All the Colours of the World…

Historieta_The_Yellow_Kid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Colours of the World

Jesus loves the little Children

All the children of the world

Red and Yellow, black and white

They are precious in his sight

Jesus loves the little Children of the World

How sweet is this? Baby Girl has now assigned colours to people. For example, I have a pink name, a pink birthday and I look pink. Seriously. Hubby has a blue birthday, a blue name and looks blue. Baby Girl has a yellow name, a yellow birthday and yellow just happens to be her favourite colour. Our husky’s colour is white and so is her Granny (my mom) and her other Granny’s colour is orange. She also has a multi-coloured tea set – and guess what. Dad gets the blue, mom gets the pink and Baby Girl gets the yellow. Each and every time.

Isn’t that just the sweetest?

The Baby Mama

Saying Grace…

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Saying Grace…

Last night was a beautiful evening in Port Elizabeth.  Seriously.  It was warm and not a breathe of wind.  Okay, this is Port Elizabeth – the wind was blowing slightly, but not enough to keep us indoors.  So, my mom joined us for supper – as she always does on a Tuesday and we decided to eat outside.  Seriously, the weather is that beautiful.

Anyway, Hubby made a braai and cooked the most delicious chicken – soft, moist and very tender.  No one can cook chicken quite like my hubby.  It was divine.

Anyway, as we sit down to supper – outside – Baby Girl looks at all of us and says, “Let’s hold hands, everyone and let’s say grace.”  Which we duly did.

And then she started singing, “Thank you, Father, for the food.” (to the tune of Frere Jacques…)  So, now I think we may be saying grace when we eat a little more often.  Pretty bad when your toddler shows you up for not doing something that you should be doing.  But, it really was so cute.

Hubby apparently asked the carers at school yesterday who she plays with during the day.  The answer?  She prefers playing with the boys – hmmm.  Go figure.  I also preferred playing with the boys growing up and when I see how some of the girls turned out, I wonder if I didn’t have some sort of premonition that drew me to playing with the boys instead.  Nasty, I know, but a woman in my class at school became a granny on the weekend.  No, not a mom, A GRANNY.  Whoa, seriously – that’s caught me totally off guard.  Way too young to be considered a Granny.

And also when he picked her up, one of the other little girls came up to him to say hello.  Baby Girl looked at her and shouted, “No, my daddy.”  And the other little girl said, “I don’t like you, Baby Girl, you’re not my friend.”  Baby Girl is very protective of both her mommy and her daddy.

And that’s my news for today.  Wow – two blog posts in two days.  Whew – happy days.

The Baby Mama

Shall I blog quickly?

Aristea capitata #1 (Photo credit: J.G. in S.F.)

Shall I blog quickly?

My boss is out of town – on his way back to the office as we speak, and I have pretty much caught up with all my work.  Or so I think.  I am sure he will find something to shout at me about that I have done and should have done, but didn’t know I had to do.  Or something like that.

I wish you all could see how cute Baby Girl is.  Her Dad and I are often just laughing and enjoying her.  She comes up with the funniest little sayings – everything is in three’s: a Daddy, a Mommy and a baby.  So, she’ll have a three sweets – one sweet will be a Daddy sweet, the other a Mommy sweet and third will be a baby sweet.

We’re busy potty training and now nappies are only for sleep time.  So, far – barring an accident or two – it is all going well.  The next task I want to deal with is getting rid of that dummy and taggy.  Which I am dreading, because she is very attached to her dummy and taggy.  I must say though, she only gets her dummy and taggy when she is lying on her bed – so when she naps on the weekend and in the evening (she doesn’t take it to school).  So, our clever little girl now goes to lie down on her bed – just rustig – so she can have her dummy and taggy.  Hmmm.  We will need to get rid of that sooner rather than later.  But, we will get the potty training thing sorted out first of all.

Also, she can count to ten in English and Afrikaans, and say the months of the year – in order – from January to December in English and Afrikaans.  Both her Dad and I are very proud of our little girl.

I think, though, that before we deal with taking away the dummy and taggy, we have to deal with how she wakes up in the morning.  Look, I am no morning person – by no means.  But, she does morning grumpiness right down pretty well.  And for some reason she wakes up crying, “Mommy, put that clip back in your hair,” (i.e. I must tie my hair up).  Not sure why this is such an issue for her, but I want to teach her to wake up happy and laughing.  Enjoy the day.  Carpe dium.  You catch my drift.

