Grace was considering her birthday this year, “You know, my birthday party was  crazy last year with all those people. Last year I had 15 people, so this year I think I’ll have 14.”

Donné raced Eli up the steps to get him to go to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Being a smart mommy she knows that it is best to let a three year old win. When she comes into the bathroom after Eli, Grace says, “Mommy, you weren’t as fast as Eli…did the left over baby slow you down?” (referring to Donné’s baby belly). She says it with such innocence that you just have to laugh.

Our little basket case

Grabbing things, bashing skaapie, blowing raspberries and laughing – all new skills that Adam has suddenly developed this week.

This is the face of happiness when you manage to pick up a block and bring it to you, all by yourself. This little guy has been picking up all sorts of skills over the last week or so.

We got to join the lovely van der Zee’s and a wonderful group of people to celebrate Finnbar’s birthday.

Cakes are serious business

Happy birthday Finn!

Grace spent some time today washing her Barbie’s clothes. First some soap and water, then onto her “washing line.” Eli said he was the banker and collected all the clothes pegs from Grace.

I think I’ll have some of that bacon dad

Adam had his first stay in hospital on Thursday night.

I was in my office working late on Wednesday and suddenly there was a loud crash and the sound of crying coming from our room. I jumped up and started running, and by the time I was out of the door Donné was calling.

When I came into the room Donné was in a panic and Adam was lying on the floor crying, with the base of the cot having fallen out from underneath him while he was sleeping. Serious levels of parental panic. That is written calmly now, but with adrenalin pumping and hands shaking we were very concerned.

Adam calmed quite quickly. We checked him over and there was nothing that we could see – no scratches, bumps or bruises. He had a drink and went to sleep, with Donné keeping a close eye on him.

One of the pins that hold the cot base in the higher positions had wiggled out, which caused the base to topple, dropping Adam to the floor. I’m not too sure why it came out, but I think it may have been the combination of replacement pins with some repairs to the cot that caused the problem. The cot is now in its lowest position which does not use the pins.

In the morning he seemed fine, maybe just a little bit cranky, but that can be understood given the fall. Physically he seemed fine.

Then at bath time I noticed his head was looking a bit swollen on the one side. Hmm. He was behaving normally so we decided to watch him closely through the night.

We checked him out later and the bump was bigger. Time to go to hospital. Fortunately our friend Kim was willing to rush over and keep an eye on the other two while they slept.

The ER doctor checked him out and said that if the bump was smaller he would have sent us home, but it would be better to do an ultrasound in the morning and keep him in hospital overnight for observations.

Adam’s first hair gel

The bump was down in the morning, and everything was fine according to the ultrasound. No fractures, no brain issues, just a bruise.

We are very, very grateful that he is fine. It was a bit of a hectic 24 hours.

Adam kept his eye on them while they watched TV.

Ah, the Moby wrap, a wonderful design to help your baby sleep and free you hands to take selfies (and do other productive things too).

I’ve been saying for a while, “Grace can read, she just hasn’t realised it yet.” She reads signs, and things on TV, and over Donné’s shoulder when she is sending a message (to Donné’s great frustration).

In the junior primary they have a time for silent reading, and I think that time, combined with the new environment and an increased interest in books over the last few months, has triggered a change in the way she thinks about reading.

Grace has been wiggling her loose tooth this whole week, and it finally paid off when her first tooth fell out today.

There was lots of excitement with this being the first visit of the tooth fairy.

I didn’t actually think Grace believed in the tooth fairy, but pictures were drawn and left for her, and there was lots of speculation as to the amount of money that would be exchanged for the tooth.

Let’s see how the excitement levels go in the morning…