Christmas in the UK

Brendon, Owen and I have taken 2 weeks holiday and have driven over to spend Christmas with Lynese and Douglas. The day we left Holland it started snowing and by the time we got to the UK they were having a disasterous time with ice on the motorway's and in particular the one that we had to travel on. Owen and I went to sleep once we exited the channel tunnel and by the time we woke up I was surprised to see that we had only gone about 15 miles!
We arrived at Douglas and Lyneses to see that Downham was also covered in snow. We enjoyed some time outdoors in the snow which Owen loved. He loves playing in it and armed with a kitchen spatula ran around digging in the snow.

Christmas morning was very special. Owen slept late until 7am. We had breakfast and then Father Christmas arrived to bring Owen "Bertie" bus. We opened all our presents and all 5 of us managed to ablute and be in the car by 9.30am so that Douglas could take a Christmas service. We left most of Owen's toys in NL but were happy about that as the Granny's and the Grandpa gave him so many lovely gifts. He enjoyed all of them. At the Christmas service Owen enjoyed playing the organ, rearranging the Christmas tree and singing after everyone finished singing the hymns.

Owen gets a new room

They say that when one is pregnant anything can happen. When I was near the end of my pregnancy with Owen we decided it was a good idea to do a loft conversion complete with a window extension the breadth of the house. This time it was a little less drastic but the energy exerted on Owens room left me deciding that it really was not necessary to redecorate all the 2nd floor bedrooms.

Initially Owen's room was going to be painted blue with a Thomas the Tank Engine theme. After painting 3 walls blue I suddenly decided that Brendon had to run to the hardware store to fetch 2 litres of white paint to paint the 4th wall. It was 4.30pm and the store closed at 5.00pm. It had to be done that same day! In between the 1st and 2nd coats of paint Brendon had to make a business trip to South Africa and Owen ended up sleeping in the new baby's room that looked more like a storage unit than a bedroom. He enjoyed the change and the chaos of every day living on the 2nd floor!

His bedroom eventually got finished and he loves his new bed and new colour scheme.

Owen moves to a big bed

Brendon & I decided that when we went to the UK to visit Lynese and Douglas we would introduce Owen to a big bed. At Lynese and Douglas's house the floors are carpeted and Lynese sourced a bed guard at the local second hand dealer that we cannot get in the Netherlands. So if there was going to be a bump in the night we knew that it would be a soft landing for Owen.

The transition went so smoothly. Owen has really taken to his new sleeping arrangements. When he wakes up in the morning he starts talking to "Mickey", sings a song and waits for someone to come and fetch him out the bed. He still hasn't grasped that he can get off the bed himself in the morning although he gets on it himself to go to sleep when I put him to bed. He will really enjoy his new room in Holland now.

Sinterklaas

It is that time of the year again - Sinterklaas. All Dutch children know that Sinterklaas (the name is a corruption of Sint Nikolaas) lives in Spain. Exactly why he does remains a mystery, but that is what all the old songs and nursery rhymes say. Whatever the case may be, in Spain he spends most of the year recording the behaviour of all children in a big red book, while his helper Black Peter stocks up on presents for next December 5th. In the first weeks of November, Sinterklaas gets on his white horse, Peter ("Piet") swings a huge sack full of gifts over his shoulder, and the three of them board a steamship headed for the Netherlands. Around mid-November they arrive in a harbour town - a different one every year - where they are formally greeted by the Mayor and a delegation of citizens. Their parade through town is watched live on television by the whole country and marks the beginning of the "Sinterklaas season".

The old bishop and his helpmate are suddenly everywhere at once. At night they ride across Holland's' rooftops and Sinterklaas listens through the chimneys to check on the children's behaviour. Piet jumps down the chimney flues and makes sure that the carrot or hay the children have left for the horse in their shoes by the fireplace is exchanged for a small gift or some candy. During the day, Sinterklaas and Piet are even busier, visiting schools, hospitals, department stores, restaurants, offices and many private homes. Piet rings doorbells, scatters sweets through the slightly opened doors and leaves basketfuls of presents by the front door. How do they manage to be all over the Netherlands at once?

This year we made it to the Holmatro Sinterklaas party for the children. It went on for around 2 hours. Owen loved it. On arrival he had chocomel and a floor filled with ballons to play with. A while later Sinterklaas & the Piets arrived and each child had the opportunity to sit on Sint's lap. Owen preferred to try to fiddle with the PA buttons & knobs, see how many pepernoten (tiny ginger biscuits) he could find on the carpet and stuff in his mouth at once. A time of hide and seek was enjoyed by him and the daddy for some variation. At the end of event each child was given a gift. Owen got a fire engine with made 4 different siren noises. He was in his element.

