this pink haired monster that comes and disturbs nate's sleep. I will get a night light tho I have looked, most of them are 10 watts and above. 3 is about the maximum as it gives off quite a lot of light. I got one battery operated one (with lightning on top) but the battery dies in one night so that won't work.

I wonder if Nate would be better to go on safari tomorrow, the weather hopefully will be better and porpor is arriving at 5am! Oh and this is Ike asleep at night, he sleeps on his back, nate sleeps on his tummy. His face looks better than that beat up look from 2 days ago. Ike must have his little doggy. The bottle of water is for when he coughs but I don't think he knows to drink it yet.

More pics from the Rand show




For those who recognise the CCM shirt, yes it is a hand me down from nate to ike. They both can wear the same size now. Nate really like his new "softy" jackets from Zeda.

Today at Karate, I was surprised that Ike is only slightly shorter than Lucas (about an inch?), who is 19 months older than him, many people have come up to me to say that Ike is huge, he will be a bulldozer, well a bulldozer with big cheeks, maybe his cheeks will be the redeeming quality.

Ike trying out the musical instrument above his head... he really likes Nate's safari hat and I foresee more fights on that front. Nate with dada watching the puppet show (dada surfing the internet on his phone) and Ike with his big smile.

The Rand Show 2008





Apparently the Rand show has been running for 113 years now. It is quite a large exhibition, we only covered one area which is the Disney show, nate climbing up the bum bum of the large rhino.

We did also look at the section of caravan homes, nate and ike quite liked checking out the small kitchen and bed.

After watching the puppet show and the magic show indoors at the Disney area, we left and the blue skies when we arrived were gone! a blanket of thick clouds had taken their place, so much for the returning sunshine (lasted 48 hours). We were far from our car and had to run in a drizzle, only nate had his jacket, the rest of us felt the chill, I thought Ike may catch a cold.

We get lunch and the boys devour the fish and chips and loren takes nate to a birthday party but then nate develops a runny tummy and may have caught it from loren who suffered 4 days in nigeria. Meanwhile, Ike naps only for an hour, which I manage to fall instantly asleep as well (nice power nap, considering nate woke up 3 times last night coming to our room insisting there were pink hairy monsters in his room).

Nate comes home and parks himself in front of the TV, didn't want dinner and developed a fever, early to bed and hope he feels better tomorrow. Ike took a long bath with me in the jacuzzi, looked like a pink lobster when he emerged and then we read some books, now when he is tired he points to his bed and happily heads off there, this happens at night tho, nap times it is a 50/50 shot that he does that.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Jiu Ming Ya (Help!) and Fa Meen Mau (scratched up cat)






So the other day, nate suddenly said Jiu Ming Ya (help in mandarin), it took me a second to realise he was speaking in mandarin and actually using the term in the right context and with good intonation!! Those DVD's in mandarin are paying off, for those who want to get him stuff from asia, please get mandarin DVD's please! Ok so he has been watching maybe too much pororo a korean cartoon about a penguin and his friends.

fa meen mau (cantonese for a cat with a scratched up face) is Ike, after losing his balance he rolled down two steps and now has a bump on his left forehead... and scratched a bit. Along with the 2 mossie bites and the recovering nose area when he scratched that 2 weeks ago, he looks like he has been in a big fight. Many people ask me where he gets his bulk from and Nate's teacher says Ike is no Nate, he will be the rough and tumble type. hmmm...

Here's a picture of Brutus (our nickname for Ike) looking very the opposite in my hat. Ike at clamber hell today, the last class!! yay!! Not sure the static hair shows up in the pics.

The little bird we saved apparently is a sparrow, so sparrows here actually have yellow feathers underneath. Free Me, the rehabilitation center (for wildlife) woman said I should have left the bird there, the parents would come down and feed it and somehow get it to climb back up the tree!!! or put it in a box and try and slot it up the tree, ok for next time, it was quite happy to eat the biscuit and water we fed it last night. Now it will learn to feed and fly the hard way with no parental guidance.

Nate seems to grasp the concept of it being an orphan after also watching Disney's "The Robinsons".

Loren in his new OSIM massage chair, I just had a ride in it, its quite good! He had a colleague move from singapore to here and that was our opportunity to pick one up! He has wanted one for years. At least one positive when porpor gets here, considering the negatives like its getting colder, the helpers can't cook chinese food...

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Ike's lucky day





We go for a walk in the sun today!!! and ike lucks out, he see's a big headed broom brush (not a camera lens trick, it is really a big headed brush) and then he can't believe his eyes, a metal rake that mommy never lets him play with... he actually has the brute strength to pick it up! and a rake... all just lying there!

The dainfern gardeners have changed the flowers at the roundabouts, the pansies are back!

Today I also find a big store (I should have taken a pic of the store) that sells horse related things. I got two books since I have no horse terminology. I am getting quite good and can get the horse to trot or canter without having to kick my legs like a mad cow girl, now I do the "squeeze thing", ie digging my heels into its rib cage. By end of the week I should know the right workd for that manuever.

The horse shops here are rather strange... they seem to not want me to spend money, now that I have decided to spend since I have been riding for almost a year. For my birthday I got a crop, a spiffy helmet and riding pants with leather lining on the bum area (supposed to make you stick to the saddle better).

Well the new pants and my boots somehow part and in time, it will create a tanned band around my ankle so today I set out trying to buy either a pair of boots or chaps (they wrap around the lower pants and the boot). The first store said I should buy the chaps vs boots, since the boots would cost US$120, the chaps were US$25, the boots didn't fit, the sent me to this BIG store and when I described the problem, they sold me US$4 crocodile clips. So a fancy looking rider I am still not!

On my drive to this big horse store though, I find a very interesting area called Paulshof, they have blind doggy training center and a wildlife rehabilitation center. At worse case I will bring the little yellow chick there tomorrow.