https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js? Sat, 25 Feb 2017 13:27:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.5 24720197 445. LEGO Batman Weekend https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13869 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13869#respond Sat, 25 Feb 2017 13:27:13 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13869

Hello all!

Dad’s kindly agreed to publish this blog for me again while he is in Windhoek. Apparently the weather there has been really nice, whilst here in Jo’burg we’ve had a bit of a wet and wintery week.

So you may be wondering about today’s title? Last weekend when Dad was home from his business trip he arrived with The Batman Movie Lego Dimensions game for me! I was thrilled. Apparently it was literally he only one available in Windhoek – and he managed to get it for me. That afternoon Dad and I played Lego Dimensions until our eyes were square. And in the evening we went to see The Lego Batman Movie – it had already been out a week but I decided I need us to go see it as a family, so I waited until Dad was back from his business trip.

The rest of the weekend we practically dedicated to playing The Batman Movie on Lego Dimensions! Sadly very very early Monday morning Dad had to head back to Windhoek where he is ‘building a bank’ as he calls it. I thought of putting a few Lego bricks in his suitcase to help with the build, but apparently it’s not that kind of ‘building’!

Some more exciting news is that the week before last, Mom, Granny and I headed off to Umhlanga for a little mini-holiday. Daddy, being out of town, couldn’t join us. We flew down and Uber’ed everywhere we needed to go. It was truly an awesome week.

The other super exciting news is that this past week I started at a school on a trial basis. It’s called LUCCA Special Kids with small classes and nice people. Mom was very stressed about my going, but I took it in my stride. Unfortunately I took ill with a bug in the latter part of the week, so I’ve already missed a few days of school!

Well that’s it for now – enjoy the photos!

Love

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Me and Mommy

Photo 2 Being a little crazy

Photo 3 Swimming….

Photo 4 …..with a doggie….

Photo 5 Playing volleyball with staff at Bounce

Photo 6 Mmmmmm rainbow cake

Photo 7 FaceTime with Dad

Photo 8 Giving Mickey a (surprise) hug!

Photo 9 VR Time

Photo 10 Some more Mickey harassment

Photo 11 Chilling out with Dad at Wimpy

Photo 12 Swimming with Mickey

Photo 13 With Mickey and Grace

Photo 14 Mom and I getting ready to leave on our mini-holiday to Umhlanga

Photo 15 On the plane

Photo 16 Luggage time

Photo 17 Giggles on the luggage!

Photo 18 Uber’ing to The Sands

Photo 19 Yay! At the beach

Photo 20 Not wasting any time

Photo 21 Swimming

Photo 22 Solicited some players for a game!

Photo 23 The new kiddies’ entertainment centre

Photo 24 Testing the new zip line…..

Photo 25 ….ball pit….

Photo 26 ….and climbing wall

Photo 27 Selfie with Granny and Mom

Photo 28 Special beach ball

Photo 29 Testing the tube

Photo 30 Building with Granny

Photo 31 Loving the sea

Photo 32 Swimming

Photo 33 Yes, I scored a coconut

Photo 34 Being ejected

Photo 35 Happiness

Photo 36 Some playtime at Mr Funtumbles

Photo 37 Mommy and Jay-Bee selfie

Photo 38 Saying goodbye to the sea

Photo 39 A last ice-cream….for now

Photo 40 Beautiful sunrise….

Photo 41 Getting ready to fly

Photo 42 Miserable! Kulula stole my ball

Photo 43 Its Batman calling!

Photo 44 Dad FaceTiming Missy!

Photo 45Waiting for Dad at the airport

Photo 46 Where’s Dad?

Photo 47Having my hair cut with Dad at the Turkish Groomers

Photo 48 Ah….that feels good

Photo 49 Looking good!

Photo 50 Ice-creams at the Clubhouse

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444. Cross Border Publishing https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13797 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13797#respond Sun, 15 Jan 2017 10:23:04 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13797 Hi everyone

I know it’s been a while since I last published – almost four months to the day – but whilst I’ve been extremely busy and having heaps of fun, not much has changed or needed updating on.

This weekend however, I solicited Dad’s inputs, as he is in Windhoek on a business trip.  So while he’s sitting around the hotel doing nothing over the weekend, I decided he should publish my blog again and make use of his free time.  Admittedly I know he is working really hard during the week, but during the weekend he can take a break from ‘establishing a new bank’ as he calls his project.  Sadly, he’ll be travelling back and forth for many more months.  Mom and I really miss him.

On my front Granny and Mommy are taking turns schooling me at home, and I’ve come some way.  Mom, Dad and Granny are frustrated by my stubbornness which makes schooling hard.  But Mom and Granny have been wonderful and persist in my education.

I’m continuing speech, OT and trauma therapy on a weekly basis, and I have also started working with a brilliant reading tutor called Bo.  Some weeks are tougher than others, but I mostly do love going to my various therapists.

Mom and Dad are entering some exciting times as they have a Sherpa Kids franchise in Houghton, serving six schools.  I’m looking forward to “helping” Mom and Dad during their site visits to the various aftercare centres.

Well, that’s about it.  The 200 plus photos below will give you a glimpse of my other antics over the past while!

Happy scrolling and all the best for 2017!

Love

Jay-Bee

OT with Lauren

Sombrero Missy

Lego time

Mickey

Googly eyes

Love summer, visiting with Mikey

Braai!

Pirate party

Contemplating life in the bath

Meeting with Dad at the Hyatt

Furball

This was my French toast phase

Me and Dad in one of Dad’s old class rooms

Me and Dad in one of Dad’s old class rooms

Special well for me!

Lesson time….

This was Dad’s Std 5 class room back in the ’80s

Driving to Dad’s school’s Jubilee Reunion at Marist Brothers

Where my Opa and Oma used to live

Ice-creams and cool-drinks at birthday parties are the bomb!

Swapped sides

Mom’s Just Joey in our garden

Missy

Chilled travels

Heading to the park with Mischka

Ooooooooo, delivery

Missy (on Dad’s prized furniture; don’t tell him)

Having fun

Spent a few hours with Simo – I was well behaved….

Just Jay-Bee

Braai at Riccardo’s place

Giggles in the morning

Happy!

Missy playing with Mom’s tennis bracelet (perhaps don’t tell her!)

Working

Built this with Elmein using Lego therapy

Strawberries for breakfast

Preparing a salad

Same colours as Missy

Checking out the new Jackson’s in Bryanston

At a party with Mom

My Dad isn’t actually that bad a driver. Just felt like wearing a helmet for fun.

Fishing at OT

At the park to kill time between OT and reading

At the Play Play House

Sorry, Simo. I had a minor mishap with the soap-foam

Lego building

Enough with the photos Dad!

Resting

Puzzle time

Going places with Dad

Looking cool

Strange kitty

Playing at Bounce for Aaron’s birthday

Bouncing is hard work

Climbing wall time

Mask and teeth!

The boys going to a meeting

Working hard at OT

Getting a treat from Aunty Birgitt and Uncle Wayne

Mischka getting a raw hide bone!

Snoozing cat

Hard at work on my balcony

The story board for Tintin

Kitty hugs

Haircut time

Super excited for the Trolls movie

Posing

Three “Trolls”

Ready for the Trolls movie

Onsie boyz!

Me (and Baymax) playing at Mushroom Park

Stikeez #2!!!!

Missy!

Chocolate dipped strawberries

Playing the very risk pie in face game

Pie in my face!

Small design I worked on!

I call this “Cat in box”

Hugs with Missy

Giggles

Escaping furball

Snoozy cat

Storm brewing, bring much needed rain

Dad trying on Slapsee’s

Stretching while waiting to go into trauma therapy with Elsa

Taking a break during OT

Dad and I having light saber fights

Hello kitty! Missy making an appearance from the pillows

Preparing a salad for dinner

Mickey!

Bo (my reading tutor’s) kitty Bangal

Very very sick bunny

Being examined

The view from our chalet at Vacation Club

Selfie with Mommy

Selfie with Mikey

Poolside early morning at the Vacation Club

Off to check out the crocs at Sun City

The croc version of a drive-thru

Smile! You’re on camera

Crocs launching up to their food

Jump!

Croc herding

Open wide

More croc feeding

Cool kid

Playing at Sun City

Selfie with Mom

Being Jay-Bee

Jelly time!

Hello Christmas decorations! I missed you

Decorating the windows

Rudolph time!

Decorating the house

Even Mischka is getting into the spirit

Happiness!

Time to dust off the old Christmas characters

With a Lego dude

The tree before….

Hard at work

Dad offering some help

Decorating our tree

Our Christmas Tree

Some Christmas Tree details

Paw Patrol time

Marshall doing some moves

Me and Dad at Paw Patrol

Making dinner

Swinging in my hammock

Yeesh time with Aaron

Lego Dimensions portal – I’ve ALWAYS wanted this

My Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar from Aunty Birgitt and Uncle Wayne

Dad’s co-pilot – a Stikeez

Cuddles with Mickey

Swimming at the Club House

Gaming on the Xbox. With Mickey!

BEST Movie of 2016 – Sing!

Eve before Christmas Eve present opening with Aunty Kim, Shannon, Ryan and Sam

Thrills!

Ryan holding me up to put a star on Shannon’s tree

Cutie pie Missy

Christmas Eve dinner setting

Nom nom! Turkey drumstick for Christmas Eve dinner

Our 2016 Christmas Tree

Present time Christmas Eve

Catching some much needed zzzzz’s on Christmas Day after a hectic Christmas Eve

Christmas meal number 3 (or maybe even 4 – lost count!)

Hugs with Mickey

Just Jay-Bee

Star Wars Lego from Mikey and Gracie

I want these as my next glasses

Here’s looking at you!

Thinking

My Lego Dimensions, so far

Missy snoozing, looking like a Wish Dragon

A tried and tested way to descend the stairs

Yes, sometimes this is my lunch!

Swimming at Riccardo’s place on New Year’s day

Experimenting with a plasma globe

Contact!

Had to try is with my tongue!

I built this replica of Notre Dame of Paris, with “a tiny bit of help from my Dad!”

“Fixing” Mom’s car

Dad’s evening view from his hotel room in Windhoek

Super excited about the Batman Lego Movie of 2017

My final artwork for OT for 2016

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Jarrod 1, AVM 0! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13560 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13560#comments Sun, 18 Sep 2016 17:25:54 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13560

Hello everyone!

So after lots of waiting, unanswered questions, many unknowns, and heaps and heaps of scans and tests we finally have some solid information. You’ll recall that I underwent a battery of tests and procedures leading up to September in order for my medical team to have empirical information to take to the peer review in Cape Town.

We’ve received the feedback which will give us direction going forward.

  • First and foremost, my AVM has been declared as ‘cured’. Yep, you read right, my AVM is defined as medically cured. This essentially means that all the brain surgeries to attempt to close the AVM, either through the Amplatzer, Boston Coils, sterile super-glue and embolization have had the desired outcome. There is no more flow in the AVM and should theoretically not give me any more trouble.
  • This means that I do not need to undergo regular scans (MRI or CT) as the AVM is essentially shrivelled up.
  • Before we celebrate too much though, we cannot throw caution to the wind – I’m just not lucky enough that way! My left brain represents that of a three-year-old, hence all the struggles I have with learning and ‘deciding’ whether I’m left or right handed. Basically my two brain hemispheres are at odds with each other, indicating that the AVM did cause challenges to my brain developing.
  • The insult to the brain from the AVM and various surgeries is noted and have definitely adversely affected the brain. This is also the cause of the continual nightly seizures that I’m experiencing. Dr Aduc has been put in charge of my medication to treat this as well as concentration.
  • Because of this, I cannot attend school for the foreseeable future owing to learning and concentration challenges.
  • There’s no clear evidence of what caused my complete hearing loss in my right ear, but it is not from the AVM. This means that potentially the hearing in my left ear is ‘safe’ and will remain unaffected.
  • It is confirmed my trauma runs very deep, and this will stay with me for a long time still.

Well, that’s it for tonight. Short and to the point but a weight of information.

Me and my Mom and Dad want to say a big big thank you to all the medical staff that worked so hard to treat me and keep me alive to see this day. To all our family and friends, fans of my blog, and anyone that took an interest, near and far, thank you for listening to my challenges and for praying so hard for my survival and recovery.

Lots of love, hugs and kisses,

Jarrod

Photo 1 Ready for my first swim of the season

Photo 2 Hugs with Granny

Photo 3 Trains on Granny’s balcony

Photo 4 Cold cold cold! This is as far as I got for my first swim!

Photo 5 Peek-a-boo

Photo 6 At physio

Photo 7 Been put to work in the garden

Photo 8 Making progress

Photo 9 Train time in my room

Photo 10 Chasing butterflies at Redhill school

Photo 11 Hard at work with Lauren at OT

Photo 12 Time with Aaron

Photo 13 Yes, I’m giving Gracie a ring…

Photo 14 Lego time

Photo 15 Lego Therapy with Elmien

Photo 16 Having fun at Speech Therapy

Photo 17 Playing in Sandton City

Photo 18 Racing cars

Photo 19 I baked Dad a birthday cake, from scratch!

Photo 20 Early morning birthday candles

Photo 21 Yum

Photo 22 Having my haircut

Photo 23 Pulling faces

Photo 24 Dad and I dressed as pirates for Kian’s party

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442. “I feel like saying a bad word!” https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13534 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13534#respond Sun, 28 Aug 2016 16:00:43 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13534

Three tests in three weeks! I did it. First I underwent a 24-hour EEG (followed by time in theatre for Botox in my leg), then I underwent an ABR under sedation, and on Thursday I underwent an angiogram of my brain under general anaesthetic. Its cost Mom and Dad a lot in bribery toys.

Monday was a pretty quiet day, playing at home and doing some school work. Tuesday we headed off to Pretoria for my speech therapy with Elmien, which is both a treat and work, we started a new technique, using Lego to get me to use both expressive and listening techniques. What a treat that was. Wednesday, to get my mind off stuff, Mom took me to Yeesh for a nice long play. Despite being tired, I managed to stay awake until well after midnight. It’s my PTSD that’s kicked in in full force, and no-one really understands nor believes how powerful it is. I can fight sleep and even sedatives, as my fear is so deeply ingrained. It’s been hell for Mom and Dad, and I’m really sorry, but I often don’t even know what I’m doing when I have an episode, and most of which happen during the night.

Thursday morning we had to leave really early, and because of my late antics the night before, Mom and Dad battled to get me up. I’m not sure how they even managed to wake up – we were all exhausted and zombie like. Ours was the first car in the Family and Baby parking at Unitas – that’s how early it was. I was in good spirits despite being incredibly thirsty, hungry and tired. Because I was undergoing general anaesthetic I was Nil-Per-Mouth, which is a medical term for STARVE.

After being admitted, we head off to the children’s ward, where I had spent many many days previously. I managed pretty well with getting in my theatre scrubs, which were an endless source of humour for me and my folks. I entertained the nurses and doctors, and was in good form.

Driving to theatre on my bed was a nightmare for the nurses and porters, as I insisted on semi-standing/sitting and commenting on everything and everyone we passed. When there was oncoming traffic (aka another gurney or some unsuspecting soul in a wheelchair) I’d shout “Brace for impact!” and “We’re going to crash!”. Once we stopped and my bed was mistakenly rolled up against the wall, in easy reach of light switches – you guessed it, I turned all the lights off.

Arriving at theatre I noticed a distinct relief in the eyes of my porters and nurses, and they were more than glad to hand me over to the theatre staff. It was lots of hellos and hugs and we were all reunited in the theatre reception. My 8-year celebrity status definitely preceded me, and I eventually started saying to people “How do you know my name?”

Eventually it was crunch time and it was time to go into theatre. Now fear had taken over and I was inconsolable. I demanded that Mom AND Dad go into theatre today so arrangements were very quickly made and Mom and Dad were given scrubs. In theatre I fought the gas like mad – it’s always a long debate between me and Mom leading up to these situations as to whether I’ll take a drip or gas – today I opted for gas. Pretty soon the fight left my body as the gas took effect. I remember Mom and Dad holding me tight and hugging me before I was lifted onto the table.

Hours later I woke up really woozy, starving and thirsty. In true form Mom and Dad had prepped and there were cold drinks and food ready. I eat everything I could lay my hands on. And then when lunch arrived I ate all of that too! I was back to my usual self just after noon, after having rested. Now it was time to start moving about. Mom and the nurse removed the drip from my arm, and Dad led me carefully for a walk around the ward. First I needed to wee, and little did Dad and I know the string on my theatre shorts were undone – next minute my shorts were around my ankles, in the middle of the passage, and Dad and I could do nothing but giggle hilariously.

After we ‘recovered’ from that, I started walking and skipping around the passages. Dad was a little concerned about the pressure I was putting on my leg, as we hadn’t seen the surgeon yet. I tried in vain to comply.

By mid-afternoon Dr Winter, beaming from ear-to-ear, arrived with his MacBook to show us the scans and discharge us. He’d been in theatre the entire day so wasn’t in a position to give us much info, but what he was thrilled about was the clarity of the angiogram – he was now able to pour over these scans, and compare them to previous ones, and then give us solid feedback and a game-plan. Also, all this info was going into the peer-review in September. Watch this space and we will reveal the results when they come to hand.

Back home I was full of beans while Mom and Dad were shattered! I finally could have the bath I’d been wanting all day. While bathing Mom gingerly removed the massive pressure bandage over my groin where the surgeon got access to my veins to get to my brain. It was EXTREMELY painfully coming off. Dad walked in asked how I was, I said “I feel like saying a bad word!”, to which Dad said I was actually entitled to. I didn’t ask twice, and let out a string of “Sh!t, sh!t, sh!t, sh!t” We all laughed!

Afterward we all got an early evening. Friday morning I was given the choice of going to Lauren, and I said, “Absolutely!”. I had a good session as it was an anything you want to do session, and back home we took it really easy, all of us still exhausted.

The weekend was quiet, with me, Mom and Gran doing some shopping on Saturday, and then Sunday, being a perfect summer’s day we just enjoyed the pleasant and warm weather.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Some intense Lego playing

Photo 2 Playing with an old friend

Photo 3 Speech therapy with Elmien

Photo 4 Ending off my speech for the day

Photo 5 Hard at play at Yeesh


Photo 6 Fun with new friends

Photo 7 Construction work

Photo 8 Painting

Photo 9 Back home there was a parcel waiting for me…..

Photo 10 Angry Birds GO! Telepods from Sandy, Brad and the girls! I am THRILLED!

Photo 11 So happy!!!!

Photo 12 Immediately got down to using them

Photo 13 Being brave, waiting to go to theatre

Photo 14 Oooo, a zip line!

Photo 15 Some serious hand washing

Photo 16 Cutest plumber’s butt, EVER

Photo 17 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 18 Driving to theatre

Photo 19 Gas…..

Photo 20 On the table

Photo 21 This is the theatre where I’ve had all my brain surgeries and embolizations

Photo 22 Fast asleep after theatre

Photo 23 Awake and being brave

Photo 24 Dashing about the ward!

Photo 25 “Dad we can escape that way!”

Photo 26 Driving home, taking selfies, which I then posted to Mom’s Facebook page!

Photo 27 OT with Lauren

Photo 28 Playing in Toy Kingdom

Photo 29 Thinking during some serious train playing

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441. Two Tests Down With Bad Outcomes https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13499 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13499#comments Sun, 21 Aug 2016 16:08:41 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13499 Hello Everyone

You’ll recall from my last post that I was scheduled to undergo three tests before the peer review in September, but I had gotten so sick last weekend that I may not be able to undergo the ABR last Monday. Well, fortunately, my illness subsided. Turns out I picked up a really nasty bug from theatre at Sunninghill Hospital. By Monday I was a lot better so Mom and Dad decided to proceed.

I took my sedative and over an hour later I was asleep in Yvonne’s office, with more probes on my head and this time some in my ear. The ABR results are not great – my right ear has no hearing whatsoever. Two possible reasons are that the cochlea has ‘died’ and the second that the cochlea nerve to the brain has malfunctioned. If it is the first, we go back to our biggest fear ever – the steal effect. Essentially this means that the AVM in my brain is ‘stealing’ important blood and oxygen from other parts of my head, this time the victim was the cochlea. We won’t know this for certain, until the angiogram is conducted on Thursday.

As if getting this bad news wasn’t enough, my PTSD decided to rear its head in a big ugly way this week. We all suspect it’s as a result of having the EEG last week, being in theatre and then being sedated again on Monday. All these things trigger bad hospital memories in me and my syndrome takes over. Mom and Dad had a few hectic nights as a result, where I was up and unmanageable to 3am in the morning!

Some exciting news on Friday was that Nina, Jaco, Gené and Kate popped in for an extremely quick visit. It’s been 2 ½ years since Nina moved to New York for her work, and only the second time we’ve seen her since. It was so nice to catch up, even for a little bit.

Well, that’s it for now. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers on Thursday as I undergo the angiogram. Needless to say it is highly risky, and the results of the test may not be favourable – so much seems to be going wrong at the moment that it’s difficult for us to stay positive.

Love

Jarrod

Video 1 – Stationery Delivery (click here)


Photo 1 After I took my sedatives I decided to don a helmet in case I fell on my head

Photo 2 Asleep in Yvonne’s lab

Photo 3 Wired up. Yet again

Photo 4 Back home where I did a marathon sleep

Photo 5 Doing some playing and planning

Photo 6 Minecraft time

Photo 7 Selfie!

Photo 8 Tennis with Mischka

Photo 9 Physio with Kim

Photo 10 Tree climbing

Photo 11 Hard at play

 

 

 

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440. One down, two to go (maybe) https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13485 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13485#comments Sun, 14 Aug 2016 16:26:40 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13485 Hello everyone!

Mom, Dad and I headed off to Sunninghill Hospital on Thursday morning, to settle in for a 24-hour EEG. It was mostly uneventful, and incredibly boring for me. After being admitted and accommodated in the EEG Lab, about 30 probes were attached to my head, each with gooey conducting gel. Each one was carefully placed in its respective spot, identified by the rainbow of colours on the cables. Once they were in place, either taped down or simply lodged in my hair with gel, my head was wrapped in a bandage – and that was me, captive until the next morning. The cables allowed me about half a metre of freedom – it was terrible.

Fortunately Mom and Dad spoiled me with a new Avengers Lego, which Dad and I built for the afternoon. I watched some stuff on the iPad, played a little, ate a little, but mostly wanted the time to pass as quickly as possible. After we all had dinner Mom and I settled down for the night. There was barely enough space for me and Mom, let alone Dad, so he headed home. I had a good night’s rest; Mom not so much. When she woke me at 6 am to remove the probes, she looked exhausted and blurry eyed.

Friday morning I was starving but couldn’t eat or drink, as I was scheduled for theatre later in the day. Dad arrived back and it wasn’t long after that the anaesthetist arrived. She took my vitals and we discussed the general anaesthetic – we’d settled on gas, and a pre-med of dromicum. Apparently I was hilarious on the dormicum, but it took so long for me to get into theatre that it basically wore off in 30 minutes. People don’t realise that my PTSD and trauma is cell-deep and my body is so wired that drugs actually have very little effect on me. I can actually fight sedative, because of my fear.

I finally went into theatre and was gassed – not a great experience and Dr Aduc administered Botox to my leg.

After theatre back at the EEG Lab I was moved to another ward, and eventually discharged. It was lunchtime by the time we were home again on Friday. Mom crashed for a few hours while Dad and I kept each other company. I was well rested and in top form – Mom and Dad not so much….

In the afternoon we headed off to Sharon’s Dad’s place to collect her to take her to the airport, as she was flying back to Oz after a whirlwind 7-day visit. Her passport had been renewed that morning, just in time – few people believe that passport renewals in South Africa take only 3 to 4 days! Her flight was delayed, which was fortunate as the traffic to the airport was a mare. I started dozing off in the car, much to Mom and Dad’s dismay, as that meant no sleep in the evening! So we all started singing and playing games in the car to keep me alert – it worked.

Check-in was very quick and then we all had a dinner of toasted chicken-mayonnaise sandwiches – apparently delicacy in Australia! We bid Sharon farewell and pulled funny faces at her through the glass at passport control!

Back home we finally all passed out.

Saturday we rested. Granny came for a visit and I announced I needed sushi – a good sign that I was ok again. Dad was sent off sushi take-aways and we gobbled them up like we hadn’t eaten in weeks. Mom snoozed for the afternoon, so Dad and I busied ourselves making tracks for mine carts in Minecraft.

I woke up very very sick Sunday morning. Throwing up and with a really bad toxic headache. The rest of the day was spent with me trying to relax in many hot baths, throwing up a lot, suffering a major headache, and eventually I spotted Mom and Dad getting out the go-packs which meant one thing – back to hospital. Fortunately I managed to start keeping down some valoid and liquids so the hospital visit was put on ice, for now. I noticed Mom didn’t put away the go-packs, and there was some definite whispering and planning happening amongst the folk.

What this does create, and hence tonight’s blog title, is a big question mark over my ABR test tomorrow. Recall from last week’s blog I’m running three sets of tests in the next three weeks to meet the neurosurgeon peer timeline in September – an EEG (followed by Botox), an ABR and then an angiogram. Not an easy thing having to schedule so many different tests, theatres, specialists, anaesthetists and then still coordinate all the results in time. And we literally only have this chance until the next peer review which will only be next year again, and are generally scheduled (or announced to us) at very short notice.

So my rest tonight and my vitals tomorrow morning will determine if we can proceed with the ABR. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers so that I’m well enough to undergo tomorrow’s tests.

Love

Jarrod

Video 1 Jarrod’s escape plan (while on dormicum) – click here

Video 2 Jarrod’s entertaining us on the gurney to theatre, under the influence of dormicum – click here

Video 3 Watch the cow in the mine cart in Minecraft we created – click here

Photo 1 My bribe present for being brave

Photo 2 Fooling around in reception

Photo 3 My last meal of freedom 🙂

Photo 4 Getting probed!

Photo 5 Lots more to go….

Photo 6 Intense building in progress

Photo 7 Confined to barracks

Photo 8 Boredom…..

Photo 9 Entertaining everyone on the way to theatre

Photo 10 Me. On dormicum!

Photo 11 Finally back home on Friday, giving Missy some love

Photo 12 Last thing Sharon saw before leaving SA!

Photo 13 At the airplane viewing deck at OR Thambo

Photo 14 Being brave on Sunday morning, trying not to throw-up

Photo 15 Dad taking care of me

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439. Lots and Lots Going On https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13465 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13465#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2016 13:19:21 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13465 Hello everyone!

Sorry for being so quiet the last few weeks. At first there wasn’t much going on – had lots of play dates, I was sick with pre-bronchial pneumonia which took forever to go away, we had rain and thunderstorms (yes, in the middle of winter) and after some really cold days we’re back into t-shirts. Our nation voted in the local government elections with promising results. Last week, Sharon my Godmother from Australia arrived in South Africa for a short but sad visit – her Mom had passed away.

The next few weeks for me are going to be very challenging – I start this week with a full overnight EEG, so Mom and I are staying over at the Sunninghill Hospital on Thursday night. Friday morning its then straight into theatre to have Botox administered into my leg.

As if that isn’t enough, I’m having an ABR – auditory brainstem response test to determine why I have lost all hearing in my right ear. The ABR needs to be done with me asleep – at first we were hoping to do it in theatre after my Botox, but the theatre cannot accommodate me so I get to go under twice! Fortunately, for the second time, the ABR will be with sedative and not general anaesthetic.

Last but not least, I’m having an angiogram done in the last week of August. Mom, Dad and I meet with Doctor Winter last month to review my latest MRIs and discuss next steps and a plan going forward. We’ve arrived at a point that the MRIs aren’t telling us anything – there are too many metal artefacts in my head to allow for a clear enough image. Through the angiogram, which does carry risk, we will better be able to see what is happening in my brain. A further advantage is that in the second week of September all the surgeons are having a peer review of my case, and they’ll have a bunch of current info to work from, such as the EEG results, the ABR and the angiogram. So we’re hoping for some direction and next steps then.

Until then, please enjoy the photos……

Love Jarrod

Photo 1 Ninja Turtle zip line

 

lunch with jaybee

Photo 2 Lunch with Dad

Photo 3 Helping with dinner

Photo 4 Tea party with Mom

Photo 5 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 6 Playing with Mikey

Photo 7 Aaron and I having a playdate

Photo 8 Taking a selfie

Photo 9 At physio

Photo 10 OT with Lauren

Photo 11 Puzzle time

Photo 12 Captain America

Photo 13 Chilling

Photo 14 Jumping with Mikey and Gracie

Photo 15 Scrubbing black feet!

Photo 16 Me and Mikey at The Spur

Photo 17 The three of us!

Photo 18 Cat attack

Photo 19 My new t-shirt

Photo 20 Milkshake time

Photo 21 Doing some maths

Photo 22 Love swinging

Photo 23 Hammy and me reading a magazine in the doctor’s waiting room

Photo 24 An audio test with Yvonne

Photo 25 An epic battle

Photo 26 DIY

Photo 27 ‘Cap’

Photo 28 Giving Missy kisses

Photo 29 Missy giving me kisses

Photo 30 Dad and I after voting!

Photo 31 Driving…

Photo 32 Excavating for dino fossils

Photo 33 Good progress

Photo 34 Cranky helping with some school work

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438. I Made It to Eight!!! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13427 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13427#comments Sun, 26 Jun 2016 17:39:54 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13427 43

Hi everyone!

Well, despite all odds and all my challenges, I made it to 8 years old. Last Sunday I celebrated my birthday with a big party at home, combined with a welcome home for Daddy – he arrived back from Jersey on Saturday morning.

So it been a wonderful week – Dad being home again, and celebrating my birthday. Because Dad bought a number of gifts for me overseas, I was spoiled a day early. As Dad unpacked his luggage gifts spewed forth! I was thrilled. Most of all, the Lego set that I’ve been wanting for a year, the Jurassic World Indominus Rex Breakout, was amongst the gifts he got for me overseas. It was huge – the size of Dad’s suitcase. Even though Dad had been travelling for close to 14 hours, he and I spent the day building Legos.

Sunday was my party and I had loads and loads of friends over. The party was an Angry Birds theme – I made an Angry Birds cake myself! All the drinks and party packs were Angry Bird’ed in some way. It was a ball. For the adults Mom laid out the most amazing cheese and wine platters. Everyone had an amazing time.

Before I dive straight into the photos this week, a couple of mentions. My last blog had a couple of errors in it as the photos either didn’t upload or were the wrong orientation. Dad has fixed those now, so you can see more of his Jersey photos here.

Another mention is that Dad wanted the Cold Case Confession book by Alex Eliseev which Mom and I got for him. He read most of it on the plane to London, and then finished it off during quiet dinners in Jersey. In the interests of reducing the weight of his luggage coming home, Dad donated the book to the Hotel de France’s library, with an inscription, which he shared with the author. As a result Dad and Alex Eliseev started chatting and I got a mention on his blog here.

Needless to say the big news this week was that Britain voted to leave the EU. The FTSE shed £125bn as a result of the ensuing economic panic!

Last but not least, we had the most beautiful Full Moon over the winter solstice this week. It looked amazing.

Well, that’s it for now!

Love Jarrod

Photo 1 Mikey and I shopping

Photo 2 An epic battle

Photo 3 Angry Birds party prep

Photo 4 Getting my hair cut

Photo 5 Looking suave

Photo 6 Granny and I making dinner

Photo 7 Some Lego play

Photo 8 The Lego Dad got me compared to his suitcase

Photo 9 And this is how Dad packed me

Photo 10 At Lifestyle Centre – first time in ages

Photo 11 Angry Birds goodies for my party

Photo 12 Meeting Dad at the airport

Photo 13 Running to Dad!

Photo 14 Goodies from Dad

Photo 15 Happiness

Photo 16 The face says it all!

Photo 17 Present time

Photo 18 Early morning celebrations

Photo 19 Angry Birds cake I made


Photo 20 Wishes made and songs sung


Photo 21 Tree tossing

Photo 22 Strange going ons

Photo 23 A week of Lego’ing

Photo 24 Aunty Birgitt and Uncle Wayne really spoiled me with some shopping money

Photo 25 Ready for some school work

Photo 26 Going to Ri’Stretto for pizzas

Photo 27 Dad and Matt doing some app scheming!

Photo 28 Bath time with Gracie and Mikey

Photo 29 Bubbles in the park

Photo 30 Gonna catch that one

Photo 31 Got it!

Photo 32 Book and inscription Dad left at Hotel de France

Strawberry Moon Andrew Cleland 22 June 2016

Photo 33 Strawberry Moon over Johannesburg on 21 June – Credit to Andrew Cleland (@goodthingsguySA & South Afri-CAN) 

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437. Bloggers Without Borders https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13146 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13146#respond Sun, 05 Jun 2016 20:15:45 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13146 Hello all,

For those who are truly curious, the title refers to the fact that my blog has been written by me here in Johannesburg and has been published in St. Hellier on Channel Island of Bailiwick of Jersey.

Dad is presently involved in a project there and is stationed there for three, yes count them, three weeks.

Since my last blog, I have officially now entered the world of readers. As I am sure you know it’s been a slow process since my stroke and despite my total and utter dislike of numbers, I have a flair for them. I am doing multiplication and 3 to 4 phrase addition and subtraction. My geography involves stuff Mom knows, like map reading (yup stop laughing Dad, we can hear you all the way from Jersey), and the general world. We are presently using a great Grade 4 book, I seem to take quite well to this work. Science is anything that blows up, puffs up, spills over, foams, or is magnetised. We have no idea where we are with science.

Mom follows the Department of Education syllabus but only in themes and to ensure that the right things are being covered but we are way over the average Grade 1, except for reading. This week we got the CLICK! Happiness. Mom has also started reading more, shall we say conventional books, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to me. I have been totally involved in short stories but now, the world is open to reading. I told Gran about the book I am learning to read. Mom is soooooooooooo excited for me.

Another exciting development is that one of the other kids in our complex has started home-schooling. Not because of any special needs, but her Mom wants her to be nurtured and left the schooling system.

Another click so to speak has been my night splint or boot. It is not wonderfully comfortable but it’s supposed stretch the ligaments in the left calf in order to assist with the cerebral palsy in the left leg. We’re also trying to get into a NDT physio in order to get some work done on the left hand and left leg.

In other news my speech is starting to get somewhere and we are starting to see results. We are all very happy about that.

The rest of my weeks have been taken up with visits to the park and shopping for my upcoming birthday. Impromptu visits from friends, boys afternoons at Ristretto, picnics at the mushroom park.

We have an appointment booked with Dr Aduc for this month and we will get some feedback on my latest MRI, and a neurological exam as well. Soon it will be time for my EEG and more Botox.

My parents have finally relented and have taken a huge step of starting the process of adopting a sibling for me. Just to clarify, they want the sibling very much too. It’s clear they are not having much success so we are all going the adoption way. Please give us a prayer or a thought for this. We would really appreciate it.

In closing, I’ve decided to let Dad add some of the photos he’s been taking in Jersey. I’m sure you won’t mind.

Love

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Playing with Sabrina at Ristretto

Photo 2 And crash!

Photo 3 Being Jay-Bee

Photo 4 Mom, Dad and I at Angry Birds

Photo 5 Playing Lego

Photo 6 My orthotic boot

Photo 7 This is what it looks like on to sleep with at night

Photo 8 Doing math with Dad – and yes we did eat a bunch of the chocolate coins

Photo 9 Doing some good adding

Photo 10 Cat attack!

Photo 11 Getting ready to do some puzzle building

Photo 12 Puzzling

Photo 13 Breakdown

Photo 14 Playing in Dad’s study

Photo 15 Running after guests…

Photo 16 Baking

Photo 17 Playing at Mushroom Farm Park

Photo 18 With Dad getting a visa

Photo 19 Doing some threading work

Photo 20 At Ristretto with Mikey

Photo 21 Mom and I at lunch

Photo 22 Dad and I playing Angry Birds

Photo 23 Writing

Photo 24 Found a Order Up button a E Vida Café

Photo 25 Being save!

Photo 26 Kitty attack

Photo 27 Bed picnic

Photo 28 Loving McDonalds at the moment – they have Angry Birds!

Photo 29 Mischka at the park

Photo 30 Climbing

Photo 31 Mom and I in the 4D

Dad’s Photos from Jersey

Photo 32 Flying into Jersey

Photo 33 View from Dad’s room over St Helier

Photo 34 Hotel de France where Dad is staying

Photo 35 FaceTime with Dad

Photo 36 St Helier high-street

Photo 37 Breakfast parlour

Photo 38 The very quaint Jersey SPCA

Photo 39 Pano of St Helier beach

Photo 40 Tide is FAR out

Photo 41 Dad taking a far walk into the sea – maybe he’ll reach Normandy on that wall?

Photo42

Photo 42 The marina

Photo43

Photo 43 The market

Photo44

Photo 44 Gorey Castle

Photo45a

Photo45b

Photo45

Photo 45 Gorey Pier

Photo46

Photo 46 Looking over Gorey

Photo46a

Photo47

Photo 47 The roads are EXTREMELY narrow – this was the most challenging – bus meets tractor

Photo47a

Photo47b

Photo48

Photo 48 The road was so narrow that cyclists had to push their bikes past the bus

Photo49

Photo 49 Le Moulin de Lecq

Photo49b

Photo49a

Photo50

Photo 50 Potato fields!

Photo51

Photo 51 The Lighthouse

Photo52


Photo 52 A repurposed WWII fortification

Photo 53 Church at St Brélade Bay

Photo 54 St Brélade Bay

Photo 55 Cutest little house ever with matching little car

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I am a Digital Native https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13052 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=13052#respond Sun, 15 May 2016 16:11:42 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=13052

Hi everyone,

So I truly have to confess that I’m a digital native. To confirm this, I have conceded tonight to let my old man (aka Dad) write my blog. Little did I know he’s been gathering little gems over the past few weeks that attests to my place in this generation. Please don’t hold me accountable for the quality of this blog!

 

Hi all! Jarrod’s Dad here! Thanks for the intro Jarrod, and thanks for the opportunity to write tonight. Like Jarrod mentioned, I’ve been observing him for a while now, and been taking notes that I’d thought you’d like to see how a 7-year-old digital native interacts with the world. So here goes!

You know your son is a digital native when…….

  • He’s looking at a webpage of toys for his birthday and says Pin It!
  • He does something funny and shouts Post It!
  • He says “Dad, I can’t seem to logon”
  • Which is closely followed by “Dad, will you please go reboot the router”
  • He hands you his Minecraft start-up screen and says “Please sign me in”
  • And then says “Ok Dad, you can take your iPad for work, I’ll play on Mom’s as my game is the cloud”
  • You’re sitting at a new restaurant and he says “Let’s check in!”
  • He’s tired of holding up the iPad to watch a video and says “Dad, please cast this to the TV”
  • We’re looking at game characters and we don’t know their names and he says “Google it”
  • He keeps notes ‘for his blog’
  • He announces “Selfie!!”
  • Complains from the back of the car “we’re in a dead spot, there’s no signal here!”
  • My worst is “Dad, please can you put your credit number in here, I found a cool app!”
  • Someone drops something in the supermarket and he shouts “Epic fail” which is closely followed by “I wish we could’ve filmed that and uploaded it!”
  • The theme song from the latest movie comes on and he says “Please add that to my playlist”
  • And he’s watching yet another TMNT YouTube video and asks “Please add that to my favourites”
  • Watching something on TV can he asks “Why’s the picture pixelated” when there’s too much strain on Netflix / Showmax / YouTube
  • You get a new iPhone and its second nature to him that all the apps and data ‘just get restored from the cloud’.
  • The I-have-no-more-words comment like “Dad, I found this cool toy on the internet but in another country, but I really need it. All you need to do is click on the Buy Now button!”
  • Last but not least, my personal favourite (not that an old codger like me even understands it) he says one day “Dad, can we set up a Minecraft server in the storeroom, so that I can play with you from my Xbox and you on your iPad while you’re at work” I was speechless.

And these are only the ones I can remember and made a note of. One that really stunned me is that I always stream music for Jarrod when drive in the car. However, when we driving into our basement to park, the streaming stops as there’s no cell phone reception down there. So one day instead of streaming I played music through the radio (there’s this old system that uses frequency modulation, FM for short, that broadcasts) and that kept playing in the basement. After reserving into my bay Jarrod pipes up from the back “Dad, if you say there’s no signal in the basement, so the streaming is interrupted, why is the music still playing”. To put it in Jarrod’s language my only reaction was to facepalm and shake my head…… I just can’t sometimes.

Bye for now!

Jarrod’s Dad Norwin

 

 

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435. What would you do…? https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12999 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12999#respond Tue, 10 May 2016 16:28:54 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12999

Hello!

Monday was a carryover holiday and we were lucky enough to go and see Ratchet and Clank, which is one of the movies on circuit at the moment. It was great fun and both my parents enjoyed the movie and said it was quite an action adventure.

Tuesday was the official start of school and I had an appointment to see Elmien, my speech therapist. Unfortunately demonstrators had the N3 closed and Mom and Dad decided it was too dangerous to go through to Pretoria.

Wednesday, Mom needed Physio for her ankle, so I got a semi Cranio session for my ear. I played up a storm with the dogs Charlotte (a beagle) and Butch (a Fox Terrier). Linda has this large garden that she lets me play in when I go there.

Michael came for a playdate after his school. We ran around like mad things, by the time Jen came to fetch Michael we were even more excited and ran around like wild mad things some more. We pretended that our little Mischka was a fire breathing dragon and we were knights fighting the dragon, squeals of delight and fun from every corner were heard.

Thursday was pretty low key, and Mom and I struggled to get any school work done, but we worked around the issues and ended up having a mildly constructive day. I couldn’t sleep on Thursday night so we all agreed to watch a movie, The Toothfairy was on. I decided it was sad not to have a superpower. I then piped up and said Mickey the cat has 1 superpower… bringing us frogs. We have had two frog and one mouse incident this week. Fortunately these beasties found their way into a catch and release house.

Friday was OT day, my best day of the week. I have decided that Lauren and Mom talk far too much during my time so I relegated Mom to the car outside to wait for me, but then ran back and forth wanting to tell her things I was doing.

On the way home from Lauren I asked Mom what she would do if aliens came down from space. Her response was sort of ok, she first asked if they were friendly or unfriendly? Unfriendly of course, because I need to banish them to where the Krang are in Dimension X (Ninja Turtles). My love for the turtles never seems to diminish and it would appear that the people who make them keep coming up with new ideas to encourage my love of them. While Mom would become a doomsday planner and get the coffers filled up and spy on the enemy I would just fight them.

We went off to Sandton City as Mommy was suffering from some cabin fever. She went to get me a pair of shoes as I left mine at Lauren’s place. No don’t worry I wasn’t completely shoe free, I had slops on that were in the car. Gran was with us and while Mom took some things back to the car, I asked Gran to take me to the Wimpy as I was starving, while walking passed a shop Granny slowed, my words to her were, Gran, please don’t get distracted I am so hungry.

Friday night we went to visit Michael and Grace, Jen and Matt. Again we raced around but this time little Grace joined us as she is on her feet and quite happy to be part of the games.

Saturday we went to the Waldorf market, I managed to get myself and Dad a lotus flower styled worry beads. It has been keeping me busy all weekend we then went to MonteCasino where we discovered YuMe Sushi – amongst other things they specialise in vegetarian sushi – perfect for Mommy’s fish allergies. Then back home to get away from the cold weather. Dad and I had a secret mission which we tried to do while Mom was busy, we ended up doing it late at night and Sunday morning (a Mother’s Day card). Dad asked me questions in an interview format and I answered them – we then put them in a Mother’s Day heart, decorated it and laminated it.

Sunday was a lazy stay in bed away from the cold kind of day. Dad and I made good of our new purchase a cupcake maker, and we made two batches. Dad and I did some good bonding over some purple and blue cupcakes.

This new week will bring with it some more tests for my hearing issue that hasn’t resolved itself yet.

Keep warm this week.

Lurvies Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Built my very own, 3D PacMan set

Photo 2 Making my own PlayDoh

Dad and I making cupcakes

Photo 3 Cupcakes while playing My Little Pony Monopoly

Photo 4 The Thinker

Photo 5 Physio dog!

Photo 6 Linda giving me some physio while Charlie keeps me company

Photo 7 The BEST physio practice in the world!

Photo 8 Mikey and I playing

Photo 9 Lying on Missy

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Deux MRI https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12986 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12986#respond Thu, 05 May 2016 15:23:28 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12986

Hello all,

Yes, indeed it has been a long time. I am going to commit to doing more updates going forward. We have just arrived back from our annual Week 17 holiday at Umhlanga Sands. It was an amazing week. I will have more on that later.

Since I last wrote I have had two MRI’s yes count them 2. The initial one was made up of a number of just general mistakes. The reason is obvious, we need an update on the AVM and in addition my right cochlear is not hearing in a normal register and doctors requested more information. Firstly, the night before my MRI I managed to avoid going to sleep till about 12am much to Mom’s joy I am sure… Mom says she packed the ‘hospital’ bag at about 12:30, then went to bed. When we woke up Mom thought Dad had played a trick on her and taken her phone as she had woken up after her alarm should have gone off, then Dad realised we had been burgled.

They came over the roof onto the second floor balcony and walked in the door, took the phone from next to the bed, thank goodness Mom didn’t wake up (Dad now suspects that we were gassed as Mom wakes for anything). They took 2 laptops, all the camera equipment and all Mom’s jewellery.

2 days later our hamster died leading to a further thinking that we were gassed.

We headed off to our MRI, however 3 doses of sedative down I was still fighting and fought till 4pm so we called it off and made plans for a general anaesthetic, the next Monday. I slept 16 hours after the meds finally kicked in.

The next anaesthetic went well and the doctor was very accommodating following Mom explain the PTSD and how to work with me. We were generally left alone and I went under without gas and just being dripped and without tears or screaming I went under well and woke well.

We haven’t heard about the AVM yet, but have heard about the ear. There is physically nothing wrong with the mechanics or nerves of the ear. So why can’t I hear? Well it is baffling, however the ENT has two theories – firstly I had a really bad ear infection, and apparently this can stun the cochlear resulting in very sudden hearing loss. Hearing returns at some later stage just as suddenly. Secondly, the nerve damage is closer to where my brain surgeries were conducted and cannot be detected via the MRI owing to the artefacts in my brain distorting the resonance. Further tests are going to be conducted on Monday afternoon. I’m not thrilled.

I need to note that my Mom teacher has been relentless and I only got two weeks holiday. However I have had a few playdates and we’ve been socialising a little more lately. It’s been fun. I have been coming up with amazing remarks about school subjects and my vocabulary is becoming really good. Even Mom is surprised, and that takes a lot. I have started Grade 3 maths, yes my mother is pushing the envelope. I am soon to be registered for home-schooling with the department of education.

Also my speech and Occupational therapy is going well. My therapists are happy with me. I still have bad day or even weeks but we work around them and get things done. Mom thinks my short term memory is improving but again some days are better than others.

We had a lovely visit with Michelle and the girls and I was lucky to see Elmien my Speech Therapist who was also there. Dad played a trick on me and told me I was there for a lesson but I took it too seriously and kept asking when my lesson was. I had my lesson the next day. It was a very cool day despite the trick.

Moving onto the holiday we had. The beach was awesome as always and I was just in love with the sea. We were there for exactly 1 hour and I had been tumbled and hit my head but I went straight back in. We went into the sea on a launch boat, and I swam in the middle of the ocean with Dad.

We went to uShaka Marine World to see the dolphins and loved their new show, we haven’t been there in a few years. We had an awesome night walk, two braais and lots of curry nights. We also visited my Granny’s friends for a meal.

As soon as we get more info on my AVM we will let you guys know. We are back to school tomorrow. Speak soon.

Love Jarrod

Photo 1 Me and Mom

Photo 2 Passed out kitties

Photo 3 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 4 MRI Attempt 1 – Unsuccessful

 

Photo 5 Dad built a model car!

Photo 6 Found a locust

Photo 7 MRI Attempt 2

Photo 8 Trying to stay brave while being dripped

Photo 9 Success

Photo 10 Waiting to go home

Photo 11 Finally able to eat again

Photo 12 A bath to feel good is a bath, even if it’s in hospital

Photo 13 The Piazza kids

Photo 14 Dad and I building a puzzle

Photo 15 Day Two – finishing the puzzle

Photo 16 Still swimming

Photo 17 I just wrote Zootopia on my own!

Photo 18 Carrying luggage for our holiday

Photo 19 Seven hours later on the beach!

Photo 20 Sunrise

Photo 21 Dad and Matt

Photo 22 Chilling Poolside

Matt decreed that we needed to take LOTS of selfies!

Photo 23 Mom and Dad at Coco’s

We went out to sea on a launch!

Photo 24 I swam about 5km out to sea!

Photo 25 Dad trying to spot dolphins

Photo 26 Loving it!

Photo 27 Very casual and comfy!

Photo 28 Dad swimming in the big blue sea!

Photo 29 Chilled

Photo 30 Smiles all the way…

Photo 31 Dad doing more swimming

Photo 32 The team!

Photo 33 We found a ship! Surprise

Photo 34 Got up close…

Photo 35 Dad checking out the horizon upsidedown!