Summer has arrived

The past week has been sunny, hot and most days have had 100% humidity. We have had to sleep with the shutters open a bit which means that the sun starts to stream in when the birds start singing which is around 4am. Owen has been waking up really early due to the heat and light, between 4.45am and 5.30am. He is encouraged to play with his small box of toys strategically placed on the table at the foot of his cot, so that the parents can gather strength to get out of bed.

It was every toy stores delight that the weather has been so hot. The sales of sand/water clams must have reached an all time high. Brendon and I bought Owen 2 clams for a sand pit (and the other as the cover) as he was beginning to use the garden as his sandpit. He loves his new activity. Our garden is becoming even more cluttered with all his stuff. We have put the sprinkler on a couple of times to water the grass and to cool him down. What a joy.

We have also been cycling in the evenings and he has loved this too. There are so many people, dogs and birds out and about which entertain him. He loves all the activity around him.

Queens Day

It is day 12 of Brendon's business trips which was split into 2 trips with 1.5 days of that being spent here at home. He is due home tonight with Evelyn and Evangeline. I cannot wait! I need to be left alone by the grubby biscuit paws of the little "sausage". During the 1.5 days home Brendon was jet-lagged and I was Owen-lagged. We were all a bunch of zombies with bad moods. Owen has 3 new teeth, I have 2 sets of matching luggage. I feel like I haven't sleep in weeks. Just when I shut my eyes it seems 2 hours pass and Owen is wailing in his bed. Yip, every 2 hours from 8.30pm to 5.30/6am. One has to love moments in life like this when you begin to question the reason for having children. Anyway, this stage too will pass.

Today is Queens Day. One of the two phenomenons in Dutch history, according to Wendy Morris. The other phenomenon is the annual pilgramage: camping with the caravan.
On Queens Day, which is to celebrate Queen Julianna's birthday (30th not being her birthday anyway), the Queen has allowed free trade. Now the Dutch don't need a big carrot to try to earn an easy Euro. All and sundry were out with their "spulle" aka "stuff" that is no longer needed. Wandering around this enormous flea market one cannot help but think Holland has a luxury problem. So much stuff! Maybe the recession has prompted many more to join the tables but I think making an easy Euro makes some of them tick. I was keen on the idea of doing this once before we left, if we ever do, but came to the conclusion 10 minutes later that this could be more energy draining than keeping Owen out of mischief on our outings. I've vitoed that idea. Anyway, I decided that Owen needed to have this experience as it is only once a year and after all he is a Dutchie himself. So off we went. He loved the loud noise and music and joined in unharmoniously with his dolphin decibel screeches much to the amusement of the old toppies hanging about. We passed stall after stall of stuff and by the time we got to the end I was pushing a bead and Owen was like "ok, this is boring now". We watched a bit of dancing and chatted to a couple of friends and then made our way home watching the flags waving in the wind as we walked.

Owen becomes the proud owner of a toy laptop

Owen is obsessed with our laptops. If one of them are open he prods and pokes every square inch of the machine and loves pressing the on/off button. So, on Brendons trip to America, he was bought a toy laptop that is for 3 year olds. He loves it. And guess which his favourite button is - yes, the on/off button. But this one has sound that you cannot switch off. We constantly hear "Hi there, lets play" or "Bye Bye". This is one more item that is added to the lounge decor. I have made a concious decision to scale down but it is difficult!

Our back garden - Owens paradise

He is still a very energetic little man who still LOVES the outdoors. He plays in the garden and looks for his friendly neighbours, Peggy and the Cat, through the slats in the fence. We spend more time at the local shopping area that has a pedestrian safe area where he can run around in, at the Liesbos where there are interesting leaves and sticks and bugs to investigate, and of course in our back garden where toys abound. We are enjoying the spring although some of the days feels like summer. The trees all have their new leaves and look really beautiful. The flowers are blossoming so there are lots of bees and bugs around now. Owen loves to pat the plants and has eaten all the petals off the one bush in the back garden. I do feed him, I guess he just needs another sort of texture!

17 months old

I try to take Owen to the clinic every month to be weighted and measured. From 18 months I will take him less regularly as his weight and height measurements are slowing down now.

