This weekend

It was Frans's birthday on Friday. On Thursday Thelwyn baked homemade goodies for the celebration at his work and Dorette went over to help her and I joined them later. I admired Thelwyn for wanting to be this good housewife with Martelize just over 2 weeks old! Thelwyn did not dare even taste her own fare - she strictly sticks to a no sugar diet for the sake of Martelize. I had to lick her choolate covered fingers!

Gert and Dorette and Franco paid us a visit on Friday evening. Franco was awake most of the time - he is very active and sleeps very little. He has discovered his hands and is too cute. Lightweight rattles are hard to come by and in the end Dorette gave him a toothbrush to hold. We decorated it with a bow cut from a yellow shopping bag and he seemed to love it. He lay on his blanket, brandishing this "toy" and later fell asleep like that!

Frans and Thelwyn and Martelize came over on Saturday. They sold a horse! Great joy! The horse buyers arrived just about when it was feeding time for Martelize. Fortunately she was still sleepy and I could get her to go back to sleep and then to suck her dummy (pacifier) for another hour. I changed her nappy and then Jan had to go and call the mother. She was properly hungry then! After her long sleep in the morning she did not sleep much in the afternoon. She was a very good little baby. Her awareness of the world around her is increasing almost by the hour. She seems very aware of sounds and light. Blinks if the sun shines on her face. When she sleeps, her hands are relaxed - no tight swaddling necessary!

The children are such a joy and a blessing - the parents, the little ones and the undle! Hendrik is keen to be involved, but since he has a bit of a cold, he has tried to keep his distance.

On my insistence Hendrik cooked a curry, drumsticks and deboned a chicken, which we divided into portions in plastic bags and froze. He has single portions of 6 dishes for the week and I made a list of veggies he should buy tomorrow. I hope this will help him to eat more healthily - and not to try and get his weeks fill over weekends only!