Photo 36 Last dip…

Photo 37 Inside the aquarium!

Photo 38 Checking out the turtles

Photo 39 Gracie loving the aquarium

Photo 40 Hello

Photo 41 Finding Nemo….

Photo 42 Fishies……

Photo 43 Dolphins!

Photo 44 Hello everyone!

Photo 45 Jumper

Photo 46 Good old Gambit!

Photo 47 Mantra rays

Photo 48 Come back! (BTW that envelope is a pic of me and Grace that I will never let go!)

Photo 49 Dad!

Photo 50 Me, Mickey and Matt

Photo 51 Beautiful siblings!

Photo 52 Mom and Gracie

Photo 53 The grannies

Photo 54 The Mommies!

Photo 55 Dad helping Mom with some kite flying

Photo 56 Looking great

Photo 57 Checking out the ships

Photo 58 No, it’s not beer

Photo 59 Skabenga at The Oyster Box

Photo 60 Getting ready for a night walk with Aaron and Mikey

Photo 61 Found some good light for our night walk

Photo 62 I got the staff to push us around on the trolley!

Photo 63 The boyz

Photo 64 Gracie, storming around reception, exactly like me at that age. Oh to be young again!

Photo 65 Dad and Matt hatching a plan!

Photo 66 Chilling

Photo 67 Pool days

Photo 68 Water battles

Photo 69 Dad prepping Mom’s kite

Photo 70 Lift-off

Photo 71 Cooling off

Photo 72 Good times

Photo 73 Mikey flying his plane

Photo 74 Time to say goodbye

Photo 75 I need to see this!

Photo 76 Can’t wait for this!

Photo 77 Last pre-back to reality ice cream

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Easter in the Country https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12809 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12809#respond Sun, 03 Apr 2016 19:13:17 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12809

Hi everyone!

I’ve had a really exciting time since my last post. Some new experiences have been going to play Laser Quest for Jayden’s birthday. It was so awesome, and twice I ended up on Dad’s team. I must say he’s tactics and strategies were great, but I did sometimes feel like he was giving me up as cannon fodder.

We had an early Easter at our house, as we were going to be away for Easter. So Dad (aka The Easter Bunny for Mikey’s sake) hid goodies all over the house which Mikey and I collect. Even Grace collected a few! It was enormous fun.

Another awesome new experience was going to Mount Grace. Mom and Dad used to go there often before I was around – so it was great going to see where they misspent their youth. It was funny watching Mom and Dad look at something and just chuckle from a memory.

I had a ball there and was really independent, much to my folks’ dismay. We had our own heated pool on the patio of our villa, and on the second day there “I snuck out for a swim without telling Mom and Dad!” Dad woke up and wondering where I was, followed my trail of PJs to the pool! I also ran after the golf cart that took Mikey and Grace back to their rooms. I must’ve run about a kilometre when the golf cart came to rescue me and brought me back home. The driver found me exhausted on the side of the little golf cart track. Mom and Dad chuckled, but I did sense deep amounts of stress and relief when I was returned! I also led Mikey astray and we went exploring in the veld and dam around our villa. Again all four parents handled it pretty well.

Dad was pretty confused when he downloaded the pictures from his camera, as there were loads of photos of people we didn’t know – then I reminded him that I took his camera on a secret mission and shot some really good photos of people through the trees and branches.

Home schooling has been going ok, but I definitely need to start pulling up my socks. Now that Easter is over and the many public holidays it’s time to focus (but only for three weeks before we’re off to the coast again!).

Some challenges I’ve been having is related to my hearing – a course of antibiotics has not had the desired effect, so next is an MRI, with contrast, which I am NOT thrilled about. Mom and Dad have been debating whether to go to Unitas or Morningside Medi Clinic, and it seems we’re tending toward Morningside. Dad has already taken leave and we’ll be heading into yet another challenge as a family. The intention is to determine if there is something mechanically wrong with my ear, or if the nerves were possibly damaged during my many brain surgeries.

Other news is that Twitter celebrated its 10th birthday during March. The sad news is that Ray Tomlinson who is credited with allegedly “inventing email” passed away. The reason I say “allegedly” is that there is stronger evidence that Shiva Ayyadurai was the actual inventor of email. This controversy will be around for a while.

Before I go I must send a big hug and lots of love to my Aunt Gillian in Minnesota. Last year she was diagnosed with MS, and over the past few weeks, as a result, she’s taken a major fall breaking her nose and fracturing her frontal lobe. Also to my Uncle Oliver and my cousins Ryan and Kirsten.

Now enough words and onto the photos that tell my story better!

Love

Jarrod!

Photo 1 Hard at work in my schoolroom

Photo 2 Safety first – looking after Dad

Photo 3 Helping Dad change TVs

Photo 4 Dressed for school

Photo 5 I love sushi

Photo 6 Being industrious

Photo 7 Quality check from the other side

Photo 8 I love shopping for stuff, even if we don’t need it!

Photo 9 Out to lunch with Dad

Photo 10 Poker face Mickey

Photo 11 Mikey hunting for Easter eggs

Photo 12 Frenzied dash!

Photo 13 Gracie offering some help

Photo 14 Got one!

Photo 15 Off to a good start

Photo 16 Dashing about

Photo 17 Found some!

Photo 18 Being pretty systematic

Photo 19 Sneaky bunny!

Photo 20 Divvy up the haul!

Photo 21 Success!

Photo 22 Gracie having a giggle too!

Photo 23 Yes it looks strange but it’s a hug

Photo 24 Laser Quest!

Photo 25 Lunch after some heavy laser wars

Photo 26 Cake time!

Photo 27 Grace came to visit on her first birthday

Photo 28 Hugs

Photo 29 Testing out her new toy

Photo 30 Yes I trapped a cat

Photo 31 For some reason foreign to me now I had to experience what it was like to sleep in a box

Photo 32 Ready for guests

Photo 33 Climbing!

Photo 34 I found the boxes from Madagascar!

Photo 35 Spur dessert

Photo 36 Yum

Photo 37 Who needs spoons?

Photo 38 Dr Nicoletta checking out my ears

Photo 39 Just Joey in our garden

Photo 40 Chilling

Photo 41 At Yeesh with Mikey

Photo 42 Dad following the golf cart at Mount Grace

Photo 43 Chilling out

Photo 44 View from the bathroom

Photo 45 What a view….


Photo 46 Our room

Photo 47 Me and Dad

Photo 48 Dad doing some birding

Photo 49 More birding…

Photo 50 Off to find food

Photo 51 So graceful

Photo 52 Hovering over a meal

Photo 53 Shrike at sunset

Photo 54 Just chilling

Photo 55 Our very own heated pool!

Photo 56 Off to explore

Photo 57 Room service!

Photo 58 Four days after full moon

Photo 59 Night time swimming watching the moon

Photo 60 Loving it

Photo 61 Exhausted. This what the folks can expect in the teenage years

Photo 62 Morning swim – with the moon on the other side!

Photo 63 Preparing for the Easter egg hunt

Photo 64 Off I go

Photo 65 Comparing our haul

Photo 66 Crocket time

Photo 67 This game is hard

Photo 68 Just JayBee

Photo 69 On an excursion

Photo 70 Giggles

Photo 71 Playing with Grace

Photo 72 Grace and Matt

Photo 73 That’s my Dad

Photo 74 Mikey and I waiting for golf carts

Photo 75 Swimming with Matt

Photo 76 Swimming with Gracie

Photo 77 Easter Sunday view from the spa

Photo 78 This was our villa!

Photo 79 View of the front of the house

Photo 80 Stealing a golf cart

Photo 81 Dad said I could have ONE toy….this is me deciding

Photo 82 Cats brought us a frog

Photo 83 I got to hold him

Photo 84 Ladybug Dad found at the nursery

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The Rollercoaster Ride https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12723 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12723#respond Mon, 07 Mar 2016 15:37:55 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12723

The little pumpkin fell asleep early so its left to Mom to finally fill you in on what’s been happening.

In short, we have:

  • We have started homeschooling; and we have a new sparkling room for it;
  • We have had surgery and drama around it
  • We have had lots of fun
  • We have had some playdates
  • Horseriding
  • Speech
  • OT
  • Been camping (to be accurate Dad and JayBee camped)

In long, we have had an amazing two months of the first year.

Jarrod has matured remarkably. He is reasoning things out for himself and a nice change to his ongoing journey is that his short term memory is getting better daily.

His questions are becoming difficult to answer as I am convinced he is 7 going on 17. My favourite one is about Santa, I think we’ve mentioned it before. “Mom is Santa, the tooth faerie and the other ‘guardians’ real?” “Well Jay-Bee what do you think?” To which he answers; “Well looking at the evidence I must say I have found Santa footprints and carrots eaten by Reindeer, and Reindeer are real for sure. However I know you buy my presents and I really don’t know how you get them to Santa. (Mom doesn’t give Santa the credit for spending the money). However (and he holds my face in his hands) I think something is amiss!” Jarrod is to say mildly too big for his boots.

The other day while building a dimensional time machine out of Lego, Jarrod took me on a tour of what resembled a Tardis styled entrance with two doors. I asked why two doors. “Well Mom as you know time bends when in a wormhole (HUH?) and you have to have an in and an out so that you can come back. So you need to ensure that you have an escape plan!” “OK”, I say, “but why travel to another dimension?” “Endless opportunities Mom, Endless.”

In actual fact his logic is impressing both his neurologist and OT as much as it humours them when his Mother rolls her eyes heavenwards and announces ‘he was born to the stage’.

I am sure you can tell he is becoming quite verbose in his descriptions. His vocabulary is improving greatly. He loves using big words and sometimes when he is in a descriptive mood we have a hard time to always understand the words but the content is mostly clear. The other day he was playing with a TMNT Foot Solider and said to his Dad “Dad, look the arms and legs are artilucated.”

We’ve been going through to our original speech therapist Elmien Kraamwinkle in Pretoria every Monday. It’s been most rewarding, he is moving along so well. Just shows what a caring, passionate therapist can do. He is encouraged by her, they have fun and he doesn’t at all feel fear when dealing with the exercises. She is just amazing. I am sure this has contributed to the short term memory improving as our exercises involve shouting out combinations of words or numbers or letters. Jarrod has to get the format correct.

As far as school goes, we rely a lot on where he is in the Occupational Therapy state. So his executive functions and abilities to focus and work. He is very intuitive in his ability to ask for what he needs. We use Lauren’s techniques in our work at school.

Despite calling it school, we have a very different approach. We are focused on functional and multisensory approaches. I am very lucky that I can give Jarrod this opportunity to develop at his own speed. We have our own little school room outside our house in the old servant’s quarters which Norwin made to look beautiful.

We have agreed that our approach to our teaching will be love, understanding and encouragement. We have good days and bad days but we try to focus on the good as it only gets Jarrod really worked up if it’s bad. He hates getting things wrong and this leads to lots of tears.

He’s a good boy and our routines are working well.

His surgery last two weeks ago went well and despite screaming like a banshee in the theatre the doctors were very understanding and made all concessions to us being available to him. He suffered from a bit a trauma for a few days but we did things like making a bracelet with 23 beads that he chose for all the surgeries he’s done. Leaving out the brain surgeries as those were very special.

We have had to move Psychologists for Jarrod, as Braam moved to Cape Town, we are trying out two different ones to see how he goes. This is going to be a challenge for the little man. He adored his therapist. We’ll find a way.

We have noticed his left ear is picking up no noise whatsoever, so we are off to the audiologist and ENT. Turns out there isn’t permanent damage (which we thought could be a possibility). There’s just so much infection in his ear that even his grommet was bunged up. Fortunately the cochlea is functioning correctly.

His neurologist wants a night splint for his left leg (the weaker one, from the stroke). So we are off for orthotics. I think this may take some convincing. He understands better nowadays, but it’s always difficult being different. He doesn’t have many friends his age and this bothers him, but despite this he has begged us not to send him to school. So we try to have playdates.

He also needs another 24 hour EEG to see if the Lamictin is working, bloodtests to check the level and he needs Botox in his leg again. We also rather desperately require an MRI and with the suspicion on the ENT probably needing to do grommets again we are likely to be spending some more time in hospital.

A first for him with past weekend was ‘camping’. Its camping in inverted commas as it was just in a tent at Jen and Matt’s place. Little Mickey has a campout at Redhill next weekend, so this was a practice run. Matt and Mikey got a beautiful pop-up tent – you take it out the bag, aim and voilà, a tent appears. Ours needed but more construction. We started the evening with a braai, some dessert and fried marshmallows. To be honest it was only JayBee and Norwin that slept in the tent, and Matt and Mikey in the other tent. The girls slept indoors! The dads didn’t have a great night, but both boys loved it. JayBee hardly budged!

Enjoy the picture laden Blog, we have really neglected keeping everyone up to date.

Love, the Lederer’s,

Photo 1 Ryan getting a Lala for his 21st!

Photo 2 Tammy acting 18 on her birthday!

Photo 3 Birthday cake happiness

Photo 4 Reading to Lala

Photo 5 Missy

Photo 6 Dad bought a new router at Nology – I had lunch in their boardroom!

Photo 7 Riding Little Wonder

Photo 8 In saddle exercises

Photo 9 Some more workouts

Photo 10 Coke Light tower

Photo 11 Wimpy breakfast FTW

Photo 12 Bathing with Gracie and Mikey

Photo 13 Gracie in the sun room

Photo 14 Mikey fell asleep reading the news

Photo 15 Mickey and Rhino saying hello

Photo 16 Some artwork

Photo 17 Swimming with Mom

Photo 18 Lunchtime with Mikey

Photo 19 Sleep over at Mikey’s

Photo 20 Yum!

Photo 21 Swimming with Liya and Emma

Photo 22 Mischka saying good morning

Photo 23 At dinner with Di on her visit to SA

Photo 24 Playing with Matthew

Photo 25 Swimming with Matthew, Mikey and Grace

Photo 26 Going for a ride

Photo 27 Dad and Matthew putting up a basketball hoop

Photo 28 Grace and I ‘observe’

Photo 29 Practice time!!!

Photo 30 To a job well done!

Photo 31 Acrobranching

Photo 32 Looking good!

Photo 33 Loving it

Photo 34 Expert climber

Photo 35 Chilling out in my hammock

Photo 36 Getting some chiro from Mike Marinus after horse riding

Photo 37 Dolphin surfing

Photo 38 Mandatory play with the reclining hospital bed

Photo 39 Passing the time, waiting to go to theatre

Photo 40 Post theatre play

Photo 41 Sort of feeling better smile

Photo 42 Try is I will, this time I couldn’t walk out of hospital

Photo 43 The most reliable Highveld Thunderstorm warning app

Photo 44 Out to lunch

Photo 45 Mom and I collected Mikey from school

Photo 46 I love Minecraft!

Photo 47 Tree climbing

Photo 48 Mattress surfing!

Photo 49 Sleeping furballs

Photo 50 Chilling with Mom!

Photo 51 Helping to unpack our sofa

Photo 52 I got my own bank account for my pocket money!

Photo 53 Delivery from Helen

Photo 54 New slippers!!!! Just in time for winter

Photo 55 Shopping with Mom

Photo 56 Just JayBee

Photo 57 Dad’s new toy from Discovery!

Photo 58 Heading to school. Next door.

Photo 59 My first purchase on my own bank account – signed by me!

Photo 60 Campers setting up…..camp

Photo 61 Dad and I chatting with Gracie

Photo 62 Camper Gracie

Photo 63 Mikey’s tent

Photo 64 Late night swimming (instead of bathing, cos we’re camping)

Photo 65 Marshmallows around the ‘camp fire’

Photo 66 Mikey

Photo 67 Me and fire

Photo 68 Camp fire stories

Photo 69 Pro-campers….

Photo 70 Bedtime

Photo 71 Dad and I settling for the night

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431. Theatre time. Again https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12649 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12649#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2016 07:38:20 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12649

Hi everyone,

Just a quick little hello and some news – I promise to write a long photo intense blog next week again.

So I’m off to theatre again tomorrow to have some bits and bobs fixed, removed and modified. Mom, my hero, through good negotiation and planning has managed to line up all the necessary surgeons and medical personal to have a whole lot of stuff done at once, thereby my only needing one hospital visit and one anaesthetic, which minimises my trauma dramatically.

Please keep me in your prayers and hearts as I go in early tomorrow morning.

Jay-Bee

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430. Goodbye Seaside, Hello Party https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12645 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12645#respond Mon, 18 Jan 2016 14:34:49 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12645

Hello Everyone,

We’re back from a wonderful holiday in Umhlanga with the Kaplan’s. Sadly it’s now back to reality, with Dad being back at work full steam, and Mom and I driving Jay-Bee Academy extra hard. Mom couldn’t believe it this morning that I actually woke up and started pushing her to start school!

The days leading up to the holiday Mom and I spent shopping and packing. Finally the big day was here and we headed out. Mom sat with me at the back of the car, where we watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Dad couldn’t watch, but listened! Mom and I also snoozed for most of the drive, so it felt like a really short journey for us.

At the coast we spent hours on the beach, digging and playing in the sand. I’ve got pretty brave with the waves, and loved going in a little deeper and being dumped and washed up the shore. Mom, Dad and I giggled and giggled. It was such fun! Our weather ranged from heatwave to rain. On the rainy days we went to Mr Funtumbles at the Gateway, or the Sharks Board, which was hugely informative. We swam and swam, and my underwater swimming is going incredibly well. I swam for four hours on one day!

We arrived back on Saturday afternoon, had a quick little rest and then headed to Ryan’s 21st birthday party. It was such a rave. I danced with the girls, ran around with balloons, stole some birthday cake, had a feast, and I even got up on stage and sang Happy Birthday to Ryan as a solo through the mic. Everyone was absolutely thrilled.

Well, that’s it for now. Enjoy the photos.

Chat soon.

Love

Jay-Bee

Video 1 In the surf with Dad (click here)

Video 2 Swimming underwater (click here)

Video 3 Having a ball at Ryan’s 21st (click here)

Video 4 Dancing 2 (click here)

Photo 1 Dismantling a hard drive

Photo 2 Serious concentration

Photo 3 Getting into the heart of it

Photo 4 Major fun

Photo 5 Every day I’m shuffling

Photo 6 Just me

Photo 7 Ready for the drive to the coast

Photo 8 Our Uber driver

Photo 9 Six hours later

Photo 10 Giggles with Dad

Photo 11 Dashing off

Photo 12 Loving the sea

Photo 13 Chatting to Dad

Photo 14 Getting dumped

Photo 15 Making a run for it

Photo 16 Fighting the backwash

Photo 17 Regaining my composure

Photo 18 I collected the whole beach in my shorts!

Photo 19 Pic I took of Mom

Photo 20 Matt and Grace joining us for breakfast

Photo 21 Mom and Jen

Photo 22 Mikey

Photo 23 Me!

Photo 24 Grace

Photo 25 Loving the water

Photo 26 Mikey and Matt swimming

Photo 27 Hanging on to Matt

Photo 28 Matt, Grace and I in the pool

Photo 29 Poolside

Photo 30 Mr Funtumbles!

Photo 31 Bus ride!

Photo 32 Perfecting underwater swimming

Photo 33 Loving the water

Photo 34 Up close underwater

Photo 35 Underwater smiles

Photo 36 Diving

Photo 37 Jen took this for Grace’s 5am feed

Photo 38 Grace with my straw hat

Photo 39 Feeding Grace

Photo 40 Shark Board time

Photo 41 Getting ready for dissection

Photo 42 Ugh

Photo 43 Jen REALLY didn’t like the smell….

Photo 44 Mikey checking out the shark

Photo 45 Close examination

Photo 46 Have to touch!

Photo 47 Checking out the teeth

Photo 48 Holding up the tail

Photo 49 Mmmmm, that’s a pretty big jaw

Photo 50 Trying it on for size

Photo 51 Some cage diving

Photo 52 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 53 Mikey and I (and yes, I was about to pull his hair)

Photo 54 The result…..

Photo 55 Umhlanga isn’t Umhlanga without Dinky Donuts

Photo 56 Dad cooling off

Photo 57 Poolside selfie

Photo 58 Dad buried me….

Photo 59 Drying off

Photo 60 Elevated selfie

Photo 61 All three of us in the bath

Photo 62 Family selfie at Ryan’s 21st

Photo 63 With cousin Tammy and Shanny

Photo 64 Joining in the fun

Photo 65 Singing Happy Birthday solo to Ryan!

Photo 66 Having a ball

Photo 67 Shannon making a speech for the birthday boy

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Hello, it’s me, 2016! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12575 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12575#respond Mon, 04 Jan 2016 17:44:54 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12575 Hi everyone!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I’ve been really busy so I’ve not had time to send an update.

Our heatwave has persisted for most of the month, but fortunately there have also been quite a few thunderstorms to keep the plants and birds happy. I’ve been swimming just about every day, sometimes even twice a day. I’ve mastered swimming underwater and jumping in from elevated areas. When I’m not swimming I’m gaming or drawing.

I had my last horse-riding lessons in mid-December – it was a bit tricky getting my last few lessons in because of the threat of thunderstorms and even hail on a few occasions. Zorro and Little Wonder, although they’re really big, don’t like that sort of thing.

Leading up to Christmas there was lots of shopping and preparing to do. Dad and I put up the Christmas Tree in record time this year.

I’ve had lots of playdates and outings – too many to mention, and because of the holidays, there have been a number of movies that we’ve gone to see. So far I’ve managed to see Snoopy and Charlie Brown The Peanuts Movie, The Good Dinosaur, and Alvin and the Chipmunks Road Chip. Mikey and Matt came with to see The Good Dinosaur, and we treated them to their first viewing in the Prestige cinema. Next we’re planning to see The Little Prince. I also want to see the new Star Wars movie, but will have to wait until its available online as I’m a little too young to see it at the movie theatres.

Sandton City had their regular holiday festivals on. This year it was Paw Patrol. I really enjoyed the show and danced along to the tunes. Afterward I had a nice long play in the Lego pit.

After Christmas one of Mom’s childhood friends, Jean-Marie came to visit with Katherine (my age) and little Matthew. It was such fun playing with them, and listening to Mom and Jean-Marie share stories of their growing up together.

With Dad being on leave, and at home, he’s been pottering around the house quite a bit, as he always does at this time of year. This year we got a new irrigation system installed in the garden, the pool motor replaced and the sand in the filter changed, and all sorts of other little jobs. The painting touch-ups didn’t go too well, as he really wasn’t able to match the colours properly, so we have a few odd (but freshly painted) spots around the house. I know he is hatching a plan to get the match perfect.

Mom and Dad have had a bunch of laughs with some of the comments I’ve been making. Here are some of the gems Mom and Dad recalled:

Mom: “Jarrod which glasses do you want to drink out of?”

Me: “The see-through ones!”

In a similar vein….

Dad: “Jay-Bee, I’m going to get some glass shelves that are see-through for all your Skylander characters.”

Jarrod: “Dad, glass is already see-though!”

So Dad shaved one evening after many days of not shaving: “Dad! There’s no more fur on your face!”

Dad is really big into Apple Music at the moment, and has hooked up sound all over the place so we can stream music throughout the house. One day he plays the Cuban Classic Bar Grooves playlist, to which I announce: “I actually really really like this music!” and I immediately broke into dance.

Sticking with music, Dad found me in the family room signing “Who you gonna call? Jay-Bee!” to the Ghostbusters tune. He couldn’t stop giggling.

Early one morning I decided to do the dishes, so I whipped out the kitchen steps, and stood at the basin doing dishes singing “It’s a hard knock life!” from Annie! Again Mom and Dad couldn’t stop chuckling. And if anyone is wondering, I did the dishes of my own volition.

Two of Dad’s favourites, that I piped up out of nowhere where “Hey Dad, let’s have a bros night out!”, and when we were poolside at Morningside Village Estate, where I was still perfecting my jumping, I announced from the side of the pool, “Hey Dad, I need a good wingman! You’d be a good wingman!”

Well, that’s it for now. Enjoy the videos and photos!

Lots of love,

Jarrod

Video 1 Horse Riding 1 (click here)

Video 2 More Horse Riding (click here)

Video 3 Perfecting Jumping (click here)

Video 4 High Jump (click here)

Video 5 Paw Patrol dance at Sandton City (click here)

Video 6 Talking to the camera about Squidward and Botox – a slightly older video (click here)

Photo 1 December heat wave

Photo 2 Keeping cool

Photo 3 Part of Dad’s DIY – a frog shower head for my bath

Photo 4 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 5 Mickey enjoying the rays

Photo 6 I found a photo of Mom!

Photo 7 More swimming

Photo 8 Jumping

Photo 9 Thunderstorms

Photo 10 Craft work

Photo 11 Packing away valuables

Photo 12 Discovered Mom’s car plays videos!

Photo 13 Riding

Photo 14 Colouring in a Christmas Tree

Photo 15 Selfies while Dad’s driving

Photo 16 Braai at Mikey’s place

Photo 17 Early Christmas present from the Kaplan’s – a scooter!

Photo 18 More colouring

Photo 19 Bros out for dinner, with a new Thomas!

Photo 20 Getting VERY frustrated with someone on a daily basis trying to hack into my blog

Photo 21 Starting the tree…..

Photo 22 Voila…

Photo 23 Dad’s Weihnachtspyramide

Photo 24 Some décor

Photo 25 Lego time

Photo 26 Mickey loving the tree

Photo 27 Mikey, Matt, me and Dad at Paw Patrol

Photo 28 Loving the show

Photo 29 Lego pit!

Photo 30 Chilling at the Da Vinci for a bros’ lunch

Photo 31 Visiting Michelle and the girls

Photo 32 Waiting with Emma

Photo 33 Dad’s sock

Photo 34 Making desert

Photo 35 With Lego Yoda

Photo 36 Clutch Powers

Photo 37 A Lego brick made of….Lego!

Photo 38 Heroes

Photo 39 Loving the décor

Photo 40 Chilling

Photo 41 Dad and Jay-Bee selfie in The Atrium on 5th

Photo 42 Love this vertical garden

Photo 43 Me and the Chipmunks

Photo 44 On my ‘to see list’

Photo 45 Also on my ‘to see list’

Photo 46 Prestige time

Photo 47 Rare Full Moon on Christmas Day (last one was in 1977, next one will be in 2034

Photo 48 This is how I roll, literally….

Photo 49 Playing with Matthew

Photo 50 Some Christmas décor is still out

Photo 51 Love this tree at Morningside Shopping Centre

Photo 52 A favourite photo of mine from NASA

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428. Too Cool for School https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12303 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12303#respond Sun, 06 Dec 2015 16:16:46 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12303

Hi everyone,

This past Friday I finished Grade R. I feel so thrilled. What’s more, I did it in six months as opposed to the usual one year, as I started midyear given the channels I had previously with Japari and then needing to spend the time at home. The school year ended with a concert and each of us said a little speech. We still haven’t found a school that’s willing to accept me next year – the reasons are too long to list individually. But basically we’ve agreed I’m too cool for school. Dad is saving all my rejection letters to publish them alongside my Nobel Prize announcement in a few years!

It’s still incredibly hot in Jo’burg as we’re in the midst of a heat wave. I swim just about every day, and despite the thunderstorms every other night, we are rationing water.

Dad is on a major DIY type mission at the moment, tinkering and changing stuff all the time. Mom cleared out the family room and we swapped out some furniture. It wasn’t long after Dad was running cables and things to ‘make our entertainment better’. It didn’t stop there. Both Mom and Dad have been on missions to tidy and clean (a late Spring clean if you like). This weekend Dad’s study become the next victim. Every drawer and cupboard was turned upside-down and tidied. Once Dad finished that he got me (yes little me) to help change his desk from a glass table to his old black oak desk. To be perfectly honest it was Mom’s idea and it looks really great.

Another project that’s got us all excited is that Dad has provided cloud and wireless printing for us, which will be especially useful next year when I home school. I can now print stuff from anywhere in the world!!!

Other excitement involved Tharusha and Kamori coming for a playdate. We played and played, and then we swam for hours, and then played and played again. It was a blast.

Saturday morning we saw the Snoopy and Charlie Brown Movie with Jayden and his folks. It was such fun. I loved the movie. I was so excited to see the movie that I actually managed to get the whole family out the house a full 45 minutes early. Even Granny wasn’t ready when we collected her.

I’ve not had much luck with horse riding the last few sessions. A few weeks back it was cancelled because of a storm and imminent hail (although Zarro is huge he is still frightened of thunder and hail). Then we got stuck in traffic, and had to reschedule. Then Mom had a migraine and couldn’t drive, and the last attempt we got stuck in traffic again. So I’ve been somewhat disappointed by that, but I will pick up riding again in the new year.

The sad thing (and it’s affected my blog posting) is that our external hard drive failed. It seems it was dropped. Dad immediately sent it off to intensive care for the data to be recovered (especially my photos – 7 years of them). This week we’ll hear the verdict of how many of the photos have been recovered.

Other exciting outings included the Color Café with Jen, Matt, Mikey and baby Gracie. Michelle also joined the fun. It was a really festive afternoon and we all managed to get some good painting done. Even Grace had a chance by putting her handprint on a plate.

Dad, Mom, Gran and I also had a fun afternoon at Montecasino where I played at the Cartoon Factory and we also all went on the 6D drive (I’m really not too sure where all the dimensions come from, but they claim there’s 6!).

Well that’s about it as we count down to the end of the year and Christmas.

Chat soon!

Love

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Mom, Dad and I had dinner (on a school night) at Walnut Grove – had to do the obligatory climbing on the rides

Photo 2 Highveld storms on their way

Photo 3 Playing at Yeesh

Photo 4 My last school photos

Photo 5 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 6 Getting into trouble at Montecasino

Photo 7 Pretending to dive

Photo 8 Me and Mom joined by a heart

Photo 9 I bought Dad a bouquet of flowers, just for being my Dad!

Photo 10 Tent fort time!

Photo 11 Mickey passed out on Mom

Photo 12 With Alvin and the Chipmunks – the next movie I want to see

Photo 13 Chipmunk hugs

Photo 14 Lego Yoda

Photo 15 Me and Charlie Brown!

Photo 16 Jayden and I playing up a storm

Photo 17 Trying on Simon Seville’s glasses

Photo 18 Sushi time. I love sashimi

Horse Riding

Graduation

 

 

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427. Back Seat Chronicles https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12257 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12257#comments Mon, 30 Nov 2015 06:49:53 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12257

Hi everyone,

Well it’s been a long time (I already wrote this on 15 November, but have some tech and time issues, so apologies for the delay), and a bit of a trying one too. For me and for my family.

One of the first things I want to tell you is that it looks as though Bella Vista as my school next year will not come through. Apparently my speech and response times are a problem, Mrs Scott indicated to my parents that children don’t perform well in remedial (or ‘normal’) schools under these circumstances. So effectively Mrs Scott agreed to get all the statistical data and revert. We’ve heard nothing, despite Mom following up on a weekly basis. All the mainstream schools at this stage of the year are all fully booked, which probably wouldn’t work out for me in any case.

Mom and Dad are now of the opinion that they don’t want to send me to a school that doesn’t really seem keen, as this seems like punishment for everyone, the teacher, me, and lastly my folks who have to spend a lot time arguing with me and the school.

My folks believe that I will ultimately be fine, but I can imagine that its concerning for them. I don’t enjoy school, I have been sent to the principal’s office along with another little boy and to the ‘baby class’ which is just difficult for any child, let alone one like me, who tries but struggles. It’s left me very depressed and anxious.

Needless to say, I am a little behind with my school work. It also appears that I will be getting a teacher. Included in these last few weeks is that my body has had to acclimatise to new medication, and Mom monitors me closely to see how I am functioning. It is quite a roller coaster. Constant ups and downs. The combinations of the meds are proving to be a problem, so it’s difficult to establish a baseline.

As far as speech goes, due to my apraxia from the stroke, as you will remember I lost the ability to speak certain sounds. We have been back to our wonderful Elmien, my very first speech therapist and she has very kindly done a full assessment and reported on the situation. The positive things that she said were that all the sounds were also sounds that children with no neurological issues would have. This means that I don’t pronounce certain letters and sounds consistently, so if you listen with care, you can understand me. In addition, my logic and vocab were well above my age. Sounds and active hearing below but logical based on the stroke I had. So all in all manageable in the long term.

Mom and Dad have clearly slowed down with their speaking to help me with the listening. Mom has a suspicion that my right ear is not happy. We will deal with that on a day where we have a relatively quiet week.

Mom and Dad have been speaking about starting a school for me, or a teacher with remedial skills before I get a school that will work. Mom and Dad say they are in for the long haul on this one, and will be super selective this time and take as long as it takes.

As far as my eyes go, it has been a little bit of a guessing game. The optometrist, said everything was fine then the report came out and we were all stunned at the negative responses about my eyes and eye muscles and not being able to see or not see. The ophthalmologist decided that I was so far sighted that even the moon was a stretch for me, Mom looked and him and very clinically asked if he was being literal or figurative, apparently literal. So my new glasses are being made up as we speak (I’m guessing they’ll be reverse Hubble telescopes). Me being a creative soul, I decided I needed a new set and got a large red and white set. I am quite grateful that my parents are allowing of my creativity. We are still awaiting space for an MRI and to see if the white matter in my occipital region is deteriorating, but the good news on this is that there is no pressure on my occipital nerve (2nd occipital nerve) or any disturbance of neurological nerves in that area. The ophthalmologist has however requested a copy of the new MRI when we get it, to inform him in case anything does go pear shaped.

Mom, Dad and I have come to a long required decision. We live on the brink of things going pear shaped. We have all decided rather to live in the here and now. Feeling that we are just going to have a short term future of making sure things are right. When they are we can go to long term decision making and prospects.

In the OT space we are working on making my hands stronger. Through our therapist we have requested information on making me right-handed. As my seizures are in the right brain and we know my logic is good, perhaps it would be easier for me to be right-handed and reprogram the left brain. This is contrary to all common perspectives of handedness but we have all come to the conclusion again that we could make a round peg in a round hole and not the square in the round hole.

I am very lucky that my therapists are out of the box thinkers. I had a physio assessment and it was agreed that my left leg is under developed and as a result, no allowance is made for this unbalanced feeling I have. My problem is ultimately that people look at me and I look so normal that no one gives me a second chance. Mom and Dad will sort that out I am sure.

I have recently had my booster vaccinations for 6 years old, all mine have been about a year behind due to my stay in hospital and not being well after. I have always however had additional ones to protect my brain. I need to go back for that this week. Yuk. Mom laughs when she recounts the nurses getting in a twist over this, and the fact that she won’t let them touch me, and she does it. It’s just as well as they would be shocked at what I could say to them in times of stress, and with that I would lose my internet access from my parents.

On a lighter note. My horse riding is going so well that I am hoping that I will be getting my own kit soon. Mom and Dad have been sneaking conversations about it. Up and till now I have been riding Little Wonder but I progressed to Zorro the ‘huge’ gelding that is actually a pony. Wow! What a different ride. I feed the horses and get to brush them and this week got to watch a physio working on the horses. They get it too. Dad managed to come with too, and he was bursting with pride at seeing me on such a massive beast.

Mom and Dad have been repairing and tidying the house for the last two weeks and there has been minor chaos because as Mom unpacks a cupboard, I start playing, then as I try to tell everyone I am no good at picking up after myself. Mom has not given in yet, my she’s exhausted… Dad consolidated all our electronics into a single cabinet in the family room and connected everything to Wi-Fi and the satellite dish. In the process he removed about 40m of all cables and replaced these with new (and fewer) cables. Because the cabinet doors kept closing, and the heat inside becoming unbearable, Dad attached a massive fan with red LEDs on it to keep things cool. It works so well that Mickey now climbs into the cabinet to lie be the fan to keep cool from our heatwave.

Some other exciting things I’ve done over the past while was go to The Dino Expo, which was amazing! Gracie, Michael’s little sister, spent a few days with us in the day, as Jen and Matt didn’t have a babysitter while they were at work. I was thrilled! I’ve completely fallen in love with her and even announced that I felt we should ‘steal’ Grace so she could live with us and that I could have a baby sister!

Well, that’s about it for this past month, but before I go, some newsworthy items I need to record in my blog. Gauteng is currently undergoing a major heatwave – as a result I’m swimming a number of times a day to keep cool. I can even swim underwater for a few strokes now! As a result of the heatwave, water restrictions have been imposed, so my Mom, who is a super-mom, has implemented a whole bunch of water saving and recycling methods. Lastly, and very sadly, my favourite city, Paris, has been the victim of terrorism with many many people killed.

Bye for now.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Some art I did

Photo 2 Toys at Granny’s place for when I visit

Photo 3 Missy trying to keep cool in the heat wave

Photo 4 Visiting Mikey and Grace

Photo 5 Swimming

Photo 6 Jumping

Photo 7 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 8 Reading to Grace

Photo 9 Happiness

Photo 10 Dad replacing the pool light

Photo 11 Riding

Photo 12 Selfies!

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426. Dark Days Ahead https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12241 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12241#respond Sun, 18 Oct 2015 19:19:26 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12241 Hi everyone!

Well with a heading like this one you’ve problem guessed we’ve been dealt a dollop of bad news. Again. You’ll recall I had a 24 EEG some time back, and the results are now in. There is definite indication of ‘misfiring’ going on in my brain. I guess eight brain surgeries will do that to a person. Essentially the neurologist has described these misfires as tiny little strokes (focal seizures) going on in my brain, predominantly while I sleep. This is directly related to some scaring on the right lobe from previous surgeries to close my AVM. Needless to say this is cause of massive concern, and a new bout of drugs is being explored.

As if that isn’t enough of a hurdle being thrown at me, it would appear that my occipital area of my brain, where the majority of my surgeries took place, has been damaged. This affects my sight, and one of the concerns we’ve always had, with work being done so close to the occipital region of the brain, is that I could actually lose my sight. So we will be investigating the 2nd cranial nerve which is the optic nerve as this may be under pressure. Also with the loss of white matter as indicated in the last MRI, the suspicion is that there is something ‘wrong.’

Mom has set up a string of appointments for me with optometrists and ophthalmologists so let’s see what the next few weeks will reveal, as well as an MRI. The next MRI, to be done shortly, will focus on sight, overall health of the AVM and the focal seizures I have been having. To be honest, we’re all feeling really bleak and depressed by news which we suspected would come someday, but we were just hoping for at least a few month’s break of ‘no bad news’.

On the bright side, summer it here in full force and it brought with it a major heatwave. So the days have been extremely hot and we’re now desperate for some rain. The good weather brings with it lots of nice activities and outdoor play, with my newest activity being horse riding. I’ve started attending riding lessons at stables that specialise in horses for their therapeutic qualities. And I love it.

Despite the fact that I got given the BIGGEST pony at the stables, Zorro, I immediately feel in love with him. Even the teacher said it’s the first time she’d seen someone bond so quickly. I also got to ride on Little Wonder since Zorro had hurt his leg earlier in the week. Mom had a few good giggles as I went to Little Wonder who is friends with Zorro and they love to talk to each other while working. Mom heard me say, ‘Little Wonder do you mind if I ride you today?’ then I went over to Zorro, and said, ‘I still love you Zorro but your leg needs to get better, so I am going to ride Little Wonder.’ After neighing and feeding and brushing, I made my way to the riding. Next I asked the teacher, ‘how do I control this Little Wonder?’. The teacher Margreet was quite taken with me.

And then I got dealt another shocker! Braam, my therapist, who has been excellent in helping me deal with my trauma, is moving to Cape Town. Yes, I may find another therapist, but it takes so long to build up trust and for them to really get to understand what I’ve been through, so I feel like I’m back to square one on that front. Braam has however committed to seeing me once a month for long term work as I am still very traumatised, he has also agreed that he is scared of M..om and has promised to leave me in the capable hands of someone he trusts.

Some good news is that I have been held a place at Bella Vista, an excellent school here in Johannesburg North, and Mom is beyond happy about that. It’s taken a lot of forms and work to secure the place considering I was initially booked in in 2013. The lady Theresa and Mom have been exchanging documents like crazy.

I’ve had some excellent fun since my last blog that I must also mention. I’ve had three birthday parties which have all been amazing! There was Michael’s third birthday at Mico’s Party Place, Ryan’s seventh at the Snow Deck, and Christian’s fourth at The Post House, although at Christian’s party I was feeling a little under the weather as I’d gotten some vaccination shots the week before, and I’d started new medication to deal with my brain misfiring.

Mom and Dad celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary! I was so thrilled for them. They went out to dinner at Signature while Granny looked after me.

I’ve had plenty of playdates, too many to remember and seen a few movies – Dad took me to see Hotel Transylvania 2 at the Prestige theatre in Sandton (it the one where you practically have a bed to lie to watch movies, that you can control at the touch of a button).

In Sandton Ecomobility kicked off whereby a large number of roads were closed to encourage cycling and walking to walk, or using public transport. Speaking of transport, I got to use an Uber for the first time too – Dad’s car had gone for a service so he and I got an Uber Black to collect his car. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately Ecomobility took a turn for the worse when the temporary pedestrian bridge over Grayston Drive collapsed. Amazingly only three people lost their lives. The highway was closed causing traffic chaos but in less than 24 hours it was reopened.

This past Friday evening I started suffering from massive nose bleeds which have been coming and going over the weekend. It’s really worrying all of us, as the volume of blood seems enormous, so we’re in crisis management mode. So Mom is also keeping an eagle eye on that.

On the sporting front (which none of us really follow), South Africa has made it through a number of rounds of the world cup without being knocked out. As you all know Dad is clueless about sport so I cannot tell you what round, or what teams they’ve played. He barely remembers that RWC is rugby world cup and not risk-weighted capital.

Last but not least, it’s also pretty newsworthy that running water was discovered on Mars.

Love Jarrod

Video 1 – Riding Little Wonder (click here)

Photo 1 Mom taking a selfie of us!

Photo 2 Selfie!

Photo 3 Dad was at a conference at Gallagher Estate so he snuck off to the Lotus Suite to see how it looked twenty years later – it was where Mom and Dad got married!

Photo 4 The patio at Lotus Suite

Photo 5 The reception room

Photo 6 The duck pond at The Lotus Suite

Photo 7 Mommy as a bride, 20 years ago!

Photo 8 Mom and Dad on their wedding day! Happy 20th Anniversary!

Photo 9 Mischka and I playing in some gravel

Photo 10 Loving summer

Photo 11 Michael’s birthday party

Photo 12 Snow-Deck time for Ryan’s party

Photo 13 Trying out the helm for Pan at the movies

Photo 14 Getting ready to watch Hotel Transylvania 2

Photo 15 Star Wars Infinity 3.0 characters from Aunty Birgitt an Uncle Wayne

Photo 16 Feels like child labour….

Photo 17 Hard at work excavating dinosaur bones

Photo 18 Dad was at Houghton Boardroom where I had my first birthday party!

Photo 19 Houghton Boardroom still looks the same

Photo 20 Me and Grace at the Spur

Photo 21 Meeting Zorro for the first time

Photo 22 Brushing him

Photo 23 Making sure his mane looks good

Photo 24 Getting a feel for it

Photo 25 And hugs!

Photo 26 Wrestling with Jayden on a play date at the farm yard

Photo 27 Riding Little Wonder

Photo 28 Exercising at the same time – reaching up

Photo 29 Sometimes dressing is a little confusing!!!!

Photo 30 Missy!

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World Cup Fever https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12209 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12209#respond Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:30:12 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12209

Well not so much in this house but hey! Anything for a good party? Right?

These last two weeks saw me have general anaesthetic for Botox to my left leg for the spasticity, a 24 hour EEG and a holiday at the beach and a good deal of love and play.

Mom, Dr Tiziana and I agreed at my last check up to do two out of a number of things I am doing. Mom is also trying really hard to find the correct remedial match for me as far as schools go. I am doing average for grade 1 but I need some skills and tools for my left handed ness and a number of other things which have become apparent from my stroke and loss of blood vessels and brain matter.

The first part of the week was cool and I got a chance to have a playmate with Jaden after school. His Daddy was away and the school arranged for Mom to collect him so he could have photo day with the rest of his class. It was really cool.

Then the rest of the week was pretty busy with admin for school and homework and work. Suddenly it was time to go to the hospital. Unfortunately all my friends were unable to visit me in the sleep clinic for the 24 hour EEG, however my cousins arrived and I asked all my doctors. Amazingly, despite their hectic schedules every one of the docs came. I feel really happy about that. I even got treats from them.

We headed off to the hospital after I did some OT assessments and ran an errand or two. We checked in and proceeded to the sleep lab. It was great fun until they tried to stick the connectors on. I gave in realizing it was not sore and eventually I looked like a mummy. See picture attached!

The next day I was booked for general anaesthetic so no food. Boy I tried everything I could to eat even stealing food from a trolley but Mom made me understand that it was going to make me very ill. When they arrived with a pre-med the nurses got a good shrieking from me, I woke all in the sleep lab, yup! These people just don’t seem to realise how deep seated my trauma with nurses are. One more accolade I have for instigating something. Dad was first off the foot shoving the nurses out the room, Mom right behind him and the door was closed to all staff and Mom delivered the gross stuff I threw up all over her. Eventually I cooperated and we went off to theatre.

Fortunately, with my neurologist there Mom was allowed immediately in to the recovery rooms and I woke up to her talking to me and rubbing my hair. BEST ANAESTHETIC EVER!!!! I wasn’t I’ll or unhappy. I didn’t cry. I do however remember my Mom asking if she could stay. She has no qualms and was refused despite her cool demeanour (or not).

The sleep lab was great Mom and I snuggled when Mom wasn’t roaming around the hospital at night as she does. I have a feeling she thinks her name is Florence. Anyway she, Mom was telling me that even when I sleep my brain is super active. We will only get reports back in a couple of weeks but will let you all know.

We headed home post-surgery and headed straight to packing and getting things sorted for our trip. We had an uneventful trip to the coast and such great fun. Mom and Dad had to push me out of my comfort zone and I was having very little of it although, I built great roads with Granny and searched the rocks with Mom and played in the sea with Dad. I swam for great lengths of time. We braaied with the Kaplans and played on the beach. Played scrabble. Eat, drank. A good time.

It was back to reality this week with my going back to school, learning Google was 17 years old, and we had the first blood moon since 1982.

Love to you all.

Ciao

Jarrod

Photo 1 Getting ready for 24 hr EEG

Photo 2 Being probed

Photo 3 Visit from Cousin Tammy

Photo 4 Mummy look

Photo 5 Goofing around

Photo 6 Hectic activity in my brain……oh, and the video tapped me the whole night too

Photo 7 Sleeping bunny

Photo 8 Lauren came to visit before theatre

Photo 9 Monster in scrubs

Photo 10 Best.thing.ever! Beds with remote controls

Photo 11 Post-theatre drowsiness

Photo 12 Packed for the beach

Photo 13 Bit of a play in Bergview

Photo 14 Some jumping…..

Photo 15 On the road again

Photo 16 And beach!

Photo 17 Testing out the water

Photo 18 Loving it!

Photo 19 Swim time

Photo 20 Game of splash with Mikey

Photo 21 We spotted whales!

Photo 22 Ice cream time

Photo 23 Hard at work

Photo 24 Excavating

Photo 25 Chilling out with Grace

Photo 26 Love this little kid

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424. Infinity 3.0 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12181 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12181#respond Sun, 06 Sep 2015 16:07:03 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12181

Mom is decidedly exhausted by my ability to play and want to be played with. Continuously. Non-stop.

We have spent a lot of time trying to coordinate and categorise my room.

I have taken to playing Lego Jurassic World on Xbox and as a result have rediscovered my dinosaurs thanks to Mom having labelled the box with all my dinos. What fun I have had. All my dinos have come out to play and some more were added during the week.

I spent all of Monday, in my room playing it was great. I have new inflated flower chairs at the bottom of my bed for my chill out zone. Mom believes in different spaces for different things.

I have moved one chair to Dads study in order to keep tabs on him and make sure he works hard. And do documents and read books and just generally be in his space.

Tuesday Jadon and I and our Moms played adventure golf. Whooo hoo what fun. Initially I had my own version of fun golf, but got into the swing of things if you’ll excuse the pun. I did have two moments when I in a pique threw down the club and refused to play. The group played through and as a result I had to follow so there it was, I conformed. (Not my favourite enterprise).

We then headed off for a visit to the Crazy Store and a tea and cake with a jungle gym.

Many hours later we headed home, we were tired, but we stopped off at Gran after filling up with petrol and getting her a chai latte. I had a little gift for her. I gave her a box set of Downtown Abbey. I got a few little dino’s in a cage and went straight to setting them up. Mom found some plastic trees from a previous party decorations so I was in heaven making a scene with volcanos, trees, shrubs and Dino’s. Awesome stuff. I also managed to launch into a soliloquy of my story.

Wednesday I went for scholastic and psychometric testing. I was a superstar. I managed to work for six hours with only small breaks. Mom was so impressed she let me buy a Jurassic World Matchbox cars to add to my dino world.

Ironically Mom was exhausted and I just kept going. I helped make dinner with Dad, and showed him around the kitchen. I washed up and helped set the table. Dad and I played a game of Party Monopoly and I beat Dad hands down. I was lights out after that.

Thursday I was lucky. Mom spent the day with Michelle and the girls in Johannesburg and I had Granny around to do my bidding. Back operation or not, dedicated Gran was building train tracks with me. Once Mom was home we had dinner and far too soon the day was over.