He now weighs 13.1kg's and is 84cm in length.

More Granny Lynese Time

Owen enjoyed Granny time and Granny enjoyed Owen time!

The Easter Egg Hunt

Growing up at 49 Brockwell Street, Eshowe, South Africa always held some kind of adventure. One Easter when Chris & I were little, mom and dad decided that it would be exciting for us to hunt for our Easter eggs in the front garden. We woke up and got into their bed as we usually did. They then informed us that the Easter Bunny had left some eggs in the front garden. We were off like shots still clad in our PJ's. Round the corner, down the stairs, dogs barking madly behind us we arrived in the front garden only to be faced with the devastating sight of chewed and drooled on half eaten eggs. All of them were destroyed, not one was left intact. And the culprit was a golden labrador! He was always the trouble maker. That is one memory etched in my memory. I made sure Owen would not have that same experience. We have no dogs and I stood guard at the door once the eggs were in place in case the "unknown" swooped down and stole them. Owen had to be shown the eggs and even then had no clue what was going on. He did enjoy having a nibble and the rest of the family enjoyed polishing them off.

Goat 1 vs Owen 0

Granny Lynese has arrived in NL for 10 days. There will be lots of bonding time with Owen as Lynese is here to take care of him while I prepare for my exams in May/June.

Today was another good weather day so we decided after church that we would all go to the animal farm for some entertainment. It was very busy - lots of parents and children. We made our way past "Jip and Janneke" the miniture pigs after trying to pry Owen away from the ride-on wheels that the other children were on. He is obsessed with wheels. The concentration on his face. A picture to behold.

Next was the petting area with the goats. There were 2 new baby goats that was the attraction in the field. Finally after trying to close the barn door and playing with the rubbish bin we finally made it into the field. Owen was off. Chasing the goats, who were quicker than him, was his main aim. He insisted on giving one of the goats a deep muscle massage and I had to continually remind him to "pat the goat gently!'. How do you get this message through to a 17 month old? More running, more falling over, lots of babbling. Now I think that the next goat Owen encountered may have been on the edge and Owen pushed his button just once too many times. Owen kept prodding and poking and the goat turned around and butted Owen. Crash bang........silence......wail! My first thought was that Owen had gotten a horn in his face. He cried loudly. I picked him up and thought that he only had gotten a fright. Later in the car Lynese noticed a big read mark up his chest. Indeed the horns had missed his face and got him on the chest. I am very thankful that he was protected from something which could have been a lot worse. After some UK organic carrots which he sucked with great joy we all returned home in one piece.

Oh the weather outside is brilliant!

What a great day Friday was - 21 degrees Celcius. Owen and I made the most of his wake hours and were out and about the whole time. It was great to be able to leave the back door open and be in the kitchen and know that he was safe eating the sand and running around patting the bushes. Never did I think these days would come when I could be in another area than him and know that the most he could do was graze his hands on the stones outside.

As Owen is growing up I am becoming more relaxed with him. He understands a lot and listens to me most of the time. He loves to look out of his bedroom window but is unable to do so on his own as he is still too short. Now we have rigged a system where he can climb on and off a low plastic box. He is in his element. Eating ice lollies is his new thing and he knows that when he eats one he has to sit on his little chair until he is finished. Reading is still top of the list and he climbs on the couch to imitate Brendon doing that. His favourite tv programme is "Teletubbies" which he watches with great delight.

Another new thing is head banging. I gather that it is frustration. He likes to do this on the interleading door downstairs. Whilst we were in the garden he banged his head on the garden wall. He only did that once. Now he has a graze in the middle of his head! All the stages are entertaining and I learn so much from him every day.

Every marketers dream

I am a minimalist. Brendon is a collector. There are collectors on both sides of the family in the different generations. The other day Owen and Brendon were scratching around in Brendons bedside draw and pulled out 2 travel torches. The light from the first torch on the curtains entertained Owen. Then the second torch came out. Now this one had a button which let out a high pitched wail. The dialogue was as follows:

Wendy: What is that?

Brendon: It is a smoke detector built into the torch?

Wendy: (trying to contain myself) If the house was burning down what would be the point of using the torch? Surely one would know it was on fire, we have smoke detectors on each floor?

Brendon: No, you see this if for when I am in a hotel and there are no smoke detectors.

Wendy: Oh, and how come it has never moved out of the drawer into your travel bag?

Conclusion: Brendon is every Chinese businessmans marketing dream.