But, she is growing into a beautiful little girl with a wicked sense of humour and both her Dad and I are thoroughly enjoying her.  I think more so her Dad as she is growing bigger.  She is very demanding though – I get, “Mommy, I want toastie – no marmite, just butter and cut the crusts off.  And I want milky.  In the microwave.  And I want some yummies, with my sweetie.”  All in one breathe.  It makes us laugh.

Anyway, best I prepare for my boss’s arrival – there is a big meeting on this evening and when he comes in its going to be blazingly busy while we prepare for this meeting.  So, best I enjoy this calm before the storm.

The Baby Mama

Wow, it has been a long time…

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…but I am still here.  And on occasion I even get to read your blogs.  So, in a nut shell, the last couple of months have been as follows:

• December just flew by.  And we were still wearing winter woolies right up to Christmas.
• We just had a quiet time at home – and I loved it.  Working this hectic pace, it was lovely just to sit and relax (well, as much as can be done with an extremely active toddler running about the place).
• And speaking of which, Baby Girl loved Christmas.  She helped to decorate the Father Christmas Tree and couldn’t wait for Father Christmas to visit her.  And she was spoilt.  And loved it.
• But, my time at home was short – and back to work on the Tuesday.
• In January we had the loveliest weather – it was hot.  As in summer had finally arrived in little old Port Elizabeth.  Alas, it is now gone, because Hubby and I are now watching TV under the blankets.
• But, while we had our brief summer – Baby Girl swam in her little blow up pool and loved it.  We put the bottom of the slide into the pool and she had a ball.  Hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed watching her having so much fun.

However, Baby Girl has learnt a habit or two – like if its hot enough, all her clothes come off.  To be honest, if it’s just us at home, I don’t mind, but when we have visitors, she must keep her clothes on.  Secondly, she will only wee-wee on the grass.  Seriously.  Best way to potty train - apparently.  She does – however – go to time out quite a bit.  Hubby and I won’t put up with cheekiness or rudeness, but she’s very quick to say sorry and then it’s all over with.  In fact, I’ve bought an incentive chart which we will be using – like learning to wake up “happy & laughing” (this is quite difficult because I’m no pleasure first thing in the morning – however, I do think she can learn to be a little more pleasant when she wakes up).  And she insists on wearing a nappy at home (after school, etc) even though she is fully potty trained at school.  So, we will be working on these little aspects with the incentive chart.  Far better than giving a spanking, although I’m not against that if need be – just needs to be the last resort when there are other alternatives to discipline available.

And can you believe it – Hubby and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.  You know – after 12 years, I am still so proud to be married to my hubby.  Wow – 12 years.  And Baby Girl’s new thing is to dance and sing – she gets really shy, but it is so cute when you catch her off guard.

Also, Hubby and I had to be “taught” the days of the week the other day.  She had a stick and was pointing to her “board” and said, “right mommy and daddy, how many days of the week?”  And then proceeded to tell us, “seven days – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

And she speaks Afrikaans better than what I do.  Seriously – that’s just plain scary.

Well, I will commit myself to blogging more often, but it is difficult.  I’m up at 05:00, getting everything ready for the day – and I still run late.  Work is hectic and I only sit down for the first time at about 20:00.  Then I’m too tired to blog.  Just too tired.

But, the boss ain’t here right now, so if I can – when I can – I will blog at work.

The Baby Mama

They Shaped Our Lives

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I just received my weekly newsletter from Anthony Jennings , entitled They Shaped Our Lives.  It details stories of people who had teachers help them and shape their lives, and in some cases even save them.  It was a very emotional newsletter.  But, it made me think and ask who has shaped my life?  Who has influenced who I am today?  Both positive and negative.

Well, on the positive side is definitely my hubby.  He constantly reminds me that I never have to remain where I am, but that I can continue be better, do better, aim higher.  And then when I fall, which we as humans so often do, he just loves me anyway.  But, he challenges me to continually assess my life and to strive to be better.  I want to be a better person because of him.

And secondly, Baby Girl.  Just purely because she loves me totally, freely and unconditionally.  It is very humbling to experience such amazingly unreserved love.