Friday I went to OT in the morning. Mom developed a really bad tooth infection so Dad took me to the office. I helped with a whole bunch of graphics and documents.

On the way home Dad and I popped into Toy Zone, and magically Star Wars Disney Infinity 3.0 (yes, 3.0 is now available) and the starter pack for Inside Out 3.0 magically appeared in our shopping baskets. We spent the evening playing up a storm on Xbox.

Saturday we took Mom to the doctor for the soft tissue swelling in her face which has become quite a concern. It was followed by a serendipitous highlight – when we stopped to fill Dad’s car with petrol, there was a fire engine also fulling up. I immediately got chatting to the firemen and firewomen and they let me climb inside the cab. After 1000 litres of diesel the fire truck was ready to go. And lo and behold a water rescue vehicle pulled up for fuel too. A double jackpot. I got to check out the back of that vehicle with its rubber dingy, and other water rescue equipment. The team were patrolling the rivers as the rain over the past two days has caused the water levels to rise.

The afternoon was spent chilling at home.

Sunday was a little cooler, but it didn’t deter me from jumping on my trampoline and spending time outdoors.

Until next week!

Hugs

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Montecasino Bird Park

Photo 2 A photo I took

Photo 3 Friends!

Photo 4 Watching the show

Photo 5 Feeding birdies

Photo 6 Toe nibbling

Photo 7 Hello

Photo 8 Peek-a-boo

Photo 9 Flamies


Photo 10 Steep walkways make good slides

Photo 11 Some non-feathered guys at the bird park


Photo 12 Ah, shade

Photo 13 Thirsty!


Photo 14 I took this photo using Dad’s SLR

Photo 15 He wanted my lunch!

Photo 16 Bad golfing experience

Photo 17 Who needs clubs?

Photo 18 Playing through

Photo 19 Mmmmm, in the rough

Photo 20 Jadon getting ready to sink it

Photo 21 My one over par look

Photo 22 Helping Konan with some mind mapping

Photo 23 Business lunch

Photo 24 Heading home after a long day’s work

Photo 25 Firetruck!

Photo 26 Let’s go!

Photo 27 Where’s the fire?


Photo 28 And go!

Photo 29 Creating a cordon

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423. Hamleys Opening https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12150 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12150#respond Sun, 30 Aug 2015 17:00:54 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12150

We have been well into the holidays, and despite my Mom trying to get me to be technology free except for practicing school work, I have still managed to get in some Pacman on the Xbox.  

While lying on the on the bed before bedtime (I should note I have moved back to my parents room, I really don’t think they can cope without me) we were listening to different kinds of music and dad told me it was flamenco. I got my guitar and announced to the folks. “I actually speak Flamenco. While listening to Mariachi music”. Silence from the folks, mom leaves the room laughing and comes back and kisses me to within an inch of my life. 

In the meantime I lay on the bed, eyes closed like the tortured musician I am. 

Mom and I have been cleaning out my room and selling some things as Mom says to make space for more. I am really enjoying this process and am playing in my room more. In actual fact there have been some days where this is all I have done. 

Joseph and I had a play date at our place. We had lots of fun, and even more when Liya from next door arrived and I was able to lead her on the secret mission Joe and I had embarked upon.  We annihilated a number of aliens in our wake (you can thank us for that another time as they didn’t arrive in America for a change).

Our retail visits consisted of a visit to The Crazy Store to replace a toy of Joe’s that I broke.   A ton of Pick ‘n Pay visits to acquire Stikeez, regardless of the milk bread or other food. We don’t need to eat just Stikeez. Joe and I swapped some with the help of our Moms and I am now 2 away from my goal of 24.  

This does of course mean that I have photos taken with all the soft Stikeez in store. A lady at Pick ‘n Pay Woodmead was so kind and gave me 5. I ran around the shop telling all the staff. 

Of course we went to the opening of Hamleys. There was a great character parade.  Jadon and I played on the jungle gyms a bit then watched the parade and took photos. Then I made my Mom stand in queues till 7pm to buy me stuff. I got some Paw Patrol characters. Awesome. For those wanting to know Mom thought the retail strategy was very South African with the Hamleys experience. We were lucky we got things that we haven’t found in other stores. 

We went to Michelle for dinner and I had 3 helpings of pea and mint soup. Michelle is the other domestic goddess in my life. I was the oldest so my good example showed well as Neil decided my oxtail was good so we shared a plate. Dad joined us after poker, he was funny. It was a late night but I held on, I couldn’t let the old folks win. 

I took Granny and Rebecca and Mom to shop for some sewing supplies and managed to get some for myself as well!

We went to a scratch patch in Bluehills; we thought there might be a little underground tour but that is only on the weekends.  We loved playing in all the stones cold, and hard.  We ate and played on the jungle gym and we let our Moms shop a little. I then had a great session with Braam and Lauren later in the day.

Saturday while mom was on conference, I decided to get her flowers.  Dad tried to help me but I announced ‘Dad you stay outside I just need your card’. I got behind the counter, chose the ribbon, the flowers, and helped the sales assistant, who was really patient. Dad was so proud of me – I’m getting fully independent at shops and restaurants. During the course of the morning Daddy thought he found our old PO Box key from when before we moved house. We schlepped across the city and voila, it fitted. We emptied two years of mail out the box, and needless to say, after sorting it, we threw 95% of it away, Napoleon style (those of you that know your history will understand this).

As spring is on our doorstep, we readied the pool by doing a long backwash, dosing up on chemicals and making sure it is sparkly clean. Tuesday Dad and I have to do our obligatory spring swim.

Sunday was a very lazy day; I started by playing cars in my bedroom on my ‘road floor’, played lots of Playdoh, jumped on the trampoline for hours and pretended to be a dinosaur from Jurassic World, escaping to the lab. In the evening Dad and I succumbed to the call of technology and played Lego Jurassic World on the Xbox. We’ve almost finished the game already!

That’s all folks!

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Ready for its grand opening

Photo 2 Looking sharp

Photo 3 Hectic

Photo 4 Yoda and Darth Vader. Side-by-side!

Photo 5 Fanfare

Photo 6 Hamley man!

Photo 7 Hamleys’ ragdoll

Photo 8 Ironman!

Photo 9 Optimus Prime

Photo 10 Batman

Photo 11 Scratch patch snow-angels

Photo 12 Loving it!

Photo 13 Go-cart races

Photo 14 Jumping castle

Photo 15 Negotiating for additional Stikeez

Photo 16 Happiness

Photo 17 Dad and I playing Xbox

Photo 18 Two more to go – Frog and Cow

Photo 19 Dad thought it would be funny to tag me with a radio strip – couldn’t leave the pharmacy

Photo 20 Met Alien Stikeez

Photo 21 Flowers for Mom

Photo 22 My first time to a Pizza Hut

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422. King of The One Liners…. Dun, dun, dun! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12124 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12124#comments Sun, 23 Aug 2015 17:52:07 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12124 Hi all!

Suffice it to say that in absolute totality Jarrod is the absolute definitive when it comes to one liners. He picks them up everywhere. There are moments I wonder if I am not paying enough attention or my ‘net nanny’ is not working.

I should mention that due to Eishkom having a few power outages a while back, we have resorted to streaming most of our movies and have great fun ‘camping’ out. I took out the candelabra the other night, as Norwin is putting in serious hours at the office, so I left the candles on to light the way. As we finished dinner, Jarrod announced… “This is the only way dinner should be eaten”. Needless to say the candelabra have stayed on the dining room table.

Jarrod announced to my Mom the one evening, “Gran I really like my tea more orange”. Given that Rooibos tea is orange, we assume he meant stronger.

Every time I enter the room when the boys are playing xBox or just surfing the web, I get … “The mothership has landed! Dun dun dun”, to which I leave and have a momentary breakdown as I laugh so much it hurts.

A disagreement over the particular taste of grapefruit, now being referred to as ‘the grapefruit incident’, resulted in no comment but a priceless face. It had to be included for posterity sake.

“I went to look for my white medicine today in my bag Mom, it wasn’t there”… Oops he obviously had a headache and resorted to the icepack. This is a good and a bad thing, he didn’t want anyone to know so thought he would self-medicate. This particular one was a little concerning. Maybe allowing too much freedom in his own treatment methods.

Singing “We will, we will rob you!” Ok we all know it should be “rock you”, but we are not sure if living in Gauteng is taking its toll. Do you think it means Rob You … for real? Another special one… “Lynnie, is that for real?”

Obviously, we refer to the reference information hierarchy in our house.

  1. Dad (because “Dad knows everything”)
  2. Google
  3. Wikipedia
  4. The Internet
  5. Mom

He arrived at my side one afternoon and asked me what OMG meant. I asked why and he said ‘people’ i.e. The HobbyKids Channel on YouTube use it. I explained what it stood for and asked him if he felt this might offend God if we used the term. He decided offending God didn’t sound like a good idea, no there was no talk of fire and brimstone in the conversation. He asked what he could use as an alternative so I suggested OMW. Well every time he discovers something or does something it involves a flypast of energy in a ball dressed like Jarrod saying “Oh em double u” (OMW). On the odd occasion it comes in a full “Oh My Word!”. Or alternatively via Apple autocorrect “On my way!” It’s another favourite of Jarrod’s.

The little nutter has a larger than life approach to toys. He introduces them, and describes them with a passion, it’s awesome. He apparently does a lot of teaching at school, encouraging the kids to touch, feel, experience whatever it is that he is doing. He uses a whiteboard and this resulted in all the kids needing whiteboards.

They had a Grandparents day and he was apparently very “nervous”… He bravely came forward and announced himself, and said what he had to say. Ironically he was the only child in 3 grades to say something different to ‘my granny gives me sweets’. Jarrod likes his Granny because she reads to him and watches TV with him. Thanks Nina for this one… he has a box of sweets but never eats them. They never get old as Norwin and I see to that… hence him in innocence saying to us… I am so glad you can be up here.

Jarrod, being slightly too big for his boots, has learned to negotiate quite effectively with one liners. Clearly business talk he hears around the house.

“So what you’re saying is that….” Followed by the usual, if I brush my teeth you’ll get me two (2) toys… HUH, no Jay-Bee you’ll get your daily allowance for all the things you need to do in a day and then you can get yourself a toy…

It has begun to apply to Food, Homework, Snacks, Broccoli in particular and staying up late, playing xBox, having playdates. I have a sneaky suspicion that I am losing the battle with great gusto, as I feel something is wrong, but I’m never sure what it is. Regardless of my age I feel outplayed.

The latest one liners, are either just to see if I’ll laugh, or cry. I am convinced of a conspiracy.

“Please carry me up the stairs Mom, I’m itchy”

Jay-Bee when last did you eat, you’re getting a little ratty, “I don’t know… days ago?” “Could you get me something to eat right now?” SIGH! Jay-Bee please don’t jump on the trampoline with half a chicken in your mouth… Kiddo, sticking his fingers down his throat to ensure it goes faster. SIGH!

Jay-Bee you have a bit of a heat rash, is your T-shirt itchy… “No, no, no, Mom it’s alright that’s just my six pack!”

NunuFroggie, asks my how to spell my name one night, and phones me from Norwin’s phone whilst sitting next to me in bed, I answer out of what I am not sure… some sense of duty perhaps. Mom: Hello?… Jarrod: Hello! I know you’re there. Mom: What’s up Jay-Bee? Suddenly he disappears – Dad: Jarrod are you having a wee with my phone, Mom: Jay-Bee are you in the bathroom? Jarrod: how do you know? Mom: You’re on the phone to me. Jarrod: Rig….ht!. Dad: Jarrod please don’t drop my phone. Mom: let’s not spook him otherwise we’ll be fishing it out the toilet. Jarrod: what’s in the toilet that needs fishing out? Dad: Jarrod, wash your hands, flush the toilet. Jarrod: How did you know? Mom: you’re on the phone to me. JARROD. BRING ME DAD’S PHONE NOW!… Jarrod: Hi Lynnie, what’s wrong, are you cross? SIGH, Please go flush the toilet and wash your hands. Jarrod: How did you know? Mom: you were on the phone to me!

I had the giggles and had to fake sincerity for the parenting parts.

Dad: “You’re really quiet Jarrod, I am suspicious.” Jarrod: “Not to worry I am just sitting on my bed teaching myself to read”. Sigh. So much for the oppositional, defiant label.

On the tech front, Jarrod came out understanding so much stuff, I am sure that kids today are wired differently. Norwin and I were discussing the backing up of data. From the peanut gallery came the almighty comment…. Dun dun dun…

“Oh just do what I do… keep it on my blog in the iCloud.” Norwin and I were stunned to silence; no more needed be said.

Norwin loves music and is always streaming the most popular songs from Apple Music in his car. He comes home with Jarrod in tow the other day and announces he’s been banned from listening to Taylor Swift, in his own car, by Jarrod, because she sings ‘OMG’ – well at least he is listening to us.

One morning I hear Jarrod saying to Norwin “You know the girl with two unicorn hairs in my class…” He clearly meant the straight double ponytail she sports.

Last but not least Jay-Bee has taken to ‘cleaning’ and I really use the term very loosely. He was sweeping up some Playdoh when he in all innocence pipes up “I can’t get these little pieces of Playdoh with the broom, so I’ll just sweep them under the carpet!”

Speak soon

Love

Lynn

Video One – I like my Granny (click here)

Video Two – Flip-charting for Dad (click here)

Photo 1 The King of One Liners thinking of his next quip

Photo 2 Holding Grace

Photo 3 Inspiration for one-liners

Photo 4 With the girls at Papachinos before it became Ri’streto

Photo 5 No comment…….

Photo 6 My cousins! Ryan and Tammy

Photo 7 Laundering something

Photo 8 Hugging Zeus

Photo 9 Minion!

Photo 10 Love Minions!

Photo 11 Who says I don’t offer a helping hand?

Photo 12 Missy has become addicted to playing with hair bands

Photo 13 Playing Xbox. Up-side-down

Photo 14 The ‘Grapefruit Incident’

Photo 15 Happiness

Photo 16 At Prestige movies to see Pixels – really have no words…..

Photo 17 Not afraid of Pac-Man

Photo 18 Jayden and I at the Lego Show

Photo 19 Professor Jay-Bee

Photo 20 And again…..

Photo 21 I call this ‘Lazy day with cat’

Photo 22 Love puzzle

Photo 23 Boy with a balloon heart on Mommy’s arm

Photo 24 The ‘sweeping under the carpet’ incident

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First Week of Holiday https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12093 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12093#comments Sun, 16 Aug 2015 19:18:46 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12093 The first day of Semester break is a Tuesday, can you believe that. We had a public holiday on Monday.

It was a good Monday, firstly Mom took me to get a new xBox game for the holidays as a treat for an excellent report. Ha Ha, tricked her didn’t I? I got Lego instead, so Mom had to build it much to my delight, and much to Mom’s delight, I broke it down and repurposed it shortly after. We went for a great lunch at the @woolworths café in Morningside. I got a smoothie and hotdog.

I am feeling quite under the weather so fell asleep at about 6, I believe. Dad was out for the evening for a work function and entertained us when he arrived home.

Tuesday morning Mom had an appointment in Victory Park, so we decided to use the opportunity to go to the Delta Park and have some fun. Mom said she was a bit sad it was a little run down. The bridges were broken and large cracks had developed. I needed to get home as I had a headache and that was that. We had a quick ride around the car park and watered the garden and took the dogs for a short walk/play. It will soon become time for me to relinquish my well ridden bike and trike, for a larger sort. Mom is excited by this but I am not, I hate change. Also I am starting to lose control of the left leg again, which means I need BOTOX. Mom says she will schedule it. I am not happy about that either, not really.

Dad had a client function late on Tuesday so Mom and I showered early and hopped into bed to read a number of books and poems. I am really good with rhyming and rhythm but Mom says that phonics and some other big words are important for my speech development. It’s even worse with the cold I have.

Wednesday Mom and I agreed, that I would rest for the day, in an attempt to get rid of this cold that is plaguing me. I actually even had a nap which impressed Mom.

Thursday Granny and Mom and I went to Pick ‘n Pay in order to get a mop… Mom decided to do the weekly shop at the same time. I was under the impression that the new Stikeez campaign meant you could buy the 24 characters. Noooooo! This resulted in me running shrieking through the shop with Mom whistling for me every 5 minutes. It turned out I would only get one for every R150 purchase. I realised she was very stressed about me running off. Eventually I was tasked with finding specials that resulted in additional Stikeez. I was sooooo excited, that the staff were even thrilled that I had gotten these little toys.

Granny gave me her Stikeez and that was just as awesome. When we got home Dad was home, also recovering from the cold and flu plaguing Johannesburg at the moment. We opened them with great excitement. I gave Sarah’s little boy all my doubles. I had my first adventure with them, introducing them to their new home. I then had a pool party with them in the basin, ‘with the plug in Mom, so they didn’t go down the drain’. Mom and Dad helped by entertaining the twitterverse with the escapades of my little friends. We got a negative comment from someone saying they’re a waste and showed go to charity, but Mom and Dad suggest that I continue with the adventures as its fun, and it’s fun for no reason but it’s fun.

Later in the day, after I charged my iPad, I went straight to finding Stikeez on the internet. Whooo hooo. They are everywhere and made by a holding company in Oregon. I guess Mom and Dad will have to open an account with an international place, to do my latest buying. For some reason they won’t give me the passwords or the credit card details. I think this is totally short-sighted.

Friday consisted of Granny looking after me, while Mom ran some errands. We missed Lauren and Braam this week, due to illness. We then headed off to the Montrose Nursery, which has a delightful coffee shop and play area, small and functional. Mom needed an hour nap due to the dentist visit in the morning, so I kept myself busy with Busy Books for the hour. We then headed off to Colleen for a playdate with Ryan and Joseph. We were quite the team today and the Mom’s didn’t have to intervene as often as usual. Mom’s new Child Welfare diary arrived. Apparently it’s only for 2016, but I was excited about this too and ripped off the plastic cover. Everyone who is superstitious at this point, breathe!

Unfortunately I broke Joseph’s new sword by playing golf with it. Note to self… the virtues of play golf with a sword are not for the feint hearted. I need to procure him one at my own cost. Overheads are getting tough even for a 7 year old these days. We headed home really late. Dad was already home and we got right down to playing xBox.

The Maximillen Restaurant was the next stop for me and my Stikeez this week. We had a phenomenal breakfast made with such love and attention we felt really special. The staff know Dad quite well as he works from here often. I was made a personal pancake with all the trimmings and a delightful egg and salmon dish. Wonderfully satiated we went for a walk around. Exclusive Books Sandton Square is closing and they had a 75% off sale. Dad and I stayed well away as Michelle and Mom got this look about them and were like Zombies in the kids section and coffee table books which they share a love for. Scary. I didn’t come out of the ordeal badly though. I got a Thor comic book and 5 poem and joke books. Mom got three drawing books, one from Michelle and it was really cool as later in the evening we drew and listened to music. Dad chose the music and Mom taught me to count a ‘beat’ out on my drums. Who knew she had this up her sleeve. My folks have decided I am a tortured artist, but I will leave you to judge from the pictures. Post. Script. on this point, Mom was right about the guitar not being a good option for me yet.

Liya also came to play and we dressed up and watched TV and played xBox. What an awesome-sauras-rex day.

Sunday was relaxed and chilled. Dad went to work for a while. We stayed home with our various pursuits. It was a recharge day. Great day. Great week. 3.5 more weeks to go.

Luv to ya all.

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Dad reading to me over lunch

Photo 2 Loving it

Photo 3 My old haunt – Delta Park

Photo 4 Fed-up with my running nose I plastered a Peppa Pig tissue on my face

Photo 5 Helping Dad with some work while he’s on a conference call

Photo 6 Riding in the visitor’s parking

Photo 7 Running up a shopping bill to get many Stikeez

Photo 8 Opening my Stikeez

Photo 9 My first batch

Photo 10 Stikeez pool party

Photo 11 Alien Stikeez

Photo 12 Playdate with Ryan and Joseph

Photo 13 Loving breakfast

Photo 14 Chatting

Photo 15 Stikeez and a pancake treat

Photo 16 Stikeez checking out Sandton

Photo 17 Reading at Exclusive Books

Photo 18 Lying on Dad listening to and playing music

Photo 19 Jammin’

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In the words of a 7 year old . . . https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12059 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=12059#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2015 22:45:41 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=12059

Warning: Mom doing diary writing….

Jarrod is presently on the trampoline in handcuffs (not the parents doing) jumping and screaming like a ‘monster’, it is left to me to inform you of the last few weeks.

With warnings issued and due diligence (i.e. Jarrod is now 7) achieved, let me tell you a little of the developments over the last few weeks.

Jarrod’s obsession with sharks continues as he continues to demonstrate his ability to take in information and dispense it at his own will. Jarrod returned to Fastrackids about 2 months ago to finish Grade R and secure him a place for the new year.

This was on desperate and pleading from the child. He is in love with his teacher and very happy in his class. 2 boys, 4 girls, he is still the instigator of much mischief and misguided adventures. Maddi, his teacher is divine, and having spoken to her a lot found out that one of her secondary study subjects was criminology… To be honest sounds like the perfect combination for Jarrod and his posse.

Jarrod in the last two months has learned to write his numbers to 20, do sums to the same amount and start reading.

Jarrod however is presently learning the consequence of making one’s own decisions. His desire to go back to FTK was nothing short of miraculous for us as his parents, and since he has been forced to actually work he has been trying to come back to Jay-Bee Academy. We do Jay-Bee Academy every afternoon, so we still do extra work, much to the disgust of my child.

I have taken to calling him quirky as he, much like his father is capable of multitasking to the nth degree. A couple of days back he was singing a song SAY SOMETHING…. Quite in tune and playing Lego whilst watching TV. This is something which happens often, but sometimes it’s just too much for me. I grabbed the child by the shoulders and asked, no, begged him to give me a break as I was suffering intensely with information overload. His response… “OK Mom, but am I still cute?” Oh YES Jay-Bee you’re supercute… whew! About 30 seconds later my child was running up the stairs, clicking his fingers singing, I am cute, I am cute.

At school some evangelistic work was taking place between the kids and Jarrod arrived home asking… Read me Jesus, Huh? Read me Jesus. (Bad parents) okay I say slowly and go off to find a book of Bible stories. Intrigued by the whole concept I start asking questions, who was talking about it at school, what did he learn about Jesus… we must pray, I’ll get Dad… Oh Jay-Bee, maybe don’t get Dad, I’m not sure if he would be happy about this. In a moment of pure unadulterated drama, my child in front of my dropped to his knees, put his arms up in the air, brought them down to a praying position and announces, “Dear God I am so sorry Daddy does not believe in you….” OMW. Did that really just happen?

Every night Norwin and I get quizzed about the Megaladon Prehistoric shark. He is capable of getting Discovery Channel info on YouTube, but I think he has fun seeing who can or can’t answer the questions posed to them. He on some level still believes in the depths of the Marianas Trench this shark still exists, but the hammerhead is a close second and he has two sharks that sleep with us and him every night. One a hammerhead his size. The other a cutie he got for his birthday. He announced to me one afternoon last week… didn’t I think that some countries were really inconsiderate in not having nets and sonic devices to repel sharks safely… they are endangered you know.

Which brings us to one wild 7 year old party, all shark themed. I had such special help. Firstly thank you to Pinterest, secondly Jen, who provided a great many items and ideas and Michelle who artistically turned them into reality with her skills.

We covered the floor with bubble wrap, this was sea and foam, we made Jelly Fish and lantern sharks and little coral pieces hanging around. We that is Jarrod and I decorated with uncontrolled delight, especially when the cats turned on the bubble wrap and carried on all night popping them. Jarrod in his sleep giggled hysterically, me thinking he was in dreamland made no comment but he opened his eyes put his arm around mine and said ”if the cats are enjoying it, it going to be a great party!”

Oh well I am going to have to watch what we say after he has gone to sleep.

His party was a bit of a riot, we had one little one riding a dolphin, saving them, 8 other kids were screaming around a room inside as we are experiencing a late icy winter. One adult announced at the end of the party that the noise level was the same with 3 and with 8…

Jarrod was in top form and when he saw Aunty Kim, he asked her, “Do you recognise me? I haven’t seen you for so long!” Wow ok then. Thank you to everyone who spoiled him and wished him via all electronic and non-electronic media. Thank you’s are in the post.

Jarrod has sprouted again coincidentally near his birthday and I feel like I’m buying new long trousers every week. He has become quite the snazzy dresser and chooses his clothes at night to wear the next day. He often changes his mind in the morning, and in the afternoon and in the evening.

Granny is staying with us for a while as she recovers from back surgery. Jarrod finds this such a novelty. Today he took a great big cardboard car into her room and cleaned it there. I don’t know why, please don’t ask. He is still very cute.

He ran his bath, bathed, dressed and announced he was off to Granny for a story. He has very quickly moved from younger books to books like Artemis Fowl and Space Collection. My orbitrek has been turned into a space ship.

Coming up in his world are a 24 hour EEG in hospital, we’re planning on entertaining the staff of either Sandton or Sunninghill.

Some work on a tooth that doesn’t look happy.

Some psychometric testing and a few other minor things.

He will need some speech therapy.

We are giving Jarrod a bridging course of an anti-anxiety drug while he learns his own skills. Really, I think he knows his own power. It does help him get to school in the morning and believe he can do the work and doesn’t make him into a Zombie at all, so we’re happy with the outcome.

He has cognitively and emotionally, come really far in the last 6 months… For a kid that had no chance at birth, he has spent the last 7 years entertaining me and making me wonder about the universe. All his therapists are very happy with the outcomes we are achieving every day. He is super cute.

He is presently rolling on the ground fighting a shark, asking me for help. He has just come to ask why I am taking so long, and what Norwin is doing on his laptop and now he’s gone to play Xbox, now he’s singing…

“There is a star wars (queue star wars music sang by JayBee) Xbox…. Can we pre-order it? And so it goes, minute by minute, without a breath!

Til next time,

Lynn

Photo 1 ‘Bubbles’ arrived for my underwater scene

Photo 2 Boxes are great

Photo 3 Mickey enjoying the winter sun

Photo 4 Working at The Maslow

Photo 5 Dad and I having a ‘meeting’

Photo 6 Toy choosing with money Aunty Birgitt and Uncle Wayne sent

Photo 7 First birthday present

Photo 8 What security? This is how I get into school

Photo 9 Walking downstairs on my birthday

Photo 10 Ooooooo

These are selfies I took on the way to school…

My party at school….

Hard at play….

Shark party!!!!

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419. Operation J7 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11937 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11937#comments Sun, 14 Jun 2015 16:38:56 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11937

Hi everyone!

Excitement is mounting around the house as preparations are being undertaken for my birthday this weekend. I’ve decided on the ‘logo’ J7 (Jarrod is Seven) for the operations leading up to my big day. Commander in Chief Mom is feverishly working on the details and arrangements for my party. Lots of party type stuff has been bought and despite my best efforts to start ‘decorating’ Mom has forbade me from going near any of that stuff. Also I’ve noticed that I’m being kept out of the basement storeroom. Mom and Dad didn’t think I noticed, but I did. I won’t spoil it for them, but I know all my presents are in there.

The theme I’ve opted for this year is sharks. No not the sports team, just sharks in general. Since my visit to the Kwa-Zulu Natal Sharks Board I’m fascinated with these creatures, spending hours learning about them and understanding them. My favourite shark is Hammy the Hammer Head, the plush toy from the Sharks Board, but the Megalodon, which is now extinct, comes a close second.

School has been going well, albeit I battle from time to time. Teacher Madi is very patient with me, and I often come home with sterling work to show off to Mom and Dad.

The weather has turned freezing cold, but I guess that’s not uncalled for given we are in the middle of winter now. We even had a little rain last week.

Granny, who has been staying with us on and off for the past four weeks owing to excruciating back pain is scheduled for surgery on Thursday morning. Please keep her in your thoughts.

Love,

Still six year old Jay-Bee!

Photo 1 Some of my school work from back in May

Photo 2 Hanging out in my hammock

Photo 3 Copywriting is looking good

Photo 4 I’m even doing some maths

Photo 5 Mazes, an old favourite

Photo 6 Sweetie picnic on the bed

Photo 7 Wearing my new glasses

Photo 8 Being cute

Photo 9 Frozen yoghurts with Dad while Mom and Tammy are at the ballet

Photo 10 This is me

Photo 11 Tammy came to visit Granny

Photo 12 Working hard

Photo 13 Painting at the Color Café

Photo 14 Taking a break

Photo 15 Creating a pizza plate

Photo 16 Playing on the huge iPad at McDonalds

Photo 17 Met these two fellow at the Mushroom Farm Park

Photo 18 Don’t tell Dad I put this pic in – I happen to know these are my birthday pressies

Photo 19 Today EVERYONE is in the Bat Cave

Photo 20 Some good work

Photo 21 Dad and I spotted this beast at Papachinos and we really want it!

Photo 22 Piazza time

Photo 23 Stunt man

Photo 24 My hairdresser has an iPad friendly apron!

Photo 25 Looking cool

Photo 26 Furball

Photo 27 Visiting our old Wimpy in Ferndale

Photo 28 Cheesy pizza at Color Café

Photo 29 The pizza plate Dad painted – can’t wait to see it glazed

Photo 30 Prof Jay-Bee

Photo 31 Bespectacled Iron Man

Photo 32 Its onsie weather

Photo 33 Pizzas with Dad

Photo 34 Working at school

Photo 35 Picnic in the park

Photo 36 Volcano

Photo 37 Riding

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418. Specs and Trials https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11884 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11884#comments Sun, 10 May 2015 16:48:47 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11884

Hi everyone!

It’s been an interesting week for me with two developments.

Early in the week I went to an optometrist which Lauren had recommended, who specialises in children with difficulties. I received a sterling report from her regards my confidence, intelligence and focus. However she did notice a few issues, one being that I move my whole head rather than just my eyes. I’m also a master at avoiding tasks! But she did note that I held good eye contact when I spoke, and that I was really talkative (no surprises there). I achieved above average on most of the tests, so Mom and Dad were super thrilled and proud of me.

The issues that were noted though are that I have a stigmatism in my right eye. I can’t do near 3D focusing very well (stereopsis) which is what I need for reading – as a result of this condition any text that I look at in a book appears to constantly change. I tire easily when I do near field tasks, something that we’ve known for a while, but at least we know now what is causing it. I’m also going to be getting prescription glasses for reading and near field work, which will start to help with letters juggling around. I chose a cool set of Lighting McQueen frames.

What was really awesome was how complimentary the optometrist was about how well Mom had done with helping me learn and work with me. I was so thrilled and proud of Mom.

Another major development for me this week was that I started school at FasTracKids again, but only on a trial basis. I was thrilled! Thursday morning Mom and Dad both came to school with me to see me off and ensure I settle in. It was super easy for me and when I was collected in the afternoon my new teacher was full of praise for me.

Friday morning I had to go to Lauren before going to school, so I would arrive late. I was so distraught and complained bitterly that I’d be late for school. Needless to say this was a big change for me as ordinarily in the past the slightest excuse to miss or arrive late at school I would utilise to the maximum. Although the teacher did say I was a little less cooperative on Friday. Perhaps the novelty wore off for me really quickly. Let’s see what tomorrow holds. Incidentally I was quite sad that I didn’t have school yesterday and today, being the weekend. But I’m sure that feeling will leave me tomorrow morning!

Happy Mother’s Day to my awesome Mommy!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Playing with autumn leaves at the Mushroom Farm Park

Photo 2 I think I’m messing up someone’s work

Photo 3 Triking with Mischka

Photo 4 Having fun

Photo 5 Studying my new Minecraft book to build better

Photo 6 My Minecraft characters (IRL)

Photo 7 Some of my Minecraft creations

Photo 8 Thursday evening Granny made me a ‘great first day at school’ picnic

Photo 9 Yum!

Photo 10 End of week frozen yoghurt with Mom

Photo 11 Life is good

Photo 12 Swinging at Mushroom Farm Park

 

Photo 13 My sneaking up to an ibis didn’t work

Photo 14 I made a whip out of a willow branch

Photo 15 Which I then used to fish with!

Photo 16 Practicing with my 3D Movie glasses

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417. Beach Time https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11862 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11862#comments Sun, 03 May 2015 19:25:31 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11862 Hi everyone!

We’ve just come home from a wonderful week at Umhlanga. I love my beach holidays and as I’m getting older I’m doing more and more exciting things. Michelle and the two girls, Liya and Emma also joined us, so there was always some play and fun going on.

Besides our usual of building sand castles and swimming in the sea and the pool, we also went to the Kwa-Zulu Natal Sharks Board, which was a first for me. We watched an awesome video on sharks, and then a juvenile hammer head was dissected for us. During the dissection the presenters showed us all shark’s organs and how they differ from ours, as well as a few extra ones, such as the organ in their noses that sense electrical impulses. I was fascinated.

While at Umhlanga Sands we participated in the usual family bring and braais to get to meet and chat to the other holiday makers. We also went up to the Gateway on the one overcast day to play at Mr Funtubbles – we all loved it and had a rave of a time.

Sadly all of us came down with colds so we did spend a bit of our holiday not feeling too great.

The day before going on holiday Dad took me to Lauren for OT. The super exciting news is that I wrote my whole name in full and correctly. Everyone was super thrilled. Afterward Dad took me to his offices – a visit I always enjoy.

The last bit of exciting news is that Daddy is starting a new job tomorrow. I’m super excited for him, and keep saying May the Fourth Be With You!

Lots of hugs and kisses,

Jarrod

Video 1 Slow-mo jump across hole in beach (click here)

Video 2 Slow-mo boat tug ride (click here)

Video 3 Rocking the tug boat (click here)

Video 4 Time lapse on carousel (click here)

Video 5 Slow-mo on carousel (click here)

Photo 1 Rhino getting a treat – a whole strawberry

Photo 2 Liah and I set up a chocolate milkshake stand

Photo 3 Dad and I love playing Junior Monopoly

Photo 4 Getting busy

Photo 5 Some colouring in

Photo 6 Spiderman onesie

Photo 7 Hi!

Photo 8 Some giggles

Photo 9 Climbing

Photo 10 Toy shopping, my favourite pastime

Photo 11 Blow-drying and combing my own hair

Photo 12 Missy keeping a close eye on my Lego building

Photo 13 I built a lab

Photo 14 Giving Dad a lecture on how to travel to California to capture klepo-kitty (see here)

Photo 15 Meeting baby Grace

Photo 16 Playing with the girls

Photo 17 Stopping for a chat

Photo 18 Being a big boy

Photo 19 Ooooooooo, new stock at Toy Zone

Photo 20 Lego Ninjago character

Photo 21 Dad super excited that he can pay for lunch with just his cellphone

Photo 22 My name!!!!

Photo 23 Working

Photo 24 Making some calls

Photo 25 Road trip!

Photo 26 Snacking

Photo 27 Staying hydrated

Photo 28 Beach time!

Photo 29 Loving it

Photo 30 Busy with Dad

Photo 31 In a hole

Photo 32 The city we built

Photo 33 Making friends on the beach – here Danny is helping to build

Photo 34 Chocolate cake at Vovo Telo

Photo 35 #NouGaanOnsBraai

Photo 36 Day 1 at the beach done

Photo 37 Jogging on the shore

Photo 38 Mom, me and the girls

Photo 39 Building with Liya

Photo 40 Michelle’s city

Photo 41 Emma and Liya hard at work

Photo 42 Making tea and coffee

Photo 43 Liya, Jamie and Emma

Photo 44 Liya building

Photo 45 Emma collecting water

Photo 46 At the reptile show

Photo 47 Sunrise

Photo 48 Poolside

Photo 49 More braai’ing

Photo 50 Liya won a bunch of tickets

Photo 51 Air hockey with Liya

Photo 52 Air hockey with Emma

Photo 53 Shark I drew

Photo 54 We spotted dolphins

Photo 55 At the Gateway

Photo 56 Bumper cars

Photo 57 Mom getting involved

Photo 58 Riding the tug boat

Photo 59 Michelle with Emma and Liya

Photo 60 Hard at work

Photo 61 Dad made a really deep hole

Photo 62 And then Dad buried me!

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416. Happy Easter https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11772 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11772#respond Mon, 06 Apr 2015 16:56:11 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11772

Hi everyone!

Even though it’s already a day after Easter my fingers are still sticky with chocolate from my huge haul this year! Because it rained the night before Easter, the Easter Bunny hid all my goodies in the house. There were a tonne of balloons in the lounge that I had to wade through to get to my goodies. The balloons afterwards proved to be good swords for some swashbuckling with Dad, and then Mom put all the remaining balloons on the trampoline where I’ve been bouncing around with them.

Since my last blog things have been pretty routine; visits to Granny, Granny visiting me, shopping, seeing Lauren and Braam for therapy, and movies. The last movie is saw was Home, about Oh the Boov. It is a stunning movie and I was enthralled with it. Another really exciting thing was to go on the Acrobranch Park in Melrose for Jadon’s birthday party. It was such fun climbing and zipping along the cables, though I must admit some parts were scary.

Photo 1 Rhino flying on Baymax – Big Hero 6 style

Photo 2 Furniture shopping with Mom

Photo 3 Comfy

Photo 4 Paddle pop in bed before bedtime

Photo 5 Mickey visiting Jay-Bee Academy

Photo 6 Mickey later in the day…..

Photo 7 My modern art

Photo 8 Spongebob Squarepant Legos

Photo 9 Exploring before Acrobranch

Photo 10 Off to get our kit

Photo 11 Put your right foot forward

Photo 12 Stepping into the harness

Photo 13 Expert climber in the house

Photo 14 Heading out

Photo 15 Instruction time

Photo 16 Birthday boy Jadon shows us how

Photo 17 My turn

Photo 18 Cool as a cucumber

Photo 19 Safety first

Photo 20 Bootcamp? I thought we’re having a party!

Photo 21 Zip line!

Photo 22 Concentrating

Photo 23 Made it

Photo 24 And some sword fighting

Photo 25 Exploring

Photo 26 Ninja time!

Photo 27 Hugs with Dad

Photo 28 Dad and I

Photo 29 In the dog house!

Photo 30 Playing with the bunnies

Photo 31 Feeding the bunnies

Photo 32 Holding a guinea pig

Photo 33 Making friends with an albino constrictor

Photo 34 Stopping to smell the flowers

Photo 35 Surprise

Photo 36 Some climbing

Photo 37 Down the fire pole

Photo 38 Skinny dipping at Granny’s old place

Photo 39 Having a playdate with Michael and to meet his new little sister Grace!

Photo 40 Mommy helping Grace with a wind – we heard it upstairs!

Photo 41 Launching a love-attack on Mickey!

Photo 42 Creative with Legos

Photo 43 Loved the movie Home

Photo 44 An excellent start to the Easter Egg Hunt

Photo 45 Missy gets involved

Photo 46 Eggs in the balloons

Photo 47 Icing cup-cakes at Yeesh

Photo 48 Balloon bouncing

Photo 49 Threatening to swim!

Photo 50 Hoses and pools go hand-in-hand

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Happy Easter https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11705 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11705#respond Mon, 06 Apr 2015 16:15:21 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11705

Hi everyone!

Even though it’s already a day after Easter my fingers are still sticky with chocolate from my huge haul this year! Because it rained the night before Easter, the Easter Bunny hid all my goodies in the house. There were a tonne of balloons in the lounge that I had to wade through to get to my goodies. The balloons afterwards proved to be good swords for some swashbuckling with Dad, and then Mom put all the remaining balloons on the trampoline where I’ve been bouncing around with them.

Since my last blog things have been pretty routine; visits to Granny, Granny visiting me, shopping, seeing Lauren and Braam for therapy, and movies. The last movie is saw was Home, about Oh the Boov. It is a stunning movie and I was enthralled with it. Another really exciting thing was to go on the Acrobranch Park in Melrose for Jadon’s birthday party. It was such fun climbing and zipping along the cables, though I must admit some parts were scary.

Photo 1 Rhino flying on Baymax – Big Hero 6 style

Photo 2 Furniture shopping with Mom

Photo 3 Comfy

Photo 4 Paddle pop in bed before bedtime

Photo 5 Mickey visiting Jay-Bee Academy

Photo 6 Mickey later in the day…..

Photo 7 My modern art

Photo 8 Spongebob Squarepant Legos

Photo 9 Exploring before Acrobranch

Photo 10 Off to get our kit

Photo 11 Put your right foot forward

Photo 12 Stepping into the harness

Photo 13 Expert climber in the house

Photo 14 Heading out

Photo 15 Instruction time

Photo 16 Birthday boy Jadon shows us how

Photo 17 My turn

Photo 18 Cool as a cucumber

Photo 19 Safety first

Photo 20 Bootcamp? I thought we’re having a party!

Photo 21 Zip line!

Photo 22 Concentrating

Photo 23 Made it

Photo 24 And some sword fighting

Photo 25 Exploring

Photo 26 Ninja time!

Photo 27 Hugs with Dad

Photo 28 Dad and I

Photo 29 In the dog house!

Photo 30 Playing with the bunnies

Photo 31 Feeding the bunnies

Photo 32 Holding a guinea pig

Photo 33 Making friends with an albino constrictor

Photo 34 Stopping to smell the flowers

Photo 35 Surprise

Photo 36 Some climbing

Photo 37 Down the fire pole

Photo 38 Skinny dipping at Granny’s old place

Photo 39 Having a playdate with Michael and to meet his new little sister Grace!

Photo 40 Mommy helping Grace with a wind – we heard it upstairs!

Photo 41 Launching a love-attack on Mickey!

Photo 42 Creative with Legos

Photo 43 Loved the movie Home

Photo 44 An excellent start to the Easter Egg Hunt

Photo 45 Missy gets involved

Photo 46 Eggs in the balloons

Photo 47 Icing cup-cakes at Yeesh

Photo 48 Balloon bouncing

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415. Some Direction! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11690 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11690#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2015 16:50:01 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11690

Hi everyone!

So early this morning Granny arrived to look after me as Mom and Dad were heading off to Unitas to meet Dr Winter, the radio-intervention surgeon that took over from Prof Fourie.

I was thrilled to spend time with Granny, but at the same time I would’ve liked to have been with Mom and Dad to hear the info first hand, even if Mom and Dad don’t think that wise! (Truth is I understand why I don’t go on these appointments anymore – it’s because I’m so charming, so busy, and wreaking so much havoc that Mom and Dad don’t get anything constructive out of the meetings!)

Granny did her best to keep me busy for the morning to ensure my mind isn’t on the meeting Mom and Dad were at, and it felt like forever when they finally returned at midday.

Mom and Dad report it was a good meeting, and judging by the looks on their faces they felt relief. I must be honest – it was the first time in a very long time that their worry lines weren’t as deep as usual, and their tired shoulders had perked up a bit.

This is what was told me:

  • My AVM is still present, and two fistulas are clearly visible
  • Having said that, there is no immediate need or urgency for them to be closed
  • The flow through the carotid arteries is good which was always a concern
  • Whilst the venous drainage is definitely compromised, it doesn’t pose too much of a risk, as blood finds a way to leave the brain. If it was the arterial system that was compromised it would be very problematic
  • Although I’ve lost white brain matter, it’s not significant enough to be of concern
  • There is evidence of many sulci and gyri (the sulcus are the crevices in the brain, and the gyrus are the ridges). The reason this is positive it that it means I am clever (these folds do indicate brain capability) but more importantly there isn’t pressure inside the brain, forcing the cerebral cortex flat against the skull, causing the sulci and gyri from disappearing. Imagine a balloon being inflated inside a ball – it will try and fill all the space as it expands outwards. Because my brain isn’t being pushed outwards from pressure, there are many folds
  • There is no immediate need for me to have a (dangerous) angiogram to see more evidence of the AVM – the MRI is sufficiently detailed to see enough of the anatomy of the brain for there not to be too much concern
  • Because of my age (i.e. young) any damage in the brain could be compensated for elsewhere; an advantage adults don’t have – consider older stroke victims who actually lose capabilities. In my case there is no clear sign of deficits – in all likelihood my regression may be behavioural given the trauma I have been through.

Dr Winter has said that the next step is to take my case for peer review, which will be in August. There are a few more specialists in South Africa now, and there is a possibility that Dr George Rodesch from Paris will be here in August for the peer review.

Essentially the peer review revolves around all the doctors reviewing my case, and based on their collective knowledge and experience, the next steps will be decided. Since I’ll be over seven in August, any surgery becomes a little easier, in that the risks are reduced, albeit slightly (recall the issues I suffered with the contrast that was pumped into my body – given my increased weight I can handle more contrast) and the obvious one is that the stuff the doctors will be working with is bigger, because I’ve grown! For example, my veins are larger so it’s easier to navigate through them.

That is if the peer review reveals I need surgery. There are known cases of people living their entire lives with fistulas.

So after many months of turmoil and unknowns, we all feel we actually have more to go on now, even if it means to wait, but it’s waiting with a purpose, and given that my brain is basically ok. There needs to be some psychometric testing and IQ testing done and a lot more therapy, for me to go from strength to strength.

Thank you to everyone that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers, and have kept sending messages of encouragement – you know who you are!!!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Feeling good….

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Holding Pattern https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11687 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11687#respond Sun, 22 Mar 2015 15:56:43 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11687

Hello everyone!

I know it’s been a while since I last published my blog; it’s basically because we’ve had nothing much to report on. We feel like we’re in a holding pattern while we await answers. Mom and Dad are going to see Dr Winter tomorrow, who took over the practice from Prof Fourie. It’s been three years since Prof Fourie retired, and in this time Dr Winter may have encountered some new info or techniques that could help me. I’ll keep you posted.

The weather has started to turn a little, and with yesterday being the solstice, we think autumn and winter are not far behind. We’ve had an absolutely glorious summer so I’m not complaining. Dad’s been a little scarce over the past few weeks as he’s had a bunch of functions to attend and he was involved with facilitating the grad bootcamp for all the new recruits at his company, so he spent two weeks out of home. Mom and I really missed him and it’s nice that things are ‘normal’ again! Right now we’re super excited about our beach holiday coming up soon.

For the remainder of tonight’s blog I’m going to photo-blog with some descriptions.

Photo 1 Colouring remains a favourite pastime – I’ll just stop what I’m doing to colour in something, even if it means working on the floor!

Photo 2 I spotted this at the Gadget Shop and being the mad scientist that I am, I need one!

Photo 3 Dad treated me to the Prestige cinema to see Shaun the Sheep

Photo 4 Going down to our seats

Photo 5 Now this is how to watch a movie!!!! All this space, waiters serving you at your seat, and the seat itself reclines electronically, has a built in cooler for your drink and is super comfy!

Photo 6 Trike repairs

Photo 7 I had a stuffy nose and sore throat, so it was time to see Dr Davidge-Pitts, my ENT. I’m getting much braver.

Photo 8 Playing

Photo 9 A smart dude!

Photo 10 Morgan and I playing

Photo 11 Mixing characters

Photo 12 Dad and Mickey doing FaceTime

Photo 13 Being boys! Up to no good! Playdate with Ryan and Joseph

Photo 14 ‘Camping’

Photo 15 Team Trampoline

Photo 16 In the treehouse

Photo 17 Smurf time

Photo 18 Smurf village

Photo 19 Helping Mom with the chocolate fondue

Photo 20 Michael tucking into the chocolate fondue

Photo 21 Building a 3D puzzle of the Eifel Tower

Photo 22 Tada! (A few hours later)

Photo 23 Mickey and Missy visiting Jay-Bee Academy

Photo 24 Having a play at Yeesh

Photo 25 Stopping for a bite

Photo 26 And then some soccer

Photo 27 Building a fort

Photo 28 Ryan and me being spies

Photo 29 Spy work is hungry work

Photo 30 Using the American date of 3/14/2015 it yields Pi

Photo 31 Fury baby (as per Baymax)

Photo 32 Gran and I at the Montecasino Bird Park

Photo 33 The map says that way

Photo 34 This parakeet liked Apple. iPhones

Photo 35 Exploring

Photo 36 This way….

Photo 37 Cute little fellow

Photo 38 Stopping to wonder while I wander

Photo 39 Trying to get closer to the wildlife

Photo 40 Fountain time!

Photo 41 I know karate

Click here to see a video of me chasing the water fountain.

Photo 42 Nailed it

Photo 43 Mom and Dad went to meet two day old Grace Kaplan.

Photo 44 Keeping abreast of world affairs

Photo 45 Looking through the spy hole

Photo 46 Grab-a-cat

Photo 47 Joseph being artistic

Photo 48 Christian and I at Yeesh

Photo 49 Construction

Photo 50 Quiet play

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413. Which way now? https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11629 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11629#comments Sun, 22 Feb 2015 18:18:42 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11629

Hello everyone!

It’s been an interesting time since my last blog, with some disturbing information coming from my last MRI. But before I get into that, let me chat about some of the exciting things that have been going on.

In the last two weeks I’ve been to the cinema twice – once with Dad and once during the week with Mom. Last Saturday Dad and I went to see the Spongebob Squarepants Sponge Out of Water movie. To be honest it was a little confusing, with Spongebob being animated and then CGI in the real world. But it was enjoyable nevertheless. Mom and I went to see Barbie in Princess Power during the week. I enjoyed that too.