Example 2. Wendy and Owen (together) own 1 red hardcase suitcase. Brendon owns 8 pieces of luggage.

Example 3.............

Anyway, the house is now bulging at the seams and I am hoping Owen follows my ability to function with less than the amount of "gwell" Brendon needs otherwise we need to start house hunting!

Fun times with The Daddy

Owen loves his time with Brendon. Brendon horses around with him like a little boy himself. Owen really enjoys being throw about and rough and tumbling. Adrenalin junky in the making. They still have their Saturdays together which is a great time for their bonding. I can't help butting in but try to stay in my study hock for the day and come out only to eat and have a cup of tea. Soon summer will be here and the days will be more enjoyable doing outside activities.

The New Rules

Two new rules have been implemented in the Morris household:
1. Do not eat adult size portion of cereal near the valued New Zealand Wool Rug
2. Do not use expensive Dysan vacuum cleaner as a wet and dry version

Every morning Owen has his breakfast and then ceremoniously shares my breakfast too. This one particular morning Owen and my favourite childrens tv programme was on, BBC's Big Cook Little Cook, and so our focus was not on the bowl nor the contents. At a certain moment Owen had his hand on the bowl and tripped over my foot, whilst his eyes were glued to the tv. Contents went from bowl to rug and the remenants landed on Owen and I. I surveyed the disaster zone and in 30 seconds was carrying out the rescue plan. First I had to put Owen is the "danger zone" (on the wrong side of the stair gate) as he wanted to rub the contents into the carpet. I had to protect the Rug from the Destroyer. Next I had to derobe and whisk Owen off to have a change and a convenient top and tail. Bits of pronutro and rice crispies were evident of our path up to the 2nd floor. I left the rug to absorb my breakfast whilst I ran through the recovery strategy in my head. Vola, I had the solution. The Dysan vacuum cleaner. Now I knew that the Dysan was not intended for purposes such as this but I have a strong bond to my rug and I didn't want to see it heading off to Belgium for a clean. That mean't a bear floor for a week and Eur 58 later. So once Owen and I were taken care of I set to work on the Rug. The Dysan worked like a charm. I emptied the contents and wiped the inside of the container. Job well done. Until the next morning! Brendon put the vaccuum cleaner on and then switched it off. "Check Owens bum, I think he has poohed" he said. I checked. No pooh. Mmm, the vacuum cleaner. Needless to say every item of the vacuum cleaner had to be removed and washed. The Dysan has not been the same since.

Another antibiotic!

A friend and I met at Ikea the other day for a coffee and a chat. There is a small area that the children can run around in. Perfect as a distraction for both Owen and I. Owen had a terrible time. He was coughing continuously and falling all over the place. He couldn't stand on his own two feet. Parents were looking at me strangely and I felt very defensive. Owen and I always seem to be at the doctor for this cough but nothing helps. So I got home and again made an appointment for the next day. I discussed all his symptoms again and the balance issue and the fact that he is just unwell a lot of the time. She had a look at him and said that he had an ear infection (so he got another antibiotic) and that he should have blood taken to check for food allergies. He was also given another round of ventolin and flexotide for breathing difficulties. We immediately scheduled an appointment for 3 weeks time to discuss a visit to the paediatrician based on the test results and use of the respiratory meds. After 5 days the tests came back and all was fine there. Thank goodness. Imagine what a rigmarol it would be to always have to check if an ingredient is in a product! But Owen still had the cough. That Wednesday we prayed at the house group for Owens cough. Since then he has not coughed like he used to. Praise God. He has even started to sleep the whole night through. Not regularly but more often. I was so surprised the one morning I got up at 5am to check if he was still alive. We are thrilled. We have better sleeps and Owen is a happier little boy.

Growning in leaps and bounds

This week I have seen the greatest progress in Owens development. He has learn't (by himself)to post shapes into his car and walker by colour coordination and as well as shape. It has been truely amazing. He doesn't need mommy anymore for that! He also thought that I was feeding him yoghurt too slowly and promptly took the spoon and started feeding himself. I did have to hold the container though.

It is getting warmer and Owen is an outdoors enthusiast. He loves playing with the plants and eating the sand in the garden. Brendon and him visited the animal farm while I had Wendy-time at the gym. They had much fun and when they came to fetch me Owen was sporting a grazed nose from his ventures in the carpark.

Tuesdays are still going well with Owens sitter, Elena. She is a real blessing and loves spending time with him and helping me out. A real God send for this year. Owen loves his time with her.