E - Vida

Writer's note: This post will talk about Mommy-specific issues and body parts. Read at your own risk. Tonight I tried, in earnest, to put Ethan to bed without any nursing and I prepared myself (as best as I could) for noisy protest... At first he just assumed the 'bed time' position and even closed his eyes to settle down with a snuggle. When I was not forthcoming, he let out a scream - and didn't stop for a long while! We tried a sippy cup of warm milk: He'd stop for a few seconds at a time to take a drink, ponder the situation, put his cup down and then burst into tears again. Repeat cycle... A good few times before the cup ran out of milk. Then - to make sure that I regretted giving him the cup instead of my breast - he drained the last few droplets of milk in his cup on the carpet! For a short while he was so busy banging the plastic that he forgot all about the situation at hand. When the crying seemed to be getting louder for longer, I got an idea...

On the eve of P-J's birthday, I found a grey hair...on MY head. That's a blog entry all by itself. But it was quickly overshadowed by the hectic celebrating for a usually low-key birthday age... ...Then again, no matter what age, P-J's always keen on his birthday - for presents of course! I woke up when I heard him shuffling around that morning. It was still dark. I checked the time - 5am. I kid you not. I found my bearings just in time to hear the birds singing. Now since when do they sing in our neighbourhood anyway ? They were chirping their chipper little hearts away too. I kid you not, again. P-J would later say that it only happens this way on his birthday. For almost two hours he sat up straight, impatiently waiting for Jorja to wake. He wasn't getting anything out of me and he was on the brink of heart failure. "This is going to be the worst birthday ever", he said. When Jorja woke, she first pretended that she'd baked him some coconut ice at...

On Saturday, one of our dear Cousins celebrated his 21st birthday - quite a big deal down under... here in Africa! Normally because it means a party. In a hall. With black-and-something-coloured overlays. And tiny, sparkling confetti that reads 'Happy Birthday' and '21'. And nuts and meebos and Messaris Chilli Chippies. And a buffet. And a DJ. (Hell! Some even go as far as to do the '21st step' and all that!) It also triggers a walk down memory lane - mostly for Mom's any way. Tim's Mom did not disappoint and she's been pulling out photos from the early 1900's  and tagging us all in them! P-J, Jorja and Ethan were fortunate to meet Tim and our other cousins living abroad when we visited them earlier this year. I too got to meet a older, taller, stronger, wiser man that I'd last seen 8 years ago. And then you realise just how quickly the time goes... and how important it is to make the most of our time...and what a difference time can ma...

Today marks the start of the fourth and final term of the school calendar in South Africa. It also marks the final nine weeks that our first born, Jorja, has left to enjoy at Bonny Babies! I find myself feeling quite nostalgic, thinking back over the last four years that she's spent there finding her feet, then finding her voice and then ruling the school! Along the way she's met many new friends , had a good couple of fights (and stern warnings ), taken up swimming , baking , needling and more and just plain grown up. She's been an only child, a big sister, a protective and pestering cousin, the gregarious granddaughter and noisy niece and I've got to wonder - how will she cope being separated from Ethan? How will she cope being in a new school? HOW WILL THE NEW TEACHER COPE?! I can't believe that we're already here.