Bubbles and balancing
We spent a day visiting with Aunty Doreen, Christo and Aunty Gaenor – family friends from when Ian was born. Doreen bought everyone some bubbles…
We channeled some of our internal Karate Kid on our walk today
Merry go round
Adam got to enjoy some time on the merry go round with his siblings – his first real time on it on his own….and he did enjoy it.
Just look at his happy face
Family tree climbing
A day to just be
Today we took it slow enjoying just being here. Lego was built, books read, board games played, a short walk on the beach, naps, knitting and some shoe shopping.
Eating a snack while Grace knits
Holiday time
After what has been a crazy year, it’s time for some JBay down time, so we packed our trunk and said goodbye to the circus.
Adam was a champ on the trip. No crying, no accidents, and generally just chill.
The other two settle down to watch some movies on the tablets while we drive, so they switch off for most of the trip.
Which gave Donné and I some much needed quiet time to just be together and chat, and connected again after a long period of being ships in the night passing by each other.
And when we get to the Jbay wind turbines, we know out journey is coming to an end. It was a safe and peaceful trip, and we’re all looking forward to some downtime.
The final installment
So it’s been about 7 weeks since we embarked on the potty training train and I’m happy to say, our little 20 month old man is potty trained. Yay!
Adam loves taking selfies and saying cheese
The last 7 weeks have come with there challenges, firstly with an ear infection, a week and a half in, which resulted in us regressing back to nappies full time for a week or so. The difficulty of dragging a toddler around to drop and fetch siblings and then the ‘I only know how to poop in standing’ challenge.
The last 2 weeks Adam has been in underpants full-time and since Thursday has figured out how to poop in the toilet, which is so much better than the floor, ask my shoes! The only nappy he wears is at night and the last 5 days it has been dry so when we get back from Jeffreys Bay we will probably be totally done with nappies.
Beanies lovingly made by granny
It’s weird to think the nappy chapter in our lives is over, but at the same time I can’t say it’s something I’ll miss.
Watching dad, Grace and Eli riding their bikes at the bicycle track
Now if only potty training my kids was as easy as getting my kids to sleep through the night (don’t stress Grace and Eli sleep through the night), I definitely would have thought I’m made to be a mother, but luckily parenthood is a humbling affair and kids know how to keep you in check!
Uppie!
Adam has learnt to climb the cargo net, and takes much joy in it, calling, “Uppie!” while he climbs
An afternoon with friends
I must admit that a large part of this school term I have spent introverting. The thought of getting out with 3 kids on my own, anymore than I needed to, just seemed like unnecessary hard work. This was exacerbated by a busy potty training toddler, our already busy schedules and now two weeks of being sick.
But this afternoon I was reminded again why it is important to connect with friends and how it is good for one’s soul. So thank you friends for accommodating me and my little man. For standing out in the windy play park sharing a take away coffee, for chatting and laughing and just being. It was good for my kids and it was good for me.
4 happy boys swinging in a basket
Eli and Finn eating chips in the tunnel but insisted on calling it pizza!
Snack time
Special friends
Picnic Lunch
We enjoyed the warmer winter’s day by having a picnic lunch in the garden. Granted we couldn’t sit on the wet grass and had to settle for the paving, but it was still fun and before you ask, no I didn’t eat 3 milk tarts for my lunch ?.
Eli’s swimming
A fairly long (and probably slightly boring) update on Eli’s swimming progress
The sleepover party
Grace decided on a sleep over party this year, and what do parties mean? Cake, friends and dancing….
After starting with pizza the cake requests were coming in thick and fast, so soon it was time to sing and eat cake.
We have made you little cakes! Or made you into little cakes…..so that you can eat yourself
Adam is saying, “Hot, hot.”
After cake it was time to make some rice stuffed socks which can be warmed up in the microwave and used like a hot water bottle. Glow in the dark fabric paint makes an exciting decorating option.
Mix glow in the dark sticks, glow in the dark socks, music and a night time party and you get a Glow in the Dance party
After dancing, sweets, water, more dancing and more sweets it was time for musical nail polish
Only Anna and Nyasha slept over with most of them heading off home at about 21h00. Being the bookworms that they are, nearly everything was being read before bed time.
The three of them (and the rest of us) were sleeping by about 22h30, with no disruptions until 06h00 – so a surprisingly good night’s rest for everyone. In the morning we had the Monametsi’s, van der Zee’s and Fredricks over for a breakfast, brunch, lunch and overall lovely time.