3 more teeth


Owen has sprouted 3 new teeth. The 2 big front ones and 1 on the bottom. After our party on the Saturday night Brendon, who was parent on duty, was awake every hour to give Owen his dummy. So it was no surprise on Monday when I spotted them. Along came the runny nose and cough, which I though was a cold each time he was teething. The week was quite hectic with the dummy runs (and I was very happy to see my Friday night accommodation at the end of the week) but towards the end of the week he was sleeping very well and only waking once or twice in the night.


He has now managed to pull himself up onto his feet. There is lots of wobbling going on and then a "Oh, no, how do I get down now" look before landing with a thud on his bum. He seems to enjoy cycling more now too and even tries to ring the bell every now and again.


Eating is still one of his favourite activities. The amounts have increased steadily but lucky the weight is not being gained as quickly. He picks up his bread squares between his index finger and thumb and stuffs it in his mouth. I have to be careful as to how much is put in front of him otherwise he ends up looking like a chipmunk.

On Friday Owen and I went to the clinic so he could get measured and weighted. 11.145kgs & 78cm in length. He has only put on 275 grams since last month which means the crawling and physical activities are now burning more calories.

He is so cute now. He crawls up to me and sits in front of me and then puts his arms up to be picked up.

Water, water everywhere


The day started off well but not long into the morning, when Brendon was due to do Owen's top & tail, I heard Brendon say "Oh, no my boy this is not good." I was upstairs in the loft getting a couple of hours of studying done. The tone & pitch of Brendon's voice let me know that 1. He wanted to let me know something had happened & 2. Please don't shout at me! I had gathered that Owen had pulled the bucket of water over while Brendon was not looking. I went downstairs to see the 2 guilty parties. The only victims of the incident was the New Zealand wool carpet and Owens tail that was saturated. Owen thought this was very funny & Brendon hurriedly packed everything up so the laminate would not get wet and warp. This carpet has a story of it's own. When I purchased it back in 1997 in Durban it cost the equivalent of my Opel's car instalment. Needless to say it was looked after very well. In it's lifetime it has had a whole plate of mash potatoes and gravy land on it and now that Owen has had it in his room it has had oops up of baby curry and ratatouille that stains yellow. So the carpet was due to go for a clean anyway. Now the cost to clean this carpet each time is a small fortune. Actually it costs half of what the original car instalment was and it is cheaper to go to Ikea and buy a new one every time we need it cleaned. But no I am not getting rid of it so it has been relocated down to the lounge where it is covered nicely by a duvet for Owen to play on!

A few pictures

Off the breast

From the end of August Owen started being bottlefed instead of breastfeed. Even though he only has 2 teeth at the moment he has been using them to chew on my boob! Dutch magazine articles say this is not the reason to stop breastfeeding but I beg to differ. Fear each time it was feed time was not the way I wanted to spend the last few months of breastfeeding. The last breast was an emotional time for me but I must say that Owen has taken the change very well. In fact I think he enjoys it more as he does not have to make such an effort to get the milk out the boob compared to sucking it out the bottle. This also makes such a difference on a Friday night when it is my night off in the loft bedroom, a.k.a the recharge centre, and Brendon is able to give him the bottle at 3 or 4 am. This is also the first morning that I was the first one up at 6am. Brendon & and Owen were still zzzzzzz'ing in their beds.


Swimming is still a delight and Owen loves it. I do not take him to the gym creche at the moment because he is still having issues with the gastouder arrangement. I don't want him to be overwhelmed by anxiety. First priority is to have him settled with the gastouder and then introduce the other activities. I go to gym in the evening when he is asleep and Brendon is home.

Owen is very active now and it will not be long before he is up and about. He is able to pull himself onto his knees and then one foot but no further. He has no idea about distance or height so often there is a wail when he can't reach something or he can't get off something. Changing his nappy is not an amusing event especially if he has a poo one. He insists on rolling over and trying to sit up. His pants are now put back on when he is in the standing position. Thank goodness he has stopped trying to launch himself into the toybox at the end of his change table.


He has become such a bookworm. For a while now we have been reading (in Dutch and English) to him and showing him books with flaps and pictures that he has learn't to open himself. I often find him at the bookshelf unpacking the books and looking at the pictures. When he is at the gastouder he apparently does the same thing.


Tonight is Brendon & my first social event alone & 50 minutes away from home. It is Brendon's annual work event. Rayne will be over to take care of Owen and I trust he will not give her grey hair. I am looking forward to being Wendy and not just "Owen's mom" for the evening. I am sure Brendon will feel the same. But am also definately sure that we will be very happy to see him again when we get home.