The new additions to the family are two goldfish. They’re named after the Ninja Turtles Leonardo and Raphael. I really love them, and I often find Mom and Dad staring into their tank watching them. Mickey and Missy are intrigued, and try to lap up all the water so that can get to the fish. Mickey has even dipped his paw in the water!

Other outings included going for pizzas and play dates. I also went to Croc City Crocodile and Reptile Park for Liya’s birthday party which was great. We arrived in time for the crocodile feeding, and to be honest I found it hilarious (and Dad’s commentary didn’t help either). The crocodiles are feed raw whole chickens which are thrown over the fence to the crocs. I found it hilarious – headless flying chickens! I couldn’t stop giggling as the chickens were lobbed over the fence and snatched up by the hungry crocs. People really thought Dad and I were really strange giggling at that.

Given that we’ve been having a heatwave I’ve also spent a lot of time swimming, which was a great escape from the excessive heat. Dad was in Botswana for a few days and apparently it was even hotter there.

So, now for the not so great news. The jury is in that I’ve definitely lost white brain matter since my last scans. Needless to say this is never a good thing, when brain matter dies. As if that isn’t enough, my head circumference, based on Dr Aduc’s records, has shrunk. This means my brain is being compressed and I’m suffering from a great deal of intracranial pressure, which is also not a good thing. Lauren, my OT, also thinks that it may be a good idea to go see an ophthalmologist, as the brain matter in question is in the occipital region. All of these factors may be contributing to my regression at the moment, as there’s no denying that I’m struggling to learn, I’m struggling to remember things, my maths and writing are lagging and I suffer headaches more days than not.

I feel scared, and Mom and Dad are at a loss as to what other things or routes to try. Needless to say some approaches will be extremely expensive and Mom and Dad just haven’t all the resources necessary to explore some options. As a result we’re all in a bit of a zombie state, trying to figure out what to do.

Well, that’s it for this week.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Building a puzzle….

Photo 2 Done! 24 pieces

Photo 3 Cooling off in the extreme heat

Photo 4 Engineering ‘stuff’

Photo 5 Building a time machine!

Photo 6 Laughing like a mad professor

Photo 7 Riding in the visitor’s parking

Photo 8 Self portrait

Photo 9 FaceTime with Dad

Photo 10 Perfect fruit for summer

Photo 11 Yum!

Photo 12 With Christian at Papachinos

Photo 13 Car jack I built

Photo 14 Sleeping with ALL my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Photo 15 Mickey and Missy taking a great interest in my new goldfish

Photo 16 One of the fellows at Croc City Crocodile and Reptile Park

Photo 17 Chilling out

Photo 18 Holding a baby croc

Photo 19 Up-close

Photo 20 Hanging out with friends

Photo 21 Who called me ugly?

Photo 22 Going to get a front row seat for the flying chickens!

Photo 23 Feeding time

Photo 24 Yum! Got one!

Photo 25 Feeding frenzy

Photo 26 Three crocs. One chicken.

Photo 27 Smile!

Photo 28 Liya and I running

Photo 29 She caught me!

Photo 30 Giggles

Photo 31 My getaway vehicle

Photo 32 Mmmm, maybe I should’ve thought about this some more

Photo 33 Zip line time

Photo 34 I’m choosing my own clothes now!

Photo 35 The instruction from Mom was simple – get a new toilet seat. This is what Dad and I choose for my bathroom. I don’t see the issue!

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412. Another MRI Down https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11589 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11589#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2015 17:25:34 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11589

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for all the wonderful messages. From Thursday evening, when my out-of-cycle blog went out until this evening I’ve been getting messages from near and far, and via any channel imaginable! I hope Mom and Dad managed to thank / Like / Reply / etc. to all of you.

So Friday morning we left really early and headed off to Unitas to do an MRI. I was super brave and although I’m older and more aware, I was able to deal with the process well. Doing an MRI is tedious and although I’m a really BIG boy now, it’s still too long for me to lie still, so I was given sedation. By about 9 o’clock I was fully asleep. I remember being lifted into the MRI machine and after a few minutes I was moved to the other machine. Interestingly enough, the newer technology, which the first machine I went into, was too sensitive to deal with the artefacts already in my head, so the MRI’s were done in the older machine, which is less sensitive. I recall waking up while being moved, but I was super brave and let the sedation take-over again.

Ordinarily my will power is so strong that I am actually able to fight the sedation. This time around I allowed the process to take its course.

Some of the funny comments I made as I was falling asleep were “I’m powering down now!” and when I was waking up later in the afternoon I asked “Will I ever be normal again?”

By the time I was fully lucid again it was late afternoon and I was at home.

Mom and Dad think the MRI report looks ok, but we will have to wait for the specialists to give us proper insight. Mom’s mission now is to get the MRI CD copied and the report to my team of doctors for their insights. I’ll let you know once I know!

Saturday I felt it necessary to say ”Hello, my name is Jarrod” to anyone who would listen. I’m much better now, but admittedly the sedation will stay in my body and have an effect on me for a couple of weeks.

My schooling week wasn’t too successful this week. I’m not sure if it’s due to the stress of knowing I was going for an MRI later in the week, or that my meds are not working effectively. This coming week Mom and I are going to take a more electronic approach to learning. In anticipation of this, Mom and Dad allowed me to use my own laptop which now has Windows 8 on it. I enjoyed it but still prefer the iPad.

The week will also involve more games for my learning to work on the parts of my brain that are functioning. Mom calls it starting the neural pathways again. I also can feel that physically my body has leaped forward this week to catch up to my brain. I know it sounds weird, but it’s what’s happening and what I’m feeling.

I spent most of the weekend watching the TMNT movie which Mom and Dad got me on DVD. Dad was providing some commentary during the movie when eventually I turned to him and said “Ah Dad, there’s no real Shredder in the universe!”

The really major event of the week was my getting a Baymax from Big Hero 6. Dad’s colleague Rabia, whom he is working with on a project, managed to get me a life-size Baymax from one of their clients. Mom and Dad have been keeping it secret for weeks, and finally Rabia had taken delivery of it and we collected it from her on Wednesday evening. I was beside myself with joy! I hugged and hugged her and ran around screaming in delight as it sank in what it was. Back home Dad got to the business of inflating Baymax, and before long he was towering over me!

Thank you to those involved, you know who you are – unfortunately Dad has a client confidentiality thing going on, so I can’t name anyone!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 A big thank you hug for Rabia for getting me Baymax

Photo 2 Baymax posters were also part of the gift

Photo 3 Lying on Baymax while Dad inflates him

Photo 4 Holding hands with Baymax

Photo 5 Baymax needs hugs too

Photo 6 Swimming at Granny’s

Photo 7 Arm bands are now leg bands!

Photo 8 Playing

Photo 9 Working

Photo 10 In the MRI

Photo 11 Sliding into the machine

Photo 12 Recovery

Photo 13 Next weekend’s movie

Photo 14 Drawing at the Bird Life exhibit

Photo 15 Checking out some microbes

Photo 16 Earmuffs from Granny to cancel out the noise of the MRI

Photo 17 Shopping with Dad

 

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411. MRI Time. Again. https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11561 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11561#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2015 19:29:44 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11561 Dear all,

As you all well know by now an out of cycle blog means something is up.
Tomorrow I go for an MRI. The newly named “monster rescue institute”.

In addition I have asked my parents to invite you all… All be it metaphorically as I know some of you have been there at Unitas for me in the past. (We know who you are Jenny, Kim, Shannon).

The reason for the invite is as I appealed to my parents tonight with many tears, “but they will find out I have superpowers”. I don’t want the MRI, actually none of us do but my head has taken on a mishapen look and feel to it, my headaches have increased and my short term memory are none to zero on a good day.

I have agreed to take the meds and not spit them all over Mom, I have agreed I can be terrified, I have tried to cancel myself several times. I am taking all 4 Ninja Turtles with for safety sake.

Here goes
Love Jarrod

(null)

(null)

(null)

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410. Grounded for Life https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11559 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11559#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:55:52 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11559

Hi everyone!

It’s been a horrid week. I was grounded, for life a week. Well it felt like a lifetime. In all honesty, it wasn’t a grounding, as per I wasn’t allowed to go out, it was just a complete digital blackout. No iPad. No iPhone. No Nintendo. No Wii. No gaming. No YouTube. No DVDs. No TV. It felt like I had lost all my limbs. The reason for the grounding? Well let’s just say Mom and I didn’t see eye to eye on some of my schooling work.

In all honesty, I enjoyed it (a little), and even admitted that to my parents. But once the weekend was upon us the embargo had been lifted, and I splurged on catching up!

Despite the digital black out I had a good week. I had my usual therapy with Lauren this week, and there was an unusual twist with seeing Braam this week – Mom had to go! Other than that, I did my school work while it continued to rain just about the whole week. Dad took to riding his bike again, and he misjudged the thunderclouds on Thursday evening so he arrived home sopping wet!

The weekend was busy, with it starting with a birthday party for Emma at the Spur. Mom made a cake to look like a stable with horses peeking out the stable doors, as Emma loves horse. Saturday I spent the whole day with Granny at the cousins. And Sunday started off with a picnic. I then ended up sleeping the rest of the day!

Love

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Hectic building in the guest room

Photo 2 At work in Jay-Bee Academy

Photo 3 A road I built

Photo 4 Focused

Photo 5 Emma blowing out her candles

Photo 6 Extreme cake eating!

Photo 7 Yum!

Photo 8 Dressing in old school clothes

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409. Je Suis Jay-Bee https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11548 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11548#comments Sun, 25 Jan 2015 18:42:51 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11548 Hi everyone!

Since my last posting I have lots of new photos to share, and most importantly I can now swim completely independently and, as if that’s not enough, I can even swim underwater now!

I’ve eased into the new year nicely, and am pursuing my Jay-Bee Academy with gusto (on some days, others not so much).

My stringing of shapes is coming along really nicely!

Feeling pretty proud at school after Mom showed me granny’s diamond ring. I decided I’m saving it for a special girl, just like Mom asked me to.

Doing some hectic dino play with a new set of dinos I got, complete with a dino cage that lights up to attract and trap them.

Some early morning play with an old favourite, Sophia the First.

And my proudest moment this year so far – swimming underwater and even having my eyes open and smiling for the camera. Mom and Dad were so thrilled!

Loving swimming now.

Doing some numbers in Jay-Bee academy.

Mom and Dad do find it confusing that sometimes I won’t go to sleep without the light on, but I still cover my eyes!!!!

Early one morning I felt my two armies needed to go into battle – Mom and Dad were thrilled that I put all the same colour soldiers together, and that the two platoons were pointing in the right direction, ready for battle.

With my pocket money I bought the long coveted Bat Cave! After unpacking the box and setting up the Bat Cave I felt it necessary to wear the box!

Here’s me singing Immortals by Fall Out Boy from my current favourite movie – Big Hero 6. Check out my keyboard work!

Swimming at the clubhouse while the old folk have lunch.

Loving the freedom of just swimming, although from time-to-time I still get nervous when I can’t reach the sides or the floor of the pool.

Nothing like having a dolphin of your own to ride on.

Dolphin training!

Christian spent the day with us and Mom said I was the perfect big brother to him, looking after him. Later in the week Christian had a brain surgery.

Doing some repairs on my tricycle

At Annica’s for Rachel’s party. All the boys having an awesome time on the roundabout. Admittedly we all felt a little nauseas afterward and had to take a rest.

And even more spinning!!!

Rachel getting ready to blow out the candles, before the wind does!

In the afternoon we had Luca’s birthday party at Fantasy Park. Lots of slip and sliding and wet fun.

Here I go!

Heading back for more sliding.

There was even a Siddeley 748 for us to play on. It had the original seats, cockpit, and lots of controls and levers to pull!

Massive pile-up on Slide 101 heading south. No injuries reported. Emergency services are keeping a close eye on things!

Going in!

Piping with blue icing

My master piece!

This is me with Willy Wonka from the chocolate factory!

Some artwork I did with Lauren at OT.

My dragons from How to Train Your Dragon 2.

I create and complete my own dot-to-dot exercises!

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408. Dad’s Posting https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11515 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11515#respond Sun, 04 Jan 2015 17:47:58 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11515

Hi everyone!

It’s Jarrod’s Dad here. Since Jarrod has been slacking off, just a little, I thought I’d take the reins of the blog and write from my perspective. I must, when I asked Jay-Bee if I could write the blog, he said no problem! I feel very honoured, as this is my very first contribution (nudge-nudge wink-wink)! So here goes.

Since Jay-Bee’s last blog I’ve been on leave, and it’s been absolutely awesome spending the time with Lynn and Jarrod. I’m going to miss being around the two of them 24/7 once I have to go back to work.

In the lead up to Christmas the three of us did our ritualistic visit of the German shop in Cresta, called K&P Lohmiller. I love the shop, and generally blow a good deal of our budget on genuine Lebkuchen (which didn’t last until Christmas). Jarrod and Lynn also had a great time wondering around the store; it always has a magical feel about it because you can get things there that you ordinarily cannot get elsewhere. My prize purchase from them was a Weihnachtspyramiden which I have been coveting for years, but just felt too expense to splurge on. So this year I did! And I’m thrilled with it – makes me think back to my childhood days in Germany with my grandparents.

Jarrod also had a good time shopping there – bought himself a tiny little cat and some Schlumpf accessories. Afterward we went for lunch at an old favourite, Rosini, which is no longer Rosini, but some other name I cannot remember. Apparently it’s still under the same management. Pretty soon we left Cresta and headed back home. I must say at this point that Cresta has undergone quite a metamorphosis and is looking great. It is however a far’ish drive for us, so until next year to get our Lebkuchen – see you then.

Back home I immediately got the Weihnachtspyramid assembled and Lynn in her most awesome and magical way suddenly found Teelichter candles for it. And in no time it was spinning merrily around. I couldn’t wait for night to fall as they look really stunning in the dark. Once it was dark, Jarrod and I sat and stared at the nativity scene going round and round, and oohed and ahhed at the reflections the candles made on the ceiling.

For Christmas Eve, Jarrod spent the afternoon at Garth’s place to be with his cousins, Granny, aunt and uncle. The middle of the day saw a massive Highveld thunderstorm which has been the norm just about every day since. What’s Christmas in Jo’burg without thunderstorms?

At about 5:30 Lynn got the panicked call from Granny saying Jarrod needed to be collected as he wanted to come home. We’ve found that while Jarrod does like the odd adventure on his own (i.e. without any parents) after a couple of hours he needs us again. Fully understandable considering what he’s been through. Just before Lynn and I left to fetch him, we made sure all his presents were under the tree and then we hastily made ‘Santa footprints’ leading to our front door using flour. They looked really authentic. Oh, by the way, please don’t tell Jarrod it was us!

As Garth’s place Kim, Shannon, Ryan and Tamsin showered Jarrod in gifts which he opened excitedly. We’d agreed that we weren’t staying for dinner to do our own thing as family and headed off for our own dinner. At home, Jarrod was overjoyed with the footprints leading up to our front door, and immediately got down to the job of opening his gifts. I had to rush upstairs to get the camera so as to not miss anything!

Lynn and I spent the rest of the evening helping Jarrod open and assemble his gifts. His excitement with each gift was unprecedented! As always, Lynn had carefully listened to his (very extensive) wish list and managed to narrow it down to those items that were in the budget and would make him the happiest. She’s really good in that way and knows her little boy completely. To sum up the gifts, they included a lot of Ninja Turtle things (including a sewer playset that stands 40 inches high and took me the better part of Christmas Eve evening to build), Thomas the Tank engine sets (which remain a favourite and are probably embedded in his DNA owing to my love of model trains), and a great deal of Big Hero 6 figurines, which is the current holiday blockbuster movie.

In addition we’ve introduced him to Skylanders for his Nintendo 3DS. He really wanted Disney Infinity 2.0, which comes with a Baymax from Big Hero 6, but that would’ve meant buying either a new Wii, Xbox or PS3, as our consoles are not compatible with Infintiy 2.0. He still asks about it, but we’ve explained the cost implication, and we’re hoping he’s coming to terms with it. As we know tech is moving incredibly fast, and it generally means more outlay for the consumer as new experiences require new hardware.

We finally managed to convince Jarrod that he had to go to bed, but not before he brought a menagerie of new gifts with him to bed!

For Christmas Day we invited Michelle and her girls, Emma and Liya, to our place for lunch. We had a wonderful time, and as always Lynn outdid herself in the kitchen. The day started with Jarrod, Emma and Liya decorating the Christmas tree. We’d only partially decorated it for Christmas Eve, so that could do the rest. We ate and drank until we were almost too full to roll over to the Christmas tree for more present opening (this time with Emma and Liya’s gifts under the tree too). We’d kept back a couple of Jay-Bee’s gifts so that he could open gifts with the girls too. There was huge excitement and the girls loved their gifts.

After the gift opening it was boys vs. girls to build gingerbread houses and decorate them. Lynn provided both teams with ginger bread walls and roofs as well as icing and decorations. It didn’t go well is all that I can say. Michelle persisted until the bitter end to get her house to stand. By then Jarrod and I were already eating the building materials, having given up on the building ages ago in favour of eating! All too soon the day was drawing to a close and they had to leave again. The rest of the afternoon was spent with the three of us chilling out around the house and Jarrod getting into his new games and gifts.

Boxing Day (Day of Goodwill as it’s known locally) was very quiet and we didn’t even leave the house. It was spent swimming and playing.

Big excitement filled the house the Saturday after Boxing Day as we’d planned to see Big Hero 6. We donned our 3D glasses, Jarrod proudly carried my iPhone with the Passbook electronic ticket ready to show at the cinema entrance. We got there in good time, but the multiplex was packed so we just managed to get our popcorn and take our seats as the theatre lights dimmed. The movie was amazing, and all three of us thoroughly enjoyed it. Directly after the movie, Jarrod made me take photos of all the posters of movies he wanted to see next, such as Paddington, Annie, Spongebob Sponge Out of Water, etc. He absolutely loves the movies. Back home in the afternoon I decided it was time to reformat and reinstall Windows 8 Pro on my laptop and give it a good ole clean-up. Lynn and Jarrod got busy with other things around the house and they basically lost me to the digital world of ‘rebuilding’ a laptop for the next couple of days.

Sunday was spent at home again, and as the skies opened up, we all just stayed indoors and chilled out. My laptop re-installation was going well, with MS Office 365 being downloaded and installed as well as my ‘whole life’ from Dropbox being recopied to my local drive.

With Monday’s weather being less wet we headed out to the Mushroom Farm Park where the three of us picnicked and Lynn and I took turns walking with Jarrod around the park while he rode his trike, Ninja Turtle trailer in tow (you must have a trailer you know)! Mischka came with too and was huffing and puffing with his tongue almost dragging on the ground he was so tired. He drank almost half a litre of water from water we’d brought with, and although we’d let him have the chocolate croissant we’d dropped he was too exhausted to even eat. Jarrod and I decided to feed the ducks down by the pond but discovered they weren’t partial to chocolate croissant either. We did discover an amazing nest made by a bird bringing two reeds together.

On Tuesday I immersed myself into a full day task of DIY which I’d been threatening to do for months now, if not a year! Lynn was kind enough to keep Jarrod fully occupied while I worked in the basement storeroom. Basically the storeroom, as storerooms tend to do, become one big mess and dumping ground. My first mission was to mount all the unused stuff on the ceiling (such as mountain bikes, golf clubs, prams, chandeliers, etc.) to make space on the floor and the shelves. My second mission was to repair all the shelving. Whilst the previous owner was kind enough to leave all the shelving behind, it was all ripped from the walls by the time we moved in. I’d done a rudimentary job of repairing it when we first moved in, but now it was time to do it properly. By evening the storeroom was shipshape and all the boxes stacked and labelled and out the way!

On New Year’s Eve we met Michelle and the girls at the Spur for lunch. We all had a wonderful time, and Jarrod, Emma and little Liya played so hard they were permanently red in their faces. After playing hard they all coloured in the templates the Spur provided and then they used my iPhone to bring the characters to life through a VR app. It is brilliant. For anyone who hasn’t done it yet you must – the kids will be amazed as their coloured in character takes on a life in the 3D world, complete with the ability to put hats and other things on the character from the ‘wardrobe’.

In the evening we chilled out at home, had a nice dinner and then the three of us got up to a bit of nonsense that we’ve all agreed we shan’t speak of again, and that’s all we can say on the subject!

New Year’s day was spent at Michelle’s place. Lynn made us her infamous or sometime notorious Harvey Wallbangers (which were renamed about 15 years ago to Bally Wallhangers). After a sumptuous lunch I set up Jarrod’s ‘At The Car Wash’ slip and slide. They all loved it. And between going through the car wash there was also lots of swimming involved. Soon the day started to end and it was time to head home. Lynn and I had a great task on our hands to keep Jarrod awake in the car, otherwise he would’ve snoozed for the trip and then been up until midnight. We succeeded through tickling him, singing, annoying him, and all sorts of tricks!

Friday after New Year’s Day Jarrod and I went to see Paddington at the movies. It was an hour and a half long but Jarrod sat through the entire movie and followed the story perfectly. It contained ‘real people’ i.e. it wasn’t animated. Occasionally he’d ask a few questions or comment on things in the movie. The movie is set in London, and as scenes of the regular London sights appeared he’d go ‘oooohhhhh, I want to go there’. Throughout the movie Jarrod and I snuggled, which felt really special (we’ve always chosen the lovenest seats for Jarrod which is two seats side-by-side but without an armrest in-between).

Two very memorable comments from Jarrod during the movie were “Why is the man’s name Mr Brown, if Paddington is actually brown?” I had no answer. Then, and even louder than the first comment happened when Mrs Bird distracted the security guard at Millicent’s house with alcohol; Mrs Bird started a drinking game with the guard and needless to say both got very tipsy. Jarrod pipes up, seeing the bottle of alcohol, “Ooooo, iced tea!” To which I reply, “No Jarrod, that’s alcohol.”

Jarrod’s response, not quietly, was “I had some alcohol from Mommy once. I actually liked it. Do you think we could have six drops of alcohol every day?” Needless to say a number of parents around us sniggered!

After the movie, back home, I started in earnest with a bunch of DIY projects that had been piling up for months. First on the agenda was to paint our dining room table. It is an old oak table that belonged to my folks for about 40 years. When they passed on and it was time to clear out the house, the offers we got on the table were an insult (in the region of R200!). So Lynn and I decided to keep it and restore it. We both finally agreed on a colour and technique (that only took about four years) for the table. So Friday morning Jarrod and I started painting the table in original white Annie Sloan chalk paint. This is not to be confused with chalk board paint, in other words, our dining room table won’t be a chalk board afterward!

By the end of the day the entire table had been done in two coats. Jarrod was a huge help, and in between letting layers dry we did a few DIY jobs. He’s at the age now that we work well together, although he does get bored and asks if he can ‘take a rest’ during the tasks.

Saturday morning we headed off to Builder’s Warehouse early to get a few more DIY things. While I ordered and had some glass cut to size Jarrod took Lynn ‘on a tour of the hardware store’ explaining to here all the things to be bought there, and what they can be used for. Many descriptions and names were very imaginative and Lynn said she had quite a chuckle. Back home we got back to restoring the table – this time by applying soft wax. Again Jay-Bee was super helpful, and in the afternoon we replaced a glass pane (but then it started hailing so we waited a while), replaced some hinges on cupboard doors (Jarrod’s garbage truck brought me wooden building blocks that I used to suspend the doors while I attached the hinges), and a few other things. We had a great deal of fun.

Today, my last day of leave before going back to work, was spent lazing around the house. It was another extremely hot day, and pretty soon, mid-afternoon, Jarrod and Lynn were fast asleep in the family room.

Well, that’s it for my ‘first’ blog posting. I trust you enjoyed it. I’ll chat to Jay-Bee to start writing again – watch this space.

Happy New Year everyone one!

Daddy Norwin (as Jarrod calls me from time to time)

Photo 1 Our very first Weihnachtspyramide

Photo 2 Opening an early Christmas present

Photo 3 Playdoh time

Photo 4 Jarrod and Mischka on the trampoline after swimming

Photo 5 Jarrod heading out the window in his PJ’s to jump on the trampoline

Photo 6 Materials for a gingerbread house

Photo 7 Kim and Jarrod hugging

Photo 8 Santa’s footprints

Photo 9 Me storming down the stairs to photograph Jarrod on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve photos at home:

Christmas Day

Photo 10 I found Jarrod in the family room, having put his Christmas hat on and playing Nintendo

Photo 11 The girls decorating the Christmas tree

Photo 12 Michelle holding Emma up to put the star on the tree

Photo 13 Trying their hand with the candy machine

Photo 14 Liya tries

Photo 15 Its Hiro!

Photo 16 Having fun

Photo 17 Gingerbread house making

Photo 18 Many hands

Photo 19 I started cheating with sticks, to no avail

Photo 20 This building is condemned

Photo 21 Eating is easier than building

Photo 22 Kilroy was here!

Photo 23 Fire duck extinguishing a ‘fire’

Photo 24 Jarrod going for a ride

Photo 25 Jarrod built unit 3 dog house for the dog

Photo 26 Off to Mushroom Farm Park

Photo 27 Chocolate croissant binoculars – everyone should have a pair

Photo 28 Interesting nest we found

Photo 29 Ducks

Photo 30 Playing at the Spur

Photo 31 Ice-cream smiles

New Year’s Day

Photo 32 Jarrod and I painting

Photo 33 Working it

Photo 34 Hard to reach places

Photo 35 Being like Rhino the hamster – stuffed cheeks full of berries

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The Evil Numbers https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11445 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11445#respond Sun, 21 Dec 2014 18:59:07 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11445

On the ‘eve’ of the mysterious celebration of Christmas, I am sure a heading describing something evil, will be all alerting for some!

Dear all, it would appear that the 6 year old has been a little too busy to write his own blog therefore, his Mother will be taking over diary writing in his absence.

Jarrod has been spending a number of days during the week with his Daddy at work, and is so living it up, despite the numbers being Evil. He gets dressed in the mornings sans help???? And packs a bag (there is some intervention from to change it up every day), he prances out the door with a lunchbox saying he doesn’t want to be late for work. He runs to the elevator with wild abandon. Ahem, where was this attitude for school.

Jay-bee is about 5 tasks from technically getting into Grade 1. For home schooling, I am feeling quite positive for him. Considering when I got him back he really couldn’t even remember how to count to 10, I think he has made great strides. I keep having to remind myself how much he has done and remember that you need to ‘parent the child you get and not the child you want’. Who knew that the Post Traumatic Stress was so intense?

I have to say that my sweet, happy, secure child has become one who cries at the drop of a hat and struggles to hold it together on any given day for the full day. Working with a therapist has been really enlightening and of course Jarrod has made progress, but since the grommets experience he has been on a recovery curve. Meaning he has dredged up memories from his days in hospital and has put them into the forefront of his existence. He is still in recovery mode, unfortunately the anaesthesia was ketamine based which gives terrible hallucinations and mares. Poor pumpkin is back in our bed and sleeping on top of one or the other parent. We don’t begrudge it. We’ve chosen to nurture.

Another unfortunate thing is that due to intubation and regression he has not eaten properly in weeks. There are a number of negative things that special kids live with, ours is life or death and accepting that can sometimes be difficult. We want to know what is happening but we don’t. We are not in a position to go overseas to have the angiogram done. However, SA doctors are too scared to do anything. I get that they don’t want to make it worse, but let’s just have a look. That being said, I must also confess I have avoided doing an MRI because if there is bad news, there is nothing physically to be done about it.

So back to Jarrod. I was hoping for better speech considering the amount of one-on-one time he spends with me, but ceremoniously he managed to lose six front teeth, top and bottom. Why ceremoniously? We now have a say it don’t spray it approach to speech. Jarrod himself is quite a scrooge with teeth, has not allowed a tooth fairy, tooth mouse or any other magical figure into our house to collect and dispense with the monetary value of a tooth. These 6 teeth are safely locked up in my safe, in a jewellery box – Jarrod’s choice.

I am not sure if I sing really badly, but Jarrod now hates it when I sing and refuses, stamps feet and gets all grumpy if I sing. He on the other hand is becoming quite the singer, and this includes modern music, classics and Disney. He avidly watches the signboards on the road to ensure he hasn’t missed any movies in the wake of the fact that he believes his parents are no good at keeping all these ‘fun’ activities in control. Despite this, he has managed to see 3 in the last month. He also makes sure he visits You Tube in order to download, watch and reiterate the number of toys associated with the movie that he doesn’t own yet.

We have spent a number of fun afternoons at Granny’s clubhouse, swimming and eating ice cream and eating calamari. I have taken to carrying a costume and towel with me in my car. Although as per Jarrod’s early days in our previous house, he is not above just diving in. You’ll notice in the pictures that Jarrod has dispensed this month with his arm bands. This was aided by Michka just popping one as it lay outside. This is not before he gave me a hectic run around at Sun City. Daddy was invited to the Nedbank Golf Challenge and we took the opportunity to play games and swim. Unfortunately the beach was closed. Who closes a beach during the busiest week of the year?

Our Mom’s tea club had our final tea of the year with all kids and parents in attendance. We swam, played in the tree house and thanks to Colleen, George and Joseph, we had a great time. Daddy joined us after Poker. Thanks to Eskom we had a great adventure of dinner by candlelight and torch. Ironically the lights sprang to life, just as George had finally managed to cook the Malva pudding on gas by candlelight! It was a great afternoon and evening and for the first time in a long time I fell asleep in the car.

You’ll notice in the pictures my child got to his first advent calendar early, hence the need for us to repurchase and recount the chocolates. You’ll see Jarrod pouring over the numbers in book and on flash cards in the pictures. Don’t be fooled, this was not an easy task to accomplish. He looks so competent when you see these pictures, but it takes, bribery, anger and tears to achieve this look. It looks great doesn’t it? Very studious and all that.

According to Jarrod school is easy, but numbers are Evil. My problem is I don’t know what constitutes evil in a 6.5 year old’s life. I monitor his TV but tend to tune out with his You Tube access, although spelling is something he has achieved easily. I suppose different parts of the brain in our case. His vocabulary has become very good in the last few weeks and we talk all day and a lot of the night. You’ll see a picture below with counting blocks, Jarrod loves blocks. He loves planning (drawing) his build and delivering it with great drama in his voice. I need to tell you that the task set was that of 1 block under 1, 2 blocks under 2 and so on, and so forth. Believe it or not that bundle of blocks, has all those components in them, as I was taken through it. However not in the context or format which I wanted. I will have to be clearer in my instruction next time. Clever little nuisance. He made me a Lego crabby patty and counted the number of Lego and informed me beforehand just in case I asked him. *shrugs, pouts and sighs*

Peppa Pig recently made an appearance from Jarrod’s character box. He has all sorts of characters in there and many puppets to boot and he loves to take them through routines and stories as the day goes along. This includes dressing up from his dress up kit daily. There are always forms of superhero’s and people coming out of Jarrod’s bedroom, but not often Jarrod. He even sleeps with a fox mask on. Funny child.

We’ve had a good weekend this weekend with Dad being home and not having to work. We have slept late, gone bowling, played Wii and generally got into a bit of a holiday spirit. Mom was offered a 4 hour a week job, lecturing, so we’ll plan around that next year. Also Jarrod has received some Christmas presents, he is patiently waiting and every now and then bursts into tears telling me how difficult it is for him to understand why he cannot open them. He has three new decorations for his collection this year, which is very generous of friends.

We are homebound this year and we are going to have to find some activities to keep Jarrod busy with. He has hectic energy at the moment. His parents should be thinner and fitter, but hey.

We’ll wish you a wonderful festive season and we’ll blog before the New Year.

To all a good night.

Mom

Photo 1 Summer – ice creams and cold drinks

Photo 2 Swimming

Photo 3 Swimming at the Vacation Club at Sun City while…..

Photo 4 ….Dad watched golf

Photo 5 Baking

Photo 6 Looking like a Master Chef

Photo 7 Year end Mom’s tea

Photo 8 Treehouse shenanigans with Joseph

Photo 9 More swimming

Photo 10 Floating

Photo 11 Lego play

Photo 12 Friends

Photo 13 More hugs with Baymax

Photo 14 Mixing the tunes

Photo 15 Hard at work

Photo 16 Chocolate numbers

Photo 17 These are The Evil Numbers!

Photo 18 Drop some blueberries

Photo 19 Some dress up

Photo 20 Colouring in

Photo 21 On a spy mission

Photo 22 All clear

Photo 23 Doing art

Photo 24 Trike makes a good step

Photo 25 Getting more busy

Photo 26 Thinking…..

Photo 27 Angry Birds

Photo 28 With my faithful sidekick Rhino the Hamster

Photo 29 Blanket fort

Photo 30 More swimming! No arm bands

Photo 31 Loving it

Photo 32 Heading to the office to work

Photo 33 ooooo, a ramp

Photo 34 Hard at work

Photo 35 Feeling really on top of things in this job

Photo 36 Getting some publications

Photo 37 Its a runner

Photo 38 Checking out the entertainment rooftop

Photo 39 Interesting

Photo 40 I think I can see our house!!!!

Photo 41 Need to get back to work

Photo 42 Resting cuddle bunny

Photo 43 At Sandton City to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Photo 44 Turtles!

Photo 45 Heaven is a Lego pit

Photo 46 Loving the displays

Photo 47 So awesome

Photo 48 Lego Yoda

Photo 49 Canvas Mom!

Photo 50 Secret codes

Photo 51 In the shower. With Rhino. To clean his cage

Photo 52 Bowling with Dad and Aneesa

Photo 53 Going big!

Photo 54 Went down the alley. Just a little.

Photo 55 Air hockey!

Photo 56 Happiness. Driving home.

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406. It’s been a while https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11386 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11386#respond Sun, 30 Nov 2014 17:30:06 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11386 Hello Everyone!

Yes it’s been a while since I last ‘put pen to paper’! Well, here’s what I’ve been up to.

Three weeks ago I went to a Dr Seuss Cat in the Hat party. Ryan and I were Thing 1 and Thing 2. Mommy decorated her face as the cat and looked really cool. I also went with Dad to his office to ‘work’. I did some documents, printed and scanned important ‘stuff’ and someone, not to mention names, dropped their cup of tea in the kitchen! Daddy also had to clean out the pool to acid scrub the wall from all the debris that had stained our pool over the past few months. Mischka and I ended up playing soccer in the empty pool – it was huge fun (see video).

I’ve had a number of sessions with Lauren and Braam during this past weeks and I think I’m progressing well. Because of my surgery at the being of November, I’ve been doing self-directed learning through Jay-Bee Academy. The anaesthetic had really taken its toll on my. I’ve spent the time healing from stress, both the recent surgery as well as my PTSD in general. To catch up some work I’ll be doing Jay-Bee Academy through the holidays.

The weeks have been both extremely hot interspersed with lots and lots of rain. Last weekend it practically rained the whole the weekend. Daddy had to leave for Botswana on Sunday afternoon, where there was no rain but 35C temperatures.

Some of our outings have included frozen yoghurt, some dinning out and McDonalds which is still a favourite of mine – for the toy and the jungle gym. I’ve also gone to movies with my Dad to see The Boxtrolls – not my favourite movie so far. I am very excited about the upcoming movies like The Penguins, Annie, Sponge Out of Water, and Big Hero Six.

At the moment I’ve got a bit of flu – running a temperature. Mom really feels I need another MRI, but I’ve told her it’s not needed. I’ve ‘locked up my AVM and thrown away the key’ so it’s not a problem anymore. We are in the position of many decisions again, and hope we make the right ones.

Hugs

Jarrod

Video 1 – Mischka and I in the pool (click here)

Photo 1 A sandwich of sparkles

Photo 2 Going in!

Photo 3 Mom ready for the Cat in the Hat party!

Photo 4 My new favourite – French toast for breakfast

Photo 5 Moth we found downstairs one morning

Photo 6 Our sunset

Photo 7 Building Lego after dressing myself (yes, I chose the outfit)

Photo 8 Dad and I built a suspended castle using only his 40 year old Legos!

Photo 9 Proof that genetics run deep!

Photo 10 Safety goggles in the bath

Photo 11 Flour time

Photo 12 Some biking then

Photo 13 Someone, and I’m not mentioning names, rolled toilet-paper everywhere

Photo 14 Servicing my tricycle

Photo 15 On to servicing my quad

Photo 16 Ice-cream with Granny

Photo 17 I gotta do this!

Photo 18 The one Dad wants

Photo 19 The one I want because it goes on rocks

Photo 20 So thrilled! Holding hands with Baymax

Photo 21 Milkylane

Photo 22 Rescuing Granny – the lock on her door broke and she was stuck inside

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Grommets and Botox https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11360 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11360#respond Mon, 10 Nov 2014 04:20:39 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11360 Last week’s blog and tonight’s blogs are combined – two for the price of one!

It was a great week though. I learnt to count to 100 in 10s. Skip counting and doubling numbers was also a success. I diluted the agony of numbers with learning my sight words, so I’m very chuffed with myself.

By Friday last week my surgery had been confirmed for this past Tuesday – more about that later though.

Mom took me to see some of her old friends in Springs last weekend. It was lots of fun hearing stories about Mommy growing up from her friends. Everyone was very impressed with my tower building skills – there were so many wooden blocks that I just built and built. I counted wooden blocks with little Katherine, and I chatted to the big boys about counterweights. One of the boy’s names was also Jarrod, so that was interesting. Mommy took little Matthew tonnes of baby clothes; he came home last week at 3 kgs and 2 months premature.

We also went to breakfast on Sunday morning with Jen, Matthew and little Michael at Doppio Zero. It was really great. Matthew had to go home early to study, while Jen, Michael and the three of us went for ice cream.

Afterwards we bid Jen and Michael farewell; we were going to see Postman Pat, in 3D. Because it was Michael’s first movie, 3D wasn’t a good choice – so we’ll take him to another movie at another time.

Tuesday this past week was Grommets and Botox surgery. Yup starting early but truth be known it was about my legs being 1.3 cm different. Mom has Botox jealousy for her frown lines.

I think both my parents are officially finished. If they have to authorize one more procedure they will both fall over from exhaustion working with doctors and even more so the receptionists. Obviously I had the week off school to recover. So we didn’t do very much.

I was very grateful to get a special plate of pancakes from Shelli – they were awesome.

My surgery didn’t go as smoothly as most with me opting for no gas and a drip.

I shrieked and shrieked, I don’t think Mom can handle that again. The concoction seemed extreme to Mom as the anesthetist told her he was the boss. Mom smiled and walked away, knowingly.

Well I woke up badly. Mom had explained I would be disorientated. I almost escaped my bed due the stupid nurse letting me cry while my parents frantically tried to get it into her head that the aneurysm could burst. Yes, crying can kill me.

I didn’t want Mom so Dad was called (not before he gave the nurse a tongue lashing and through the patient rights and Medi Clinic reputation risk at her) and the doctor had the audacity to say I didn’t cry long!

My Mother usually not given to rudeness of this nature dismissed the doctor with a flick of her wrist and stormed off with me.

The rest of the week was quiet, as I spent the time recovering and consolidating. My legs are working much better – I think the Botox is a win. Saturday morning Dad and I spent some time at Mushroom Farm Park where I played, we walked, chased ducks and used the outdoor exercise equipment. I also pulled out my front tooth!!! That’s four down now.

Afterwards we met Mommy at Sandton City for an ice-cream. Back home for a short while and then we were off to Joseph’s GI Joe Army party. It was great fun, and even though it rained, in true army fashion, we had lots of fun in boot camp!

Sunday was a very very lazy day and we spent the whole day at home.

Well, that’s it for the past two weeks!

Please keep little Christian in your thoughts this week – he’s undergoing surgery to lengthen the stents in his body. Because he is growing, the stents will regularly need to be addressed to accommodate his longer body.

Hugs

Jarrod

Video 1 Swinging all by myself (click here)

Photo 1 Croissant kitty

Photo 2 Our tree in blossom

Photo 3 Walkies with Mischka

Photo 4 Found a cable roller

Photo 5 Mischka and me playing on construction site

Photo 6 Playing with the hospital bed remote

Photo 7 Mommy ready to take me into theatre

Photo 8 Sleeping after anaesthetic

Photo 9 Writing for my blog after surgery

Photo 10 Kitties

Photo 11 Showing Mischka my school work

Photo 12 Here’s a series of pics of me doing hip-hop. “Word” *drops mic*

Photo 13 Drawing I need at OT for Lauren, complete with pins

Photo 14 Swinging At Mushroom Farm Park

Photo 15 Bootcamp

Photo 16 Running the bridge

Photo 17 Outdoor exercises

Photo 18 Stepping

Photo 19 Lastly some weights

Photo 20 Another tooth gone!!!

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Clubhouse Rules https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11322 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11322#comments Sun, 26 Oct 2014 17:25:03 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11322 Monday I woke up really nauseas and started throwing up. It set the scene for the week, as I wasn’t feeling too well. This didn’t hamper Mom’s determination to persist with Jay-Bee Academy and get me learning.

School started with singing and dancing, we played hopscotch and with balls and beanbags and my desk version of basketball. We did revision and that’s where my eyes glazed over and Mom lost me.

So we did tons of sensory things. Playdoh to create letters and numbers. Massage for my legs, sand pit for my hands and then the corn-flour and me got messy. A goo-covered-me was washed and hustled to Lauren.

Lauren did more and more drawing and paper and iPad work with me. Much discussion went on about the amount of training I had to catch up. We then shopped for a care-package for Daddy’s business trip, including hand sanitizer to avoid his getting nasty germs!

Granny came round for dinner and we all sat at the dining room table and chatted. That didn’t stop me from needing a midnight picnic because I actually wasn’t eating from the nausea, but I was still hungry.

I created a large Angry Birds building downstairs, and then through a huge tantrum with myself because I changed my mind!

Tuesday we dropped Daddy off at the station as we was off to Botswana for two days. The house was frantic before he left, as he was so engrossed in his work he forgot he needed to pack clothes to take with!

After dropping Daddy off I had a session with Bram. It was great to see him again after he’s being on holiday in the US for two weeks.

We collected Daddy from the station on Wednesday evening, and I was thrilled with the fact that he’d got me a little present on his travels.

Granny was at our house for a while on Thursday to help with Jay-Bee Academy. In the evening I built a Lego pizza car, which Daddy filmed as I described how to make it (see link below). After finishing the Lego car I decided to deconstruct it and managed to rip one of my finger nails right off – the challenge of an AVM is that I have an extremely high pain threshold, and therefore these kinds of injuries are not unique.

Friday morning I announced that I wasn’t very skilled at tidying up, therefore I should be given a reprieve – Mom and Dad didn’t buy it.

Later in the morning I had a session with Lauren – we popped past Daddy’s office to collect something, and I melted down that he had to stay and couldn’t come home with us. In the evening we went to a birthday party for Daddy’s colleague. It was a lot of fun, but eventually I retired in a corner to play Bad Piggies.

We popped into Benmore Gardens to do some shopping on Saturday morning, and afterward we had lunch at Granny’s clubhouse. It was really festive and I opted to swim. I then decided to spend the afternoon alone with Granny – quite a breakthrough for me.

In the evening Robin and Di came for dinner. They brought me a heap of National Geographic and similar magazines which we’re going to use in Jay-Bee Academy. It rained the entire evening until the next morning – we were thrilled with the soft soaking rain.

Sunday was a very lazy day, and Dad and I slept really late, which for me is quite unusual. We didn’t even leave the house and just played at home.

Well, that’s it for this week!

Love

Jay-Bee

Video 1 – How To Make a Lego pizza car (click here)

Photo 1 Mickey deciding to actually be dinner!

Photo 2 Busy in Jay-Bee Academy

Photo 3 Mischka keeping me company at school

Photo 4 Watching HotWheels DVD

Photo 5 My ripped off thumb nail

Photo 6 Finger heart

Photo 7 With ScreamingDeath from How To Train Your Dragon

Photo 8 Strengthening exercises with Lauren

Photo 9 Swinging

Photo 10 Another escaped balloon in our entrance hall

Photo 11 Getting splashed by Granny

Photo 12 Enjoying ice cream in the heat

Photo 13 Party cat


Photo 14 Making creme brulee

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I Can Type With My Feet! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11306 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11306#respond Sun, 19 Oct 2014 18:19:21 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11306

It’s been a hot week with some strange weather phenomenon across the country. Thursday saw a dust-storm descend on Bloemfontein, hail and floods in Howick that looked like snow.

My week was pretty ok. I’m progressing well with Jay-Bee Academy, and learnt to spell a bunch of ‘at’ words, like cat, hat, mat, etc. My counting is getting better and I’m writing many more numbers now too.

On Monday evening I got busy on Dad’s laptop and wrote a long letter to Milo in heaven. I was getting sore crouched over the laptop so I started typing with my feet! Ha! Take that Mom and Dad, I won’t count but I can type with my feet. Go figure!

Mom and I continued on our journey of learning this week, and lions were on the menu, oh please no one call PETA, I meant learning about them. I learned to write the word lion, spell it, and draw it. These are things I did not even venture into about 6 weeks back. Mom’s quite proud of me to say the least. We have our own little routine and I think Mom is thinking about a change in job title on Linkedin.

I saw Gran during the week and took her aside to have a chat. Beside telling her all the words I could do everything with, I felt the need to tell her that my Mom was a little cuckoo, the conversation went like this… “You know Gran, Mom keeps talking about a brother or sister for me. You know I really don’t want one”. Then in earnest I put my chin down and looked at her with my serious face and said, “Nooooooooooo, I really don’t want one. Could you tell her?”

I mean it makes sense, I’m always told to listen to my parents and Gran is Mom’s parent, so Mom must listen to her, and to all Mom’s friends working on their second born, please stop telling Mom, I can’t handle this. Ok, only joking, I’m looking forward to teaching more escape tricks to the newbies.

I was riding my little red bike indoors, refusing to go out due to wind, and suddenly I slumped over the bike and groaned, Mom appeared as she does when something’s up (does she really have eyes in the back of her head), she asked me what was wrong. “I don’t have my driver’s licence yet, I am not sure how long I am going to have to wait”. Eleven (11) years was all I got back from her. Then in the car on an errand I again complained about this. “Oh my word Mom that seems so long.”

We did more hard work than playing at school this week and Mom and I were very focused, but I must tell you that it is not always that easy for me. We did however end up trying some exercise before school on Monday, we walked Mishka and played and I got the distinct sense that Mom was putting me through my paces, but indeed she did it herself.

Shapes were a big mathematical problem we resolved this week. Identifying them is fine, but drawing them has been a challenge. As you know due to my brain functions, we know I am left handed, because usually lefties have a family advantage of having another person in the family with a left preference. As you probably also know, this is why my midline and corpus collosum is really important. Mom and Dad have learned to write left handed in order to assist me, but I have noticed that my games Mom plays with me I always cross my midline. Does she not know I know what she is up to… this being said, it really seems to be working.

I’m truly loving being home-schooled, I boldly tell everyone I meet.

Saturday was a sad day for us, we went for tea to say goodbye to my Godparents Marc and Sharon, and little Matthew. This was not before we played up a storm with little Michael who came with his Dad to say goodbye. We headed off to the China mart for some educational things and I managed to get my Dad to spend money on a guess what? Thomas train and the shake-shake bridge.

Mom’s been teaching me a bit of hip hop during the week and I took to the floor at McDonalds to show off my newly acquired skills. The other kids were not happy with me disrupting their games, but for the first time, my Mom and Dad noticed that I held my own and told them it was my turn. Mom, then made Dad run up and down the slide and catch me. She is using her knee as an excuse and its working, poor tired hard working Dad gets to chase me a lot.

The cats are becoming part of my day as is my dog and hamster. We cleaned out Rhino Roo’s cage and I sat in the shower with him, with the door closed away from predators (aka Mickey and Missy). Such good quality time.

We acquired three new pets this week. No fewer than TWO (2) rain spiders made their appearance. The first dropped onto Mom in her bathroom and she didn’t even scream. The other made it’s appearance in the guest bathroom, I screamed, in actual fact, they may have heard me scream in Joburg Central. After being calmed and explained to that they were harmless (YES Dad I believe you really) and ate mosquitos, I ran around the house spraying mosquito deterrent (natural of course) I responded to Mom that the reason was if there were no mosquitos in the rest of the house the spider would get them all and be happy and web them all up. True story.

The third of the pets was a mouse deposited by the cats as a gift. I have to ask Mom or Dad why they keep doing that. Mom caught him (she’s the expert mouse catcher, Dad the spider guy/man) and dropped him outside, in a bag, then remembered that Pekinese dogs are better catchers than cats. Running for the keys and switching off alarms, Mom woke the whole house. ANOTHER True story!

As I write this I must mention that another little mouse has found its way upstairs, but Mom thinks she’s a magician now, apparently it ran into a box she put down but now she can’t find it, even the cats are confused.

Sunday we went to Yeesh and did some chores around the house. I was playing by the pool and had to clean my feet, and got in and had a little accident (wee), so the folks told me to wash off before I got out. Then it was off to a hot bath. I have a robofish from last year’s Xmas haul and I gave it a bath, I learned from Mom that real fish have a swim bladder that makes it able to go up and down in the water. I realised, my robofish has one too and recounted this to Mom, I also discovered that the soap dish ‘refracted’ the shape of my fish so that it looked smaller.

