My Pigeon Pair

I have been snowed under @ work as well as @ home…but we have been having lots of fun inbetween – my BebeLuv & I J

Last week Thursday I worked from home & went for a religious gathering for the ladies in my community & I took BebeLuv along, praying she would be well behaved @ it is in random houses and there needs to be a certain amount of calm and quiet whilst we listen to religious teachings and stories. BebeLuv was not only perfectly behaved she was super sweet. She walked up and down from me to the big sliding door to see the birds and everytime she came back to me I got a ‘Mama’ call and cuddles and kisses J. She smiled and was friendly with everyone else there and they were smitten with her. I used to attend weekly with her from when she was 7weeks old. Since I started working from Jan they haven’t seen us much so her being a big gal and such a sweetypie had the ladies very impressed *beaming mama here*

That same afternoon I went over to see a friend who lost her Dad recently. She has a 4month old baby girl. Whilst I dived ito her beautiful baby, my sweet BebeLuv played merrily with her 2 older sons – in & out of the house. However, every 10mins or so she came back just to say ‘Mama’ & smile at me J.

The weekend was more amazing fun for us girls – BebeLuv & I went off to feed the ducks and to the park. BebeLuv had a blast and yet again as she played on the jungle gym I would hear ‘mama’ and see her face peeking through with a big grin.

Here’s some pics of a previous farmyard w-end and then of the last w-end at the pond and park

Loving BebeLuv and playful Kitty

Petting the rabbits – notice that non pet friendly Mama took this pic from OUTSIDE of the cage

Love the outdoors – feeding ducks and chasing birds

Enjoying the ‘crunch crunch’ as I run through dry leaves

Lounging on the other side of the tunnel

I have been feeling emotional this last week as I have discovered that my baby is now a curious toddler. I have always wanted to do toddler group classes like TopTots etc with her, but I wanted to wait till she could crawl as I have had many other mums say when they’re too young it’s not as rewarding. However BebeLuv only started crawling at 11months & I had strated work by then. I considered Saturday classes but then decided against it when I realised howmuch more I could do with her at our leisure rather than being committed to a class on weekends. Every weekend we try and chose a kiddy place like a different park, animal farm, play area with her and it’s ALOT of fun. We can schedule it around her routine and our chores. This has worked very well thus far. BebeLuv seems well balanced – content and very sociable.

Ever since our return from holiday 3 weeks ago Nanny has mentioned that BebeLuv is not too happy at home and I assumed she will settle down back to her old self and she was just missing all the excitement of the 10 days hols @ her Grans. 3 weeks later & BebeLuv’s demands are growing. She wants more time & more stimulation and Nanny just doesn’t seem to be impressing her. Evenings unfortunately we are so hectic it’s a challenging to focus on only her as she needs. …I am deeply saddened by this as I feel like I am failing my lil gal.

So we need a plan -

- Plan A: I am looking at group classes but on an adhoc, not termly commitment basis. I will try and schedule my work from home days around this but unfortunately this may not happen weekly. It’s a start I think.

- Plan B: I am also looking at half day playschools for 2 times a week – however I will only consider a school nexy yr, preferably after mid yr if plan A works out. I have sent out lots of emails. I have a few responses. Half day, part time is also costly and we will still be keeping Nanny on for after school so there’s no trade off, only double the expense now.

I CANNOT believe ‘my baby’ is 16 months old and I am looking for a school. Her vocabulary is just growing in leaps and bounds – I can’t keep up anymore. She repeats almost everything and very clearly. A few of her latest: ‘Paatta’ (pasta), ‘Milk’, ‘book’, ‘c(l)ock’. Her greeting is the best – as BebeLuv normally uses a very fine, nasally voice but she greets gruff and abrupt: ‘HULLAU’ (hello). Always gets me laughing. Even when the phone vibrates far away she puts her hand to her ear & says ‘HULLAU’. 

She is impressing me with learning how to play very well with her toys – putting blocks together and getting shapes into her shape sorter as we identify their places for her. She has anactivity box with 8 sides and finds the side correctly as we request – animal sounds, shapes, TV, car hooter, bell etc.

I bought her more art supplies from Mr Price – they have some great stuff. I got star crayons and paint pens. I look forward to our first painting this weekend

I tried uploading star crayons pic but no luck – they’re really cool. Will try uploading again. if you’re looking for art stuff do remeber to pop in @ Mr. P, they also make great gifts. 

We bought BebeLuv her first box of crayons – jumbo size. At 16months she hasn’t doodled nor painted – she has not been exposed to any instrument that leave a mark, & this is what the lady churned out in her first experience

How byoo-ti-ful is that? I see talent already …and everything is exceptionally rose coloured today thanks to well rested eyes - thanks to BebeLuv sleeping through with a small dosage of rescue remedy – 5 drops in 1 tsp water. It doesn’t normally have such a strong effect so I know last night was also due to exhaustion and and we all feel good today

Good news from the doctor – BebeLuv’s pigmentation is café au lait spots but there’s no other symptoms for a neurological diagnosis. He was VERY sure of this although I insisted that it can go undiagnosed for a long time. I suggested an appointment with a Paed for confirmation and he said no need to rush it, just bring it up at her next scheduled visit – so that’s the plan we’re going with. The spots can increase randomly – there’s no treatment for it. That is a bit concerning, especially the areas that it could appear. My sister who is a doctor doing her intern at the moment confirmed that I have no reason for concern…thanks you all for your advise and prayers.