But, then there was Mrs. Patterson, our Standard 6 English teacher.  She was a real lady and I never heard her raise her voice or see her lose her temper (remember, we’re a bunch of hooligan 13/14-year-old teenagers).  The one day we had to write an essay and as part of the essay I drew some music notes – she was so blown away by my originality she sent me off to the music teacher for me to hear what my “song” sounded like.  Of course, it didn’t amount to much – I have the musical gift of a snail, and they’re not very talented.  Can you imagine playing the piano with a house on your back?  Didn’t think so?  But, she was an amazing teacher who truly believed in her pupils.

Who else has influenced my life?  I think an Author Margaret Atwood.  I love her writing style and have read a number of her books, two maybe even three times (they’re that good).

Other people have perhaps influenced me more negatively – my Gran in the sense that I do not want to end up alone and poor like her.  She had nothing to her name when she passed on, and left this world in a not very nice government frail care centre where they stole her dresses.

My older brother – I so do not want to be an attention seeker like him.

And then there have been various others – all who have influenced me for positive or negative.  The thing is, we can only learn what we learn when we apply it to our lives.  Make it real.   I think the most amazing thing that has influenced me is that my hubby isn’t afraid of anything – and if he is afraid of something, he’ll take that something and tackle it head on until he isn’t afraid anymore.  Me?  I’m afraid of everything – even my own shadow.  And I have learnt through him and with him to conquer many of my fears and to face life a little more strongly.  I fail in this most days, but it gives me focus to try again tomorrow.  The biggest fear I have faced is becoming a mommy.  And you know what?  It isn’t half that scary – just a lot of work – but the rewards are so worth it.

Of course the question asked is what influence do I have on others?  Sometimes I imagine the church being empty at my funeral, because of my shy and reserved nature I don’t easily connect with others – or reach out to them.  It is easier to rather stay home and live in my little computer and TV world.  Let’s hope that is not the case…J!

The Baby Mama

Come on, Summer, Come on, come on…

Cover of Learn to Swim (Dk Childcare)

What a stunning day.  And yesterday was just as beautiful.  We played and ran and played and laughed and had a glorious evening.  I can’t wait for summer to come proper (yes, while the rest of the country is having temperatures of 32, 26 and 38 – little old Port Elizabeth has been having temperatures of 16, 18 and 20.)  Now, today its 25 and not a breath of wind.  How gorgeous.  I think Baby Girl and I will make the most of a gorgeous evening.  Stunning.

We take Baby Girl to swimming every Saturday – it is very important she learn to swim for her own safety (and possibly mine too).  But, more importantly, it gives her confidence in her body and what she can do.  For example, she has learnt she came “monkey walk” from the one side of the pool, right through to the other side until she feels the steps under her feet (monkey walking is holding onto the side of the pool and “walking” with your hands until you get to where you can stand).   Our problem is teaching Baby Girl how to climb out of the pool.  She puts her feel against the wall, straightens her legs and then her bum sticks out in the air and she can’t climb out like that.  Now, we’ve got to teach her to become a climber and show her how to climb out the pool.  It really is all for her safety – but also, teaching her what her body can achieve and what she can achieve is so important.

And I’m trying to teach her to wake up “happy and laughing”, which is way better than the miserable, crying little girl she usually wakes up as.  And I can ask her at any time – how must you wake up?  Happy and laughing, she’ll say.  And she is waking up better – some days are not so good, some days are much better.  But, I figure if I can get that thought in her head that she must wake up “happy and laughing” and seize the day, then all the better for her.  But, I can’t really talk – I have always hated waking up.  Sleeping nice and cozy next to someone you love is way better than waking up and having to face work and a hectic day.

The Baby Mama

The Bucket Bite Me…

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In our main bathroom, i.e. Baby Girl’s bathroom, we have a small white bin.  For paper, tissues, etc.  You know, a normal bathroom bin.  Anyway, last night Baby Girl was playing in the bathroom, while I was running her water and I didn’t see what happened, but the next thing there are tears and Baby Girl crying, “The bin did bite me.  The bin did bite me.”  And I see a little “eina” on her toe.

So, very cute how Baby Girl expressed that, but what was even cuter is her picking the bin up and taking it to our en-suite bathroom and giving the bin a “time out”, because its “naughty to bite”.

Seriously, how cute is that?