Yup, I can’t count to 100 but I know what refracted is. After my bath I asked Mom if she knew how spiders slept, Mom said “No, do you?” I said yes, they fold all their legs in. I then asked Mom to come look; we went downstairs to the guest bathroom. I asked Mom on the way if she liked spiders, a bit of what I think was fast thinking, Mom said “Yes, I like what they are there to do but I don’t really like the way they look”, “Oh me too!” I declared. We both stuck our head around the corner and there was our resident, confused rain spider. The poor spider has so much attention and so few mosquitos to eat.

It is now officially 14 days till the Postman Pat Movie, Michael and Matthew are going to join us and Jen and Mom are going to see an adult movie or something girly.

I have a few medical things coming up in the near future. I have an MRI this week and probably grommets the next week. I will fill everyone in on the upcoming details. Mom is anxious, Dad is worried, and I just don’t like MRI’s because they make such a noise, but I told Mom I will be brave because I know we need pictures of my head. On that sobering thought goodnight to you all.

Much love till next time.

Jay-Bee Lederer

Photo 1 One of Dad’s original Matchbox Cars that we played with

Photo 2 Dragons!

Photo 3 Doing my own version of ‘The Lion King’ with Rhino while his cage is being cleaned

Photo 4 Doing dress up

Photo 5 More dress up

Photo 6 Missy having a rough day

Photo 7 Dad chasing me

Photo 8 Chocolate doughnut face

Photo 9 Photo on News24 of the sandstorm in Bloemfontein

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Thunderstruck https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11295 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11295#respond Sun, 12 Oct 2014 17:03:03 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11295

The week started with my usual routine of Jay-Bee Academy in the mornings and fun activities in the afternoon. My progress this week took a huge leap forward, and Mom and Dad are thrilled! Before Dad leaves for work he puts the Do Not Disturb sign on our front door, but some people still ignore the request and interrupt my lessons.

Daddy had to do some business travel on Wednesday and Thursday, but my sadness was erased by the fact that Marc, Sharron and little Matthew came to spend the day on Thursday, so my usual ‘free day’ of Friday’s was moved to Thursday. We FaceTimed with Daddy on Wednesday evening and I showed off my ant that I coloured in.

Michael and I played up a massive storm, and by the time Daddy arrived home from his business trip the house was upside-down – a sign of a seriously good play day! In the evening we were invited to the Higher Ground at St Sithians by Sharon and Marc and little Michael. Their families were also there and we had a really good evening. I watched the lights come on over Sandton as the sunset. It was beautiful and reminded me of Christmas.

Friday was a hard work day at Jay-Bee Academy and I had many successes. Dad arrived home with a box of old unused wall calendars from work. Mom and I were thrilled as the pages are huge, and I can use the blank backs of the pages to draw on.

In the evening we were invited at Matthew and Jen’s place, but the clouds opened up and there was thunder and rain. As a result we arrived very late. Marc, Sharon and Michael also arrived late because of the storm. This didn’t dampen our spirits though and Matthew had an awesome braai on the go.

We played soccer in the garden, had dinner and then watched TV. Little Michael, being the littlest, faded first. Matthew and I watched Turbo, and pretty soon the adults joined in. It was almost midnight by the time we arrived home after an awesome evening.

For Saturday and Sunday we literally didn’t leave the house. The weather was overcast, but no more rain arrived although we really need it. We played and watched TV; the three of us had a really cool two days.

Dad and I watched Planes: Fire and Rescue at least three times, and pretty soon I was singing Thunderstruck by AC/DC everywhere I went. For those of you who haven’t seen the Planes: Fire and Rescue Thunderstruck scene, I’ve included a link below. It’s not the full scene but you’ll get the idea.

Well, that’s it for this week.

Love

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Do not disturb….schooling in progress

Photo 2 Shapes work

Photo 3 Listening to teacher Mom

Photo 4 Wrestling with Mischka

Photo 5 This is how the towels in Dad’s hotel room were arranged

Photo 6 Missy also wanted to FaceTime with Daddy

Photo 7 Showing Dad the ant I did over FaceTime

Photo 8 Matthew balancing with Marc, Mischka and I looking on

Photo 9 Matthew decorating a cupcake

Photo 10 Mickey caught pulling a face!

Photo 11 Playing

Photo 12 Marc and Matthew playing bat and ball

Photo 13 Squirting game

Photo 14 Making rain

Photo 15 Cupcake decorating

Photo 16 A box of calendars

Photo 17 Michael and I playing soccer

Photo 18 A hectic game

Photo 19 Happiness

Photo 20 Goal!

Photo 21 Mom gets involved

Photo 22 Matthew and Marc catching up

Photo 23 Matthew and Sharron

Photo 24 Night vision goggles

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Summertime Madness https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11246 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11246#respond Sun, 05 Oct 2014 17:37:01 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11246

It’s been a busy week of doctor’s appointments and a hectic weekend of partying.

The week started off a little slow with me getting down to some solid Jay-Bee Academy work. Unfortunately interruptions prevail, so Mom will be turning off her phone until midday and a notice will be placed on our front door saying ‘Do Not Disturb’.

Tuesday was a special day for Mom and Dad as they celebrated their bronze wedding anniversary (19). I was so thrilled for them.

On Wednesday Granny took me for Jay-Bee Academy as Mommy had an appointment with her surgeon. Daddy took her to the appointment. I was supposed to see Braam on Wednesday but he cancelled just as we were leaving the house.

Because of the issue of my one leg being shorter than the other we had an appointment with Dr Aduc, my neurologist on Thursday at midday. She suggested I wear a splint at night while I sleep. To be honest, I’m not too keen on that, as it sounds uncomfortable. In the afternoon I had a play date with Aneesa, as well as Mom took me to see Daddy’s chiropractor, Mike Marinus. In fact Daddy used to go to Mike’s dad Lionel during the late eighties for his back issues. Mike was super and took great care of me. He was thrilled to meet me and did an awesome treatment.

Friday morning I had an early appointment with Lauren, and she concurred with the splint idea – I’m not feeling too happy about this. I went with Mom to see her doctor about her knee, as she’s really struggling and is trying many avenues. In the afternoon I had a playdate at Joseph’s place; we got home really late, and I was really dirty, which was a sign of a really good time!

Mom had an errand to run Saturday morning so Dad and I stayed home. We cleaned and backwashed the pool. Mom arrived just as it was time for Daddy to go out – he had poker in the afternoon. We bid Daddy farewell, and then Mom and I went to Daphne and Ian’s place to see Marc, Sharon and little Matthew that were visiting from Australia. I was so thrilled! They had a braai at their folks place that went well into the evening. Daddy joined us as it got dark and he, Marc and Ian chatted up a storm! I played with Matthew and his uncle and aunts. It was an awesome evening.

Sunday we meet Marc, Sharon and Matthew at Papachinos for lunch. Matt, Jenny and little Michael also joined us, as well as a whole bunch of Marc and Sharon’s friends. It was such fun! At about 2 o’clock we had to leave to go to Christian’s birthday party. His mom and dad, Di and Jacques, found an awesome venue in Chartwell called Posthouse Parties. It was such fun and best of all it was a Thomas the Tank Engine themed party, and I coincidentally wore my Thomas golf shirt! After playing up a storm, singing happy birthday, and cutting the cake we went at fed the geese and ducks. I wasn’t too keen to get into the swan pen, as the drake was massive, so I watched from a distance.

All too soon the afternoon came to an end, it was time to head home to see out the weekend.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Intense Lego work

Photo 2 Missy stretched out and snoozing

Photo 3 Pretending my bath is a pool and I need arm-bands

Photo 4 The best only way to eat Nutella – with a syringe

Photo 5 Playing trains with Mom

Photo 6 Mom and Sharon

Photo 7 Playing with Matthew

Photo 8 Sharon, Mom and Sharon’s dad Ian

Photo 9 Marc splashing me!

Photo 10 Swimming with Matthew

Photo 11 Matthew and I playing Planes: Fire and Rescue

Photo 12 #Selfie of Mom, Dad and I

Photo 13 Matthew, Michael and I eating ice-cream

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Four Hundred https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11236 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11236#comments Sun, 28 Sep 2014 17:09:11 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11236

The exciting news today is that it’s my 400th blog posting! Thanks to everyone for following for the last 6 ½ years!!!!

On Monday after Jay-Bee academy Mom took me to see my orthocast Gavin and after doing lots of tests on my legs and feet it turns out my one leg is shorter than the other, and that the way I distribute the weight on my feet equally. This all stems back to all my surgeries. It seems the issue may be muscle related than actual the actual bones.

Tuesday midday I was supposed to see Dr Aduc but she was running late so we’ve had to postpone the appointment – it would’ve meant that I got to Braam too late. I had a good session with Braam, despite the fact that he’ll be away for two weeks. I cried and cried!

It was Heritage Day on Wednesday. Because we didn’t have water, as there was a pipe burst up the road, we went out for brunch. At ToyZone Daddy treated me to a Thomas and Friends set from the new movie called Tale of the Brave. The TrackMaster tracks are now different, and the sets do come with adapters to allow the old (beige) and new (dark grey) tracks to join. Dad says the jury is still out on which is better, but I’ve noticed Dad believes the quality of the old TrackMaster was better.

In the afternoon we decided to go to Granny’s place to shower, and as we got there, her water also went off! Back home Mom “bathed” me with wet wipes! Later in the evening the water did come back, but I was already asleep.

Thursday was a bit of a struggle with Jay-Bee Academy – I couldn’t concentrate as I was tired.

Jayden came for a playdate on Friday afternoon and we played up a storm!

There was major excitement around the house on Saturday morning – we were off to see Planes 2 Fire and Rescue. I’ve been so excited about seeing it. And it was well worth it. Even Mom, Dad and Granny said it was an awesome and gripping movie. While we were out at Sandton City Granny treated me to Elastagirl (Mrs Incredible) for my Nintendo Infinity. I was thrilled.

It was Ryan’s birthday party on Sunday at the River Café. It was a stunning party and we laughed and giggled at the magician. It was a very windy morning, so by midday we were all tired and headed home.

‘Til next week!

Jarrod

Photo 1 Sharing a moment with Missy

Photo 2 Figurine adventure

Photo 3 My way of climbing stairs

Photo 4 Wrinkly after a loooooong bath

Photo 5 Testing out the Prive cinema seats

Photo 6 Shoes off to play

Photo 7 Giggles

Photo 8 Magic show

Photo 9 Climbing time!

Photo 10 Summer giggles

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Blink With Both Eyes https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11224 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11224#respond Sun, 21 Sep 2014 18:01:38 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11224

Hi everyone!

Monday morning was very exciting – it was Daddy’s birthday so Mom and I went downstairs before he woke up to light his birthday candles! He was thrilled. Sadly Daddy had to go to work, so after our celebrations we bid him farewell. He only got home late, so we agreed to have a birthday dinner on Friday.

My Jay-Academy is going really well and Mom is an awesome teacher. She keeps me on a strict schedule, and we normally finish our work quicker than what it ordinarily took at school. The afternoons are filled with treats. Tuesday Mischka went to the parlour, and I cried and cried out of fear that he wouldn’t come back again. He did in the afternoon and looked really funny – all shaven. I had a good session with Braam during the day too.

Wednesday morning we visited Mom’s friend; I immediately fell in love with Einstein their huge dog! In afternoon we went to Granny’s place for some lunch and a nice long swim at the clubhouse. My lunch order went like this:

“So Jay-Bee do you want calamari?”

“Yes, but actually with chips, actually with chips but no calamari just chips!”

“Ok but you want calamari right?” asked Mom.

“Right”

In the evening Granny came to stay with us.

Daddy was away on a business trip for a couple of days so we collected him from the station on Thursday evening. Mom and I really missed him and it was nice to see him again. The big excitement was also that iOS8 became available – Daddy upgraded while he was in Gaborone he was so thrilled.

Friday I went to see Lauren for some OT. She is incredibly thrilled with my progress. In the afternoon I had a play date with Ryan, Joseph, Matthew and Michael – we had a rave of a time. In the evening Mom, Dad and I went to dinner at Piza E Vino. It was a lovely evening.

We all had a lazy Saturday, and then in the evening we finally had our first rains. It rained gently most the night and in the morning everything looked nice and clean! Sunday morning Dad and I had frozen yoghurt and then we went book shopping. For lunch we met up to Granny and played Party Monopoly at the clubhouse. It was such fun, and best of all I won! We then started a winking competition – I won, again, doing a blink with both eyes. Mom, Dad and Granny find me hilarious!!!

We had a snooze in the afternoon and I then spent much of the evening watching TV.

Until next week!
Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Me and Einstein

Photo 2 Giggles

Photo 3 Swimming

Photo 4 Loving it!

Photo 5 The towels in Dad’s hotel room!

Photo 6 Mom and I doing FaceTime with Dad in Gaborone

Photo 7 Working at Jay-Bee Academy

Photo 8 Drawing at dinner

Photo 9 Mom and Dad #Selfie

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Into Spring… with all we’ve got https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11213 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11213#respond Sun, 14 Sep 2014 19:10:10 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11213

Warning: Mom doing diary writing tonight!

Monday was still holiday as I am maintaining the same schooling schedule as 4 term schools. Jay-Bee and I spent the day creating our classroom. We had originally wanted to be outside in the spare room we have on our property, but we didn’t get to doing the level of cleaning that was required to make it habitable. Jay-Bee enjoyed explaining to me what he was going to do where. I was really taken with the boy’s enthusiasm for the whole process and the new found energy he had to do the work.

I have been teaching Jarrod a little of the spiritual world, such as there is a God and his son and some basics and this comes with some prayer. In our prayer Monday evening, I asked that Matthew be in his prayers. He opened his eyes and immediately asked “What’s wrong with Matthew?” I then had to ask him to finish his prayer and I would explain. I explained that Matthew had been born that morning a little too early. So he needed some prayers to help him along. “Wait, let me get this right, Matthew is in hospital… no, no, no, I need to go tell him some things!” I have no more words, except, I had forgotten how intense having a child at home 24 hours a day was. Again I was thinking about teaching him, if he would ever listen, or would there be many Jarrod soliloquies. Mom reaches for the rescue remedy and I am spraying it down my throat like crazy.

Tuesday, we’re up early, dressed and Jarrod announces to me that he’s off to Jay-Bee Academy, I spray some faithful, not working, but I still have faith rescue remedy… take a deep breath and step into a new phase in my life and Jarrod’s. We’re back together and in an intense fashion. Spray some more, still not working rescue remedy, bloody useless today… Jarrod sits down and writes some numbers, 60% correct, in the correct fashion.

Wow, ok, he’s willing to do self-directed work as well, this is news to me, I was told by the school he refused to do anything. We then did the weather, I chose the theme spring as it was a new start and a new fresh world outside; I thought it appropriate. Jarrod launched into it. We did the date, day, month and year. Decided the weather, approximate temperature, counted, played, went into the garden to find shapes in the flowers and had such fun, through self-learning. Wow, I say as I toss the rescue remedy over my shoulder and the dog goes for it.

My Mother has offered to assist with reading and I considered her a good option for a break from me, as she has taught all children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to read by 5. It was rather cute to see. Lying on pillows on the floor, laughing and giggling as they read. What a difference two weeks can make. Jarrod answered all the comprehension questions, with clarity and brevity, knowing that he was right. He has spent a long time hiding from being right or wrong, and would rather not answer technical questions. The school said his comprehension was bad… My expectations of our first day were by far exceeded. My child managed to concentrate in one room for almost 4 hours, I offered breaks, but he was happy. His valuable lesson for the day was that if he took a breath, had a think, and answered he was probably going to be right… To my child Jarrod, thank you for taking me on a new journey, thanks for being the map, and thanks for being my world.

Wednesday Jay-Bee was feeling a little under the weather. My immediate sight on waking was Jarrod’s face stuck to mine with that brilliant ‘cheeky’ grin. “Morning Jarrod” “Mommy I was thinking” barely with my brain engaged, no caffeine in my system and a six year old attached to my face like a Portuguese man of war, yes I am strong enough for this …. “Yes Jay-Bee?”

“Mom, I have such a cold and headache today can I please stay home?”

“From what boy?” I ask as the 6 year old sniffs and slurps up the piece of globulous matter attached to his nose. With both eyes finally open and now adrenaline coursing through my veins after the sight in front of me, I am awake, but no I am not strong enough for this. Cut to scene, dog racing upstairs at sound of my voice jumps on me and sneezes in my face! Seriously?

“School Mom!”

“Huh?” Still hanging to the post of the bed in a feeble attempt to get away from the situation.

“Jay-Bee, school is here how do you not go to here?” I forget it’s a 6 year old. Jarrod thank goodness seeing the sense then says, “I am not doing any Jay-Bee academy work!”

“Okay!” To be honest once an ear thermometer had been deployed I was fine to let him spend the day in bed. Deal was that he did some resting and things in bed.

Later in the day as we moved around the house, I realise my apples were lying in a net on the table in the lounge. “jay-Bee, why would the apples be in the lounge?”

“I was fishing Mom, that’s what you do with a net!”

I should’ve know this as I was trying questioning techniques. Jarrod then pranced into a 10 – 15 min (that felt like 1 year) on what a net could achieve. Including fishing our little dog out the pool. Whew, who knew?

Next thing I found Jarrod lying in the sun ‘drying his nose up’ cause that’s what we do with washing… Can’t fault the thinking. Another successful day despite the sniffing and spluttering that came with it.

On Thursday the same cheesy grin greets me, “Mom I lied to you I don’t want to do Jay-Bee Academy!”

“Oh do you want to go back to school?”

“No”

“Ok so you have two options, home school, or Japari make your choice.”

Why did I toss the rescue remedy yesterday? Oh. I decide to spend a shower pondering the expectation or emotion that drove the start of this conversation. Is it my imagination, that Norwin has not made me tea in days? Ah, a conspiracy, no back to Jarrod. I wonder where the coffee syrup is. Oh, no back to Jarrod. I need caffeine.

I go downstairs to do breakfast. I think I’ll start easy… “Jay-Bee what happened to my apples?”

“Well Mom, I decided to pretend that I was shopping, so I put them in a shopping bag!”

“Hmmm, so they are in the pantry?”

“No silly, after I bought them, I cooked them; they are in the oven!”

“Jay-Bee, my oven or your play oven?”

“My oven Mom!” thank goodness Mom breathes.

Jarrod reminds me to do the date and off we go into Jay-Bee Academy. He does puzzles, he paints, he cuts he traces… Did he say he doesn’t want to do work today? Where is that rescue remedy? Jarrod against conventional wisdom worked consistently for 2.5 hours today. I think this kid rocks!

Joleen popped in for tea and to return something. Then gran arrived as the reading teacher. We were all standing on the balcony upstairs and had a discussion about a spot on the ceiling. Finally remembering there had been a sticky frog there previously we looked around and yes, it would land into a wall light! Wow. And now, who knows.

Jay-Bee built an obstacle course for break time and second break consisted of soccer with Mischa and Granny and Mom!

Suddenly Michelle arrived, and we nattered all afternoon.

Jay-Bee entertained us, with climbing up the bars getting my foot stuck once needing rescuing, giving Michelle heart failure. He then stripped off then streaked with nesting dolls pillows strategically placed and then clothes

Then dad arrived home and caught the girls having an afternoon cocktail. He arrived before 6 today and only because he had my cold. We all went to bed early after our first successful week on JB academy.

Friday I found Jay-Bee in Jay-Bee Academy working… I absolutely love this kid, he is loving, kind, his manners are better than ever, except for the odd strip show, included in the afternoon’s goings on. He did approximately, 2 hours work, before we hit the car to get to Lauren his OT. He did great work, concentrated, then showed her how to play a game. It’s remarkable that he has grown in confidence and no longer tries to guess answers or hide behind humour. He’s still funny make no mistake, and his ability to negotiate is tiring. Wow am I grateful.

We popped home for a cup of tea and a story with Gran and then headed off to movies and to secretly buy Dad’s birthday present.

I put him totally in charge and he ran around the shops, in a loud, borderline pretentious way, telling the store what was going on. He even went to get help from a shop assistant to get his particular choice. He asked for a little help reading the cards but made his choices of paper, bow and bag with a flare that put my shopping skills to shame. His father and I had made a decision that a good behaviour / hard work gift was out the question, as 3 days of work was not the proof of the pudding.

“But Mom and Dad we didn’t make pudding”. Right well let me remind myself he is 6. He waited till we were at the store to remind me I owed him his pocket money and if I wasn’t going to buy something for him, he would. Infinity character, Perry the Platapus. People in the shop stared! Perhaps it was because he kept involving them. He even asked that purchase be made separately as one was a gift and one was pocket money. Did he talk to everyone that day?

We headed off to see the SpongeBob Movie, and he swiped cards, reminded me to do the children’s assessment on DH so that he could see movies for free before 7. He asked why we were the only people in the movie theatre, and gave commentary through the entire movie. I laughed when at the popcorn station whilst putting on flavouring my kid announced to lady who came to help “don’t worry, thank you my Mom has it under control.” Great, thank goodness that’s what he thinks. The movie was mind numbing for an adult but Jarrod’s frequent interjections and comments and bouncing up and down made it worth it.

After we got home it took a fair amount of convincing that he should keep the gift etc. a secret. So on some level he was planning so he was sneaking around asking me where I put it and what I did with it. Sitting in the family room he launched a conversation with Dad. “What kind of cake do you want Dad?”

Norwin looked at me, willing me to help. I shrugged, not really knowing where the discussion was going. I eventually asked that it be reasonable in the amount of time I had to work with.

“Chocolate”

“Chocolate Mom!” he retorted to me, “Dad, what characters do you want?”

“Lego is always nice!” (where is that rescue remedy) Jarrod turns to me… “Mom, did you get that? Chocolate with Lego characters”

We no longer leave the room when needing to laugh out loud which usually leads to Jarrod with both hands and shoulders going “What?????”

We had our Friday dinner at Gran’s clubhouse, steak, salad, calamari for me. It’s always fun. We decided with the weather getting better, the folks can eat while I swim as soon as it’s hot for a few more days.

Saturday, jay-Bee was still sick, so we vegged around the house. An afternoon snooze ensued. With Jarrod being super attached to his Infinity game. Norwin found us both passed out at 7:15.

Sunday the boys went out for birthday frozen yoghurt and I had a cup of tea in a quiet house, this house is not like others; it’s so quiet it doesn’t creak and groan, it is really so restful. Mischa got his first walk with Norwin and they seem to have had a good time. We, as in Jay-Bee and I, managed to get all the secret birthday stuff done. All good and with time to spare. Jarrod is becoming an expert at following instructions.

The afternoon was spent baking cakes and decorating for Dad’s birthday. Play and obstacle course, a quick swim for Jarrod and Mischa and finally me. All I need say is that Norwin had the hosepipe and Jarrod figured out how to use the pool connectors.

Dinner and a read of the newspaper, baths and to bed for my tired little boy. Norwin and I get to watch the movie tonight.

Cheers to all, to all a goodnight.

And thanks to the teachers, OT, play therapist for finding a way for Jay-Bee to be happy.

Thank you.

Lynn

Photo 1 Wearing Mom’s glasses

Photo 2 Sick bunny

Photo 3 Trampoline time

Photo 4 Full worksheet done

Photo 5 Working in Jay-Bee Academy

Photo 6 Spring!

Photo 7 Dot-to-dot and colouring

Photo 8 Doing ‘electronic’ work

Photo 9 Home movies!

Photo 10 Lost to tech

Photo 11 Ice-cream time

Photo 12 Building in the sun-room

Photo 13 Wooden animals

Photo 14 Baking Daddy’s ‘secret’ birthday cake

Photo 15 Chocolate

Photo 16 Testing the batter

Photo 17 Yum

Photo 18 Not missing any

Photo 19 Daddy’s secret cake for tomorrow

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Spring Break 2014 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11145 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11145#comments Mon, 08 Sep 2014 04:41:46 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11145

It’s been a stunning week at the beach. The weather was stunning although once or twice we did get a little cold in the afternoons. We spent each and every morning on the beach building sandcastles or playing ball. On one morning Dad and I even climbed up onto the lifeguard’s platform and pretended it was a boat that we were steering out to sea. As the morning sun rose in the midday we would head up to the pool at Cabana Beach Lifestyle Resort to swim and mellow out. Not only is the pool heated but it is accompanied by a Wimpy, so there’s always chips and fish fingers on tap for me.

Our afternoons were spent lazily, with the occasion visit to The Gateway and a play at Mr Funtumbles. Mommy was determined to win 1200 tickets for me to get a Bart Simpson, and she succeeded! I’m now the proud owner of a Bart Simpson. We also went up to the Cabana’s sister hotel Umhlanga Sands to chill out there and visit the Spur.

Unfortunately Saturday morning arrived all to quickly and after a nice breakfast in Umhlanga we headed back to the hotel for our luggage. The drive back was uneventful, other than Dad and I occasionally singing some of our favourite songs at the tops of our voices.

Back home it was awesome to see Mickey, Missy, Mischka and Rhino again. It seems our timing was perfect once again as we missed the cold spell in Jo’burg.

Until next week!

Lots of love

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Getting started early morning

Photo 2 Starling stealing my chips

Photo 3 A room with a view

Photo 4 Granny builder

Photo 5 Building a bridge

Photo 6 Master Builder Emmet enjoying the beach

Photo 7 Walking back from dinner

Photo 8 Start of another project

Photo 9 Love the beach

Photo 10 Super Jarrod

Photo 11 Project looking good

Photo 12 Perfect weather

Photo 13 Cabana Beach

Photo 14 Loving the sand

Photo 15 Watching a launch

Photo 16 Collecting wet sand to build with

Photo 17 Waiting for the waves

Photo 18 Happiness

Photo 19 Love the sea

Photo 20 Ninja Turtle on Beach

Photo 21 Throwing sand…..

Photo 22 ….at the sea

Photo 23 Going in

Photo 24 Getting wet

Photo 25 Running

Photo 26 Umhlanga Pier

Photo 27 Giggles

Photo 28 Getting dumped

Photo 29 Holding on

Photo 30 Beach boy

Photo 31 Swimming

Photo 32 Loving it

Photo 33 Pool smiles

Photo 34 Dad’s strange castle

Photo 35 Getting mud

Photo 36 Sand castles can be hard work

Photo 37 Building

Photo 38 Tripped over my master piece

Photo 39 Ice cream time

Photo 40 Swimming with Dad

Photo 41 Millipede

Photo 42 Monkey on our balcony

Photo 43 Helping our porter

Photo 44 Stretching our legs at Bergview

Photo 45 Jo’burg skyline

Photo 46 599km and home again

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Conversations from the Cupboard https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11066 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11066#respond Mon, 01 Sep 2014 04:29:57 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11066

Does this seem like a strange topic, well I suppose it is. We are very lucky to be on a timeshare holiday again. Timeshare rocks!!
We are at Cabana Beach Lifestyle Resort. This means that Granny and I are in the cupboard in the wall.

On the journey and due to my new learning schedule, my folks have very quickly found out that I am learning at a rate of knots. I got in the car and that was it, entertainment time. When were we going to get there. I almost burst with anticipation to get going while Mom was having an 8 am meeting while we went to get petrol and ready the car. Oh boy a holiday!

As Mom arrived in the car that was it I started asking if we were there yet. Mom’s head dropped and very soon we stopped the car to retrieve the electronics to keep me busy. 6 hours later Mom saw the sea first which made me so miserable I cried. Oi vey! Poor folks.

When we arrived I looked after Mom and took her into the resort. We made our way upstairs and Mom showed me the cupboard where Gran and I would sleep. I chose my bed, and that was it, I closed up and from the lounge you could hear Gran and I discussing plans for the week. Every now and then I disappeared into the room I have renamed the hideaway. I sing in there, I dance in there and get dressed as a superhero in there. I often find the folks giggling away at my antics.

We’ve had a busy week. My Monday started school work. 3 light tasks and a ton of talking. When Mom was happy with the outcomes, Gran took me outside for a small break. Gran took Mom and I to Benmore as Mom will only be able to drive in about 4 more weeks. It was on the way that I managed to get out of Mom that Ryan was coming for a visit. Well I must have waited and opened the front door a hundred times before they arrived. Ryan ran over to Mom and asked about her knee. I in my best dramatic voice I told Ryan how terrible it looked, I put my hand on my head and shook my head. Mom asked Ryan if he would like to see the knee, but Ryan was quick to retort NO.

We played up a storm and Mom and Claudi talked. It was so much fun. I’ve missed Ryan.

Tuesday after the school routine, apparently it’s a light routine as I am on holiday. HUH? Work on holiday. Actually I quite like the routine. I also get to ask any questions I want. I am really enjoying that. Sometimes we even watch Discovery Channel online to get answers etc. Dad took me to play therapy. Unfortunately Discovery Health declined the extension on my allied benefit, so therapy might be halted for a few months. Tuesday afternoon, Aneesa came to visit. We baked Barney cupcakes. We managed to work together quite well. I also did a huge drawing and had an awesome day.

Wednesday, we saw little Christian in the afternoon and played up a storm with each other, we were even allowed some messy play with Corn Flour and water. I finally understand that you do need more water to make it work better but got some good turning action with my wrists.
It was a fun afternoon with Christian.

Thursday was a quiet day and we went to the bike park, thanks to Granny who has been looking after Mom and I all week, cooking, helping, playing, driving, she’s been great.

Friday Jaden came for a visit again I was beside myself with excitement , we played up another storm in the house. We then ran around the complex and rode my bikes. Awesome. Mom then did a big pack for, me, Dad and herself. Then we headed to the Spur. There I got to play with Michael, and saw his folks, Matt and Jen. It was off to bed and to wake up to the trip down to Umhlanga.

Today has seen me play on the beach for hours then in the pool for hours. While we were on the beach Dad and I built a HUGE sandcastle. Well, actually a small castle on a big hill. Because the tide was coming up so high, Dad wasn’t content to ‘just build a castle’. So he borrowed a garden spade from the workers nearby, made a massive mound of sand, and then put the castle on top of that, complete with a flag. Well, it was worth it, as it withstood the tide a number of times.

Gran and I made bridges, my other favourite activity on the beach. It was an awesome first day on the beach.

We then gout out of the wind and played with building/counting blocks. Then it was off to the Spur for dinner and a good play at the jungle gym.

A quick bath, a quick write of the blog and I’ll be off to bed….. ooops just dropped off.

Good night all, have an awesome week.

Love

Jarrod

 

 

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Jay-Bee Academy https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11064 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11064#respond Sun, 24 Aug 2014 23:42:25 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11064

I easily fell into a simplified routine of school work before lunch and lots of play after lunch. Mom has found ways to keep me entertained. We have got to the point where I have come up with some ideas to trace shapes.

During the week Granny arrived every day to look after Mom as she is still on crutches. I have realised stairs are not friendly. I turned Moms crutches into laser guns causing much confusion because if Mom wanted both no one knew where the one crutch was. Besides which these crutches have been hung over the balcony, turned into tents and Mom plays a mean game of soccer with them.

Fortunately my communication has improved 10 fold since leaving school. I practice sounds and theory.

Gran took me to fetch Tammy and while Tammy shopped I managed to get Ferrero Rocher® chocolates, which I taunted my parents with. I’d eat them in front of them and not give them any and then hide the rest. They still haven’t found them (and quite honestly I’m beginning to forget where I put them too. Hopefully they’re like squirrel’s lost acorns and sprout Ferroro trees!).

Monday was a free day and the only therapy I had during the week was Braam on Friday. Dad had to take me as Mommy is allowed to drive for a few more weeks.

Mom had a doctor’s appointment and I think all the medical talk put me into a huge PTSD slide; I threw a temper tantrum of note. It was about Mom’s leg I think. She was telling Shelli about her leg and it just got too much for me. I went into my room and trashed it, a little bit. I think that Mom was grateful Shelli was there as she calmed me down a little.

When Gran came back to cook for us, I heard Mom ask her to avoid my room. She told Dad too and it was decided that I was to tidy it.

I was taken to MacDonald’s for a play; I made Gran play up and down the slides. Mom found a bag and a number of other toys in her bag ensuring a great game of fetch.

On Friday Dad took me in his lunch hour to Braam, I came back with a great attitude and beautifully cantered drawing. “Huh?” was Mom’s response. Mom stayed home and we went to dinner.

Saturday we forced Mom to stay in bed all day; I had Kewyn’s birthday party in the afternoon. It was at Lonehill fire station, or Ladder 16 as they are officially called. I got to ride on the Simon Snorkel and had a really play.

Sunday Mom went to a convention all day so Dad and I played up a storm at Yeesh for 3 whole hours. We then headed to Woodmead to get toys (I know how to twist Dad’s arm). Once home I did a great display of unwrapping the toys I got like the shows I watch on YouTube. I was hilarious!

Until next week (when I will be on the beach!). Wish Mommy lots of luck please as she is really battling with her knee. It seems she’s in more and permanent pain than before her op. I feel so sad for her.

Love Jarrod

Photo 1 This is how I roll…..

Photo 2 Working hard in Jay-Bee Academy

Photo 3 Magnet octopus

Photo 4 Funny shapes

Photo 5 Waiting for Braam

Photo 6 My well centred drawing

Photo 7 Chilling at Ladder 16

Photo 8 Balloon chasing

Photo 9 Hard at work

Photo 10 Proud Jay-Bee

Photo 11 Tower time

Photo 12 Need.bigger.blocks!

Photo 13 Playing isn’t all fun and games, its hard work!

Photo 14 And a BIGGER block!

Photo 15 And suddenly I’m into soup!

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C-Suite https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11028 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11028#respond Sun, 17 Aug 2014 17:53:25 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11028

It’s been a very interesting week. I’m officially on school holidays, but since I no longer go to school, I’m doing ‘school’ every day. We’ve started my home-schooling programme called Jay-Bee Academy.

Most of the week Mom and I were out and about when we weren’t at JBA (Jay-Bee Academy). I’m really enjoying my self-directed learning and I feel I’m progressing well. Mom and Dad are finding spur-of-the-moment opportunities for me to learn, and it seems to work. As a treat before going into hospital, Mom let me have a Ninja Turtle soft toy which I made myself at The Bear Factory. I even got to record my own voice for its ‘insides’; my Ninja Turtle says a loud ‘poya-tata’ just like on TV!

Friday morning when I woke up I discovered Mommy had already left for hospital. She was having surgery on her knee, and between Dad and Granny they drew lots as to who would go with Mommy and who would go with me. Daddy ended up looking after me for the day, and Granny went to hospital with Mommy. Dad and I regularly called Mommy to check on her; and being together the whole day we had lots of plans.

First Dad and I went to one of his banking clients to drop off some documents. I was super friendly with everyone, and even got to go into the secured executive floor where the c-suite of Daddy’s client sit. It looked super plush and all the executive secretaries were very friendly. I handed all of Dad’s documents to Connie, and even got a chance to wave to the CFO while he was on the phone. On the way out I spotted a balloon in reception, as only I can do, and I got the receptionist to sign us out. It was really great and lots of fun; I now know why Daddy loves his work so much!

Afterward we went to Mushroom Farm Park where I rode my tricycle around the park while Daddy walked Mischka. As we walked around we watched the huge Hyundai tethered balloon swaying in the breeze. Dad said he was still very keen to go up the balloon (we had promised it to him for his birthday two years ago but it never materialised). Now that I’m a little older I’m also a little scared. As the balloon landed we asked the attendants if we could ‘inspect’ the basket for safety. I was given a full tour of the basket and Dad and the attendant showed me how strong the ropes were and how secure the cage was. I’m starting to feel convinced.

A play in the sandpit ensued, and while we were playing Granny phoned to say Mommy was out of theatre and doing well. Dad and I were very relieved. We were told that Mommy will probably be home mid-afternoon. Dad and I had some lunch, and then he took me for my play therapy with Braam.

Mommy was home again by the time we arrived back, and I showered Mommy with gifts and flowers and a card I drew for her. Although she was very sore and had a massive headache she was thrilled to see us and with her gifts.

The rest of the weekend we opted to take it easy. It started raining on Friday evening and most of the weekend it drizzled on and off, which was really awesome. Our only outing was to go to Granny’s place for lunch. Sadly Mommy is very very sore and is still battling to get around a little. She does have crutches, or mag-wheel modifications as Dad and I like to call them. On a serious note though, Dad has already really modified the crutches as they were squeaking and driving Mommy insane!

Well that’s it for this week. Mommy says a great big thank you to everyone for their messages, and offers of help.

Until next week.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 With Gran at the Mushroom Farm Park

Photo 2 Chasing Mischka

Photo 3 Playing ball

Photo 4 Some high-sky

Photo 5 Experimenting

Photo 6 Spotted a puppy Mischka at the pet store

Photo 7 My new tricycle

Photo 8 My Ninja Turtle that I made ready to go home

Photo 9 Delivering documents with Dad

Photo 10 Yes, I would spot a balloon in the reception

Photo 11 C-Suite visit done!

Photo 12 Off to the park!

Photo 13 The tethered balloon

Photo 14 Mischka acting as my emergency brake

Photo 15 Loving my tricycle

Photo 16 And some walking

Photo 17 Look at the green in the tree – summer is on its way!

Photo 18 Playing some ‘real’ Angry Birds

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Trauma https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11009 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=11009#respond Sun, 10 Aug 2014 18:44:39 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=11009

It’s been a busy week for me with lots of changes underway. But first let me tell you what’s been happening. Because Teacher Janine had an operation on her shoulder Teacher Zoe has been standing in for her.

Monday evening I was really tired so I ended up going to bed really early.

While we were at school on Tuesday, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit in Ornkey, south-east of where we live. It was felt all the way to Durban, the Eastern Cape, Botswana (Dad had colleagues there at the time), Mozambique and Zimbabwe. By South African standards it is really a big one.

As it was the last week of term, we didn’t have tennis after school either. In the evening I had a nice long hot bath. Mom suggested I read a magazine in the bath, which I took quite literally – I put the magazine in the bath!

Wednesday we all wore our pyjamas to school in aid of collecting money for a little baby that needs medical treatment. It was really funny seeing everyone in their favourite PJs at school.

In the afternoon I had a session with Braam. It was a good session, but a great deal of stuff is being revealed about my trauma that none of us realized beforehand. I’ll chat more about that later. In the afternoon I managed to scratch myself behind my ear, and I ended up bleeding all over the place.

As I woke up Thursday I announced to everyone that I didn’t have nightmare’s that night!

Friday was a short day at school, as it was end of term. But for me it was even more than end of term. From my therapy sessions with Braam and Lauren, it’s come out that my trauma is far worse than originally anticipated.

We’ve heard and seen more and more research showing that pre-verbal trauma is deep-seated and far worse than trauma experienced after one starts learning to talk. Needless to say, majority of my trauma has been pre-verbal – the brain surgeries, being in hospital for the first part of my life, almost dying a number of times, losing Opa and Oma, and some cats (especially Milo) and dogs, and so on. I talk about Opa, Oma and Milo often and really miss them.

So after much debate and discussion between Mom, Dad and the therapists it was decided that I would be home schooled for the rest of the year. The reasoning is that I’m trying to cope with so much emotionally and psychologically, that put on top of that the demands of schooling and I was close to a nervous breakdown! This is why we think my school work has been regressing so badly, my constant tiredness, and my ups and downs.

At the end of the year we will do another review and take it from there as to the next steps.

Friday I was very sad at school, that I wouldn’t see my friends again. Mom promised me playdates with them. Also, I’ve heard Mom and Dad talking of the occasional play group in the afternoons, when I’m ready, to engage with children to play.

Saturday Dad and I spent most of the day together, as Mom had a few appointments. We had a good deal of fun, and being just the boys it involved toy buying and McDonalds!

A bizarre thing that happened during the morning was that we had some rain – big fat splotches that lasted for about 1o minutes.

In the evening we went to Granny’s place for dinner (well, the restaurant in Granny’s complex – Granny doesn’t really cook anymore). It drizzled again for a bit.

Sunday Mom took Granny to church. Dad and I went to Khensi’s birthday party at The River Cabin. Although it was quite far from where we live, it was a great venue. Driving into the venue we even spotted some gemsbok.

Before I go I need to wish my special Mommy good luck as she is having an operation on her knee on Friday. She hurt it really badly when she was doing hurdles as a 12 year old. As a result she needed the anterior cruciate ligament tied together and some pins put in her leg. Now, decades later (I’m not allowed to stay how many) the work done so many years ago is starting to fail from wear and tear and osteoarthritis, so it needs to be repaired.

Well, that’s it for this week.

Good luck Mommy!

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 Mickey having a chat with Rhino the hamster!

Photo 2 My rendition of Darth Vader in Angry Birds Star Wars

Photo 3 It looks worse than it is

Photo 4 I did a little dress up after school, all on my own

Photo 5 Some PlayDoh artwork

Photo 6 Funny face

Photo 7 Playing with Toothless

Photo 8 Busy play!

Photo 9 Heading down to Khensi’s party

Photo 10 Jungle gym time!

Photo 11 Jumping castle

Photo 12 Cake time

Photo 13 Baking in the kitchen

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Same Old Same Old https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10994 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10994#respond Sun, 03 Aug 2014 17:24:13 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10994

Hi everyone!

Apologies for not posting a blog last week; the truth is I didn’t have much to say, and I also didn’t have many photos to post. The last two weeks have been much of the usual things – going to school, playing tennis and seeing my therapists. Singing has become a big part of me and I try sing something with Mom and Dad in the car every time we travel somewhere. Dad took me to school last Monday and I demanded the car stereo be at full volume! My favourite songs I like to sing at the moment are Say Something by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera, Let It Go and Do You Want To Build A Snowman from the movie Frozen, and Katy Perry songs are still my favourite, with Dark Horse being in my current repertoire. And if you’re wonder, yes, I know all the lyrics.

Friday evening we decided to go out for sushi. I love the salmon as well as letting things go around on the conveyor belt and watching people’s reactions as pens and toys come past them!

Saturday night I mixed blue cupcake icing with my Playdoh. Made for an interesting clean-up operation for Mom. There are still hand prints on the wall!

On Tuesday I woke up really late – I think I was just needing a rest. Fortunately Mom and Dad let me sleep when I need it, for my brain to heal. As a result I got to stay home from school, but Mom and Dad went in my place to get some teach feedback. As a reward I got a really big Bewilderbeast (from How To Train Your Dragon 2). I’ve also visited with friends and had some play dates.

This afternoon we were at the Spur and while there Daddy downloaded their 3D app. I was given some paper characters to colour in, and once shaded in, by playing the iPad camera over the characters, they actually come to life in the colours I used. I’m not sure who was more thrilled by this – me or Dad. On the flip side of the page you could colour in the wardrobe and similarly upload these into the app and dress the characters.

Well that’s about it for now. I promise to have more exciting news next week!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Mickey chilling out!

Photo 2 My grader that Dad built

Photo 3 I took this pic while driving

Photo 4 Sushi time

Photo 5 An oldie but a goodie

Photo 6 Playdoh icing mix!

Photo 7 My new Bewilderbeast

Photo 8 Ninja Turtle with me in the car

Photo 9 Looking cool!

Photo 10 Just for fun!

Photo 11 3D artwork at the Spur

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Four Stars! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10981 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10981#respond Sun, 20 Jul 2014 16:35:26 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10981

Four Stars!

After blogging last week we all settled down to watch the final of the Soccer World Cup. I fell asleep, as it was really late, but Mom and Dad told me the next morning that our team, Germany, won! They said it was a stressful and tense 120 minutes, but fortunately after 113 minutes Mario Götze scored a superb goal. The last 7 minutes were as stressful as the first 113, in that we were worried Argentina would score! Fortunately they didn’t and Germany added a fourth star to their soccer jerseys.

We were all pretty tired on Monday but very happy. After school on Monday I had a session with Lauren.

Tuesday morning Daddy left really early to go to Botswana again, where he is ‘building a new bank’. It was a hugely exciting day for me at school as we were going to the zoo with my class. It was awesome. Having been there recently I was in a good position to lead everyone around. We all rode on the tractor too and saw lots of animals.

I saw Bram for some play therapy on Wednesday after school. He’s really getting to the bottom of my stress levels and the post-traumatic stress that I suffer from. Pretty soon we’ll start seeing some benefit from these.

Thursday was a pretty ordinary day. We all felt really lazy in the evening so we sent Dad out to get pizzas for dinner.

Friday Mom was incredibly ill from a virus. She’d been awake all night and felt too weak to drive me to school. Daddy had too many appointments so he couldn’t help out. I scored! I got to stay home for the day.

Saturday and Sunday were spent at home. We let Mommy sleep very late on Saturday and then in the afternoon Dad and I had a long snooze. Despite our afternoon nap I fell asleep early and slept through most of the night.

Sunday morning Daddy had a pile of admin to get through, so we left him alone in the study. Mom and I tackled my room and tidied up Legos and other toys. The top shelf of my book case is now a display for all my characters – there’s lots of them!

Well that’s it from a really lazy and laid back weekend.

Lots of love,

Jarrod

Photo 1Playing dress up

Photo 2 Some daddy-gym

Photo 3 Swinging at OT with Toothless the Dragon

Photo 4 My name writing is getting good!

Photo 5 Making a call at school (to phone Mom)

Photo 6 ???

Photo 7 Doing crafts

Photo 8 Yum! Mince on toast. A first for me

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Seven-one! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10971 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10971#respond Sun, 13 Jul 2014 16:55:55 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10971

Both Mom and Dad took me to school as they had a doctor’s appointment directly afterward. Mom for her knee and Dad for a sore throat which turned out to be tonsillitis, so he was booked off. After school I had an appointment with Dr Tiziana Aduc and then with Lauren for OT. Mom was running 10 mins late in getting me from my school to Dr Aduc’s rooms on the other side of town, so she called ahead. Sadly she was promptly told to reschedule! Mom was furious! Each time we’re at Dr Aduc’s rooms her appointments run up to an hour late. Yet for being ten minutes late the appointment we’ve had months ago was cancelled.

Needless this is yet again another setback in my getting the necessary treatments, therapies and medication needed to try lead a normal life.

Tuesday morning Dad headed off to Botswana. In the evening Germany played against Brazil and won 7-1 securing their place in the finals. I was thrilled for Dad’s team! Wednesday was a pretty ordinary day. Sadly I didn’t see Daddy as I was asleep by the time he arrived home.

On Thursday the last of my birthday presents arrived – K’Nex Bowser’s Castle and Sophia the First Floating Palace. I was thrilled. In the afternoon when Dad came home I immediately put him to the task of constructing Bowser’s Castle. Dad and I took a quick break from building and had our hair cut, and afterward we had frozen yoghurt. I made Mom a frozen yoghurt to go. Back home we built some more, and then we had a Skype call with a lady in America who works with my Uncle Oliver and is studying medicine part-time. Her assignment was to interview the parents of a child with chronic health care problems, and Uncle Oliver immediately thought of me. So we all huddled around the iPad and meet with Bethany as she interviewed us.

Friday was a pretty quiet day for us all.

Saturday morning Dad and I let Mom sleep really late – her knee is so sore and she needed the rest. We played in the morning; had pirate fights, played racing cars, watched TV and built Legos. We had a late lunch at Piza E Vino and then did some shopping. In the evening I tried to stay up with Daddy to watch the 3rd / 4th place World Cup matches, but I fell asleep. Daddy told me the next morning that the Netherlands beat Brazil to take 3rd place.

Sunday we didn’t even leave the house! Granny was here for a little while. Dad and I spent the morning building Lego cars and in the afternoon we tried to take a snooze so that we could all stay up for the Germany-Argentina World Cup final. We’re all rooting for Germany; Daddy is always wearing a German scarf in support. We wish them luck for tonight!

Love Jay-Bee!

Photo 1 Ready for a cold morning

Photo 2 Total Tweets during the Brazil-Germany game

Photo 3 Peak moments that generated Tweets during the game

Photo 4 Working in class

Photo 5 Having my hair cut

Photo 6 #Selfie of me and Dad with our hair looking smart

Photo 7 Getting frozen yoghurt for Mommy

Photo 8 One K’nex Bowser’s Castle and one very tired Daddy

Photo 9 Skyping with Bethany

Photo 10 Playing with Bowser’s Castle

Photo 11 Playing at lunch

Some of our favourite World Cup soccer images we found

 

Pictures from last week at the zoo that Daddy forgot to add

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Mid Term Break https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10939 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10939#respond Sun, 06 Jul 2014 19:59:54 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10939

The week has flown past just like the North wind.

I have been on mid-term break, and Mom has made a huge effort to keep me entertained.

I take it this has been in between working, because there has been lots of rushing into the family room to sit at her laptop and smash out an email or two.

I think that Thursday and Friday were the best days ever. We hit the zoo and we had a birthday party for two of the mommies in our tea group.

Monday was a first for my Mommy, we went for a walk at Mushroom Farm Park. It is such a lovely venue, Mischa was very happy to be out the house. He goes a little stir crazy if he doesn’t get his 4-5 km walk a day. He’s really funny though as he pulls you along with his leash if he thinks you’re slowing down. I don’t have the tolerance to walk with him, so every now and then he would run past Mom and suddenly she would step on the leash dragging on the ground to stop him, and stop him it would! His ears flying around as he hits the breaks. Everyone laughs. Poor dog has to regain his composure and then pace himself again.

