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!