The Baby Mama

And so I believe…

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I have to admit it.  I am a little a lot envious.  Hubby’s sister sent pics of the baby – her second, and in the pics you can see that they’ve bought their eldest a drum kit and a keyboard (probably for the arrival of her sister, but I’m not sure).  And here we can barely afford to buy our Little Baby Girl clothing – I had to use a gift voucher to buy her clothes (something I got from work for Secretary’s day – didn’t even know they still celebrated that day, but I was grateful none the less.)  I don’t want to live a life comparing what others have to what we don’t, but I do so wish we could afford to give Baby Girl so much more than we can at present.

There are some things I would love to have – firstly, I’d like a village.  Because it does take a village to raise a child – and without a support system in place, we can’t even consider a second.  We are already stretched very thin time wise and it would be foolish to say the least to add another care to our already very over loaded cares and worries.  So, yes, I would like a village.

Secondly, I would like money (oh, wouldn’t we all).  I would just like to for once be able to buy something arb like a t-shirt, or going to a doctor without first having to count the pennies and cents to see if we can afford it.  Seriously, that would be nice.  And I know we all have our own paths to walk in life, but I would like the option of at least having a choice in some of what we do – like I don’t want the decision to not give Baby Girl a brother or a sister be based on the lack of a village and finances, but rather on the basis that we are just not ready for it or quite simply that we just don’t want to.

Already the age gap between Baby Girl and a younger babe would be over three years, which mean they would grow up close anyway.  But I would rather give Baby Girl all than give her nothing because there are two and we can barely afford one.

But I would be lying if I didn’t admit to a small part of me that cried foul – this is a little unfair.

But, that is life – it is unfair, isn’t it.  IN fact, as I read on Saturday, life can be downright cruel in some aspects.  And we just get to deal with it and move on.

But, I have so much more to be grateful for – like the most amazing husband, and little Baby Girl that both make my mind swirl with how lucky I am to have them in my life.  And life isn’t about what we can’t have, its about what we DO have.  And celebrating that, even when we don’t feel like it.

And to top it all off, we’ve been invited to join them in Knysna for a week in February.  And it would really be nice for Baby Girl to grow up with her cousins, but once again, I know I’m being selfish because I just don’t want to face all we can’t give to Baby Girl.  Besides, I don’t think I’ll be able to get leave and we can’t afford it anyway.

Right, Now its off to a party for a girl in Baby Girl’s class.  Should be interesting considering I don’t know anyone and have never met anyone and to be honest, I don’t think I’ve even seen the girl whose party it is.

The Baby Mama

Snail Poop

Cover of Snail (Usborne Cloth Books)

Snail Poop Oh. My. Word.

So, we’re sitting outside – having supper. It was one of those beautiful days in Port Elizabeth where it was hot (I think the high that day was 36°) and not a breath of wind. So, we’re sitting outside, enjoying a wonderful evening and lo and behold, little (well, not so little anymore) Baby Girl walks up to a pillar in our backyard where a snail has just dropped a turd, and very politely picks up said turd and puts it in her mouth.

You have never seen a mom (me) jump up so quickly and grab her child and rush her to the bathroom where I rinsed her mouth and brushed her teeth. And then brushed them again when I bathed her.

I mean SERIOUSLY!   Ew.

The Baby Mama

Such in the irony of life….

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It is early but already I am running late – but I just have to blog.  Albeit it very quickly.  I just find life rather ironic – me, who used to sleep until 10:00 (possibly even 11:00) on weekends, and wake up at the very last possible moment before having to get up for work, now wakes up at before 05:00 without an alarm clock.  Seriously.

Me, who used to be taunted and teased for being too skinny, now I am battling to lose weight – never mind gaining weight.

Me, who swore blind I would never have children, loves my little Baby Girl so much I can’t ever imagine the time I didn’t want to have children.

Me, who thought I’d leave Port Elizabeth the first opportunity I got, is still living here and liking it.

Me, who didn’t dare to dream of marrying the most wonderful man, has done exactly that.  And I feel blessed each and every day.

How ironic is life?  Makes life exciting and you keep wondering what lies around the next corner.

And on that note – I must now get ready for work.  Urgh.

The Baby Mama

P.S.  I’m going to e-mail all your blog links to work, so when I get a chance I can keep up-to-date on all your blogs.