He met another tiny Maltese puppy and was extremely well behaved when he met her, her name was Zoe, and she barked and barked. My training is kicking in it would seem. While I played, Granny and Mommy took turns to walk and look after me. Such fun. I did take the girls around the course twice to make sure they knew their way.

We then hightailed it over to Pappachinos for lunch and a play. I was rather irritated to be told I was too big for the swing. This is the not so good side to growing up.

This week has been full of those conversations that my Mom refers to as enlightening. We’ve had the chance to reconnect and my work with Braam has been paying off big time. I looked my mother full in the face, while holding her face, just in case she moved it or got distracted. “Mom, I hate school, because you leave me there!” she was so happy that I verbalised it, after she regained her composure she asked me if I understood that teachers are at school and as you get to know things you need more teachers in your life, inside and outside school, and at the moment, until my brain understands how to read left to right, teacher Janine would be the best person for me. I would move on soon.

We had another in depth discussion… which involved my brain. “I can’t do it Mom, it’s just too hard” this was whilst writing my name. I presently write upside-down and back to front. Apparently it’s a very vestibular thing, and a lot of astronauts have the same problem. Mom is learning to read it, but strangely enough I can spell out words correctly. So everyone is very confused… anyway back to the hard part. “Mom it’s my brain damage, I just can’t do it.” Mom was mortified, of course the folks have never directly used this term, but doctors and discussions have been had in my proximity. Mom, just cried… then she remembered all the other things that have been told to her. “Jarrod, do you remember the kind doctor in Paris Dr. George? … “Oh yes Mom, in the strange hospital and his room had lots of things and I gave him a coin of Madiba”… (Lynn’s thoughts, I know technically there has to be damage, but really how does he remember all that detail) “Right JB, he said you had a beautiful brain. Dr. Lippert said that you had a very big brain with lots of gyri (folds in grey matter) and an excellent corpus collosum, those are all very important parts of the brain”. I started trying to say something and Mom stopped me…”JB do you remember you spoke words really early, like Doggie, or Oh Really, you’ve seen it on videos. After your surgery at 9 months you had to learn to speak again. That took long, then you had a stroke and lost your speech and had to learn again. If you didn’t have a really good brain, you couldn’t do that. Other people never learn to talk again after a stroke. Do you understand?” “Yes Mom I do understand. So I am going to try and try.”

(Mom’s thoughts… Wow this is intense, how did we get here?)

Tuesday we went to use my vouchers and birthday money… guess what I chose? Ninja Turtle Lego. We went to the Wimpy and a breakfast and then got some groceries. I then launched Mom into Lego hell as this was a couple thousand pieces. I noticed my two parents are very different at their approach to the building process. Mom involves me and makes me find pieces, but likes the pieces in front of her. She also builds with two hands very quickly. When I asked her why she uses two hands she says it’s the way her brain works. When it comes to patterns and planning, because she danced, she sees them quickly and her brain lets her use both hands if the pattern is symmetrical. Dad, uses a bowl and loves to plough through the pieces as a kind of therapy he says. For Dad it’s like Occupational Therapy and he likes to be left alone and get on with it. It’s exciting both ways.

Thanks for my vouchers and money everyone!

Wednesday Mom kept me in bed with bad fevers, I was highly sensitive and didn’t want to go out even for ice cream.

We played in the sun in Mom’s room with the Lego she built and did puzzles and books, lots of books, thanks for all my presents again everyone. I was allowed to use my new cookbook, but as anyone knows I like to experiment a little. On Sunday, Mom finally turned my ‘experiment’ into play dough. Dad and I were quite impressed, because usually nothing can save my experiments except the dishwasher.

Thursday we fetched Gran, Tam, Aneesa and the 5 of us headed to the zoo. Mom called it her make it all happen for everyone day… Gran needed a day out, Tam wanted to spend time with me, Mom had a breakfast arrangement with Aneesa and we could be outdoors, have a walk (Mom’s need) and entertain me.

Well you would think I had never been to the zoo before. I grabbed my map shrieked with excitement, chose all the animals I wanted to see and honestly I would have run up and down the zoo if Mom had not just stopped and used Dad’s regroup approach. Breakfast was the regroup. We looked on the way to breakfast at the animals, mainly birds, tortoises and chimpanzees. There were hens and roosters begging for food, very pretty looking ones and I was thrilled with the roosters crowing and shrieked with delight which freaked them out, but I gave them some of my chips.

We headed up to the lemurs, elephant, buck in general, zebra, and finally the lions. They did not disappoint. On the way Tammy chose to do an official workout on her gluts by pushing the pram so I obliged by getting in the pram to make it harder for her. She tucked her elbows in and marched up the hill. Of course we made fun of her, just because Dad wasn’t there to do it. We took pictures. There was an awesome playground there and cotton candy (candyfloss) chip sticks, water, fun, lots of pictures and back down the hill till we found the dinky doughnuts. I was thrilled. We agreed that everyone was tired and needed a break so everyone was dropped off at home by 2pm.

While we were sitting on the bed recapping the day and me having a snack another interesting discussion got started. JB “Mom, you know when I was little, I was so sick?” “Yes my boy, at the hospital?” “No, when I was home already” I said. “I do remember” Mom said soothingly. “Do you know I was very scared the doctors and nurses would come to my home?” “Oh my baby boy, I am so sorry you felt like that, I wish I knew!” “Mom that’s why I have to sleep with you and Dad. I am too scared.”

(Lynn’s thoughts on the matter….I should’ve started saving for his therapy earlier, and if he stays in my bed till he is a teenager, I am moving out!)

Friday was all exciting and after going to visit Granny who was really sick, with a homemade soup and medicine package we headed off to Randburg for some fun with my friends. It was Claudi’s birthday and there was cake and soup and a jumping castle that Colleen had arranged. We got off to playing with little invitation needed from our Mom’s. Rachel unfortunately hurt her hand but after a few hours and a whole day of play we were all tired. I threw one mighty verbalisation (nice way to say temper tantrum) that I didn’t want to go. Mom explained, that she understood, but it is important to understand that good things end, so that tomorrow can by a good day too. We watched Germany beat France in the evening for the World Cup, which capped off the day. On falling asleep I announced to Mom, that I couldn’t wait for the next great day.

Saturday morning we hit movies to see How To Train Your Dragon 2; during the week Mom got me How To Train Your Dragon 1 because she said she wanted me to understand the context (what’s context Mom) or what happened first to make that there was a number 2. Back at home we happily played, read and basically kept ourselves busy.

Sunday we went to breakfast for a play and played games the rest of the day … we started cleaning some of the rooms and started getting ready to clean the storeroom downstairs. All good fun! I’m off to bed, ready for tomorrow. I think tomorrow is the day I write my name ‘independently’… then Mom owes me a huge toy. Bribery is great.

Here’s to a good week to you all.

Remember to smile, love and remember to dance like no one is watching.

Love,

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Working my Monsters University laptop

Photo 2 Dad and I built bikes before he left for work

Photo 3 Playing with my TMNT Lego Lair

Photo 4 Playing at breakfast

Photo 5 Enjoying the sun at Mushroom Farm Park

Photo 6 Balancing

Photo 7 Looooook!

Photo 8 Some high-sky

Photo 9 Captain Jay-Bee

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TMNT Party! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10926 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10926#respond Sun, 29 Jun 2014 21:40:00 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10926 The week started off pretty ordinary with my usual therapies and school. Towards the end of the week things started escalating to a party type frenzy, with lots of prep being done between here and Granny’s place. It was super exciting!

Friday was mid-term break so we ended school early. Mom and I decided to visit Daddy at Sunninghill Hospital – he was sent there by his work. Apparently the chairs at his office are all rickety, and as Dad arrived at work, sat down and lent across for his phone the chair broke and he fell down. He then told the PA who mobilised facilities management, first aid and everyone else that mattered! And all Dad wanted was another chair to sit on.

What actually followed were heaps of forms and a compulsory visit to casualty. Apparently they didn’t even want him to drive himself! The upside was that I got to spend the afternoon with Daddy, and since there was no soccer on Friday we all just chilled out around the house.

Saturday morning Daddy took me to see Bram, but I couldn’t sit through a full session with the excitement of Sunday’s party. On the way back Dad and I had McDonalds as a treat (I missed it on the Friday), and then Daddy did something he very very rarely does – had his car washed! I giggled in hysterics as the sprayers and foam hit my window. And the more I giggled the more the guys sprayed foam at my window. It was a blast, literally.

Daddy had poker in the afternoon so Mommy and I finished my party prep. There were balloons to fill, a piñata to put sweets into, green chocolate to be made and lots and lots of decorating.

Sunday morning we got up really early and headed to the Rainbow River Party Venue, which is only a few blocks from our house. There were so many decorations we had to go in two cars. We started decorating and putting out goodies just before my guests arrived.

It was then time to party. Daddy put music on in the big hall, and outside was a jumping castle, tables and chairs and lots of climbing equipment. Mommy had made all of us ninja turtle shells and masks to wear. It was a rave.

In the hall we ran around screaming like maniacs, and then we middle of the day, after the cake and piñata we stormed the jumping castle.

Sadly my party was coming to an end, and I had to start bidding my guests farewell. Mom and Dad packed up their things and we headed home. I opened my presents (I wasn’t allowed to do that at the party as I then tend to forget my friends…..) and spent the rest of the day playing up a storm, while Daddy did what dads do best under these circumstances – read instructions and assemble toys!

Thank you everyone for a wonderful party and once again for all the beautiful wishes that kept pouring in during the week!

Lotsa love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 TMNT pyjamas!

Photo 2 Some days the love way to sleep is on top of Mommy!

Photo 3 Some Thomas the Tank engine – it never gets old

Photo 4 Hard at work as Sodor Steam Works

Photo 5 Dad and I having cake at The Bread Basket

Photo 6 Rice filled balloons. Check

Photo 7 Balloons with motion activated LEDs inside. Check

Photo 8 TMNT cake. Check

Photo 9 Big hall for play. Check

Photo 10 Music. Check (In fact Dad often played the TMNT theme song)

Photo 11 Jumping castle. Check

Photo 12 Friends’ table. Check

Photo 13 Ducks and ducklings (just in case). Check

Photo 14 Food and drink. Check

Photo 15 Friends. Check. Now it’s a party!!!!!

Photo 16 Oooo, and don’t forget the face painter

Photo 17 Ninja Turtle lanterns

Photo 18 Mayhem

Photo 19 Dad, here’s a yoyo for you. Have you ever seen one before?

Photo 20 Cake anyone???

Photo 21 Joseph, do you want some cake?

Photo 22 Cake cutting time

Photo 23 Mommy helping out

Photo 24 Yum! Head of a TMNT!

Photo 25 TMNT piñata time

Photo 26 Joseph has a try

Photo 27 It took Girl Power to break open the piñata

Photo 28 Piñata feeding frenzy!!!!!

Photo 29 Happy giggles!

 

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I’m Six! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10846 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10846#comments Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:53:36 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10846 It’s been a really exciting week. I turned six years old this week. Although it’s been six amazing years with my Mommy and Daddy they’ve also been six very tough years for all three of us. We’ve spent the last few days celebrating hard.

The week started with Monday being a Public Holiday, and although it was a really cold morning we opted to walk around Zoo Lake. Granny joined us as did Mischka. It was really fun and we fed the ducks. Since Mommy walks there often she showed us where all the ducklings were and how many there were in each family. One pair of ducks had nine little ducklings.

Some tea and coffee followed at Happy.Me in Greenside and then on the way home we ran some errands. Dad did a little DIY in the afternoon and I ‘helped’.

I woke up with a temperature on Tuesday so Mom opted to keep me at home. She set up a bed for me in the study so that I could be close to her while she did some admin.

Wednesday I was back at school and in the afternoon I went to see Braam for some play therapy. When I arrived home a gift had arrived for me from Australia. I was thrilled to see it but sad I had to wait another day to open it. The tension was too much for me!

Thursday was the big day! Mom and Dad were up early and all three of us went downstairs where the kitchen island was covered in gifts for me! I was thrilled. There was a chocolate cake with candles which I blew out. I then got to opening my gifts and felt really spoilt at all the things I got.

Mom had made goodie bags and balloons for my friends at school, complete with cupcake decorating kits. I could see no school work would be done today! My school friends and I had an awesome morning together. Dad managed to come home a little earlier and we all chilled around the house. I chatted to Uncle Wayne and Aunty Birgitt on the phone and told them all about my day, thanked them for the spending money they’d sent and I asked them to come visit. I even gave them directions on the phone how to get to my home!

I decided I wanted McDonalds for dinner, so while Dad and I were in the car, Matt, Jenny and Micheal phoned and sang happy birthday to me. I was so thrilled.

Friday was pretty quiet and I spent the afternoon playing with all my new toys.

On Saturday we went to Aneesa’s The Big Bang Theory birthday party. Although it was her birthday a while back, she only managed to have her party now. I went as Sheldon, Dad as Leonard and Mom as Amy. We all looked really funny. It was also the Winter Solstice, so days will start getting longer and hopefully warmer!

Sunday was Mark and Lisle’s farewell – they’re off to Australia. They had their farewell at The Barnyard where the show Thank You For The Music was on. Although it was really loud for me I still enjoyed it and bopped along to the songs. It was an amazing afternoon and when we finally got home it was just in time for my bedtime!

Before I go, a BIG thank you to everyone that sent my messages, either direct or via Facebook and Twitter via Mom and Dad. I really really appreciate it!

Til next week!

Love Jarrod

Photo 1 Mischka and I ready for our walk

Photo 2 Mischka runs off with his leash

Photo 3 Zipping up against the cold

Photo 4 Eight of the nine ducklings!

Photo 5 Photo bomb!

Photo 6 My balance is becoming perfect!

Photo 7 Doing well!

Photo 8 Even doing a balance jump

Photo 9 And again

Photo 10 Super strong! Suspending myself

Photo 11 Happy Jay-Bee

Photo 12 Reading in the car

Photo 13 Number of Tweets globally during the Germany Portugal game

Photo 14 Sick bunny…….

Photo 15 This arrived for me from Sharon and Marc – had to wait a whole night to open it!

Photo 16 Emmet and I making party packs

Photo 17 Filling my party packs

Photo 18 Making cupcakes for my friends

Photo 19 Taste test

Photo 20 Its gooooooood

Photo 21 All ready to go

Photo 22 It my birthday!!!!!! Finally!!!!!!!

Photo 23 Candle time

Photo 24 Happy Jay-Bee

Photo 25 Thrilled!

Photo 26 Exciting!

Photo 27 Absolute joy

Photo 28 Check the hands Shazza

Photo 29 Lots of TMNT

Photo 30 Happy bunny

Photo 31 Maxed out happiness

Photo 32 Yay-ness!

Photo 33 Class party

Photo 34 Let the fun begin (no work today!)

Photo 35 Teacher Janine made me a TMNT hat and face

Photo 36 Cupcake time

Photo 37 All hands on deck to decorate

Photo 38 My cupcake

Photo 39 Fun had by all

Photo 40 Yum

Photo 41 Tastes gooooooood

Photo 42 Loving it

Photo 43 Partying

Photo 44 Now this school work I love

Photo 45 Teacher Janine helps out

Photo 46 Happy Jay-Bee

Photo 47 Candle time……

Photo 48 Making wishes

Photo 49 Everyone helping (candles seem to keep going on again)

Photo 50 Now this is carpet time!

Photo 51 Daddy’s Tweet

Photo 52 FaceTime with Aneesa

Photo 53 Chatting to Aunty Birgitt and Uncle Wayne

Photo 54 Aneesa’s 21st that I slept through – was feeling under the weather

Photo 55 Some play before the show

Photo 56 Ready to party

Photo 57 Loving the show at The Barnyard

Photo 58 Loving the show

Photo 59 Helping out the lights engineer

Photo 60 From this…….

Photo 61 To this six years later

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World Cup Time https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10781 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10781#respond Sun, 15 Jun 2014 17:38:16 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10781

The week has stayed really cold, so our outside activities have been limited. At school we couldn’t even go to the Haahoo Park as it was frosted over.

Monday after school Mom took me to Lauren where I had an awesome session. Tuesday morning we got up a little earlier than usual as we had to drop Daddy off at the Gautrain station. He was going to Gaborone for three days. Mom dressed me for school and off we went. I was running a fever, so after we dropped Dad off Mom decided it would be better I stayed at home.

At first I was thrilled, but Mom made me work really hard, and then on Wednesday I got extra work to do that I missed out on. Tuesday afternoon our neighbour Janni and little Tyne came for a visit. Although he is only 18 months we had a brilliant play date. We climbed on my soft blocks and then played ball with Mischka.

Despite Mom being at home, she was called by Thokozane’s mom to collect him, as both their cars had broken down so Mom went and collected him at school and took him home. I stayed home with Granny.

Granny stayed over on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Granny got me some flexi-tracks for my wooden Thomas track. I was thrilled.

On Thursday evening we collected Daddy from the Gautrain station. I was so thrilled to see him again – I really missed him. We got home just in time to see some of the FIFA World Cup 2014 opening ceremony. We started watching the Brazil Croatia game; neither Dad nor I managed to stay awake, but we’ve been following all the results and highlights ever since. Dad and I have even started playing EA Sports’ FIFA14.

Friday I had an appointment with Braam for play therapy at 12:00. Because he is in Beaulieu, and my school is at the Zoo Mom decided to keep me at home; the two places are at opposite ends of the city and we would’ve spent more time travelling than at school or at my session. At about 10 o’clock Braam phoned to postpone. We were not happy (well actually I was – I missed a day of school).

For dinner we met Jenny, Matthew and little Micheal at the Spur. It was so awesome to catch up, and we played up a storm.

Saturday morning we sent Dad off to doctor Anthony; he’s glands were swollen and he had a sore throat. Dad was diagnosed with pharyngitis and was given antibiotics and pain killers. After taking the pain killers Daddy’s mood perked up and he and I went out for pizzas at Piza E Vino. We had a really good time.

We were back home for a bit of a play, and then Dad took me to see Braam – he’d postponed the Friday session to Saturday afternoon. Dad and I had a nice chat in the car and then I had a really good session with Braam. It was really late by the time we were home again.

Sunday morning Mom and I brought Daddy breakfast in bed for Father’s Day. We then spent the rest of the day chilling around the house, playing, reading and having fun.

Well, that’s it for this week!

Lots of love

Jarrod

Photo 1 I made a crabby patty!

Photo 2 Kitties snuggling to keep warm

Photo 3 Frost at the Haahoo Park

Photo 4 Swinging in the hammock at Lauren for OT

Photo 5 Look at the tower I built!

Photo 6 Playing kiddies type jenga with Mom

Photo 7 It worked! Your turn Mom

Photo 8 Ooooops

Photo 9 Tyne and I playing on my soft blocks

Photo 10 FaceTime with Dad in Gaborone

Photo 11 Drawing of Darth Vader

Photo 12 Building with my new flexi-tracks

Photo 13 Dad sent us this picture just before taking off

Photo 14 Dad and I took a selfie in the back of the car on the way home from the Gautrain

Photo 15 Some late night dribbling in prep for the World Cup

Photo 16 Mom and I playing

Photo 17 Michael loving his Spur ribs

Photo 18 Michael and I loving our desserts

Photo 19 La Dolce Vita

Photo 20 Pizzas with Dad

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Frozen https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10758 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10758#respond Sun, 08 Jun 2014 16:21:57 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10758 After school on Monday Mom took me to see Lauren for some OT. As always, I really enjoy seeing her and I had a good session. I was supposed to play tennis after school on Tuesday but I old the teacher I didn’t want to play. I’m at that point where I’m saying no to a lot of things and I’m starting to get myself into trouble.

On Wednesday morning Daddy left really early – he was spending the next couple of days at a venue for a client strategy session. Mom got a call to say that Braam Beegte, my play therapist, had a slot for me in the afternoon and wanted to see me. We arrived, but then he wasn’t available. This has happened to us twice already and is proving extremely frustrating and wasteful. As an adventure we stayed with Granny in the evening. I did spend the evening moaning about the fact that I missed my animals and wanted to go home.

Thursday a massive cold front descended on us, and we all froze! On Thursday evening Granny came and spent the night with us, which was more to my liking.

Daddy got home on Friday in the late afternoon, and he wasn’t home for long when he fell asleep. The strategy sessions he was running were planned well into the night, and when he finally got to his room, he still needed to work and prep for the next day. He did tell me though that he meet James Durno at the strat session; Daddy used him as a cartoonist to capture some of the outcomes. If you’re wondering why this is significant it’s because I used his Christmas Cards on my first Christmas Blog to help celebrate – see here!

Saturday morning we popped into Bedford Shopping Centre to see the new Wizard of Oz movie. It wasn’t the best movie we’d seen and we actually found it a little boring. Afterwards we popped into Aladdin’s Cave Toy Shop to collect my new Mouse Trap which had been delivered to them earlier in the week. I was thrilled! In the afternoon we all snoozed and that became night.

Mom and Gran went to church on Sunday morning, while the boys stayed home. Dad made us bacon and eggs with cheese, but cut the tip of his thumb off. Those of you that know Dad well will know that he suffers from vasovagal and this triggered an episode. He actually coped really well, and seemed to have blacked out for only a few seconds, and fortunately he was already on the sofa at the time. I snuggled up to him and a while later he even finished my breakfast. Mom came home and tended to his cut, checking no stitches were needed.

Afterwards we went to the Raphael Suites in Sandton for Noa’s first birthday. I was thrilled, as the building is has the same name as one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or TMNT for short). I had a blast, and Naomi and I had a picnic in the passage which everyone thought was very cute until we started ‘drawing’ on the walls with polystyrene! Boy, was I in trouble!

Back home we spent the afternoon indoors trying to keep warm. I played with my Mouse Trap and watched TV.

Til next week.

From a frozen Jay-Bee

Video 1 Blowing up a balloon on my own (click here)

Photo 1 Being Mickey, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

Photo 2 James Durno who created the Christmas Cards on my first Christmas blog – see here

Photo 3 Mickey and Rhino greeting each other

Photo 4 Being a Ninja Turtle at Noa’s birthday

Photo 5 Naomi and I having an indoor picnic

Photo 6 Me and Mischka

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Power of Playing https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10750 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10750#respond Sun, 01 Jun 2014 16:52:04 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10750

It’s been a relatively ordinary week. From a therapy perspective my diary has gone haywire and I’ve not seen Laruen for OT this week, nor am I up to speed on my speech therapies. However the week did see the introduction of play therapy with Braam Beetge. We hit it off straight away, and he’s therapy room is out of this world. The walls of his office are covered in shelves from floor to ceiling, and every shelf has hundreds of toys on it.

School was great throughout the week, and we’re building Old MacDonald’s farm. In the car today I was telling Daddy about the project and he asked how long it would take to finish. I said “About 10 weeks!”

Tuesday evening we all went to Granny’s place for hamburgers, but Daddy was so tired that we didn’t stay long.

Friday I had a playdate with Joseph, but we were both a little out of sorts so it wasn’t a roaring success. On top of it I got a splinter, which made me very unhappy.

Saturday morning Daddy and I did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle training. It was such fun. Afterwards we both donned luminous vests and headed out to do DIY around the complex. Daddy is a trustee in the complex now, and in order to save the body corporate some money, Dad will do basic DIY. It was such a lot of fun, I helped carry tools, hold things and chat to residents.

In the afternoon, while Daddy was at poker, Mom and I visited family friends of Mommy in Springs. It was really far away, but we had a great visit. I even proved that I could get in and out the house through the dog flap!

Sunday morning Dad and I continued our TMNT training! Granny came around for lunch and we all had a wonderful family affair. Dad needed to go for a workshop with his colleagues at his offices. Needless to say I don’t ever pass up the opportunity to go to his work, so I sat through the workshop and ‘worked’.

In the evening we washed Mischka and afterward I flooded the bathroom with an ‘extra’ big bath, and practiced my underwater swimming. It went really well, except when I swallowed bucket loads of water. I think all our neighbours heard my coughing (and giggling).

Well that’s it for this week!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Play therapy office

Photo 2 Chilled out at Exclusive Books

Photo 3 Climbing

Photo 4 Stick insect I found

Photo 5 Daddy sent me with Kragled city pic from one of his clients (actually its Jo’burg, not Lego’s Bricksburg)

Photo 6 Master Builder

Photo 7 Lego!

Photo 8 I invited Segway for Lego

Photo 9 My head is the last thing I should be hurting, but it always seems to get in the way

Photo 10 DIY with Dad

Photo 11 Working with Dad at PwC

Photo 12 Reviewing a presentation

Photo 13 My contribution – Darth Vader

Photo 14 Taking a break

Photo 15 Yay! Found a manhole from where my Ninja Turtles emerge

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Lost and Found https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10714 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10714#comments Sun, 25 May 2014 18:45:31 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10714 It has been an interesting week. Winter has arrived, and we occasionally need to heat the bedroom. With Mom’s work coming to an end I was collected from school each day after school ended. We do think it may be worthwhile for me to go to aftercare a couple of days a week though.

Dad has had an exceptionally busy week and has to rush out early every day this week. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he trained consulting skills to the young-ones as he calls them, and to those in the company wishing to change careers, industries, etc. He loves doing this and it’s one of his job perks! Also he gets to train with some of his best friends so I can imagine it’s a great deal of fun!

On Monday Mommy took a huge tumble on her bad knee that was reconstructed a couple of decades ago, so she has been in huge pain. As a result, we’ve just chilled out a lot to let her rest.

Tuesday Mischka arrived to become ours. I took him on a tour of his forever home and he loved it. He stayed with us previously and I think he wanted to come back, so he’s ours now! I am thrilled! The sad news was that someone (and I’m exercising my rights to a bunch of amendments here) left Rhino’s cage door open – so we lost poor little Rhino. We were very distraught. All of us had become extremely close to him. Mom immediately put out care packages for him should he get hungry. All around the house little troops were flying in, deployed by parachute, placing Rhino care parcels in strategic locations. In the evening Daddy had a trustees’ meeting but I opted to wait up for him.

During the rest of the week I had interesting discussions with Mom. One was about cloud computing – I’ve noticed across the three iPads and Mom and Dad’s iPhone things ‘match’ (sync is the techno jargon for that apparently). So I asked Mom, if a game is downloaded onto Daddy’s iPad, can I have it on mine too. Mom said, yes, as it was in the cloud. I then went on to say “So what you’re saying is that I can go to any iPad in the world and get my games on it?” Mom, “Yes, Jarrod that is the quintessential principle of cloud. Welcome to the next web!”

I got spoilt with a couple of Lego toys during the week. One was Teenage Ninja Turtle Legos, that came with a pizza eating Donatello. To toughen him up even more than the Sensei could, I attached him to Dad’s drill and spun him around at high speed. You’ll be happy to know he passed the training.

Thursday Christian and his Mom Di came to visit. I’m so chuffed at how well he is doing. Like me his chances of doing anything such as walking, talking, eating on our own, was zero, and he too has ‘showed them all’ with his ‘can live attitude’!

On Friday I was supposed to see a play therapist called Braam, so I stay home from school. Unfortunately he was dealing with a nasty court case where he to give testimony so my session got cancelled, and I got a free day! I snuggled in the study with videos while Mom worked. In the afternoon Jenny, Matt and little Michael came for a visit. What a blast! We played trains, climbing blocks, shared piazza and watched TV together. What a rave. We were both allowed to be up really late, and before it was time for Jenny and Matt to leave, Michael and I had an awesome bath together, with all my bath toys. It was such a rave.

Saturday morning Daddy woke up very achy, and had a really bad night. He’s actually been having dizzy spell and minor blackouts for a week now. Mom made an appointment for him, and to comfort Dad I went with, under the proviso “I’m not going to Doctor Anthony for brain surgery, only for a sweetie!” En route we stopped at our old PO Box which we still maintain but never seldom empty! It was packed full of stuff!!!!! More about that later.

At Doctor Anthony Dad was diagnosed with hectic sinusitis infection which is constricting veins and stuff, hence the blackouts, and a vicious fever! BP, which I helped with, was 120/80, so perfect, and cholesterol seems ok too. I also got examined, as I have a runny nose, but it’s just a cold. Dad left with fistfuls of scripts for meds!

Back home, after McDonalds, we all chilled. Daddy needed a break so I played while he rested.

Sunday morning was a disaster for Daddy. He joints all froze up (something he’s body does when fighting a fever) and with old untreated rugby injuries he actually couldn’t get out of bed! Mom brought him water and Dad gulped down one of EACH of the tablets he found in his bedside table, including his new scripts. Mom and I decided it would be safer to leave, so we took Granny to church. Dad wandered around in a very pleasant daze, but free from pain!

Mid-morning we headed out to the Lonehill Fire Station to have Daddy’s tummy pumped for Luke’s birthday. It was awesome-sauce! We rode on the fire truck, sirens blaring. Dad and I slid down the fireman’s pole together. And I got sprayed by the fire hoses! What a ball. Dad took a bunch of photos and videos – one video he left his camera under the fire truck to drive over; it looks really cool!

All too soon the party was over and it was back home! We were supposed to go to a second party in the afternoon, but it was too much for me and Dad, who was still high from the mix of meds sick from fighting his fever.

The BEST news of the week was that Mommy found Rhino. He was extremely dehydrated, had a runny tummy, and he’s eyes wouldn’t open. Mommy nursed him back to health, and while he’s a little thinner, he’s well again and happy to see us!

‘Til next week!

Love Jarrod!

Video 1 Taking the Simon Snorkel for a Spin (click here)

Video 2 Fire truck drop over Dad’s camera (click here)

Video 3 Fire truck pulls out of fire station – all on board (click here)

Photo 1 Rhino, before his great escape

Photo 2 Mickey our handsome boy

Photo 3 Welcome to your forever-home Mischka

Photo 4 I’ve taken to climbing. Everywhere!

Photo 5 The plan gains momentum

Photo 6 Christian playing in my room

Photo 7 My Teenage Ninja Turtle Lego bike

Photo 8 Yes, I am a foodie

Photo 9 High G-Force training for Donatello

Photo 10 He’s doing well!


Photo 11 Chilling in the study

Photo 12 Push-ups

Photo 13 Mickey doing some feline-mails

Photo 14 Hard at work.

Photo 15 The quintessential digital native – multi-devicing

Photo 16 Being a star patient

Photo 17 Mischka time!

Photo 18 Run Mischka

Photo 19 (Not) One of my better plans

Photo 20 My (very embarrassing) Dad programming his toe to use Touch ID on his iPhone

Photo 21 I love my Mommy

Photo 22 Getting to ‘grips’ with the fire pole

Photo 23 Dad makes a good descent

Photo 24 He lands!

Photo 25 Dad takes me down!

Photo 26 We land

Photo 27 Hanging out front of Ladder 16

Photo 28 Water from the high-pressure hose

Photo 29 Hectic!

Photo 30 Off to ‘shower’

Photo 31 I’m going in!

Photo 32 Making rain!

Photo 33 Straight at Dad

Photo 34 Loving it

Photo 35 Bring it on!

Photo 36 Yay!

Photo 37 Need to make like rain and hail out of here

Photo 38 Super fun

Photo 39 But I can’t get enough

Photo 40 Gonna make like Tom and Cruise

Photo 41 Making an escape

Photo 42 Fire hose wetting the sky

Photo 43 Luke making a birthday wish

Photo 44 Having a good ole climb

Photo 45 Sliding

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I Survived Aftercare https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10667 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10667#comments Sun, 18 May 2014 17:00:59 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10667

Since Mom has been working for most of the week I stayed at after-care at school. It was actually really great despite being a little nervous at first. In the afternoons when Mom collected me I’d be covered from head to toe in dust from playing soccer with the older boys. It was a lot of fun.

Monday Dad came home with a white car that wasn’t his. He told me it was a “rental” as his car has a dent in it that’s being fixed – something to do with an unruly tree that jumped at him while he was reversing. Adults!

Before school and work on Wednesday morning, I was playing Angry Birds with Dad, and I managed to, not once, but twice splash my Angry Birds off Dad’s face into his coffee. It was a real hoot. We all giggled and giggled even though we knew we were starting to run late.

Thursday evening Dad and I went to the construction site next door to have a site meeting. For me it was great fun playing with the bricks and climbing in the unfinished building. It was dark by the time we left so I used Dad’s phone as a torch to light the way for everyone.

The weekend start off really hectic. First we headed off to Morningside Shopping Centre to buy some things and we had breakfast. We weren’t home long and then we headed off to Brad and Sandy for a raclette. I played with Madison and Katherine while the adults had their raclette. It looked like a lot of fun – they had little pans for cheese and a grill for sausages, mushrooms, etc. It smelled really good and the adults had a lot of fun. For dessert Mommy made a chocolate fondue. This was more my and the girls’ scene and we had lots of chocolate dipped marshmallows. During the course of the afternoon, the girls and I managed to ‘hid’ Sandy and Brad’s security gate key. No amount of tortuous tickling would make us give up our secret.

Sunday morning we all slept late and Mommy ended up not being able to take Granny to church. Instead Mom and I made apple pie and for lunch we went to Jen and Matt’s place for a braai. Little Michael and I played up a storm and had a really good time. The adults chatted and drank red wine and ‘blue’ whiskey. They were having a really awesome time. It started getting late so it was time to leave, but plans were made for play dates.

Well tomorrow it’s back to the grindstone after an awesome and amazing weekend.

Til next week!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 We spotted this heron from my balcony

Photo 2 Being Ninja Turtle Raphael

Photo 3 Hiya!

Photo 4 Missy ‘looking after’ Rhino the hamster

Photo 5 Playing in Dad’s study

Photo 6 Rhino the hamster being a laptop mouse!

Photo 7 Builder Jay-Bee

Photo 8 Missy and Mickey

Photo 9 I drew a dinosaur at breakfast

Photo 10 Loving the salmon

Photo 11 Helping Mom prep for the chocolate fondue

Photo 12 With Brad and Madi

Photo 13 Madi and I on the trampoline with Molly the cat

Photo 14 Molly is so chilled with being on the trampoline with us

Photo 15 Me and Donatello

Photo 16 Michael and I having lunch

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Voting 2014 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10649 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10649#respond Sun, 11 May 2014 16:44:12 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10649

Monday it was back to reality for Dad, as he had to return to work. Granny came to look after me as Mommy had an interview for a temporary contract position. The interview she had turned straight into a successful appointment and she started billing hours almost immediately. Although it is only temporary, it is full day, so Mom and Dad are trying to manage the logistics. I then also spent most of the day with Granny on Tuesday.

Wednesday was the last of our long string of public holidays – it was Election Day. To start the day Mom, Dad and I had breakfast at the Bread Basket which was awesome. Dad got me a little toy at Khoki to keep me busy during breakfast, as it I could hardly sit through breakfast – after breakfast we were going to Mr Pet to get me a hamster!

Mom and Dad had barely paid the bill and I was already charging off to get the hamster. I chose a Russian Dwarf hamster and called him Rhino, just like the hamster in the movie Bolt. Mom and Dad also got a cage for him (later to be called his kingdom), as well as food, ‘bedding’, and other ‘hamstery’ type things.

I was thrilled. We put him straight into the cage, and in the car I told Rhino to put on his seat belt. As I carried him into the house I said to him “Welcome to your new home!” Mom and I then prepped his cage kingdom properly and I took him on a grand tour of his kingdom. I showed him his bedroom, which was ‘upstairs’, his slide to ‘downstairs’ as well as where his food and water was. I also showed him his running wheel, which he really loves.

Once he was settled we went off to vote. It was an important vote this time round as it was the first time the Born Frees could vote, i.e. those people born into democracy in the last twenty years and are now eighteen and eligible to vote. I was nervous to leave Rhino, but the vote was so quick (5mins) that the drive took longer than the actually process. I event my finger inked!

Back home I put Rhino in his plastic ball and he walked around the entire house. It was so awesome watching his little ball rolling around with him scurrying inside and steering it. I must say he is really good at it.

In the evening we meet Daneel, Michelle, Emma and Liya at the Spur where we all had an awesome dinner.

Thursday was back to school for me. It was nice to see all my friends, but I still suffer hectic separation anxiety. Daddy collected me and dropped me at home with Granny and headed off back to work. In the afternoon Gran and I went to collect Tammy. She stayed at our place for the afternoon and then when Mom and Dad got home we dropped her off at gym to work on her abs!

Friday was Haa-Hoo Day at school (i.e. we went to the climbing jungle gym at Zoo Lake). Dad collected me again and before we left he bought a bunch of new school cloths for me as well as some winter uniforms. As Dad tried them on me I modelled them in the school reception!

We bought some McDonalds on the way home – my typical Friday end of week treat.

On Saturday morning we headed off to Sandton City for movies, but first we popped into Wimpy for breakfast. Afterwards we headed to the movies where I expertly scanned Dad’s Passbook on his phone at the code reader to grant us access. I love tech! The movie was awesome, and now we know why (spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the movie) Captain Hook is so keen to steal the Pixie Dust to fly and where Crocodile came from that chomped off his hand.

As we were leaving the movie a lady with twin girls was struggling to find her car keys so Dad helped out with the torch on his phone. Keys found, she then discovered her phone was missing. Dad called her number and it just rang – thinking she left it at the last store she was at they headed off.

Mom, Dad and I did some Mother’s Day shopping for Mom; all high-tech type stuff like earphones and a cover for her iPad Air. At the iStore we meet the same lady with the twins tracking her iPhone on a Mac at the store. Turns out she was pickpocketed in the movies! We were horrified. Deep inside of me I felt “Agent A Tiny Bit Naughty” surface again – see here for the details from my Christmas 2009 blog! According to Find iPhone her iPhone was in Hyde Park – her hubby tried to track it down to no avail. Sadly thief, iPhone and credit cards were gone.

Mommy got the girls chips and cool drinks, as we stayed with her at the iStore to keep in contact with her hubby, police, iStore at Hyde Park and security to try close a net around the lady’s iPhone. It was quite an adventure, but eventually the phone left Hyde Park and they lost track of it. We bid farewell and all headed home.

Back home Mommy had a lie down, as she’s fighting a cold. Dad and I played and watched videos.

Sunday was Mother’s Day so I gave Mommy the card and biscuit I made for her at school. She was thrilled. Dad went out and bought us all breakfast, and we literally spent the whole morning in bed.

As Mommy was still fighting a cold, and it was Mommy’s Day, she just chilled out. Dad and I played with my parachute in the car park, throwing it down from the floor upstairs. We then had sword fights until the swords broke. Lastly, some jumping on the trampoline ensued and the watering of the garden.

Well, that’s it!

Bye,

Jarrod (aka Agent A Tiny Bit Naugthy)

Photo 1 Sticky man stuck to the ceiling – Dad is not pleased

Photo 2 Introducing Rhino!

Photo 3 Holding Rhino

Photo 4 We think he is really cute!

Photo 5 Dad’s ink

Photo 6 My ink

Photo 7 Rhino in his kingdom

Photo 8 Playing with Emma and Liya at the Spur

Photo 9 Saying good bye to Rhino before school

Photo 10 At school I added Rhino to my family picture

Photo 11 Showing my threads Eminem style

Photo 12 Tracksuit

Photo 13 And next up we have Jay-Bee sporting a Japari dry Mack

Photo 14 Mom’s Day card I made

Photo 15 The cats. Waiting for Rhino’s cage.

Photo 16 Yum!

Photo 17 I love tech!

Photo 18 The cats. Very interested in Rhino

Photo 19 Wrapped up bunny

Photo 20 Thirsty

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I’d rather have a brother! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10626 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10626#comments Sun, 04 May 2014 20:30:57 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10626 What an awesome week!

Everyday our routine involved checking that Tammy and her friend were in their beds and still in one piece from the night before and this drove me mad. They were either sleeping, dressing, showering, eating or out. I’d rather have a brother I told my Mom.

We all had breakfast together after a couple of hours on the beach. Dad and I splashed about in the sea for at least an hour before we dragged ourselves out exhausted. The beach routine was to build roads and castles for trains, but especially our special task was to build according to me…. “A weight retaining bridge” “so it can hold my weight”. Were my family holding out on me? Or is it coincidence that we finally managed to create it perfectly the day we left? Maybe the latter. We had such a nice shelf on the beach as it had changed shape since the last time we were there, and there were so many pools around the rocks. Apparently the rocks have not been seen for about a decade, so they made up for so much fun. I think my statement about a brother to Mom came from our friends meeting up at the beach in the morning, and Michael was there and I had tons of fun with him. Mom and Jen noted how gentle I was with him and how I always game him a love before we left.

After the beach I needed a bath to warm up, which has become my routine. In the afternoon we were back on the beach. This time Dad built me a ‘Game of Thrones’ set of castles. The late afternoon was spent poolside.

He bought me some goo and a sticky hand, which I love. My Gran was cleaning it off the ceiling and walls before we left. See the video below for the night’s events! I’ll have you know my folks don’t learn quick because they keep buying me these kinds of toys and I keep throwing them to the ceiling.

Tuesday morning Dad, Gran and I were back at the beach. We played in the sea for a while, and then Matt, Jen and little Michael joined us. Dad dug a really deep hole, and then we dug another. I decided the two needed to be joined by a tunnel. Matt got to work on it and digging deeper into the sand we came across a live crab. Matt tried to catch him and scoop him out for all to see, but no luck, it just burrowed deeper and deeper. Pretty soon the tunnel was complete; Michael and I were thrilled. I decided to see if it could hold my weight – it did, but only a few times. Next Dad built a huge mound of sand and we burrowed a ‘bridge’ under it – it did not hold my weight.

Down on the shoreline we watched as shells buried themselves in the sand. I simply picked it up and took it to show Mom.

I took part in the Sun Kids activity of egg throwing and catching, but I lobbed my egg so hard it shattered on some other kid. I did get a sweet for effort though.

In the evening we had our family braai, which introduced us to more friends with more little people. Although they were younger than me, I was very happy playing with everyone. That’s the name of the game at Umhlanga Sands, make friends and happy times. Of course I knew my way around having been there often, so I led the little people a bit astray sometimes. Matt did most of the braai’ing, as most of you know Dad is more of a braai-eater than a braai’er! I’m not planning to follow in those footsteps so I got busy with tongs and helped Matt turn the meat and get beers. Dinner was really awesome, and our table was so festive! Tammy and Allegra finally surfaced, and their friend Jenna was also there. Mom, Dad and I munched away happily, with me playing with the littlies occasionally. Mom, Dad, Matt, Jen chatted again merrily. Gareth and Karen and their littlies also joined in the festivities. What a wonderful evening.

Tammy and her friends were also very cool, when awake, made up and fed. They made it to the pool a couple of times so I could spend time with them. I also made it my mission to go everywhere Dad dropped them off so I could get some time with them. Part of this was also to ensure Dad did the collecting and picking up properly, as pretty soon he’ll need to do the same for me! On the last day, I couldn’t help it, I took a picture of the girl’s room, clothes and makeup everywhere but no toys to be seen.

Wednesday was cloudy and rainy so we headed to the gateway for some Mr Funtubbles. We spent a good couple of hours there. Tammy was desperate to win a dog, and complained to such a degree that she got her money back on her card. I was in awe, the adults were in fits of laughter over it. Gran and Tam went to Spiderman on IMAX, I desperately wanted to go but it was PG 13 and Gran said after it was very loud. Maybe next time. Mom says IMAX is her favourite kind of movie, so I am keen to see what it is about.

Before heading home Mom and Dad spoiled me with a visit to Toys-R-Us where I could pick a toy for myself. I choose MetalBeard’s Duel from the Lego Movie. It is really awesome, and it had Dad busy for an age to construct! I really like MetalBeard and played with him a lot. Mom and Dad found the Micro Manager really funny and joked a lot about him – stuff I didn’t understand. Because the weather was bleak we stayed indoors playing and watching videos.

Thursday we were back on the beach and had one or two home meals to make up for all the eating out we did. One thing however that did not elude us were the Dinky Doughnuts. I remembered them from our last holiday and I wanted them. My mantra went from “Are we there yet” to, “I NEED Dinky Doughnuts!” The girls did too, because we got three plates and they were literally inhaled by the girls in when we arrived home. On the last day, Dad mistakenly finished my plate for me, and I was devastated, I refused to go to dinner, play at the Joy Land or anything. Dad sprinted off to find some more, but they had already closed. Next time! In the afternoon I spent some time playing in the games room.

Friday was our last full day on holiday, so we really packed it in. First we played on the beach and built more sand castles, bridges and tunnels. Matt, Jen and Michael joined in the fun. Afterwards we all headed poolside where it was really busy. Dad and I swam for almost two hours. It was such a lot of fun. Viv, the entertainment director, can the Sun Kids doing all sorts of activities on the stage next to the pool – I opted to participate, but with my Dad in the pool! Eventually it got so hot that we had to head to our rooms and get out of the sun for a while.

In the afternoon we took a nice long walk to Umhlanga Pier and then to Umhlanga Lighthouse. On the return trip we bought more Dinky Doughnuts, and as you already saw, Dad gobbled up my last few! In the evening we had farewell drinks downstairs with all our friends. The girls had already caught their flight back home, so it was just Mom, Dad, Gran and me.

Saturday morning we did our ritual last play and visit to the beach and swim in the sea. We then showered, had the porter collect our luggage, check out and lastly eat breakfast before we headed home. We saw Matt, Jen and Michael one last time and bug hugs and promises of playdates were made.

You’ll see a special edition of our sand castle building where Gran and I built a huge track for my trains and cars, this was such a highlight I asked specifically for Mom to remind me to mention it tonight.

And after all was said and done, we had an awesome journey back and Dad got straight to work. On Saturday afternoon, as I settled into my room, I shouted out “Mom! You have to come help me!” So Mom hurried to my room expecting the worst. My issue? I didn’t know what to play with first after being reunited with all my toys!

Sunday Mom and I went out to run errands and have breakfast and spend my pocket money. I got Phineas for Infinity and a Ninja Turtle Lego set. I built it completely on my own, with only Dad showing me which picture to follow and occasional he found the right piece for me. I’m so chuffed with myself! TOTALLY AWESOME DUDE!!! Mom and Dad have been taking strain lately and as a result I have been telling them, “It will all work out if we work as a team” Mom says Lego is taking over my life. It’s my birthday in 46 days. Yes I am counting and I am shopping online again this year. Or should I rather say I have already done my shopping. I change my mind as to the theme though so I am keeping Mom on her toes a bit.

Back to school this week, I am dreading it. I am already asking Mom not to take me. However I don’t think she is going to relent.

From a well rested me, Ciao!

Video 1 Slime (click here)

Photo 1 The shelf that’s developed on the beach

Photo 2 Love being back at the beach

Photo 3 And some running

Photo 4 Jumping

Photo 5 Digging (those rocks in the background have been hidden under the beach for over a decade)

Photo 6 Serious digging

Photo 7 Hard at work

Photo 8 Collecting water to make ‘cement’

Photo 9 Loving the beach

Photo 10 The bucket dash

Photo 11 Got Granny working hard too

Photo 12 Giggles

Photo 13 Umhlanga Sands Resort

Photo 14 Love the beach

Photo 15 Engineer Granny

Photo 16 My track on the beach

Photo 17 Beach ball time

Photo 18 Chasing….

Photo 19 ….and kicking

Photo 20 Me on holiday!

Photo 21 Slush Puppy poolside

Photo 22 After a hard day’s play

Photo 23 Early morning on the beach

Photo 24 Gran and I hard at work

Photo 25 And Matt the expert tunnel builder

Photo 26 Mmmmmm, chocolate ice-cream

Photo 27 Helping Matt at the braai

Photo 28 Braai’ing

Photo 29 Fire truck at Mr Funtumbles

Photo 30 Being The Hulk

Photo 31 Parachuting

Photo 32 Dad and I racing cars

Photo 33 Loving the Rocking Tug

Photo 34 Rocking like mad

Photo 35 Some speedy driving

Photo 36 Hard cornering

Photo 37 Some flying

Photo 38 On the carousel

Photo 39 Loving it!

Photo 40 Some quiet play

Photo 41 And climbing

Photo 42 Mom and I playing Mini Air Hockey

Photo 43 MetalBeard

Photo 44 Some Nintendo time

Photo 45 Tunnelling

Photo 46 Loving the pools

Photo 47 Sandy giggles

Photo 48 Peek-a-boo with Michael

Photo 49 Silhouette running

Photo 50 Busy day on the beach

Photo 51 Climbing at the Spur

Photo 52 Giggles with Michael

Photo 53 Happiness

Photo 54 In awe of the fishies

Photo 55 Slime!

Photo 56 Beach smiles

Photo 57 Digging again

Photo 58 Watching the sea

Photo 59 Loving the sea

Photo 60 Mom and me

Photo 61 Exploring

Photo 62 Interesting!

Photo 63 Rock climbing

Photo 64 Going for a stroll

Photo 65 Solitary

Photo 66 Dad and I hard at work

Photo 67 Swimming in the pool

Photo 68 Loving it

Photo 69 Swimming with Dad

Photo 70 Flying bunny!

Photo 71 On Umhlanga Pier

Photo 72 Umhlanga Lighthouse

Photo 73 I took a sneak peek at the girls’ room

Photo 74 Our last holiday sunrise

Photo 75 Chocolate croissant breakfast for the road

Photo 76 Playing at Bergview en route home

Photo 77 Its EXACTLY 600km from Umhlanga Sands to our home!