The next milestone is in view

This past week has been really great. Owen is over his cold and back to his normal form and more. We have been doing our usual activities - walking, shopping & swimming. Today was the first swimming lesson with the instructor. We went in the warm jaccuzi pool and Owen had such a good time. Songs were sung and we all swam in a line like ducks. Lots of splashing and plastic toys. Owen floated on his back with my support and in general was a little star. Next week I will learn the technique of putting him under the water. I watched it this week and even a 4 month old was doing it, so I know that he will be able to handle that.

On Wednesday Owen & I went to the gym (again to swim) and afterwards bumped into one of the moms from the international womans club. Her children were also swimming. We had lunch together when everyone was finished their activities. Owen was doing his usual crawling everywhere and anywhere so at one point I just lifted him up onto his feet and he was holding my hands in his. Next thing he lifted up his feet and left, right, left he took three steps. I could not believe it. I was amazed. So amazed that Brigette asked me if these were his first steps. He pulls himself up on everything now but just can't get down. If he has socks on and is on the laminate floor pulling himself up on something his feet slide out while he is still holding on e.g. the stair gate. Then I hear a wail and find him hanging on waiting to be pulled off.

Thursdays with the gastouder are still proving to be a struggle. Owen is definately in the separation anxiety phase. He is only managing 3 to 3.5 hours and then I have to go and fetch him. This week he was wailing when I left him and walked out the door. Then I peered through the window a minute later and suddenly he was busy playing. I was forgotten in an instant. Apparently it is around his next sleep time that he becomes distressed and looks around for me. So now he will go on a Wednesday for 3 hours and a Thursday for 3 hours just until he gets used to the whole "without mom" experience.

Our home, an extension of "Toys R Us"

Before I became a parent and I used to visit people already parents, I would come home and say to Brendon "If we ever have children there is no way any of their stuff will be scattered from one end of the lounge to the other. That is what their bedroom is for!" I was clueless. This is how it began. In the beginning Owen's room was created. Very neat, everything having its own place. Needless to say that room was never slept in for 5 months. Owen first set up camp in mom & dad's room for the first months of his life. Because it was convenient we also set up a camp cot in the lounge with a few toys in it. As time went by and he became more active and enjoyed morning time in the bed with mom & dad I noticed a couple of toys creep in and take their place on the bedside tables. When he was too big for the baby bath he progressed to the bathroom, bath toys in tow en mass. Laundry time (which takes place between 5.30am and 6.30am every morning, yes, including Sundays) became a concoction of plastic coat hangers and whatever was in his hand when he was picked up and taken up stairs to the loft. Then came time to move on to sitting in his feeding chair, again, a stash of toys in strategic places. Lets not forget to mention the lounge which came accessorised with a duvet to prevent bumps on the head, the ball-bak complete with 100 balls... and the list goes on. So to conclude: every room in the house besides our dressing room and the downstairs toilet is delightfully arrayed with Owens presence.



So Sunday Operation: "Toy control" took place. Date: 31 August 2008. Time: 07h00. Place: The lounge. Attendees: Mom & Owen. I decided that the first item that needed to be tamed was the camp cot (which had become a dumping ground for all his toys) All the toys out. I don't ever remember buying all the stuff. But that's how it begins, doesn't it. So now we had an empty camp cot and so I began the task of disassembling it. Time: 07h20 - by this time I was pushing the odd bead of sweat & scratching my head. Who invented this contraption. It must have been a man. Firstly, woman would never make something so complicated and secondly, no woman would have the enduring interest of assembling and disassembling this item. I suddenly had a flashback to when Douglas and Brendon first set this up. I remember chuckling to myself and thinking they looked like "Dumber & Dumber". Mmm. Maybe it did take some grey matter after all. Anyway, it was half disassembled and I thought that is it I am done!5 minutes later I refused to be beaten and had a bash at it again. This time I wriggled every movable part there was to wriggle and "vole" magic, it collapsed into a neat little rectangular shape on the floor. Owen was still engrossed in the activity even though he has the attention span of a gnat. Next was to get it in the bag. Heave hoe, in it went, along with the pipes and some other item. I was very pleased that I got the wheels in the right way round too but alas the zip wouldn't shut properly. Oh well, I had done my best and left it on the step for Brendon to put upstairs in the loft. Final conclustion: There are some things that just don't go back in the way they came out!