It was good to hear lots of laughter today after a while of mostly grumpiness. Grace had a really good day and was full of laughs this evening, even though her tummy is still quite dodgy. She laughed while throwing her stuffed toys down the stairs at the back, laughed when I picked up the broccoli she dropped and blew hard to get some dust off of it, laughed when she dropped a noodle and it landed on the seat of her bike, and laughed after getting out of the bath while pretending to be falling. She was just much more herself. Now the tum-tum just needs to get better. Giving her antibiotics at 12 last night went smoothly.

In other news our domestic worker Ethel, was offered a job as a cleaner at a company which was full time, but working at nights, but was able to turn that down as she was also offered another domestic work job twice a week. With her three days she is now earning more money than she was working four days a week, and also has another possibility of further work. She currently has 2 days available if anyone is looking for someone. So even though it seemed like a crisis at the time, she is now in an even better position than before.

Grace’s new kitchen set (which also brought great joy today)

The answer is a big yes – as we discovered when we took Grace to the pediatrician at 17h00 today, after finding some blood in her stool. The pediatrician didn’t seem to think it was unusual but I keep on wondering, how did she get it?  Oh well I suppose I will never know.

Grace has been off colour for the last week, with a runny tummy, runny nose (which cleared up after two days) and a slight fever.  As usual when you are not sure what is up, the good old reliable teeth get blamed, but it turned out to be a bit more serious than that – which we gathered when we saw blood!  

Knowing when to take a sick child to the doctor and when to wait it out is so tricky. I mean I don’t want to be one of those parents that rushes her kid to the doctor for every runny nose or upset tummy, but on days like these I wander should I have taken her earlier? I suppose there is no formula one can apply to this question and we as parents just have to go with the facts we have, our intuition and some common sense. It fascinates me that although Grace is pretty sick and very up and down emotionally, she still enjoyed dancing to her DVD, making scones and building puzzles today.  Adding to the confusion of whether she was sick or not.

So the Cape Town Drennan’s are currently in quarantine, which means no Clamber Club tomorrow, no Friday get together and no people over the weekend 🙁 

Think of us tonight at 00h00 when we have to wake Grace to give her her antibiotics.  Every six hours for the next five days.  It was either that, or taking her to the hospital everyday for 5 days for a single dosage of antibiotics by injection – I choose the 00h00 wake up, over needles for 5 days. 

Baking scones

I wonder if Grace will grow up to be a peace loving child. She has always been sensitive to other people hurting themselves. She has a sign for hurt – she puts her hand to her mouth, pulls a distraught face and moans a bit. If someone falls, or hurts themselves in some way she always does this action. At the moment she is a bit sick (think it is teething related) and a bit more sensitive to things than usual.

Today Donné burnt herself on an oven dish while making some vegetables and Grace just totally fell apart. It was at the end of the day, and she is not well, and her teeth seem to be bugging her, but she had a mini-meltdown. I was in the bath and she came running and crying, signing her “hurt” sign. Poor little girl, she really seems to be concerned about others hurting themselves.

Although, she does enjoy throwing her dolls and bears down the stairs….

Taking Andrew for a walk in the garden

Supper time outside: eat some rice, eat some veges, drink some juice, drink some water…yum

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Yesterday there was a butterfly sitting on our rosemary plant and just gently fanning its wings, which gave me a chance to take a decent photo. I also noticed the clouds and got some photos full of texture which gave some interesting results.

I know many people NEED their cup of coffee in the morning for their caffeine kick, I certainly don’t get my caffeine kick from coffee since I have been drinking decaf for nearly two years, but my day is incomplete without my one decaf Cappuccino. My daily Cappuccino is important to me because it represents family time.

Our guys at our local Vida e caffé know our order, they know our daughter by name and we are referred to as “mama Grace” and “baba Grace.”  Before Grace we were D and D.  Vida is my place in the sun, my home away from home, and time to just be with my family.  Sometime Duncan and I discuss our future, other times our meal plan for the week and sometimes we just sit quietly together watching Grace. Some of our joys and heartaches have been shared over a Vida Cappuccino, come rain or shine.

Vida is definitely one of my happy places and when I think about it, it gives me warm fuzzy’s.

The Willowbridge Vida guys on Grace’s 1st Birthday

We took a trip to the Tygerberg Zoo again today (after nearly a year). Fortunately we avoided Grace breaking her leg afterwards 😉 I think the two things Grace enjoyed the most were the snakes and the ducks. Lots of “sss”ing at the snakes – at least at the ones which moved, the others did not seem too interesting to her – and lots of staring at the ducks. Grace seems to really enjoy animals which I think is great. I would like to encourage a love and respect of animals and nature in her.

I enjoyed seeing one of the chimpanzees putting a stick through the wires and manipulated a peanut which was lying close to the enclosure closer and closer. I am not too sure she was going to get it, but she was certainly working hard to.

Today was also the first day Grace went without an evening milk feed, which she handled very well. There was not even a single request for milk before bed time. Just one feed left (pre morning nap) before she is totally weaned.

Grace and mom having a snack break

At 21 months Grace has finally gotten her first pigtails, unlike her cousin whose first recorded pigtails were at 7 months….

Poor little noodle has been struggling a bit with her last 4 teeth for a little while now. Nearly there, then no more teeth to blame if she is grumpy. The two of us? We're doing pretty well. Donné has been getting to the gym regularly and working towards some goals, and I have been grafting away at my work. I am seeing things move forward which is exciting and requires lots of energy and dedication to stay on top of it all. Exciting times lie ahead this year.

Pigtail shots and a hair comparison (from 6 months)

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Duncan to Grace: "take your head out of the toilet"

Today Grace had a great swimming lesson.

It started off with the usual mild I’d-rather-be-back-on-the-swing moaning when we entered the pool area, followed by the common quite-and-watching-everyone look. After about 10 minutes she dropped the toy fish she had in her hand which sunk to the bottom of the pool and she just thought that was hilarious and started giggling. And then she engaged totally, and kicked, laughed, jumped in, went under and even…yes, even…let the instructor take her for a little swim (which until today was a total no-no cry and cling to daddy event).

We are enjoying the classes and Grace is learning about how to look after herself if she falls into a pool. It is wonderful to have her smiling and enjoying it….and Grace always has to end with a visit to stroke the “gogs” (dogs).

If you do happen to be looking for a baby/toddler (and I think even older kids) swim school in Cape Town’s northern suburbs you can try Aquatoads (contact Charlene on 082 550 8045).

Tutu rider (Ghost Rider can quake in his boots)

Even Grace’s clothes have tutus

I am in a very fortunate position – I love what I do. I love that I get to be creative everyday. I love that I get to build my business and meeting interesting people while doing it. I love that I get to help people create things which change the world in some way. Yes, it is hard work and can take huge amounts of effort. Yes, there are days that it would be easier if I did not have to put in the effort required. It is worth the effort though, and I am excited about the opportunities that are available to me.

It has not been an easy road, and for a long patch it was taking more out of me than I had to give. I have had to graft, grind and work through many of my own internal walls (still many to come!). But right now I am embracing the passion that I have and trying to make the most of as many opportunities as possible. I consider myself blessed that I can wake up excited at the start of the week.

Grace modelling her swim cap