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Are We There Yet? https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10533 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10533#comments Sun, 27 Apr 2014 18:58:45 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10533 Hi everyone!

A quick blog for tonight!

On Tuesday evening Mom and I visited Granny to have burgers at her place as Daddy was at a business dinner.

Mom and I also spent some time at Yeesh during the week. Mom took me to the dentist and I was really brave! Thursday Shelli, Joseph, Naomi and Noa came home from their holiday, so Mishca went back to stay with them. The end of the week was spent preparing for our holiday!

Saturday morning after locking up the house we hit the road! Not long into the journey I started with “Are we there yet?” I spent the next six hours driving Mom, Dad and Granny insane with this question! Although I did watch some videos, played Nintendo, played on the iPad and chatted.

We stopped off at Bergview for a break and I jumped on the trampolines. As we headed closer to the coast we started competing as to who would see the sea first. Driver Daddy spotted it first, and owes us all coffees (we’re still waiting for our winnings).

Shortly after arriving Granny and I headed down to the beach and Mom and Dad went to the airport to collect Tammy as she was spending the week with us.

I was thrilled to see Tammy after coming back from the beach and we played up a storm! For dinner we headed down to the Spur where we had a great dinner and I played in the play area.

Sunday morning we walked to Cabana Beach Resort where we discovered there was now a Wimpy. Breakfast was sorted! Walking back to our hotel Granny bought me an all important bucket and spade for the beach.

As it was a little overcast and windy, we spent a little time our room. In the afternoon Dad and I went for a swim at the pool and then we took part in the Poolside Quiz. I even knew the answer to ‘what factory did Willy Wonka run?’ – chocolate of course was the answer. We didn’t come first, but we suspect the family that did come first were Googling the answers.

The afternoon was spent playing some more and then on our way to dinner we bumped into Jenny, Matthew and little Michael. We all decided to go to the Spur together for dinner. It was a lot of fun and I brought Michael a bunch of my trains to play with. It was so much fun.

Well, that’s it for this week.

Love Jarrod

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Term 1 Done! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10531 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10531#comments Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:23:51 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10531

Well Hello all,

My first official school term is done. Tennis is over, soccer is over, even though I only started this week. I will continue with this next term. Swimming is definitely over because winter is definitely creeping up on us and the official school term is over.

If I must say it’s been a hard term for me. Even though the school work is easier than Fastrack Kids, it’s been hard to settle. The things I’ve managed to do well are writing and number formation, but I have given the teachers a run for their money as far as the determination I show in not wanting to do things I just don’t want to do.

This week saw Mom desperately trying to book MRI’s and get a letter for sedation, but every neurologist in Johannesburg works on a week to two week turn around, which clearly is not a good time constraint. Mom was offered a lecturing job, but unfortunately couldn’t take it due to it being in the afternoon and there would be no one to look after me.

Mom has been doing exactly as Lauren instructed for my home programme and lots of sensory stuff was planned, we even made a sensory garden with stones, water, grass, glass, sand, pouring cups bubbles and fine motor fishing and all sorts of other things.

Mom took Granny to Greenstone on the proviso that I could go to Jimmy Jungles for my first day of holiday. It was so cool, I went wild.

We played with balloons blown up and hit them up and down and sideways. We found that Mischa loves one of my soft balls from my bedroom, so we took it outside and every day this week we played SupaStrikers. It’s been great fun, some of the other kids and older kids have come out to play as well. Mischa was also a huge hit at school, it seems that everyone has a little dog similar to him, teacher Janine and Mr Rees have got dogs like him and he was so well behaved, that even the children with severe Asperger’s were able to interact with him. We decided he’s a true therapy dog. We even bought him some extra toys, but it seems bouncy balls, marbles and my soft ball are the way to go, as well as the occasional Angry Bird. We did discover he loves to be brushed and now he gets brushed daily. It seems the cats like to be brushed as well so they all smell the same so suddenly they are much more friendly to each other.

My Mom has been so impressed with my Lego skills, yes we went on about it last week but really, the Duplos I had didn’t seem to make a difference, all I did was build tall towers, now I am building cars and equipment and ‘thingamabobs’.

Mom and I went to Passover on Monday night. I was a hit as it was my first time there and I was super well behaved… I did however ask if when the wine came round, what if I was thirsty, could I still not take any. I drew a picture of God, which pleased everyone tenfold.

During the weekend we visited Pappachinos with the girls, Emma, Amy, Chloe and Liya and Me; I came equipped with swords, games, colouring and threading. It was a cool afternoon. We had lots of fun looking for chocolate eggs on Easter morning, and we had a great conference call via Skype to my God Parents in Australia. The irony was that we (the little ones, Jarrod and Matthew) got most of the airtime and it’s the first time we’ve really chatted. We sang and talked, I spoke up a storm and gave little room for anyone else to talk, I lost a little interest when Matt had to go to bed and Mom and Shaz started talking about sales.

After a nice long weekend, Dad will be back to the grindstone tomorrow (although he did spend Sunday afternoon working on a proposal in response to an RFP his company got). Being a long weekend, we also decided to only publish my blog tonight (Monday) instead of the usual Sunday. For next week’s blog we’ll be on holiday!

Love Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Almost every day this week I built a different Lego car!

Photo 2 Looking handsome at church

Photo 3 Showing off all my art from the 1st Term

Photo 4 I even made a keyboard

Photo 5 Artistic bath

Photo 6 Hectic building

Photo 7 Soccer injury #1

Photo 8 At Jimmy Jungles in Greenstone

Photo 9 Soccer in the car park with Mischa

Photo 10 Making pizza

Photo 11 Ice cream

Photo 12 Super climbing

Photo 13 Starting the Easter Egg Hunt

Photo 14 Happiness

Photo 15 Kinderjoy! Yummy

Photo 16 Lightning McQueen chocolates

Photo 17 Thrilled

Photo 18 Chocolate umbrellas

Photo 19 Bugs eggs!

Photo 20 What’s down here?

Photo 21 What a haul!

Photo 22 The Other Dimension Innator that Dad and I built

Photo 23 Soccer injury #2

Photo 24 Being super artistic with green foam

Photo 25 Love my work!


Photo 26 Love maraschino cherries

Photo 27 Skyping with Sharon, Marc and little Matthew in Australia

 

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Big Walk https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10497 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10497#respond Sun, 13 Apr 2014 18:48:17 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10497

On Monday we were all up and about again, although Daddy still seemed very fluey. I had Lauren for OT in the afternoon near Daddy’s office, so Mom and I decided to get him some meds to drop off at his work. I also chose a teddy bear for him. We arrived at Daddy’s work just in time as he was leaving. I decided to make the most of this opportunity and drive home with him.

On Tuesday Mom got me a sandpit and lid to put on my balcony. In the evening Dad and I set up on the balcony and I played in the sand hiding Emmet and getting Daddy to dig through all the sand to find him!

On Thursday Mom and Dad collected me from school, as well as to have a meeting with Teacher Janine to discuss my progress. In the afternoon Colleen brought Joseph to play and he and I emptied out an entire bag of flour over my climbing blocks for some tactile experience. It was so much fun. Also, on Thursday afternoon Mischka arrived to stay with us while Shelli, Joseph, Naomi and Noa went to Israel. I was thrilled to have him around.

Friday morning Mischka came with to drop me off at school. He was a huge hit with all my friends. In the afternoon we started a slightly different approach to speech therapy as Nikki will now be coming to our house for my therapies. I was thrilled, and the session went really well.

Saturday morning Mom left early to get to my school as she was helping at the prego stand for my Big Walk. Dad and I joined a little later. Upon arriving I decided that the Big Walk wasn’t my thing, but that cooking was! So I donned an apron and helped Mom prepare prego rolls. Dad went off and did a few rounds in my Big Walk to gather stamps for me! He even ‘borrowed’ Jayden to walk with him! After Dad finished my Big Walk for me, he and I went about getting ‘customers’; Dad would lead me to a group of people where I would say a nicely rehearsed speech of “Excuse me. My Mommy makes the best prego rolls. Please come buy one for R20!” Each time I sprinted back to the prego stand there were more customers. My marketing was clearly working.

After my Big Walk we headed off to Sandton City to swap a Lego Movie toy Dad had got me. They didn’t have any more Lego Movie Legos so I was devastated. Instead I chose a house with furniture and a family. I played with it throughout lunch at Doppio Zero.

On Sunday Mommy and Granny went to church. Dad and I went out for lunch at Fego’s. While parking I spotted the Exclusive Books and told Dad I needed some books – I’ve learned that the one thing Mom and Dad never say no to is books! So during lunch Dad and I decided what books I wanted to choose – I decided on something from….you guessed it….The Lego Movie!

Daddy was very proud of me in the bookstore as I looked through all the shelves and decided on the Lego Movie books I wanted. We spent the rest of the day looking through my books and doing the activities in them. We also played Lego. By late afternoon I curled up in front of the TV and promptly fell asleep.

Until next week!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 My new sandpit

Photo 2 Some sensory play in the bath with colours

Photo 3 Tugging on putty soap

Photo 4 With bowls…..

Photo 5 I made a box car!

Photo 6 Pic of Mom and Dad driving

Photo 7 Joseph and I playing

Photo 8 Flour everywhere!

Photo 9 Reading with Thokozani

Photo 10 Painting Dad’s toenails for the Big Walk

Photo 11 Mischka got a little bed next to Mom

Photo 12 I did this drawing for Mom and I, on a pavement

Photo 13 Working the prego stand

Photo 14 Jayden giving me a hand

Photo 15 Chef Jay-Bee

Photo 16 Off to get customers

Photo 17 My card filled, thanks to Dad

Photo 18 On a walk about

Photo 19 Helping Mrs Wheeler tidy up

Photo 20 Cleaning up

Photo 21 Coming home from book shopping

Photo 22 Dad and I made this with an app on the iPad

 

 

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Lego Mania https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10472 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10472#respond Sun, 06 Apr 2014 17:36:26 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10472 It’s been a rather quiet week.

I started off Tuesday with a fever, so I ended up staying at home. I sat and played on the floor of the study while Mommy worked. I had a cold bath with lots of foam, because that’s what I needed. I then snoozed again and just tried to get better.

Tuesday evening we invited Granny for dinner; after dinner I left the need to retire, as I was dosing off at the dinner table. Dad took me to bed and I was asleep before Granny left.

Wednesday I was back at school as I was feeling better, and Wednesday’s are one the easier days of the week. On the way home I announced to Mom what I wanted to spend my pocket money on – Lord Business’ Evil Lair from the Lego Movie. I’ve been saving my pocket money for almost 7 weeks now, so I had enough.

I was thrilled! At home Mom got down to building it for me and pretty soon it was all done. It is really awesome, as in ‘Everything is Awesome’. It has a President Business who transforms into Lord Business. There’s a Ma Cop and Pa Cop, complete with Kragle gluing them to the ground. The all-important Emmet is present and accounted for, complete with a Piece of Resistance. I spent the rest of the day hard at play with my Legos.

Thursday morning I FaceTimed with Granny and asked her to come visit. I was staying home again as I just wasn’t getting better. Poor Daddy had a migraine, and had to facilitate the development of a target operating model for his client – I felt so bad for him, but he did survive.

Friday Mom dropped me off at Granny’s place as Mommy had a doctor’s appointment. It was a lot of fun visiting with Granny. We played ‘tennis’ with my bunny and a balloon. In the afternoon Mom and I went to the River Café to visit with some of my friends. I played with Ryan and Joseph and we had an absolute ball.

Back at home Dad and I built an ‘old school’ style Lego truck, i.e. just with blocks, no instructions. He even made a rack and pinion type steering mechanism for it, all with ‘old’ Legos. I was pretty impressed.

In the evening we went to Granny’s complex to have dinner at the restaurant there. It was really nice. Dad and I watched a couple playing tennis for a while. It is definitely starting to get colder in the evenings, and we decided that next time we have dinner there we’ll have to sit inside.

We visited Granny for a short while afterward, and Daddy helped programme Granny’s TV. I was really starting to get tired so it was time to leave.

Saturday Dad and I played up a Lego storm in the morning, but I tired him out as he had to go lie down after about 3 hours! In the afternoon Dad had poker, and Mom and I headed to the Toys-R-Us for the Batman Lego set. Afterward we met Christiaan and his Mom at Papachinos for a relaxed afternoon visit.

Sunday we all woke up fluey, and basically we stayed in bed until midday. Eventually I dragged Dad out of bed to play some (you guessed it) Lego with me. Mom stayed in bed with a marathon session of ‘Game of Thrones’. We realised that Mom wasn’t in our world anymore, so in the late afternoon Dad and I went to the Mushroom Farm Park for a play and a run. I had an awesome time.

Well that’s it for this week.

Love

Jarrod

Video 1 Reading to my friends in class (click here)

Video 2 Old School Lego Truck Daddy Built (click here)

Photo 1 Foam bath

Photo 2 Resting (with a Ninja Turtle)

Photo 3 I spent my pocket money on Lord Business’ Evil Lair

Photo 4 Early morning FaceTime with Granny

Photo 5 Inside a pillow case

Photo 6 Playing horsey with Mommy on my trampoline

Photo 7 Playing ‘tennis’ with my bunny at Granny’s place

Photo 8 Giggles

Photo 9 A brilliant return

Photo 10 Running at Mushroom Farm Park

Photo 11 Loving the outdoors

Photo 12 Crossing the shake-shake bridge

Photo 13 Down the fireman’s pole

Photo 14 Concentrating

Photo 15 Some tight-rope walking

Photo 16 Working the bars

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Mom… https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10454 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10454#respond Sun, 30 Mar 2014 18:34:42 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10454

“Mom, I have a problem….”

“What’s the problem Pie?”

“I swallowed a stone.”

It’s really not cool when both my parents fall off their chairs laughing at me. Old dodgers!

I will be honest Mom recovered quite quickly and I saw her staring at me chewing her lip. I could tell she was thinking. What was she thinking? For once I couldn’t tell. She made her way upstairs to see what I was playing with. Dad was still laughing.

“Mom… I have a problem….”

“OK what’s your problem?”

“Welllllll. I am not sure that we are going the right way to school.”

“OK which way should I go?”

“Back home!”

“Mom… I have a problem.”

“Jay-Bee for Monday morning you’ve had a lot of problems.”

“I know it’s bad right?”

“What’s the problem?”

“What problem?”

“The one you said you had…” (silently Mom is losing her mind)

“Oh that one, I want to know how to get to kitty heaven!”

“Ask your Dad tonight.”

Dad slept out Monday and Tuesday night and came home late on Wednesday, he had been in the Magaliesberg working.

Granny slept in to keep us company but officially she has moved into her own place. I am not sure how he did it but first thing on Thursday morning Dad gave me a gift of 3 blind bags of characters from the LEGO MOVIE. I got the man with no pants, happy Emmet and Wylde Style wild west.

“Mom… I have a problem.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Emmet doesn’t have a Piece of Resistance!”

“Oh, go find one for him then.”

“I don’t know where all my Lego men are.”

This resulted in me getting all my Lego sorted into Duplo and little Lego and as a treat after Dad came home, I got his old set when he was young. It is a complete crate full and still had a project that Dad was working on the last time he used them. And in true Dad style all the Legos were packed into compartments according to colour, type, size, etc. He’s a lot like “The Man Upstairs” in the Lego Movie!

I found Emmet a Piece of Resistance. I cleverly concocted a plan. I hear my Mom talking about planning all the time. She means in my brain. I guess all the other stuff that has to happen in my life as well.

Dad had to work late on Thursday and Mom and Michelle had a girls date. They went for dinner and had a great time, because…

“Jarrod… I have a problem.”

“What’s the problem Mom?”

“I have a headache, can we maybe not talk today?”

“Of course Mom!”, to which I launched into the song from the Lego Movie titled “Everything is Awesome” when you’re part of a team, etc. etc. etc….

I noticed lots of water in the car when Mom collected me. Mrs Wheeler was waiting with us as we are too little to wait alone, but our Prefects were on the lookout too, they know us all by name and play with us. They call Mom Ma’am, I keep telling them it’s Mom they’ve got it wrong.

Mom had bought me a little bravery present… I have to buy my own things now-a-days with pocket money and I have been saving like crazy for 12 weeks for Bowser’s Castle from k’nex. Unfortunately for the last two weeks prior to this, I have put up my own Piece of Resistance by refusing to complete some of my homework. This has resulted in no afternoon star and therefore no pocket money for the week. Gees kids have it tough today. Anyway back to the gift… it was Lego Movie Lego. Everything IS awesome!

The Emmet from the box came with a Piece of Resistance. YAH! Everything IS awesome when you’re part of a team!

We made plans to visit Granny Friday night for dinner… I love it at Gran’s it is such an adventure.

We went there to the clubhouse and had a great dinner. Someone’s cat was even visiting.

“Mom… I have a problem, I can’t do this…”

“What my darling?”

“I can’t leave my Granny like this!”

My parents didn’t know whether to laugh or cry

Saturday morning we let Mom sleep in, while Dad and I played… come on YOU guess, go on guess.

LEGO. Everything is awesome when you’re part of a team.

Mom stayed under the covers for some time.

Mom was up and about by 9 and we headed off to help Granny get her tyres on her car fixed. It was such fun we all got into Granny’s car and headed off to Rivonia. Granny treated us to breakfast. A couple of ladies engaged us in a hectic conversation. Mom was starting to look frazzled when they left, she turned to Granny and wagged her finger saying… “Haven’t I told you never to talk to strangers”… everyone laughed!

I went out to my trampoline early on Sunday morning for a long time to jump. When I came back inside, exhausted, Mom said to Dad, “And this from the kid that we were told would never ever walk! Look how he jumps, never mind walk!” I beamed with pride.

During Sunday Daddy and I went to movies to see Mr Peabody and Shearman. While Daddy was booking the tickets online (and to get the really cool barcode on his phone to let us in the movies which I really love doing) I looked at our movie club cards and decided that Emmet needed to come to movies too, and needed a movie club card too. I looked at my card and said to Dad, “We can add Emmet’s name here under mine, where it says Jarrod Alexander Lederer born on 19 June 2008!” My Daddy just stared at me and hugged me like mad; I guess I made him really proud! Later in the afternoon we went to Naomi’s birthday. I had a great time.

“Mom… I have a problem.”

“What’s up kiddo?”

“You’re not playing with me!”, tears, tears, tears.

“Jarrod… I have a problem.”

“What’s your problem Mom?”

“I don’t know what to write for the Blog.”

“Oh that’s easy, Mom, here’s some notes……Building Lego men, Double decker Lego couch, Chocolate milk, Mommy, Lightening McQueen, Bowser’s Castles building sets, Emmet! With the Piece of Resistance, Play with pirate ship, Drawing a circle round the classroom, scanning barcodes, 10111 Emergency services, Rainbows, Everything is awesome when you’re part of a team.”

“Babes this sounds like a birthday list…”

“No Mom, it’s all the things I enjoyed this week. Oh yes and… Ninja turtles, they are really funny that’s why they need to be in the blog.”

Goodnight from the parents waiting for a stone to appear.

Goodnight from me, and to all a goodnight.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Lucy came to spend a few days with us

Photo 2 Lego Figurine

Photo 3 Lego plane I built

Photo 4 Chilling

Photo 5 Dad and I building Legos at Gran’s place

Photo 6 Missy up to no good

Photo 7 Checking out some mags

Photo 8 Popcorn time!

Photo 9 Playing Angry Birds during Earth Hour 2014

Photo 10 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 11 Off to Naomi’s fiesta party!

Photo 12 Mexicano

Photo 13 Balloon art at Naomi’s party

Photo 14 Balloon sword time!

Photo 15 On guard!

Photo 16 Naomi and I swashbuckling!

Photo 17 Waiting in line for some face painting

Photo 18 Awesome party!

Photo 19 Birthday girl is made into a butterfly

Photo 20 Done!

Photo 21 My turn!

Photo 22 Pausing for a giggle

Photo 23 Watching you!

Photo 24 Dragon Jay-Bee

Photo 25 Mexican-cake-eating-dragon

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Options Are Running Low….. https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10427 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10427#comments Sun, 23 Mar 2014 17:14:35 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10427

It would seem that school has brought with it a kind of insanely mundane approach to the weeks.

Although our school work varies and Teacher Janine is a super star. Its still, Monday Computers, Tuesday Tennis, Thursday Singing and Swimming and Friday, Culture and outdoor gross motor skills.

Friday being Human Rights day, we cleaned the pool and Saturday I went to The Lego Movie with Jaden and his family, it was really nice. Sunday morning Daddy and I played at Mushroom Park and in the afternoon we finally assembled the trampoline and I got washed off with it and then had a really cool bath. Mom has spent days attempting to separate mini lego from Duplo, but it’s not going well because of my interference in it. Granny moved out which was a bit of a shock for us and I am missing her really big time, she used to read to me every night and now she’s not there. Mom is going to have to find my library book and start reading. I’ve been very stressed at night and back in my folk’s bed. Fortunately they have chosen to nurture rather than force me and let me cry as crying is so dangerous for me.

A good thing that has happened is that I have managed to get an afternoon appointment with Lauren, meaning I don’t miss any school. I have double fun on Mondays Nikki my speech therapist and Lauren. I drew a picture of Milo my kitty in heaven or rather in the clouds, our old house, our old oak tree (which has subsequently been cut down by the new owners) and myself.

I seem to have sustained a rather large number of bruises this week, knees, shins and a really strange 2 inch scrape down my spine and a really bad bruise on my calf.

Mom took the precaution of aspirin, due to it looking so deep it could be a clot. We took photos of it, just to monitor it but it hasn’t really gone down.

I had a full panel of bloods done a couple of weeks ago and all was really good, so when the school physio decided my platelets were low, Mom decided that she will definitely have to go through the 17 page document and countless emails that she has sent explaining the difference in my vascular system. However not good news is that my veins are definitely making more of an appearance and this can be very painful. In addition to this the headaches and the pain behind my eyes is just making it more urgent that I get to Paris. We are still selling Acorn Kids products, unfortunately no one has actually purchased. This puts us in such a difficult position. We technically have nowhere to go with this. We are fairly sad.

Lynne, Lisle and Jenny have offered us invaluable advice to raise money by just asking for it. We are presently getting a fund raising number and hope this will assist us in raising funds for my Angiogram and the payment of it. Thanks guys for always being there for us. You rock.

We are firstly going to try and get a South African doctor to do the Angio which will most likely mean travelling to Cape Town. This is if he will take our case, as before he was reluctant.

However Dr Lippert and Winter in Unitas, the people taking over from Prof Fourie, have even asked us to fetch all our scans etc. So we know we are out of there. Next step Cape Town and next step Paris.

Wish us luck.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Climbing

Photo 2 Multi-tasking

Photo 3 Super hero

Photo 4 My first Chima Legos

Photo 5 Under construction

Photo 6 Finished product

Photo 7 Love being around when the sheets are changed

Photo 8 Swimming

Photo 9 Missing some fangs

Photo 10 Dad turned the fridge into a whiteboard

Photo 11 Being busy!

Photo 12 Fireman’s pole at Mushroom Park

Photo 13 Running

Photo 14 Ooooooo, the tethered balloon

Photo 15 A bridge! My favourite

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An Ordinary Week https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10410 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10410#respond Sun, 16 Mar 2014 17:53:24 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10410

So we’ve not had any feedback on my misshapen temples, and the scary news is that there is also a bulge on top of my skull which Lauren discovered during OT on Friday. We’re all pretty concerned what this means, but we’re not getting answers making it even more distressing.

Toward the end of the week the rain finally started to let up. It’s been the wettest March we’ve had in decades. Some roads near low lying bridges have been damaged so badly that they’re impassable. As a result traffic is a mare at the moment. I did manage to swim at school this week, but tennis was cancelled because of the wet conditions.

A very exciting outing this week with my school class was to the theatre to see Alice In Wonderland. It was awesome. And we were complimented on being the best behaved school at the outing.

I made a parrot on an empty toilet roll holder and teacher Janine was so thrilled with my work I got to show it to Mr Reese who rewarded me with a huge Lighting McQueen sticker! I felt so proud!

On Saturday morning Daddy and I went to Sandton City to see The Nut Job. I used Daddy’s iPhone to get access to the movies but putting it in a slot and having the QR code in it scanned. I thought that was really cool. The movie was lots of fun and I enjoyed it. Afterward we ran a few errands, including having a micro-SIM cut to a nano-SIM.

At the store the screens popped up bar codes (QR Codes) to get information or to vote on the service. I immediately shouted to Dad across the store “Hey Dad! Our movie ticket is on the TV!” Everyone giggled and Daddy showed me how the QR worked – he let me point his iPhone at the screen and then when it ‘read’ the code the phone vibrated! Well, that was me, for the rest of the morning I ran around looking for codes to scan!

In the afternoon Aneesa, her cousin Courtney and Aneesa’s Mom came for a visit. We had a really nice visit, and I showed Aneesa and Courtney the Gangnam Style video from The Nut Job that we watched that morning. They then asked “Do I like Minions?” Well that was us for the afternoon – I took the girls to my bedroom and showed them all my Minions as well as my talking Dave and Mr Gru. There were lots and lots of giggles. We then played Angry Birds from my bunk bed. More giggles. Sadly the afternoon became evening and they had to leave.

I had a ‘rough’ night as Mom puts it. At 11:00pm I sat bolt upright in bed and announced to the house “I’m done sleeping now!” Mom managed to get me back to sleep. At 1am I sat bolt upright in bed and announced “I’m hungry!” Poor Mommy then went off and got me a few goodies. Again at 3am I was up and then by 5am I wasn’t going to sleep again. iPad time!

For the morning Dad and I went to Yeesh in Woodmead. Mom and Granny joined us there after church. It was a really nice play date. I built a huge fortress with the soft building blocks. Dad then built a tower and put me on top of it. Back home Mom and Dad snoozed a little while I played – yes, surprisingly enough I wasn’t tired! In the late afternoon Gran, Dad and I went to Morningside Village Estate for me to swim (our pool has gone brown from the rain and silt that washed into it). It was such a nice swim.

Well, that’s it for this week.

Lots of love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Brand new takkies – they don’t look this white anymore!

Photo 2 Do some repairs on my quad

Photo 3 Trying to get to the bottom of the ‘problem’

Photo 4 Some bath art

Photo 5 Doing some work

Photo 6 Found the golden Easter bunny!

Photo 7 Bob the Builder

Photo 8 My fortress

Photo 9 Very roomy and comfortable

Photo 10 Swim time

Photo 11 Loving it

Photo 12 Exploring the reeds

Photo 13 The parrot I made

Photo 14 I drew a perfect ‘b’ which I then made into a cat!

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Minion Mall https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10394 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10394#comments Sun, 09 Mar 2014 18:16:58 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10394

Monday I woke up to find that Daddy had already left for a business trip for Cape Town. I didn’t see him at all as he arrived home late in the evening.

There was still no reprieve in the rain on Tuesday so we didn’t manage to play tennis after school. Dad and I had a swim in the afternoon before dinner. It was fun, but the water is starting to get cooler.

Daddy took me to school on Wednesday and he collected me again, which was a nice change in my usual routine of Mom collecting.

The rain took its toll on Thursday, causing nationwide Stage 3 Load Shedding (i.e. Eskom systematically shuts down the power for a number of hours to conserve energy). The reason the power utility was battling to meet demand was that a week’s rain had caused the coal to become so damp its effectiveness in the power stations was compromised.

I asked if they couldn’t put a big tent over the coal – Daddy then explained the coal is treated with damp retardant, but with the massive volume of rain that didn’t even help. Also, the flooding on many roads made it hard for more coal to be delivered. We went to bed just as the lights went out, and the next morning everything was back to normal.

Friday proved to be a stressful day, as during my OT session with Lauren she noticed my one temple was recessed significantly compared to the other. Mom and Lauren immediately spoke to all my doctors and we waited for the rest of the day for feedback. We got very little feedback which didn’t help stress levels very much. Prof Taylor in Cape Town did ask for photos which we’ve emailed to him – Monday we should be getting feedback.

At school later it was a super exciting day – teacher Janine had arranged a market day at the Minion Mall for us to sell our crafts to our parents. The proceeds will go to paying for theatre tickets to see Alice In Wonderland. I sold a picture of a purple Minion from Despicable Me 2, a pencil holder, a string of beads and an airplane paper clamp. Daddy said I was really good at playing shop, and was excellent with the clients!

On Saturday morning we headed to Kyalami for Maddison’s fourth birthday party. It was a really nice party, and thankfully the weather held out so we got to jump on the jumping castle and play on the trampoline. We even made some heart crafts.

In the afternoon at home I played trains and watched more rain coming down. By now our pool had gone brown from mud and sand being washed into it for 7 consecutive days.

Sunday morning Dad and I chilled at home; my cold from the previous few days wasn’t getting much better, so I took it easy. Late in the afternoon we popped around the corner to a nearby complex where Granny was going to move pretty soon. I feel very sad that she’s moving out, but she’s so excited about getting her own place that I put on a brave face.

After looking at her flat we all decided we needed genuine greasy ‘slap chips’ – the only place that had them is The Texan Biltong café in Parkhurst. Yes we schlepped to the other side of town for our end of weekend chips fix!

Til next week.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 The man I made

Photo 2 Ready to swim

Photo 3 Beating the rain

Photo 4 Running to class

Photo 5 Constructing in class

Photo 6 High sky at school

Photo 7 The Minion Mall!

Photo 8 Cutting a deal with Dad

Photo 9 Minion Art

Photo 10 Doing some crafts at Madi’s party

Photo 11 Bling bling on my ears

Photo 12 Hammock time

Photo 13 Icing on my face

Photo 14 Cake time!

Photo 15 Mommy time

Photo 16 Loving the cake!

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Selling to Paris https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10376 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10376#respond Sun, 02 Mar 2014 18:18:48 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10376

Thank you to Mommy for writing my blog last week, and thank you to all of you for your awesome comments and messages to my Mommy.

I was still on mid-term break on Monday. Gene and Kate came around for the day; their parents were immigrating to New York, and it was their last day here so we spent some quality time together. We started the morning with waffles at Sandton City and while the waffles were being prepared, we went on a 4D ride called Snow Rollercoaster, just to get Gene and Kate into the mood for snow.

Next we shopped for carry on suitcases for them, and then Mom and I decided we needed to get them a few goodies to put in their carry ons. In the afternoon we all made red velvet cupcakes, and Naomi joined in the fun. We had a blast.

Afterward we had a major Lego play – Mom brought EVERY Lego I owned to the sun room and we played up a storm. In the evening we took Gene and Kate home. There were lots of tears as we said our goodbyes. Mom even took a stone pebble from Nina’s house – as a baby I used to take them out and throw them down the steps, and Mom would put them back, and I’d throw them down again!

Tuesday I was back to school. In the afternoon I had tennis; thankfully the rain had cooled things off. In the afternoon Granny and I played trains. I also spent some time learning my full name, date of birth and Mommy and Daddy’s full names.

Mommy collected me a little earlier from school on Wednesday to see Dr Tiziana Aduc to chat about my brain. Thokozani from my school was also there for an appointment! Such a coincident. Dr T is arranging for Prof Taylor to come up to Johannesburg from Cape Town to help with an angiogram to do an assessment. We’re thrilled about that, as it means we don’t need use our Paris funds to go to Cape Town.

On Thursday we had swimming at school, and I got seriously reprimanded for running around naked while we were supposed to change. I instigated that Thokozani also dash around in the nick; double trouble! Back home in the afternoon I swam again. I tried to get Dad to swim too, but he felt it was too cold. I was shivering when I got out.

The great news on Thursday was that Lynne, our friend in Stellenbosch, has offered us 2 weeks of timeshare in Paris for when it’s time to go over for my next surgery. Thank you Lynne!

Driving to school on Friday morning I asked Mommy if I was white. Mommy said I was, to which I announced “No I’m not. Orchids are white. Paper is white. I’m not white. I think I’m polka dot!”

In the afternoon we visited Aneesa to have pizzas and apple pie. She made a fox for me (see photos) for the song ‘What Does the Fox Say?’

The super exciting news is that on Saturday morning Mommy went to the Acornkids product launch as a reseller. We’ve decided that in order to get to Paris we’d like to start selling products so that people get something for their contribution, instead of only collecting donations. Mommy has worked out she needs to make R2m sales to make enough for my surgery, so please start buying!

To view the catalogue, click here (it’s a 5mb PDF), and to contact Mommy Lynn email her on lynn@planetlederer.com or call her on 082 376 2788. Please also tell your friends! Next week we’ll give you the link to the page where you can order from online.

While Mommy was on training and at the launch, Dad and I went to Yeesh. In the afternoon Mom and I chilled at home watching TV while Daddy was out with his friends.

It rained the whole day on Sunday so we stayed at home and played around the house. In the evening Granny treated us to a Spur dinner.

Until next week!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Last South African waffles with Gene and Kate

Photo 2 Some Mr Funtumbles play at Sandton City

Photo 3 Gene, Kate and I gaming together

Photo 4 Kate on a Bat Mobile

Photo 5 Gene and I training it

Photo 6 Lego play

Photo 7 Gene and Kate and Shelli with Naomi

Photo 8 Intense play

Photo 9 Baking!

Photo 10 Shelli and Naomi with icing

Photo 11 Bbbbrrrrrr. Even had to use arm bands again because it was cold

Photo 12 Making my own spa bath!

Photo 13 Mommy doing my homework for me (don’t tell Teacher Janine!)

Photo 14 Playing at Aneesa’s place

Photo 15 My fox from Aneesa

Photo 16 Early morning swimming on Saturday

Photo 17 Desperate to get to Yeesh!

Photo 18 Being funny!

Photo 19 Writing with my toe, and having a drink!

Photo 20 Climbing at the Spur

 

 

 

 

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Conservations with Jarrod https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10355 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10355#respond Sun, 23 Feb 2014 20:42:23 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10355

Remedial school has been a game changer.

 

Remedial school is hard. When Jarrod reads this blog years from today I hope he will forgive me for saying this. It’s really not because he finds it hard, but it is definitely about him not getting that I am doing physio, OT and homework and oh so much homework for a 5 year old.

 

In some ways we have gone back to the beginning to give him self-esteem and courage. His had some serious emotional setbacks with being bullied and also being called slow. He refuses to associate with anyone outside or in school for fear of getting hurt, but continues to prove a popular and energetic soul according to the teachers who have approached me.

 

I was called to a meeting with all therapists to explain his condition and what he could and couldn’t do. It was mildly amusing as usually children can be boxed or categorized in a school but there is our child. No box. Stubborn genes from both parents and an excessive will to live and laugh and love. My answer to all their questions was simple: Jarrod knows his boundaries; he will go head first down anything fast; he will never get enough of a vestibular workout and all I ask is that he doesn’t cry for more than 10 minutes for fear of the aneurysm bursting.

 

He melted down in computer class last week. I eventually got out of him that he felt he didn’t want to use a desktop, and by the way there was no wireless mouse. Over and above this piece of valuable info they insisted he use a left mouse. He uses a right mouse. Case solved. A wireless right handed mouse went with him to school. After a brief tutorial on how to use it I asked if I needed to go through it again? “No mom I got it.” Right moving on.

 

Monday is external speech day, and this week I had to get involved, but he participated and he is doing so nicely with his production and stopping. We have found some amazing iPad apps and Zingo is helping us find a good deal of success. Following therapy, which is at Fastrack Kids, Jarrod announced, “I’m off to play with my friends, Mom!” It was such a relief as this is the first time in three weeks he’s played with anyone of his own free will.

 

Library is every Thursday. I was more than excited about it. When asking Jay-Bee if they stamped his book to tell him when to take it back the quiet answer from the back of the car was simply. “No Mom, they scanned it.” Strike 2.

 

Jarrod at the ripe old age of 5 was requested to deliver his first proper speech on one of the senses. I suggested taste and Dad suggested sight. Mom won over because chocolate was in the mix. We wrote his speech in sight words and pictures to jog his memory and he practised everyday with such determination. We were extremely proud when we were told he exceeded expectations. Thanks to Fasttrack Kids he is an expert speaker. He was quite excited that his ‘presentation’ was slightly like his Dad’s, in that it was in slide format, but had “tasting bags” attached to it. Sweet, sour, salty and chocolate goodies made up part of his props for the speech.

 

Jarrod arrived off the tennis court this week, plonked himself down next to me and usually I send him straight back as he is of the sort that believes he is done when he is done. However when he arrived red faced and red eyed, and announced “Oh my word its hot out there”, then lay down with a wet wipe over his face, that was me for the day. Ironically after a bit of water and he grabbed another wet wipe and headed to the court. Secretly I think coach has a soft spot for Jarrod’s own interpretation of life.

He arrived a second and third time to collect new wet wipes, but the third time looked at me and announced in a not so soft voice, “Mom, I just can’t do it anymore!”

 

We’ve taken to playing with a new (old) toy every day, and when he arrives home without fail he’ll announce, “What on earth is going on here?”

 

He has also taking to ‘reading’ things in stores and announcing to the world in general “What the flip flop?” Whilst definitely not my terminology or his Dad’s we quizzed him about this. Apparently it comes from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 was the answer.

 

He has also taken to finding brochures; especially ones containing games and/or toys and ticking the ones he has and the ones he doesn’t. He has also managed to save for 10 weeks for Bowser’s Castle. I then had to break it to him it would take 20 more because it is in Dollars. “What the flip flop!”

 

We are definitely going to have to work on the expletives employed by our 5 year old.

 

It bears noting something that many of you all wonder and ask.

 

No Jarrod is not out of danger, he probably will never be. Strange things happen, like nystagmus, he has mystery fevers with no symptoms or indicators. We need to get back to Paris to see what is going on, because he rubs his head a lot and my Mommy instinct says something is up. His blood pressure spikes, which is not a good sign, his extremities are cold, which is alarming. We are keeping the faith, we know we’ll have to do some fund-raising and would appreciate any ideas anyone would like to volunteer.

 

For all this and in so many ways, Jarrod is the light of our lives and provides such joy. We are truly blessed to know this special child.

 

You’ll forgive me if I use an amazing writer, AA Milne’s words to describe our own feelings.

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you” Winnie-the-Pooh.

and

‘If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.’ – AA Milne

 

In ending this brief insight into this funny little chicken, it should be noted that prior to the starting of this blog he went off and in the infamous Za Za Gabor’s words said, “I wants (not a typo) to be alone.” He’s passed out and fast asleep hence his Mother taking over diary writing.

 

Many happy thoughts to you all.

 

Those of you with children, go and kiss them, I know they are asleep but they deserve all your loves and kisses, they can never have too much. If you don’t have kids, feel free to come over and borrow mine, he’ll never say no to hug or a kiss. If you can this week, be happy remember your inner child and live, love and laugh.

 

Oh, and if you’re wondering why Jarrod is so tired (and Mom and Dad too), is that we had an action packed weekend. First on Saturday we had a birthday party for Liya complete with a petting zoo. The Sunday we had a breakfast farewell for Nina, Jaco, Gene and Kate who are moving to New York this week. Added into the mix we celebrated Nina’s 40th birthday. Breakfast become lunch. A quick visit in the afternoon to Shelli and Joseph’s place to play with Noa and Noami. Noa spent a couple of nights in hospital this week but is now much better. For dinner we meet up with Nina and co. at the Victory Park Spur for one last time.

 

Jarrod’s Mom

 

Photo 1 Hugging a tub of Lego’s in Emma’s room

Photo 2 My completed project

Photo 3 There were mountain goats at Liya’s birthday party

Photo 4 With a petting pen

Photo 5 Tickling a two week old baby bunny

Photo 6 Mom showing me a corn snake called Mielle

Photo 7 Giving it a try

Photo 8 Need to build a bridge for Thomas the Tank Engine

Photo 9 At Oak Leafs restaurant for Nina and Jaco’s farewell, and Nina’s surprise birthday party

Photo 10 Very festive

Photo 11 Fun

Photo 12 Hectic party

Photo 13 Nina and Mommy hugging (and shedding a few tears)

Photo 14 Dad and I having a chat

Photo 15 Me giggling

Photo 16 Playing with balloons

Photo 17 Throwing them to the sky

Photo 18 Loving it!

Photo 19 Cool dude

Photo 20 Hi!


Photo 21 Drawing in the farewell ledger

Photo 22 Mixing it up

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Swimmer! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10331 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10331#respond Sun, 16 Feb 2014 18:27:44 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10331

I’ve had a wonderfully exciting and busy week! My Mommy says I’m in ‘ultra-cute mode’ at the moment, and at the same time pretty philosophical about the discussions we’ve been having as a family. Monday and Tuesday Daddy took me to school. After school on Monday, Mom took me to Fastrack Kids to visit my friends there. It was so nice to see my old friends; Nathi wanted to come home with us and climbed into our car!

I had tennis after school on Tuesday. Mommy hid in the sports house so as not to distract me (although I knew she was there watching)! In the afternoon Mom and I tidied some cupboards; it’s always fun rediscovering things that we’d forgotten were there in the first place! In the afternoon I had a nice refreshing swim with Dad.

Waking up Wednesday I announced “I had a really rough night, I didn’t sleep well”. Mom and Dad stifled their giggles but were very proud of me knowing why I was tired and that I could articulate it. The rest of the day was a pretty quiet – we all chilled around the house in the afternoon and took it easy.

On Thursday I wore a yellow t-shirt as it was our swimming gala; my house is the Athlone House. Our class didn’t go to the gala, as it would’ve been a really long and sensory day with all the noise and heat, but we did cheer the older classes onto the bus and welcomed them back. I was thrilled to see all the creative things the learners were wearing in their house colours. My favourite was someone (in my house) that had dressed up as Spongebob Squarepants! Mom also bought me a whole bunch of books at school for a very special event….

Keeping with the spirit of swimming, in the afternoon when we got home I decided to do some of my own swimming. And guess what?! I didn’t use arm bands nor a Polly Otter! I’m practically swimming now, with a little occasional help from a pool noodle, the pool’s edge or an unsuspecting adult nearby! I was so thrilled with my new talent that when Dad came home from work we swam again!

Friday there was lots of excitement around the house. Then I remembered! Readathon! Mom, Dad and Granny were coming to school with me. We had lots of books and a picnic blanket. Since it was St Valentine’s Day we were allowed to wear civvies; in keeping with the theme I wore my Thomas The Tank Engine red t-shirt!

As we walked onto the school grounds we spotted a huge blanket on the lawn and everywhere in little groups parents were reading to their children. Mom, Dad, Granny and I found a spot for our blanket and Granny got to reading while Mom and Dad chatted to the other parents and teachers. It was really a nice morning. Also, some of my fellow learners dressed up for St Valentine’s wearing angel wings and hearts. Thrown into the mix it was also cultural day so a massive day for celebrations.

In class Teacher Janine gave us all heart shaped biscuits and we made Valentine’s Cards for our parents. Afterwards we went to my new ‘Haahoo Park’ at the Zoo Lake – it was our Friday activity treat. After a busy day I was a little sensory so my Mommy had to collect me from my classroom steps instead of under in the lapa where we’re supposed to wait for our parents. I told Mom it was too loud for me.

Driving home in the car I told Mommy that Zoo Lake was my newest favouritest park!

Saturday morning we all went to the movies to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2. I really enjoyed it and giggled often. Afterward we did a little shopping and I spent some of my pocket money on a Ninja Turtle toy. Granny spoiled me with a couple of Infinity Characters complete with a new World to unlock. Afterwards we had lunch at Walnut Grove. I spent the afternoon playing Infinity mixed with a swim or two.

Mom and Gran woke up with the meanest tummy bug on Sunday morning. All our plans for the day had to be cancelled – we’d invited Shelli and family for a braai, but Mom couldn’t move. Dad and I went to the pharmacy at 9:00, as the doors opened, to get them meds. Next we bought them a couple of bottles of the other best tummy bug remedy ever – Coca Cola! Back home we gave Mom and Gran meds and got them back into bed.

To allow them to rest, Dad and I went to McDonalds for the morning to play. Back at home Dad and I chilled around the house, checking on Mom and Gran every so often. Dad decided he still wanted to braai, so he braai’ed a piece of boerwors for him and I. The braai looked very sad with this one single sausage lying on it, but we did enjoy it afterward. While Dad braai’ed I had a swim.

By mid-afternoon Mom eventually surfaced after a nice long rest. A short while later Granny also surfaced. They were both still feeling under the weather, but they looked a lot better.

Some of my gems this week that I shared with my parents; Daddy always likes to let me listen to my requests in the car. So sometimes he plays internet radio for me and other times YouTube, but the drill is always the same “Jarrod, you know there’s no signal in the basement parking, as soon as we’re on the road I’ll stream something for you.” Then this week we were driving into the basement but this time we were listening to the radio (FM) and not streaming from the internet. I immediately noticed we didn’t lose the signal. I said “Dad, why aren’t we losing the signal in the basement when we listen to the radio, but we do when we use the internet”. Dad was most impressed with my rationale.

Then during the day on Sunday I announced to my Mom “I don’t want an AVM anymore!” It was very heart-breaking for Mom and Dad to hear me say that.

My third gem was Mom calling my name at school and another little boy answered “My name is Jarrod!” When I arrived Mom told me that the little boy with her was also called Jarrod. I said “Hi Jarrod! Sharp sharp!” and fisty bumped him! Mom thought it was super cute!

Lastly, during the Readathon, Mr Rees, our principal came to chat to Dad. I spotted him and stood up, shook his hand and said “Good morning Mr Rees”. Mom and Dad melted with pride.

Til next week!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Visiting at Fastrack Kids

Photo 2 My School Reunion!

Photo 3 After work swim with Dad

Photo 4 Still using my Polly Otter – but not for long

Photo 5 Getting comfortable jumping

Photo 6 That went differently in my head when I planned it

Photo 7 Aaahhhh, that’s more like it

Photo 8 And a short while later – no Polly Otter

Photo 9 Jump!

Photo 10 The occasional sinking

Photo 11 Off I go! Swimming

Photo 12 Getting a little support

Photo 13 Underwater (not planned)

Photo 14 Reaching for the side, unaided

Photo 15 Confident!

Photo 16 Granny and I at the Readathon

Photo 17 My fellow learners

Photo 18 Mom using a high-tech ‘book’

Photo 19 A festive morning

Photo 20 I dressed myself for movies. Apparently Opa used to do this!

Photo 21 Being Jay-Bee


Photo 22 Mickey and Missy

 

 

 

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Batman Bum https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10307 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10307#respond Sun, 09 Feb 2014 17:44:58 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10307

It’s been a quiet week. Monday after school I made ‘crabby patties’ SpongeBob SquarePants style. Although I used flapjacks and yoghurt! On Tuesday I traced a brilliant letter ‘C’ that Mom and Dad were really proud of. One of Mom and Dad’s favourite stories in ‘C and the Box: A Paradigm Parable’ so it was a significant moment! Tuesday and Wednesday saw a continuation of last week’s heavy rains, with lots of roads flooding.

In the afternoon Dad arrived home a nice selection of magazines for me to do my homework with. I’d had a nice early bath, washed my own hair, so it was perfect timing to get into bed with my new reading materials.

Getting into Mom’s car after tennis I announced ‘Mom, you really need to clean this car!’ I admit that most of the mess is mine but I’m beginning to think the car needs to go for a deep clean!

Thursday we went swimming with the school! It was heaps of fun. Next week is our gala, so there’s lots of excitement!

To keep with the messy car scenario, I shoved pink ice cream into my mouth, which I promptly threw up! At home I then had to scrub and wash my booster seat.

My latest fun game is to wobble Mommy’s fat. I sneak up to her and wobble it! It causes lots of giggles and laughs. And yes, Mommy said I could publish this!

For Saturday and Sunday we basically stayed home the entire day, just chilling and playing games as both Dad and I were under the weather.

That’s it for this week!

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 Crafting crabby patties

Photo 2 Ready for the swim team

Photo 3 Still doing ok with the ice-cream

Photo 4 Cleaning up

Photo 5 Swimming

Photo 6 Batman bum-to-the-sky-sleep-position (yes, I do this on my own)

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Cloudburst https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10299 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10299#comments Sun, 02 Feb 2014 18:59:35 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10299

On the way home from school on Monday we popped into Fastrack Kids to visit some of my old friends. It was so great to see them, and we all had a little play.

Both Mom and Dad surprised me with a visit at the tennis courts on Tuesday after school to watch me play. It was so great to feel their support for me while I played. I managed to hut a good few balls again. At home we invited Naomi over and she and I made a Sophia the First cake – just for fun. It came out really awesome.

On Thursday morning Dad took Missy to the vet to ‘have her fixed’ – I’m not really too sure what that’s all about, because she didn’t seem broken, but I eventually got the picture that it had something to do with her not getting more kitties. Mom and Dad’s timing on the first round had been out by about a month, and with the neighbour’s tomcat wondering around that ‘hasn’t been fixed’ we didn’t want to have kittens again.

In the afternoon we collected her from the vet. She was pretty drowsy but soon she was back to her old self.