On the sleep issue – last night started off very bad. BebeLuv normally falls off to sleep by herself in her cot with her blankie – last night she just screamed and cried. She was sleepy and had everything else was normal as her normal 7pm bedtime routine but her behavior was not. BebeLuv seemed more afraid than ill or in pain. As long as we were with her she was ok, but not falling off to sleep. She was a bit hyperactive. Eventually we resorted to Stopayne L. It’s the first time I’ve used Stopayne since it’s not advisable for under 2 yrs of age but I know Panado syrup doesn’t do much for BebeLuv with inducing a deep sleep and friends have assured me this does the trick. I felt awful resorting to drugging her but it worked. She slept from 9:30pm till 6am.

I’m afraid to think what’s in store for us tonight – I am thinking of using Sister Lillian’s calming meds & some rescue remedy from early on in the evening. Hope it works…

Last night DH & I had a total of 2-3 hours sleep in 15 minute instalments. BebeLuv screamed blue murder the rest of it. We tried feeding, rocking, talking and those failed. We tried playing with her in our drowsy state and that gave us some relief, but then soon as we go lights out back in cot the screaming resumed. She refused the feeds…eventually this morning, time for work - BebeLuv was sleeping across us and we cold barely move a limb from fear of waking her and from total exhaustion.

Saturday night was also a bit of a restless night – DH was on a boys night out and I was home alone catching up on Desperate Housewives. It was lotsa shushing and feeding inbetween, eventually I was dead to the world and have no idea when DH crept in.

We don’t know why all this crying – DH says she fell asleep when he rubbed her tummy so I gave her Babasuur and Bonnycare before leaving for work. Nanny has confirmed that BebeLuv has been fine since and had a good lunch and is napping.

This is already feeling like 1 looooooooooooooong week and I hope we get a good sleep tonight …

Today BebeLuv will be seeing a Dermatoligist for her pigmentation – my mind is a mess with Dr. Google terrifying me with diagnosis of café au lait spots that may be indicative of neurofibromatosis - I know I shouldn’t think the worst but that’s damn difficult. I am more petrified that should it be something along those lines it may go undiagnosed for a long time as is the case with such, how do u ignore these concerns and fears for years??? . Keep us in your prayers

BebeLuv was born with a brownish discolouration on the under of her left foot. A few months ago I noticed a similar spot on her right hip and thought this was also a birth mark that we may have missed and was becoming more visible as she was growing. The evening she got back from her holiday I noticed a large brown discolouration on the left on her belly button – quite much larger than the other spots. DH & I decided to just keep an eye on it, as it doesn’t seem to cause any discomfort. I am beginning to get concerned if mroe will appear on BebeLuv and where…anyone knows anything about this kind of thing?

A weekend of beautiful memories that I wish I could replay over & over & over…I am saturated in a feeling of contentment, bliss & love –

Choc Mousse sharing: BebeLuv doesn’t enjoy sweet tastes much, unlike myself who has an incredible weakness for the sinful things. On Friday eve, BebeLuv didn’t have a good supper and I wasn’t in the mood for a battle to feed her so I took the tub of Woolies choc mousse out of the fridge. Hubby had tried feeding BebeLuv some earlier on and she didn’t like it. I had a few mouthfuls and then offered BebeLuv whilst I made ‘MmmMMMm’ sounds and smacked my lips. BebeLuv gave it a try and sapt out the whole mouthful. I went on with my display of enjoyment and tried again – BebeLuv started imitating me & started indulging in mouthfuls as well. We both sat on the kitchen floor, looking into the oven door (mirror) & continued with ‘MmmmMMM’ and lip smacking. It progressed onto a messy mouth for BebeLuv which I licked clean much to her joy & her giggling just echoes in my mind now . *Mwah*

Yesterday, we went off to a kids farmyard – my lil girl was so brave. I am not much of an animal friendly person, DH on the other hand is. BebeLuv had such a blast petting rabbits, feeding ducks, petting the pony and playing with the farm owners cat. She was hands on and so eager – DH was by herside whilst I was a few steps behind. A particularly precious memory was throwing herself back on the grass, flat out – imitating the cat as they played

There was also a park area – BebeLuv really enjoys the slide. She also had lots of fun in the sand pit, throwing it all over. A surprise for us was BebeLuv sitting in one of those roundabouts that requires pushing yourself whilst sitting on– BebeLuv managed push herself around . This just amazed DH and I, as she only goes to the park with us every few weeks and hasn’t used this particular roundabout before. I always feel she’s at a disadvantage since she’s at home and doesn’t have outdoor equipment to play on daily, but my Princess is obviously growing more than I know.

My best time at the park was jumping on the trampoline with her – and again the high pitched giggling…*mwah*

So much more amazing things are going on with BebeLuv – daily surprises, it’s hard to keep up:

 - cereal fell on her PJs and left a stain – she pointed to it and kept saying “Mess”. I don’t recall teaching her that.

 - she brings books to me and says: “Sit” to make her sit next to me on the sofa, and over the w-end she said “Sit! Up!”. I was impressed with her double word in expressing herself.

 - She says my name

 - She identifies so many new things in her books without teaching it to her directly - e.g. clock

BebeLuv is also going through a Mommy’s girl phase and calls for me continously and is by my side all the time – not too demanding, she just wants me in sight. It makes it harder walking out of the house every morning, and Mondays always makes it seem like Friday is a lifetime away…