The Tree is Up

So we put our tree up today..... Rather than put it up 2 weeks before and take it down almost immediately, we decided it would be nice to have it up for a while.  Natalia still doesnt know what is going on really, but she had fun with all the brightly coloured decorations.  She had a lot of fun and that's what matters....  Today is also our anniversary - married for 2 years today!

Stuff

The cough that Natalia had is gone. The medication worked and she is sleeping through - almost every night this week. The coughing used to wake her up, so this is a good thing.

She is also sleeping a lot lately. She cant even wait for 12h00 anymore. She now goes down just after 11h00, so we give her half a sarmie before 11 and then she gets the rest when she wakes up around 14h00. She never used to sleep this much in the day, but I think its because she's so busy walking and exploring all over.

Her 10th tooth is still playing games with us. Its coming then it disappears, then its back, then its gone. Man, I think teething is the cruelest thing for little people. I have also seemed to get the nappy rash under control. We are already changing her nappy frequently, so I needed to look for another solution. Loren, my sister, suggested I give her probiotics. I put it in her milk at night and it took 3 days and it sorted out her stools. They are less acidic and her poor bum doesn't get burnt anymore. Now, if a see a smidgeon of redness no her bum, I give her probiotics and it's sorted - thanks Loren!!!

Natalia is saying more new words - I notice them weekly. She now says Please, Cheese when she stands in front of the fridge, Go when she's had enough or if we are leaving to go out, and Gone when she cant find something.

Kim has been working hard lately, with us hardly seeing him this past week and weekend. Cashbuild has moved to a new building and he is responsible for everything - and I mean everything. From the actual building to the pc's. He as to make sure that there is not damage to anything. He has to make sure every one's pc's are working. He has to make sure that all the boxes that all the employees packed have been moved over and put in the right place so when they come to work tomorrow morning its there for them. So..... this is why I have been a single parent for the last week or so! Cant say that I'm happy about it.....

At least Kim got toe spend a little time with Natalia this morning before he was off again. He caught her red-handed with the rusks and had to takes these pics for me.

Then at about 9h00 we went to visit Gregory, a friend from Moms & Tots. Greggie is a little more rough and fearless. Natalia is not used to sharing, so we had a couple of tears. But we got them together in the hammock for a while.....

Serendipity Again

Natalia and I went to Serendipity in Rosebank again today. As I've said before, this is a fantastic place. She can run around and play and she is followed by a dedicated minder, today it was Loveness ...... what more could you ask for.

As well as there being lots to do outdoors there is also a play area indoors. Natalia got dressed up in the fancy dress area. Then of all toys she could pick, she chose to play with a red sports car. We don't have cars for her at home.... so this was a new experience for me. Maybe we should get her some cars - I never thought of it before.

She also loves playing with balls. She's good at throwing and kicking.....

Not long after we left, she passed out in the car on the way home. She slept for 2.5 hours..... All that activity !!!

In the afternoon we popped over to my aunt Doreen whom I haven't seen for ages. Jack and Lucy were there too. When Natalia and Jack sat so lovingly next to each other, I couldn't resist taking this pic. He is such a gentle boy and so loving. They played to sell together, even though he's about 2 years older.

Paed Visit and Nappy Rash

After months and months of of having coughing fits at night, I finally took Natalia to the Paed yesterday. Natalia got sick at the beginning of August and since then she's been coughing in the middle of the night and in the wee hours of the morning without default. She has coughing fits or attacks which sound like whooping cough, go on for a long time, sometimes hours, and it obviously wakes her up and disturbs all our sleep, as if teething wasn't enough!

The reason it took me so long to take her to the Paed was because she had been on 2 courses of antibiotics and 3 kinds of cough mixtures which just didn't work. I had taken her to a GP back in August and didn't get any joy! Finally on Sunday night after Natalia was coughing up her lung for the millionth time in the middle of the night, I made the decision to get this seen to for good.

The Paed sent her for x-rays, which she hated. They ruled out pneumonia, but they revealed a lot of mucus on her lungs. He has put her on an antibiotic that is especially for this kind of thing and a couple of other medications which are for asthma and aimed at getting this persistent cough eradicated. If after 2 weeks there's no improvement, I need to take her back. But I am happy to report that she has only been taking the meds since yesterday and she did not cough last night! So we might be on the right track!!

Other than the coughing, Natalia has a horrible nappy rash. Since last Thursday she has been really sore and uncomfortable, shame. She pulls at her nappy and even took it off the other day - if that isn't a sign! We have been taking her nappy off every afternoon and putting Maizena on her bum to air her out for a couple of hours. She loves it, running around outside and playing with water. There seems to be some improvement today luckily.

Natalia is also getting her 10th tooth, 2nd molar. She is producing many smelly nappies, sometimes 3 a day. This is probably what started the nappy rash off! I wish I knew what I could do to relieve the pain..... Prodol just doesn't help long enough and she wont let me put my finger in her mouth.

On another side, Natalia is doing more signs now. She now signs Dog, Bird and Hat and when she sees a picture of a flower she smells the page. She loving being able to run around now and hardly keeps still. She has such a cute personality, but she's not shy to tell us when she's unhappy. My baby is changing and developing so quickly and the next couple of months she's going to learn so much!

Bambanani

We went to Bambanani in Melville on Sunday morning for breakfast. Wow, what an awesome place for kiddies. They cater for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. The variety of playground equipment, toys and accessories was enormous, the best I've seen on offer. Its an old house that is converted into a restaurant and the whole back garden has been transformed into a child's haven. And while the parents relax, have a cuppa tea, eat breakfast, there are babysitters taking care of your child! This is a fantastic arrangement. Natalia had a blast as you can see from the pics. The food was also good and priced well. We will definitely go there often.....

Kirsten Came to Visit

Kirsten came to visit Natalia on Saturday. She brought along her parents Shelly and Lance. What a cutie she is.... She's 5 months old so there's a 10 month age gap between them. She loved Natalia's bouncy chair. While they played together, we (the adults) had a braai and watched the rugby.