Franco in hospital and Martelize on the go

Why is my mommy undressing me?

Why am I wearing this funny gown?

I'd rather stand... I love my blocks....

Franco (13 1/2 months) recently had a grommets operation. He was as good as gold and only cried a little when he woke up after the anaesthetic. For the rest of the day he played and played and talked and talked. The operation immediately made a big difference in his general well being.

"What is in Ouma's handbag?" Martelize (10 months) is a constant explorer and has to be watched very carefuly. She crawls very fast! (These pics were taken recently when I looked after her while Thelwyn went to the stables.)

Generally my dressing table looks something like this...

But with Martelize around I have to quickly remove the electrical appliances and she sees to it that the rest of the stuff is "cleared"!

"Why are these bristles so hard?"

"What on earth is this?"

"Hi Ouma! You don't really need this stuff do you?"


Today is father's day. The L's are coming over, but unfortunately the H's have to go to Vanderbijlpark to fetch one young horse who has completed his training and take another for her training. As Thelwyn says, they can't pay for stabling when a horse does not really need it! At least we watched the rugby with them yesterday. (The Springboks beat the British Lions 26 - 21 - a bit of a close shave!)

I'll blog about our Father's day tonight. In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful Father's Day! (My own father was killed in a car accident on 10 June 1987 - 22 years ago! He was a wonderful man.) Waardeer jou pa, ne! Hendrik is busy making coffee for his dad (and hot water for me), so let me finish here and go wake the father of the house in time for church.

Rattles, Crime Prevention and Sick again

Martelize is 3 1/2 months. She often turns onto her side, but I have yet to capture it on my camera. She prefers lying on her back, but she moves about a lot - here she has moved right off the blanket.

Happily busy with her rattle and her feely blanket.

Why is Jan opening the gate in the middle of the night? Because this is South Africa!
There have been quite a few incidents of robbery in our community the past week. We are all in radio communication with one another. This week we started with a new strategy neighbourhood watch ("buurtwag"). The idea was to monitor any vehichle driving through the area. Here we are on our way for our first watch session from 1:00 to 5:00 (a.m.) and that after not having slept much the previous night due to all the radio commotion about a crime.... Did not sleep much the next night either - again due to a lot of commotion about two attempted robberies and one real one - the real one 15 minutes after the various watches were told to go home to tend to the safety of their own homes. The armed gang did not enter the community by car... they must have been inside already and convinced that they would be able to steal a getaway car. (They did!) (The people who were robbed were not yet on the radio system.)

This is what you look like at 1:00 in the morning after only 3 hours sleep, on your way to a 4 hour stint of neighbourhood watch!

Do I look sick? I am believe it or not!
Poor Franco (6 1/2 months) has tonsillitis! I looked after him today, because I did not have school today. (A happy co-incidence for me, but a sad day for Tammy: they went to her grandfather's funeral.) Anyway Franco was still feeling a bit grotty and had to be either entertained or put in his cot for another short nap. (I lost count of how many times we went up and down the stairs...) But he had times when he felt fine. His Bambino swing is a real blessing. He loves it, and it keeps him distracted and happy for ... well for reasonable periods. Here he was squeeling with delight!

Not a royal wave but Franco spinning the toys on his swing with enthusiasm.

We tried outdoor as well - smelled the roses, touched the stones... Franco enjoyed sitting on the grass for at least....well, only for a few minutes, but it was fun while it lasted!

'n Blommetjie? Moet ek daaraan vat? As Ouma so se...

By the time Gert got home, Franco was feeling much better, and again squeeled in delight on his father's knee. He loves "riding horse" and playing with a nappy over his face.

After my stint with Franco, I quickly went to see my other grandchild. She enjoys her playmat more and more. Here she has discovered the noisy sun!

Thelwyn stares at her computer with disgust. There is something wrong with her blog and she cannot upload any pictures. Big frustration for all. (See my bloglist). Look at her lovely new cushions.

Update on the Sick Family

I had to be at Dorette's at 7:00 this morning because she had an important meeting. When she came back at 10:30, she had a high temperature and she was feeling really miserable. Franco was also still feverish. I took them to a "new" doctor: she turned out to be sympathetic and even wrote on Dorette's sick leave certificate that she had "influenza - very ill". Franco had a viral infection - unlike Dorette, he did not need antibiotics. He slept a lot this afternoon, and by late afternoon, he was cheerful and played happily on his mat. His new trick is to hold onto the lion's leg and wave it about. We also went outside and he held a smooth pebble in his tiny hand.

Franco on the mend: playing with is lion.

Franco looking at the mobile above his cot. He slept quite a bit in his cot today - I think he is catching up on lost sleep. The photo of his bed is meant for a picture book of all his things: bottle, toys, clock etc.

How are the Grandchildren?

Thelwyn and fam are staying on the farm at the moment - Thelwyn has a lot of work to do with the horses and we plan to do some jobs together like tackling Ma's house. Martelize is doing just fine - here she is in her brand new pram. (The pram they bought before her birth broke about the 3rd time they used it! It got sent away for repairs which took 3 weeks, then it broke again, got sent away again but this time they couldn't fix it, so the company finally agreed to exchange the pram. Not the orginal choice, but at least it's a proper pram in a sensible colour.)

Thelwyn and Martelize on their way to the stables. We have quite a problem with flies at the moment, therefore the net!

Our other grandchild, however, is not doing so well at the moment. Poor Franco had a stomach bug over the weekend and ran a temperature. The tummy bug has passed, but today he was still a little feverish and he has a cold as well. He was just feeling lousy and did not know what he wanted. The worst part is that his mommy is really sick as well- cold sweats, colds, nausea etc. I went over there today to babysit Franco so that Dorette could get some rest and Gert get some work done. (Both parents looked rather worn out after sleepless nights with a sick 5 month old.) I carried Franco on my back in the same sling I used for my own children when they were little - it also worked like a charm for him. He was quite content and slept for about 30 minutes, until the telephone woke him. Another thing that pacified him was his swing.

Here he is in his swing - content and almost smiling....

The eyes say it all: "I have stopped fretting and I like my swing, but I'm not feeling too grand...!"