Adam is “ree”

My little baby is now three years old. I will probably always call him “my baby”, but he is not a baby anymore – as he likes to firmly and repeatedly point out to me whenever I call him “my baby”.

…”I NOT A BABY ANY MORE MOMMY”… and I can’t argue with him – he’s not. But he will always be my baby.

Here are some photos of the party. Can you guess what the theme was? Let’s see if I can give you a few clues:

Got an idea? Here’s another clue – the party packs…

Here’s the party table…

And the cake…

Think you know….??? Here he is…..

MICKEY MOUSE!!

We also had a jumping castle which seemed to be a great success! Adam and Rowan had some special game going on that involved a cheetah, a shark and lots of falling down?!

A few of Adam’s friends from school also came to the party and I think Adam was really excited to see them at his party! This little boy and Adam have loved each other since the moment they set eyes on each other. Luckily they will both be moving to the same pre-scool next year so long may the friendship flourish!

I put on my “mommy cap” and made a few goodies for the kids. I was quite impressed with myself!

(p.s. did you know that smarties are now made with non-artificial colourants? That’s why they all look a little dull. It is a bit disconcerting to see ‘natural’ colours after a lifetime of bright smarties)

The Birthday Boy and his Daddy. Not forgetting Cheetah.

blowing out his candles…

 And finally, I couldn’t resist putting up this photo. I know it is a little blurry (I didn’t take it OKAY!), but I absolutely adore the expression on his face when everyone was singing happy birthday to him.

Precious

Life is precious. Infinitely, infinitely, infinitely precious. All the shit that flies around us on a daily basis means nothing. Absolutely nothing. Those of you who have children, go find them now and give them a long hug.

I came across this sight today, quite by accident. This family had a nice, normal blog. They blogged about their baby’s first christmas and posted photos of her with her new cousin. Normal.

Then, on Jan 12th they posted that their little girl had an ear infection and was going to the doctor. Normal. Less than a month later, on 8 Feb, they posted that “Cora is with Jesus today”.

My heart breaks for this family and what they must be going through. As well as for anyone who has ever lost a child. It must be the hardest thing in the world.

You can find their story here.

Paradise Found

This is what is 50 metres (not a word of a lie) away from our holiday house. You walk up a sand dune and this is the view as you get to the top.

The beach was rather crowded though – looking to the right…

looking to the left… (that’s only nanee and pop down there)

And Adam…

This is where I was swimming.

Cheers!!

Check my photo blog for a real sunset photo…

p.s. don’t ask me where we are – I’m not giving away my secrets!

Mouille Point

I am a little late in posting this… we actually went to Mouille Point LAST weekend, but I am only getting around to looking at the photos now…

Adam has great fun ordering his Nanee and Pop around. Usually it is Nanee that does his bidding (and she is firmly wrapped around his little finger), but every now and then Pop is roped into the action too. And, little as he is, he has no problem telling Pop exactly what he wants him to do. In this little duet, he was determined to go to the edge to look at the waves.

Then there were these two – deliberately trying to annoy me. Does anyone remember what it feels like to just want to sit in someones lap for hours on end??

 

Okay, so I realise that they weren’t deliberately trying to get to me… luckily the view to the other side was more spectacular.

Kids and TV – Good or Bad??

((okay… taking a ceasefire on the melodrama for now…))

A huge bone of contention between myself and the father of my child is the amount of TV the little one watches. Personally, I schmaak the TV stukkend (direct translation for non South Africans: I taste the tv broken? Or, I love the tv so much it is broken? I love the tv to death? sleepyjane? help?)

Now, I know that tv is bad for kids. Every hour of tv causes a 10% increase in attention deficit later on. It is bad for developing eye movement, co-ordination and creativity. It doesn’t teach them about personal interaction. About learning the social skills of body language, about delayed gratification. Yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah…

But, scheeesh, tv is SO good for me. In the mornings, when I need to shower (and don’t need a crying toddler outside the shower door), it is a lifesaver. It is a wonderful bribe to get him to do what I want him to do, when I want him to do it (and not hours of tearful negotiation later). NOTHING works better than “If you don’t eat your food/sit still/lie down to change your nappy/get dressed/brush your teeth/let me wipe your face I’m switching off teletubbies”. And when I have a hungry baby who suddenly realises that he wants.food.NOW. –  it helps to be able to say, “watch what Noddy’s doing while Mommy makes your supper”.

For months, my child WOULD NOT eat breakfast at home. It was creche food or die. Which meant that I rushed around like a bat-out-of-hell every morning trying to get him to school on time. Usually I turned up there with hair standing on end, wearing yesterday’s clothes and without shoes. The advent of tv in the mornings has revolutionised my life. Now he opens his mouth like a docile little bunny every morning (as long as he can watch Bob The Builder) and I get to look semi-respectable when I step outside my front door.

So, I know that tv is bad long term, but right now, his vice is my virtue, and the tv ain’t going anywhere!!!!

Cause I’m the mommy, and I said so!!

Our Stormy Sea

I have a feeling I am going to start posting more and more photos here. My course is now in full swing and I am only beginning to really understand my camera. So, apologies in advance if I overload you with photos in the future.

Today was supposed to be REALLY hot – so we all traipsed down to the beach to enjoy the weather. But it was really rather surreal down at the beach. It was warm but the sky looked grey and the sea was raging and stormy.

Of course, I had my camera with me. Mainly because I have homework for Tuesday and I am struggling to complete it… But I was really taken with the stormy sea. We came across this still rock pool and I loved the contrast of the stillness of the water with the raging green & grey water behind it.

Of course, the boys were also drawn to the pool – for different reasons… Here they are: ruining my lovely flat, reflecting pool.

Adam is really starting to disapprove of my camera – and comes to me and pushes it away saying “BO!” (I think it is a cross between “go” and “no”). I am sure if I persevere long enough, he will think it is a permanent attachment?