This Is My Life

is when Frog and I snuggle together to read stories after bath and before bed. She snuggles close up and rests her head on my shoulder and says “book. read!”. We then cuddle and read. It my best moment of the day.

Ups:
Frog’s been in a very cute mood the last few weeks
Looks like my business will finish June with a record high (gosh, and it feels like it – I’ve been worked off my feet this month!)

Downs:
My Best Friend (BF) went back home to Mkuze and I’m missing her horribly
Gandalf looks like he is getting worse

Forward:
My mother, sister and niece arrive from JHB tonight for a couple of weeks (last time I saw them was in December and Frog wasn’t even walking then!)

When you ask Frog who I am she says “Mommy”
When you ask Frog who Daddy is she says”Daddy”
and when you ask her who she is, she says ”Baby!”.

Today for the first time when I asked her what Baby’s name is, she said “Talia”. (ok, wasn’t quite Talia. But close. Not like it rolls easily off the tongue.)

wouldn’t you sit with Gandalf too?

We went into Pick n Pay. Just before lunch time. There was no tantrum, no whining. Instead she named the items as they were put in the trolley. 

We went home and had lunch. I put her down for a nap, she slept until 2pm.

We went to the video shop. She danced in the isles and didn’t try and remove videos or take the tags.

We got home. 4pm came. she had supper, no mess. 5pm came, no tears, no cries.

I phone hubby:
K: “Can you talk?”  (I always ask in case he is in a meeting).
H: “Yeah”
K: “I’m worried about our daughter” (explanation of day’s behaviour)
H: “Hmmm, doesn’t sound like our daughter”
K: pause “should I check for alien probes?”
H: “Think aliens may be more sophisticated now-a-days than leaving visible probes. Try tickle torture. See if she can confess what she did with our child and what these aliens want with earth”
pause
giggles
K: “Tickle torture not working, she’s not confessing”
H: “Hang on till I get home… we’ll try again”……

So Gandalf had his first session of accupuncture today. Had to drive all the way to Kenilworth from Stellies….

After struggling to get him in my boot (I drive a corsa and had to get my business partner to help me pick him up) he cried all the way there – each curve and turn he would be thrown around the car. He can no longer balance in a moving vehicle – but do you think silly baby would sit down for one moment? No! he needed (not wanted) to stick his head out the window.

The vet basically told me what he had on the phone – its degenerative spinal myleopathy, although we can only confirm for 100% by doing a post mortem on his spine.

Poor Gandalf has now warn away the nails on his left foot, and has a sore from where he drags his foot. The vet said that since he has lost feeling in his left foot, these aren’t really sore. However I will be investigating a pair of boots for him (good thing I know someone who owns a pet shop, hey?).

I also need to walk him regularly (we stopped because we thought him stumbling around was an indication of him being in pain and he has picked up 5kgs – he weighs 50kg, almost as much as I do!!). However, we either need to tie a towel around his waist, or buy a sort of harness that I can wrap around his waist and help carry him as you would a handbag! Due to paralysis in the left foot, his muscles on the outside of his legs are atrophying, whist the internal muscles are overworked. He is also getting back muscle spams from overworking certain muscles whilst trying to compensate for a foot that doesn’t work.

He was such a good baby while the vet was doing the consulatation (including using the little hammer to test reflexes) and the accupuncture (I must admit he looked a little strange with all the needles, remind me to take my camera next time). He has also given him a variety of chinese and homeopathic muti….
 
The vet was very matter of fact – and of course had me in tears. Basic jist, we can try to delay the course of the degeneration, but we can’t cure it. He has anything between 3 months and 3 years. The worrying thing is that he has gone down very quickly in the last 3 months.

Gandalf has another appointment next week.

We went for supper at a friends house last night. Another couple had their 2.5 year old there as well. We were expecting tantrums, no sleeping, crying baby come 7pm….

Instead we had a Frog playing nicely with the other kid, having a bath and going to sleep by 7:30pm….

what bliss!

ok, so I feel like I’m boasting a bit – but go have a look at the Your Family and Living and Loving Magazines for July…. my little company (and me) is being featured for the Mompreneur competition

BF and I baked cupcakes and biscuits with Frog today. We specifically chose a biscuit recipe where she had to roll out the dough and use her cookie cutters to cut out her biscuits!  This is BF teaching her how to ice a cupcake – yes we did add too much food colouring to the icing – but I think Frog really enjoyed it! Biscuit pics coming tomorrow….