In the evening Mom and Dad had a cocktail evening at Japari, my school. I was dropped off at Michelle and Daneel’s place to play with Emma and Leyia. Plans were made for us all to go to our ‘old’ Spur at Victory Park, so I was over the moon. Mom and Dad were a little slow to leave me, so eventually I had to shoo them off. I actually wanted to spend the night but because it was a ‘school night’ it was out of the question.

We settled in at the Spur and pretty soon we were all playing up a storm. Mom and Dad met up with us at the Spur and we all chatted up a storm. Dad had been doing a strategy piece for Transnet, and because Daneel and Etienne (his friend) both studied engineering the three of them pretty quickly got immersed in discussions about how big and long our trains are. I was pretty impressed too!

Friday morning the clouds finally opened up and dumped bucket loads of water on us. It was a relief from the extreme heat, but at the same time many people had their homes folded and cars damaged. I had an early morning appointment with Lauren, and afterward Mom took me to school. Because of the rain we couldn’t go to the Zoo Lake version of the Haahoo Park (similar to the one at Delta Park). But, weather permitting, next Friday we’ll be going.

For lunch on Saturday we were invited to Shelli’s folks place; they live in the Raphael Suites overlooking Nelson Mandela Square. It was so awesome to watch the people in the square below and then to also be able to see all the way to the airport. For lunch, Dad and I had to don ‘special hats’. Admittedly mine didn’t stay on too long! The food was awesome and we spent the rest of the afternoon chillaxing, visiting and chatting. I even had a swim with Naomi in the outdoor spa – it was so nice and warm.

On Sunday Sandy and Brad visited us for a braai with their two girls Katherine and Maddison. It was an awesome afternoon. We played, watched TV and then spent a good deal of the afternoon swimming. Just before they left we raced up and down the walkways on my bike, quad and beetle bug! It was so much fun. Pretty soon Shelli and Joseph joined us with Naomi and Noa. Mischka, Joseph’s Shih Tzu, was an immediate hit with the girls, and pretty soon we were bolting up and down the walkways chasing Mischka. It was quite a sight – first Mischka, then Katherine and normally Maddison, and Naomi and I swapping every now and then for last place. Eventually Mischka was so tired she hid under our dining room table, but not before munching down the cats’ food!

Sadly the day was coming to an end, and Sandy and Brad had to get Katherine and Maddison home and Shelli and Joseph also had to get Naomi and Noa ready for bed.

I was settling down for the evening when Sandy phoned to say thanks for an awesome afternoon, and to let me know that there was a new Sophia the First programme starting on DStv – what a perfect way to end a perfect weekend.

‘Til next week!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Spotting my parents before tennis

Photo 2 Right, let’s get this game going

Photo 3 Spinning my racquet

Photo 4 Listening to coach

Photo 5 Quick personal instruction on how to hold my racquet

Photo 6 I can do this!

Photo 7 Racquet park for our warm-up

Photo 8 Yay! Front of the line

Photo 9 We’re off!

Photo 10 Dodge ball!

Photo 11 Another dash

Photo 12 A little distracted

Photo 13 Getting ushered back in line

Photo 14 My turn to step up to the net

Photo 15 Lining up for the shot

Photo 16 Swing!

Photo 17 Second shot!


Photo 18 Got my eye on the ball

Photo 19 Yay

Photo 20 Not where I wanted it to go

Photo 21 Naomi and I baking

Photo 22 Icing

Photo 23 Being a clown

Photo 24 Naomi adds final touch

Photo 25 Being the mad thing I am, I got into Missy’s cage!

Photo 26 At the Spur

Photo 27 Cloudburst!

Photo 28 Relaxing in the spa

Photo 29 Looking down to the Square

Photo 30 Missy being silly on my bunk bed

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Wobbly Tooth Tennis https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10266 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10266#comments Sun, 26 Jan 2014 19:24:58 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10266 Contagious or not I went off to school on Monday, armed with Nurofen and Calpol. My throat at this point was yellow and gross. I was as grumpy as a kid could be, however, Mom drew a heart on my arm and told me to remember that her heart was always with me, then she put on lipstick and gave me a kiss on my other arm and told me to remember that she always loves me. Then she checked that I knew what time it was on my watch that she was coming to collect me.

I think I felt a little bit better. Teacher Janine had a migraine and Mom reminded me that headaches can be sore and my friends and I should be gentle with teacher today.

This being said, I did all my work and got a star for listening to instructions.

I got homework and Mom and I sat and did it slowly and diligently. Our family mantra is Hardwork, Good Manners, and Good behaviour. Today we added ‘Do It Perfectly’, so now we have a new and improved mantra. I am trying really hard. Mom has spent a good deal of time signing my homework book and helping me do good work. Spare a thought for her, she told Teacher Janine she didn’t like school the first time round and please to take it easy on her.

Mom also had to sign a form for my extramural activities. The folks were going to give me a break while I settled in, but at least 1 extramural is a compulsory event. So tennis it is. As you know this is one of my favourite things to do, so Tuesday I headed to school with my tennis racket over my shoulder (it’s a real one, or as Mom says it’s a good starter Wilson racket). Tuesday also saw Dad walking out the door with us with his travel bag in hand. He headed to Cape Town for a catch up with family but mainly for work during the day.

Back to my day. At 13:00 we all lined up for the big bus. Ms Wheeler our PE coach got us all into the bus and off we went to the tennis courts at Zoo Lake (this is our sports club). There I met the two coaches who were going to coach us. I made my Mom and Gran (who met us there) so proud. I struggled initially trying to run as fast as the other kids as I have deficits as you know. Also at the same time as running around the court we had to learn the baseline, centre line, inside tram line, outside tram line and service line. Included, of course, were the back and side fences and net.

My coach taught me to hold my new tennis racquet properly and he made me focus with a tennis ball in my right hand, to pull my hand back and to hit the ball as he served to us. Amazingly I was the last one out, which means I hit every ball sent to me, this was despite my tooth being extremely loose and wobbly.

I must say I did leave the court at one point, which I was turned straight back around after a drink of water and sent back to the court.

I was one of the few that was allowed to go home with Mom, and not on the bus.

I was exhausted but very happy, drama, tennis, and PE.

Wednesday I saw the new physio, and the great thing about this is that I get to do this all during school hours. I had lots of fun. The SENCO at School, Mrs Homan kindly arranged for a meeting with all the therapists to discuss what I could do and not do, so they all phoned Mom. I had so much fun.

I have to mention, Teacher Janine is a Despicable Me Minion fan. So when we get stars for doing well we get them on a Minion themed chart. I asked Mom to make me one for home. I surprised my folks by getting the most stars for following instruction. Mom and Dad just looked at each other.

Mom bought me a little bed for me to sleep with her, but next to her rather than in bed with her. The start of separation is beginning. Unfortunately it’s quite a difficult process for me and having tonsillitis has made me very sensory.

Mom had a special surprise for us at the end of Wednesday. We travelled on the Gautrain to OR Tambo to fetch Dad from his trip to Cape Town. The first thing I did when I saw him was show him my wobbly front tooth (it was coincidentally also the first tooth I got). We had dinner at the airport and headed home. It was great fun to take the train at night. We agreed next time we go to Paris for surgery, we’ll go via London and via the Eurostar.

I woke up Thursday it find my tooth had come out during the night, and was lying neatly on Mom’s bedside table. I suspect she had something to do with it coming out during the night; Inspector Clouseau is on the case.

It was a hard day, I screamed, cried, and couldn’t modulate at all during the morning. This was all except for leaving Mom at the door at school. Mom and I have a little ritual. I get a kiss from Mom with tons of lipstick which allows me to remember her kisses and hugs that I miss when at school. Then she takes a pen and writes me a note on my arm. “I Y U” or “U R my
Õ
. I think the other kids feel it’s a bit strange but to me and Mom it means that we’re connected, and Mom thinks of me all day and she will always be there at 13:00 (and I check my watch regularly to see if its 13:00 yet).

Mom walked to the classroom but noticed it was empty, I think she panicked mildly because she was super happy when she saw us all walk out of the library. We had a library session, a whole half hour, I was thrilled to be around all those books. We were all allowed to choose a book to be returned a week later. We were give special zip up covers for our books. Gran is the dedicated reader in the house, so every night I crawl into her bed after my bath and we read my library book and one other book of my choosing. I believe in a slight conspiracy between the adults in the house, because there are always a collection of books waiting for me.

In addition to this, Mom and Dad have been playing Zingo with sight words with me. We had a raucous game after dinner it was awesome.

I saw Lauren on Friday early and had a great time with her. I was lucky enough to get some Cranio after being so sick, but Mom got eye and ear exercises to do. Apparently I was very emotional. It so happens everyone in the house was after the hectic week.

Well that’s it, my first full week at school, I didn’t finish my homework, and now I understand the effect of this is that we have to present our homework at show and tell on Friday. I have done well for all the change and challenges of the week.

Saturday I went to visit Aneesa my friend who had her ear fixed in Paris. What an awesome visit. I tried some samosas but I was very kindly made Salmon as they remembered it was my favourite. I finished that and half my special pizza. Aneesa’s dad “Uncle Anver” was super cool, he’s an art collector, frames for fun, loves trains and entertained me the whole afternoon, with the cute foxy Impy and showed me his secret garden. Eventually when the girls found me after their giggling and story-telling I was on the couch in Uncle Anvers arms watching cartoons on DStv.

Dad made it back successfully from poker, and we arrived home late but we were all asleep very soon.

Sunday, I exchanged my toy which was bought as a duplicate. However I am saving for Bowzer’s Castle with my pocket money, so I’m not buying things anymore. I did however choose a gift for Rachel whose party we were off to later.

We hit the River Café and immediately the boys got down to it. It was awesome to see everyone. After we relaxed at home we went to have a chat with our friends Joseph and Shelli and of course for me Naomi and Noa. We played at Pappachinos, the folks spoke business and bored us, Naomi found another little girl to play with and I entertained Noa, while Mom tried to feed her. She told me she used to do exactly the same for me, but my response went like WHEN?

Me starting school has started making my folks start thinking about getting me to Paris and how to get the finance and when. I am sure it will become apparent as the days go.

Thanks for sharing my first week with me. I am happy and well and very grateful to everyone for their good wishes and to all the doctors, therapists and carers who got me to this place.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Off to school for tennis and pulling Dad’s suitcase

Photo 2 Dad discovered a little something from me that I snuck into his suitcase, to remember me by

Photo 3 Listening to our tennis coach

Photo 4 A mad dash

Photo 5 Here’s me warming up

Photo 6 Taking a swing

Photo 7 Blocking

Photo 8 A quick giggle

Photo 9 Showing Dad my wobbly tooth

Photo 10 Riding home on the Gautrain

Photo 11 Doing homework

Photo 12 Visiting with Aneesa

Photo 13 Chilling with Anver (Aneesa’s Dad)

Photo 14 And giggling

Photo 15 Chilling out

Photo 16 Being silly!

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Big Boy School https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10247 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10247#comments Sun, 19 Jan 2014 18:25:50 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10247

The heat wave that we’ve been experiencing carried on throughout most of the week. Monday and Tuesday were largely spent finalising things for me to start big boy school. We got my uniform and on Tuesday we popped into the school for a visit and to get some final things. I met one of my class mates, Thokozani, and we immediately hit it off. In the afternoon the neighbourhood got together for a play on the common – it was such fun! By Tuesday evening my excitement was reaching fever pitches for getting to school.

Wednesday morning there was a flurry of activity! I could hardly wait to get to school. I had to pressure Mom and Dad to hurry and get going. It felt like forever that I waited for them in my uniform, hat and holding onto my bag. Eventually we left and we all chatted excited on the way to Japari, my new school.

It was amazing to reminisce in the car that I’ve had 8 brain surgeries, almost died five times, had heart failure and my lungs collapse, and here I was going to school!

At school I literally ran ahead to get to my class and there we met Teacher Janine and her assistant Pumeza. My class only has four learners in it, including me, so it’s really awesome and perfectly geared for me! Only once I realised Mom and Dad were going to leave me there did I start feeling a little anxious. However once I got into things, I started enjoying myself. Both Mom and Dad collected me again, but I was too exhausted to chat. For being so brave we popped into the ToyZone where I got a Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey for my Infinity set.

Thursday Mom and Dad again came with to school, as they had an appointment with the head master. I was again a little anxious about being left alone, but it was later discovered I was running a fever and generally not feeling well.

By Friday I really was feeling sick, but I wanted to go to school as it was Thokozani’s birthday party. Mom and I left but we literally drove out of the basement parking and into the visitor’s parking, as I felt I couldn’t go to school.

Later in the day Mom took me to see Nicoletta. She did an in-depth examination of me, and not being happy with what she was seeing, ordered blood tests. We walked across to Morningside Medi-Clinic. I tried to be brave, and I even tried chatting to Dad on the phone as a distraction, but all he heard was screaming as the needle went into my arm. A short while later the tests revealed I had bacterial tonsillitis, hence not wanting to eat and generally feeling under the weather. It felt like I had a permanent fever; Mom and I had a rough night.

On Saturday we headed off to the Clearwater Mall, as we hadn’t been there in a really long time. It was nice sitting in my pram just looking at all the shops. We bumped into Jenni-Lynne and her Mom so we stopped for a chat; it was nice to see her again. It was starting to get late into the afternoon and as we were getting ready to leave the centre suffered a power outage for about 20 seconds. I loved it and although I was a little scared it was all exciting. Walking back to the car we walked through one or two sections where the power hadn’t been restored so I lit the way with Daddy’s iPhone, and so that no-one would bump me!

Driving home I fell asleep in the car, and I slept fitfully, with Mom and I having another really bad night. Sunday Mom took Granny to church and Dad and I stayed home. It drizzled for the morning which was a welcome relief from the heat. We played some Wii Sports Resort and my tennis is really getting good. My new mantra is ‘Trust Your Brain’ and as I hit the ball I’d shout this. There were a number of volleys where Dad just sat out as I took control of the game. Next we played golf and I managed a good few Bogeys and Double Bogeys. In ten pin bowling I scored a couple of spares. The rest of the day was spent chilling around the house, and Mom, Dad and I even managed to get in a few games of Zingo Sight Words. I’m getting good at that too and won all the games!

Well that’s it for this week!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Giggles with Joseph and Dad on the common

Photo 2 Sing along “What does the fox say?” – click here and join 338m other viewers of this video!

Photo 3 Singing about foxes in my sleep

Photo 4 My uniform

Photo 5 My uniform, cont.

Photo 6 Looking good!

Photo 7 Marching off to school

Photo 8 Mega exciting

Photo 9 My class is this way

Photo 10 Up here!

Photo 11 Grade R

Photo 12 Our playground

Photo 13 Oooooo, stationary

Photo 14 Trying things out

Photo 15 Day Two . . . chilling before school

Photo 16 Heading off

Photo 17 Calling the lift

Photo 18 Walking up to my class – Day Two with a heavier bag!

Photo 19 Mickey and Missy getting high on catnip

Photo 20 Heat wave temps!

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Tennis and the Ball Catcher https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10224 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10224#respond Sun, 12 Jan 2014 18:08:03 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10224 On Monday Daddy went back to work. We were all very sad and missed him immediately. Mom, Granny and I spent the day at Granny’s old place to be with the dogs and to play tennis. I always love seeing Lucy. Needless to say Lucy, Athena (the other Foxy), Buddy (the Labrador) and Zeus (the St Bernard) all bounced all over me. After having a rough and tumble with the dogs I played tennis with Granny on the tennis court. The two Foxy’s were brilliant ball boys and fetched the ball each time it went out of bounds and brought it back to me. I announced “Finally we have a ball catcher!” Buddy was so keen to play tennis with us that he dug up a long lost ball that he’d just remembered then and brought it to us! It was hilarious! In the evening when Daddy came home I gave him a huge hug. He responded “Ewwww you smell like wet dog!” and bathed me!

Tuesday while we were at Woolies we bumped into Michelle and promptly made a play date with her and the girls later in the week.

Wednesday was a big shopping day – Tammy came along and needed lots of stuff. It was primarily to get me a uniform, but we all ended up being side tracked. We punctuated our shopping with a stop in at Wimpy. As Granny’s food arrived Tammy snatched a chip from her plate. At the top of my voice I announced “Tammy stole a chip!” embarrassing Tammy and having everyone look at us!

We didn’t do much on Thursday, and as Daddy arrived home in the evening I asked if he’d take me to McDonalds for a play. He obliged and we had nice chillaxing afternoon together.

The hunt for uniforms continued on Friday at Hyde Park, to no avail. We also popped in at my new school, Japari, to have a look around and try to get my uniform there. The uniform shop was closed, but I did meet with Edie and a few other teachers. Hugs were given all round. I was told there would be three learners in my class (Grade R) which was thrilling news for me. Mom was ecstatic!

In the afternoon Michelle visited for a playdate with Amy and Chloe. We had a whale of a time! We played in my bedroom with trains (apparently the girls don’t do boy play dates, but they didn’t mind this one and immediately got to playing with my trains!) During the course of the afternoon Amy and I spun Chloe around on my hammock so much that the bolt came out the ceiling. It was terrifying, going off to find Dad to tell him what happened. He popped his head in the door, laughed, asked if we’re all ok and left again, shaking his head grinning. As he walked out my room Amy said “Yay, he wasn’t angry!”

Saturday was spent at home trying to stay cool. Our heat wave is reaching really hot temperatures. Dad and I played some Wii and then I got into some painting. First I helped Mom paint the table, and then I painted a plane.

Dad and I were alone on Sunday morning as Mommy took Granny to church. We first played some Wii tennis which I’m really getting good at. Afterward we played golf – I achieved a bogey and a double bogey. Daddy had a fluke chip-in from the edge of the green. He screamed in delight! Afterward I played some bowling on my own and then came across the baseball, which I didn’t really understand.

We popped out briefly to drop off the kittens at the Mr Pet and then we had some frozen yoghurt. Back home Dad and I attached my hammock back to the ceiling and Daddy turned the bolt into the ceiling extra tight, and promised to continue the hunt for swivel, so my hammock could spin around freely! Afterward we found some balloons made for water bombs. Immediately Dad and I got to the business of bombing each other. By the time Mom and Granny got home we were sopping wet. Although in the heat we dried off quickly.

A short while later Ryan arrived with Claudi and Paul for a braai. Ryan and I immediately got down to some play, and then swimming. We spent close on three hours in or around the pool. After swimming we ate a late lunch and giggled through stories. As the afternoon marched on we played in my bedroom, but as dusk started approaching I really started feeling drowsy. I was so tired from all the play that I fell asleep before Ryan even left – a sign of an excellent play date.

Well that’s it for the first full week of 2014! Oh, the other news is that all our kittens have been rehomed. Three went via the pet shop down the road and one was collected by Daddy’s twitter friend Renee.

Love,

Jay-Bee

Video 1: Being Wreck-It Ralph (click here)

Video 2: Tennis and Dogs (click here)

Photo 1 My Lucy!

Photo 2 Chloe, Amy and I racing along the walkway

Photo 3 Mega fun

Photo 4 Heavy traffic

Photo 5 Look Mom no hands!

Photo 6 Painting

Photo 7 Ryan and I swimming

Photo 8 Cooooooool

Photo 9 Stopping to eat

Photo 10 From above

Photo 11 Giggles

Photo 12 Loving it!

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Hello 2014! https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10210 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10210#respond Sun, 05 Jan 2014 19:15:20 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10210

Monday was a pretty relaxed day; our only outing was to Builder’s Warehouse to look at their plants. Afterwards we popped into Bread Basket for some food. We also popped into BT Games to check out their Infinity Characters (to spend my pocket money on) as well as Khoki to check out their art stuff.

Tuesday was New Year’s Eve. To usher in the New Year Mom and I decided to have our hair cut. Mommy went to Granny’s hairstylist for a new look. I went to Daddy’s hair stylist, Brian at Swept, to have a ‘spiky cut’. After a good hair cut Dad and I went to Fego’s for lunch. It’s so cool being ‘just the boys’ sometimes. In the afternoon we had our last swim of the year. I didn’t last long on New Year’s Eve, so Mom and Dad ushered in the New Year on my behalf.

Wednesday we woke up to 2014! It was an awesome feeling – my sixth year that I’ve lived in! To celebrate the New Year we met up with Shelli, Joseph, Naomi and Noa at the Field and Study Centre. We spent the entire day there having a picnic and playing and chatting. It was an awesome day and a brilliant start to the New Year.

Thursday we chilled around the house trying to keep cool as the heat at the moment is pretty intense!

On Friday morning we all went to the Garden Shoppe to buy some plants for the garden, but not before we all had breakfast and then visited the bunnies. I wasn’t too keen to look at plants so Dad and I went to the play area while Mom and Granny shopped. Back home we all got extremely industrious. Granny and Mom planted plants downstairs while Dad and I worked on the balcony. Our job was to get plant pots downstairs. Dad decided it would be the most fun to lower them down the balcony to the garden with some rope. It worked terrifically well, despite my letting the rope go occasionally and Daddy having to go downstairs to retrieve it. We also emptied a massive pot; we lowered the soil down to the garden via a bucket. Plan C was the most successful to get the sand to empty out the bucket without going down to the garden. It was a lot of fun. Last, Dad carried the final huge pot downstairs – it was too heavy to let down ‘by crane’.

Then in the late afternoon Dad and I skimmed the garden to make it level so that the water would flow through easily. The best part was when Dad would turn on the hose pipe to emulate rain to ‘test the lie of the land’! In the evening I passed out in the family room on my own!

Saturday we all went shopping as we’d invited Shelli, Joseph, Naomi and Noa to a braai the next day. It was great fun and afterward Dad took me to Toys-R-Us to spend my pocket money which I’d been saving for a while. I bought two Infinity characters – Woody from Toy Story and Venelope from Wreck-It Ralph (my latest most favourite movie that Mom and Dad downloaded for me from the iTunes store). I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with my new characters – it was a perfect plan, as it was way too hot to be outdoors. I think we’re having a heat wave!

Sunday morning we popped into Benmore Gardens for some errands and then at lunchtime our guests arrived for our braai. It was such fun! I’d bought Naomi a gift that she immediately ripped open. I then commandeered Daddy to assemble it. Afterward Naomi and I played and played with her new toy. Joseph and Dad took turns at the braai being the ‘tong master’ while Mom and Shelli chatted. Naomi and I, not to be outdone, decided we needed to cook too, so we made our own ‘meal’ at the basin, standing on our little stepladders. What a lot of fun we had!

The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting, eating and playing. It was a wonderful afternoon and a perfect way to usher in the first week of the new year.

Well, that’s it for now. Happy New Year everyone!

Love

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Yes, I do NEEEEEEED all this stuff. I’m building a plane!

Photo 2 At Swept having my haircut

Photo 3 With Brian my stylist

Photo 4 My new spikey look, ready for 2014

Photo 5 Looking at Mr Men books

Photo 6 Ready for the park

Photo 7 Naomi and I going for a drive

Photo 8 Loving the jungle gym

Photo 9 Climbing

Photo 10 Joseph gives Naomi and I a hand

Photo 11 Shake shake bridge

Photo 12 Running with Naomi

Photo 13 With giggles

Photo 14 Naomi, Ruby and I running for the whippet’s ball! We lost.

Photo 15 Back again

Photo 16 I got the whippet’s ball

Photo 17 This is how I look taking off

Photo 18 And a whippet taking off

Photo 19 Naomi and I running with not-a-whippet

Photo 20 Noa loving the park too

Photo 21 Final ride of the day

Photo 22 Into the sunset

Photo 23 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 24 My favourite – smoked salmon

Photo 25 Feeding the bunnies

Photo 26 Cute bunny

Photo 27 Frozen yoghurt brain-freeze

Photo 28 Mickey escaping the heat

Photo 29 Radio Racer is too small for me. Meep

Photo 30 Naomi cooking

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Merry Christmas 2013 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10178 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10178#respond Sun, 29 Dec 2013 19:03:00 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10178

On Monday Mom was sure that I wasn’t well, so we managed to get an appointment with Nicoletta. Before our appointment we had a quick brunch at Fegos which was awesome as always. Nicoletta’s offices were packed! Enrico was also there and between the two of them they had their hands full! I spent the better part of half an hour entertaining all the other little patients and show them around. Needless to say my celebrity status is still fully intact and both Nicoletta and Enrico had long chats with me, Mom and Dad.

In Nicoletta’s rooms I immediately went into the examination room while Mom, Dad and Nicoletta chatted and caught up on things. In the examination room, all on my own, I climbed onto the examination bed and took my own blood pressure as well as checked my heart. It was a little more difficult examining my own ears and eyes, so I left something for Nicoletta to do. Just as well, as she discovered fluid in both my middle ears. This needed a course of antibiotics and was also the reason my speech is a little weird at the moment. We spent the afternoon at home.

Tuesday was an extremely exciting and important day: it was Christmas Eve! I could hardly wait until the evening when I could open my presents. But first, we had to get through the day. We had an early lunch at Papachinos where I made myself an odd shaped pizza. We did a few errands afterwards and then we all had a snooze, as it would be a late evening. In the afternoon Shelli, Joseph, Naomi and Noa popped by for a visit and to wish us a merry Christmas. It was great afternoon and we had a really awesome play.

For Christmas Eve dinner we decided to go to Le Petit Sel at the Falstaff Hotel, across the road! Well, despite being across the road, we still succeeded in running late – a special talent we share. Upon arriving at the Falstaff Hotel we were told it was closed! Little did we know that we actually made reservations at Sel Et Poivre at the Quatermain Hotel, the sister hotel to the Falstaff! Fortunately it’s just a road away too. We were given a nice corner table and we were treated like kings. After ordering Dad and I decided to walk through the hotel grounds and look at the birdlife and the pond. It was during this walkabout that Daddy showed me our very own Christmas lights in our very own garden! I was completely thrilled and overwhelmed by this. It was just awesome. After I got over the excitement, Daddy explained to me that our house’s perimeter wall is shared with the Quartermain Hotel, and that it’s the hotel that we see from our balcony. I felt awesome about this!

Back at the dinner table I couldn’t wait to tell Mom and Granny about my discovery! They too were thrilled. Of course I also mentioned the beautiful gardens, pond and birdlife, much of which is shared with us in our garden. Before dinner arrived I was treated to the most awesome experience – to visit the kitchen! The Maitre d’Hotel took me on a tour of the kitchen and I met all the staff there. I announced to everyone I was going to be a Master Chef. And an expert climber. As an additional treat, Chef Coco Reinarhz arrived at our table and chatted to us! I spoke a little bit of French with him that I remembered from Paris. I also told him I was going to be a Master Chef! For my main meal I was served one of my favourite dishes – smoked salmon. I was divine, and we all enjoyed our meals.

Since it was dark outside now, Mom and Dad announced that they believed Santa would’ve been to our house and it was time to go home. After Dad settled the bill, which I filled in and signed, it was back home. I was extremely excited! Racing up to our front door I discovered there was snow scattered about, and in it were reindeer hoof prints! I was thrilled to the max. As Mom and Dad opened the front door I spotted the Christmas tree base covered in presents for me. I was beside myself! I spent the next few hours opening presents and playing. Finally, about an hour after midnight, I decided it was time to go to bed. But not before I ran up to the window and pointed in delight at the lights flashing in our garden that we saw from the hotel earlier in the evening!

Christmas Day I got the family up early to continue playing with all my new toys. I got completely spoiled and I played and played. Because of the late night before, we all had a snooze in the middle of the day. In the afternoon I drove around the car park in my new Hot Wheels Quad. Pretty soon Naomi joined me and the two of us drove around. After a while I decided to show Naomi all my new toys and we were all back at our place chatting and playing!

For Christmas dinner Mommy treated us to a wonderful home cooked meal fit for a king. It was really awesome. The table was beautiful and we had a stunning evening together. Just before starting dinner Dad announced a toast. He pointed to me to take my champagne glass. My response? “But I don’t drink!” Guffaws of laughter around the table. Eventually through the tears of laughter Mom told me my champagne glass had apple juice in it! That was better! We all clinked glasses and tucked in.

On Boxing Day we decided to head out to the bike park where I had a long play and ride around on my bike. It was really really awesome and we had a wonderful time.

On Friday we headed out east to the Bedford Centre to swap out my Mouse Trap toy (one part was missing). Incidentally, when I opened my Mouse Trap toy on Christmas Eve I announced “Now I don’t need to go to Lauren anymore!” as it was there that I played the Mouse Trap. Mom and Granny decided to do some shopping so Dad and I walked around a little and then had frozen yoghurts. We then discovered Galaxy World where I played on the machines and we rode a bumper car. A quick Wimpy meal and we were all ready to go home after a long day.

Saturday we spent most of the day at home and chilling around the garden. Dad went for a swim and tried to convince me to swim, but I wasn’t interested.

We woke up to soft soaking non-stop rain on Sunday. Because of the slippery roads Granny asked Mommy to take her to church. Dad and I opted to go to Yeesh in Woodmead. It was packed to the rafters. A short while later Shelli, Joseph, Naomi and Noa joined us and we played up a storm. Mom and Granny also joined us there and we all visited and played into the afternoon. Eventually the girls and I were getting quite tired and we headed home. At home we relaxed and did very little. Feeling extremely lazy we figured pizza was the perfect way to end a great Christmas week!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Oh, and before I forget to mention it. Again. My first tooth that I got on 15 December 2008 is now loose, perfectly on schedule. I meant to blog about it two weeks ago already, but I felt a little embarrassed at having my teeth start falling out. Eventually Mom and Dad convinced me that it was perfectly normal. For my first set of teeth. Thereafter I was entitled to feel embarrassed, in about forty years’ time!

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 Missy’s kittens under the Christmas tree

Photo 2 Being cute!

Photo 3 Trouble under the tree

Photo 4 And more trouble…..

Photo 5 Checking my blood pressure in Nicoletta’s examination room

Photo 6 Finally managed to get a pic of our frogs

Photo 7 Chasing frogs in the rain

Photo 8 Or tennis balls

Photo 9 Getting wet

Photo 10 Despite the rain, I still managed to pick a flower for Mommy

Photo 11 Pizza time at Papachinos

Photo 12 Mommy giggles while my pizza bakes

Photo 13 My new trick!

Photo 14 Furballs!

Photo 15 The milk……

Photo 16 …cookies I put out for Santa

Photo 17 Ok, this is what I really left out for Santa and his reindeer

Photo 18 Checking for Santa through the keyhole

Photo 19 Playing patiently before going to dinner

Photo 20 Christmas Eve Dinner

Photo 21 Paying the bill

Photo 22 Pretending to be Santa

Photo 23 Oooooooooo, that Xmas sock wasn’t there when we left!

Photo 24 Snow! From the reindeer

Photo 25 Reindeer prints!

Photo 26 I can confirm. Santa has been here.

Photo 27 Jumping for joy!

Photo 28 OOOOOOOO!

Photo 29 Yay! Thomas and Friends. My favourite

Photo 30 Air hockey! Perfect

Photo 31 Thrilled!

Photo 32 More goodies….

Photo 33 Wow. A Thomas that makes steam

Photo 34 Real Mario Kart 7 to race on my track

Photo 35 Excitement

Photo 36 The Xmas stocking that just kept giving!

Photo 37 Amazed at how much is in this stocking

Photo 38 Hot Wheels Quad

Photo 39 Dads all over the world pour over instructions on Christmas

Photo 40 Test ride!

Photo 41 Awesome

Photo 42 Vrooooom

Photo 43 Christmas dinner

Photo 44 Being a boy. Doing some ‘repairs’ on my quad

Photo 45 Ah! I think I found it

Photo 46 Off to fetch Naomi

Photo 47 Riding together

Photo 48 Loving it

Photo 49 Racing

Photo 50 Dinner time

Photo 51 Vampire teeth from my Xmas cracker (complete with red eye)

Photo 52 Swinging at the bike park

Photo 53 Granny making me dizzy

Photo 54 Leisurely drive

Photo 55 Love the wind in my hair

Photo 56 Cruising

Photo 57 Mmmmm. All these road signs.

Photo 58 Some climbing

Photo 59 Loving it

Photo 60 Going down

Photo 61 Big boy high sky

Photo 62 Loving it

Photo 63 Playing with Mommy

Photo 64 Dad and I swinging together

Photo 65 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 66 Sliding

Photo 67 On the see-saw with Dad

Photo 68 And down

Photo 69 Check my tags

Photo 70 Time to bail

Photo 71 I am the dirty laundry!

Photo 72 Just looking

Photo 73 Um. Frozen yoghurt

Photo 74 On a bus

Photo 75 The dog I drew at lunch

Photo 76 Sharing with Dad

Photo 77 Climbing up my hammock….

Photo 78 … right to …..

Photo 79 …. the top!

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Frogs Galore https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10097 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10097#respond Sun, 22 Dec 2013 18:56:44 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10097

Monday was a Public Holiday so we stayed home for the day and just played around the house. In the afternoon Dad and I had a massive water-canon fight around the pool. It was great fun. We giggled and giggled, and eventually, sopping wet from head-to-toe we relented.

During the morning on Tuesday we popped in to Oriental City Rivonia, which is always fun. I discovered a limited edition Batmobile, and after some intense negotiation with Mom and Dad I got it. It’s really awesome.

In the afternoon we went to Joseph’s house for mommy’s tea. Ryan was also there and we had a play. Daddy wasn’t home when we got home in the evening as he was out doing a quick site visit at the one flat.

On Wednesday we went to Eastgate to see the Smurfs Live on Stage. It was really really awesome. We sang and danced and clapped along with the story and the show. Afterward I had a nice long play at Funtumbles and even got to ride the bumper cars. Twice. On my own!

Thursday we hung out at Yeesh in Woodmead where I played up a storm. It was great fun.

On Friday Mom, Dad and I went to see Frozen in 3D. It’s a really sweet movie. In the evening the frog population in the neighbourhood was really active and loud. Dad is really worried that the construction next door will harm them, so he’s making plans to get into the site to relocate the frogs. The frogs now ribbit the whole night and in the day. It’s really amazing. Daddy reckons there must be about 20 of them! Although we see them, and they even come for a swim in our pool, we’ve never managed to take a pic of them!

Saturday was pretty quiet. Mom, Gran and I did some shopping and we chillaxed.

Mom and Granny took me to Montecasino on Sunday. First we visited the Bird Gardens, where I fed the birds and we had look at hundreds of different types of birds. In the middle of the Gardens is a steep walkway that I decided to slide on, on my bum. As I went over the wood panels I shouted ‘Bum Burn!’ as my little bum got hot on the wood. Everyone giggled and giggled.

Afterwards we wandered around Montecasino and I was treated to some audiobooks and a DVD. Being really hot we stayed at Montecasino for much of the afternoon to keep out of the heat.

Its two more sleeps to Christmas Eve so I’m very excited.

‘Til next week!

Love,

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Checking out my Christmas stockings

Photo 2 Testing out a skateboard

Photo 3 I stood up!

Photo 4 Testing out some other merchandise

Photo 5 Swimming with Ryan at Joseph’s house

Photo 6 Awesome fun

Photo 7 In the tree house

Photo 8 Missy feeding her kittens

Photo 9 Boxer Jay-Bee; gloves and a boxing bag from Shelli, Joseph, Naomi and Noa

Photo 10 Waiting for the Smurfs to start

Photo 11 Let the show begin!

Photo 12 Clumsy, Papa Smurf and Smurfette

Photo 13 Dad and I

Photo 14 Awesome show

Photo 15 Singing

Photo 16 Smurfs say goodbye

Photo 17 Air Hockey with Mom

Photo 18 Being a biker like Dad

Photo 19 Let’s do this

Photo 20 And go!

Photo 21 Finding my next ‘victim’

Photo 22 Loving it

Photo 23 Was so keen to go to Yeesh I chose my own (matching) clothes and dressed myself!

Photo 24 Swinging

Photo 25 Builder Jay-Bee

Photo 26 Getting there

Photo 27 And another block

Photo 28 Looking good

Photo 29 Being persistent

Photo 30 Smiles

Photo 31 Directing traffic on the slides

Photo 32 Googly eyes

Photo 33 Checking gravity

Photo 34 Going down

Photo 35 Ending the day with some painting

Photo 36 Daddy fixed and hung his Christmas mobile (got damaged in the move)

Photo 37 Lots of picking caused our ginger-bread house to collapse

Photo 38 Plating meals for Gran, Mom and Dad. #MasterChef

Photo 39 I love cooking

Photo 40 Chatting to the security guard about rescuing the frogs

Photo 41 To do list I wrote for Daddy – Remember to rescue the frogs

Photo 42 Waiting for bird show to start

Photo 43 Where are they?

Photo 44 Having a rest

Photo 45 Chilling

Photo 46 Thinking……

Photo 47 Feeding time

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Through The Wardrobe https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10048 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=10048#respond Sun, 15 Dec 2013 21:02:10 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=10048

First thing Monday morning I had OT with Lauren. It was a good session. Back home I played hard. First I played on my balcony with my Legos. Mom and Granny suddenly heard a massive shriek from me and I started shouting “Emergency! Emergency!” Mom and Granny thought the worst, and both stormed onto the balcony to see what had happened. What had happened was that one, yes only one, Lego had fallen over the side of the balcony and into the neighbour’s garden. Yes, that does constitute an emergency in my world.

Later in the day I made a massive city in the sun room with blocks and characters and I spent the rest of the day and well into the evening playing there. I’ve developed a real knack for playing on my own and using my imagination. I often, in mid play, find my Mom or Dad just sitting and watching me play. It makes me feel very proud.

The big surprise Tuesday morning was that it was St Nikolaus Day, and all around my boots which I’d put out the night before were sweets and goodies. I immediately got to shredding gift wrap off my presents to discover a new Infinity Character, Mike, as well as an extra power disk. I also got a robo-fish which swims around in bowl of water just like a real fish. It was a real treat.

The other big treat for the day was that I was going to work with Daddy, to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which I can now say flawlessly. I’d also been practicing other concepts such as ‘talking business’, ‘doing documents’ and taking orders over the phone. We arrived and Daddy introduced me to everyone and I had a great time working. As it was the Nelson Mandela Memorial Service, Daddy had live TV streaming on his laptop through his Drifta, and then later on we popped up to the canteen where we all watched huge flat screens that broadcast the memorial. It rained throughout the whole day. Daddy said that even mother earth was mourning with tears from heaven. On the way home Daddy bought me a Randal for Infinity, which was agreed should I behave well at his work, which I did.

In the afternoon we chilled around the house and in the evening I couldn’t fall asleep. Reason? I had AC/DC’s Back in Black song playing in my head. Mom and Dad thought it was hilarious. I called it the Papa Smurf song, as it’s played in the movie when Papa Smurf is rescued. Dad didn’t believe that for a long time saying the song is from Iron Man 3. I said yes, and from the Smurfs. Google was eventually called upon and I was proven correct. I have a perfect ear for music and I’m pitch perfect. Mommy tells me it’s from my Granddad Bob who was extremely musical.

On Wednesday Mommy, Granny and I went to the Rivonia Craft market which was absolutely awesome.

Thursday Daddy had a migraine so he stayed home from work. Mom and I chilled around the house and in the afternoon a huge storm erupted. We’re having hectic thunderstorms just about every day at the moment. During the thunderstorm our new washing machine arrived. I ran around in the rain jumping in puddles while the delivery guys were unpacking their truck. I then also ‘helped’ wheel the washing machine into the house and of course I ‘helped’ Dad connect it. While Daddy was under the sink connecting a pipe his phone rang. I decided to answer it. This is what Mom and Dad heard on our side:

“Hello?”

“Yes, we’re busy with the machine.”

“No, I’m doing some documents at the moment.”

“For customers.”

“Are you a customer?”

“Thank you for your order.”

“Good bye.”

Daddy’s request is that whom ever phoned on Thursday at about 17:00 please call back, as the caller ID was unknown. And he apologies if it was a real client. And he also ask to say if it was for money, the cheque is in the mail and you don’t have to phone back!

In the evening Dad and I started building a ginger bread house for Christmas. It was a tradition that Oma did and Dad is now carrying on with me. We had a really awesome time, but ran out of decorating (aka building) materials.

Friday was super exciting for me again, as I was back at work with Daddy. I met some more people and did lots of drawings which we then scanned and emailed to Mommy. Mommy was thrilled. After work (we left early, as it was Daddy’s last day) we popped into McDonalds for lunch (the work canteen wasn’t open) where I had a huge long play with some older kids playing touch. It was so much fun. In the afternoon we went to The Walnut Grove at Sandton City to meet Aneesa, a regular follower of my blog. She too has had many challenges in her life, and at nineteen she has raked up 33 operations! On Sunday she would be flying to Paris for another procedure – we wish her all the best.

On Saturday Dad and I finished my ginger bread house by laying ‘roof tiles’ and ‘plastering the walls’. It was a great deal of fun. In the evening Mom and Dad went out with Shelli and Joseph to the Envy Lounge. They had a really good time because they slept late on Sunday!

Sunday morning I discovered one of my teeth loose. And on closer inspection I realised it’s the first tooth I got, 5 years ago, literally to the day (see here Gum and Roses posted on 14 December 2008)!

Midmorning Sunday we headed off to Kyle and Kayla’s house to celebrate Kayla’s birthday. Her theme was Narnia, and because they live on a huge piece of land, Helen, their mom, set up and entire Narnia paper chase, starting with an actual wardrobe to step through into Narnia. Aslan the Great Lion was on hand to guide us. We entered Tumnus’ Cave and even encountered a Troll and the White Witch. The troll we ‘slayed’ with water balloons, and the White Witch was defeated in the (jumping) Castle with water cannons. It was one of the best and most awesome theme parties I’ve ever been to. Even the parents walked the trails through Narnia with us. Along the way we found lollipops and Christmas crackers and blue stars marked out our route. I, Sir Jarrod, went as a knight and I bravely cleared a path with my sword (I swiped at a hug log in our path a number of times, but I couldn’t get it to budge, so we had to go over it).

The two hour Narnia paper chase ended with a huge water fight. After the White Witch was defeated all the adults and kids started squirting each other too. Even the White Witch returned to join in the fun. We plunged down the slip and slide and giggled and giggled. After lunch I started getting drowsy (it was really hot), and Mommy was suffering from a concussion from a pram that attacked her in the storeroom the day before, so we excused ourselves. I had a nice long snooze in the car on the way home, and once we were home I was full of beans again and ready to put up the Christmas tree. For some reason Mom and Dad didn’t share my enthusiasm! Nevertheless, we spent the rest of the afternoon setting up and decorating our Christmas tree. It looks really pretty.

Well, that’s almost it for this week. Before I go, I’d like to share some info on the week that’s past. As I mentioned, Tuesday was Nelson Mandela’s memorial. It proved quite fitting that 95 000 tweets a minutes were being posted about him, given that he died at the age of 95. Over 100 dignitaries arrived, many of them current presidents and prime ministers as well as past presidents and prime ministers. The dignitaries also included royalty, celebrities, religious leaders and close on 100 000 people that filled the FNB stadium. The 10 days of mourning continued throughout the week, with Nelson Mandela lying in state at the Union Buildings for 3 days from Wednesday to Friday. Today was the burial at Qunu in the Eastern Cape, and once again 100’s of dignitaries and 1000’s of people attended the traditional burial. It’s been a sad week for South Africa, and will continue to be so for at least a few weeks while things settle down.

Lastly our thoughts and prayers are with Linda and our cousins and family in Cape Town. Sadly Wayne passed away during the week after battling Alzheimer’s for more than a decade.

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Attacking Mickey early morning

Photo 2 Concentrating hard with Lauren during OT

Photo 3 Sending cars down a tunnel for OT

Photo 4 The beginnings of my city

Photo 5 Creating the city limits

Photo 6 Town planning

Photo 7 Adding the citizens

Photo 8 Mmmmm, who’s next?

Photo 9 Thrilled

Photo 10 Time to…..

Photo 11 ….fight fires

Photo 12 Sleeping cuddlebunny

Photo 13 This is what St Nikolaus delivered!

Photo 14 I’m Mike

Photo 15 Happiness (note, I already dressed myself and was ready to go to ‘work’ with Dad at 5am)

Photo 16 Talking business

Photo 17 Doing documents

Photo 18 Writing a proposal

Photo 19 At the canteen for a snack

Photo 20 And a quick dash out onto the balcony

Photo 21 Watching the Memorial Service with Dad’s colleagues in the canteen

Photo 22 Back to the grindstone to create some operating models for a bank

Photo 23 Final tweaks

Photo 24 PwC Advisory’s Christmas tree

Photo 25 Oooooooooo, pigeon holes

Photo 26 You got mail!

Photo 27 My button for Christmas

Photo 28 Playing in the rain

Photo 29 ‘Helping’ to deliver the washing machine

Photo 30 All of us now have ICE-AID bracelets for emergencies – you should get them too; ask us how

Photo 31 I want a Christmas tree this big!

Photo 32 Phase 1 ….

Photo 33 …. of our ginger bread house

Photo 34 Dad and I doing the construction of house

Photo 35 Precision craftsman

Photo 36 Sharing a joke

Photo 37 Applying the ‘plaster’

Photo 38 Placing the wall

Photo 39 Chimney and decorations

Photo 40 Done

Photo 41 Back at work

Photo 42 Man

Photo 43 Frog

Photo 44 I finally did prove to Dad there’s a ‘waterfall’ at PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Photo 45 Checking it out

Photo 46 Happiness

Photo 47 Quick snack

Photo 48 Another document

Photo 49 Proof reading

Photo 50 Phase 2 of the ginger bread house

Photo 51 Southern elevation

Photo 52 Western elevation

Photo 53 Sir Jarrod

Photo 54 Off on my Narnia mission

Photo 55 Shielded

Photo 56 The wall

Photo 57 Through the wardrobe I go

Photo 58 Our guide…

Photo 59 At the ready

Photo 60 Off we go into the forest

Photo 61 Clearing a path

Photo 62 Treasures along the way

Photo 63 Kayla forges ahead

Photo 64 More treasure

Photo 65 The rare chocolate treasure fruit tree

Photo 66 Mine!

Photo 67 Goblets of nectar at Tumnus’ Cave

Photo 68 Our first glimpse of the White Witch

Photo 69 The mission continues

Photo 70 Not afraid to go into battle

Photo 71 Keeping an eye on things

Photo 72 Aaaaaa clues

Photo 73 Hunting down the bell

Photo 74 Now where could it be

Photo 75 Found it!

Photo 76 Clue reading

Photo 77 Right, off on our next mission

Photo 78 Re-group

Photo 79 And another clue…..

Photo 80 Bow and arrow time

Photo 81 Retrieving my arrows

Photo 82 Following the blue star clues

Photo 83 Slaying the troll on the bridge

Photo 84 And finally the White Witch in her castle

Photo 85 Shooting her with water cannons

Photo 86 And pretty soon she goes down

Photo 87 We win!

Photo 88 But we kept spraying her. Just in case

Photo 89 And then we drenched her with a bucket

Photo 90 And then we shot her some more…..

Photo 91 Sorted!

Photo 92 All’s forgiven

Photo 93 Slip and slide time

Photo 94 Just to be 100% sure!

Photo 95 Water fight!

Photo 96 Full force!

Photo 97 Giggles

Photo 98 Getting my own back!

Photo 99 Loving it

Photo 100 Hysterical!

Photo 101 Narnia cake

Photo 102 Wishes for Kayla

Photo 103 Cake? Of course!

Photo 104 Start of the Christmas tree

Photo 105 Working with Mom

Photo 106 Progress

Photo 107 Looking good

Photo 108 Voila!

Photo 109 Window decorations

Photo 110 Such hard work makes me wanna eat a house!

Photo 111 Some building and quiet time after a looooooong day

Photo 112 Our tree at night

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Bye Bye Tata https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9933 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9933#respond Sun, 08 Dec 2013 21:15:17 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9933 Monday morning was hugely exciting – it was my final day of school and my “Celebrating Me” school concert. I had a stunning time and I sang my heart out. Afterward Mom and Dad collected my report card and we met Tammy and Granny at the Wimpy in Sandton for my graduation breakfast. As a graduation present Daddy got me a Silver Lightning McQueen character for my Disney Infinity. It’s see-through, so it’s a little confusing at first. Back home I chilled in the study while Daddy worked and then late afternoon he headed out for a meeting.

On Tuesday Mommy took me to Eastgate where there is a Funtumbles, just like the one at the Gateway in Umhlanga. It was awesome. I played and played on the rides, and I even rode the bumper cars on my own. It was such amazing fun. We bought Daddy a bobble-head Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, which he absolutely loves. I got Archie the Scare Pig from Monster’s University. Dad and I played and played with Archie during the evening, making as if he got away and then we caught him. I giggled and giggled.

During the afternoon on Wednesday Shelli, Naomi and tiny little Noa, our neighbours, popped by for a visit. We had a wonderful play, and when Daddy arrived home, the play just continued even longer. We had such a nice play time.

Thursday proved to be a very sad day for South Africa, and I think for the world. I can’t really remember what I did during the day, but it was at 23:45 when Daddy woke Mommy and I up to tell us the news that President Nelson Mandela had passed away at 20:50 that evening. We were both very saddened, and although we went back to sleep, Daddy stayed up until the early hours of the morning watching and reading the news updates.

Friday morning we were all very sombre. Mom and I had to go to Eastgate. Everywhere flags were at half-mast and people drove with their headlights on. Advertising banners everywhere were being updated with wishes and condolences for Mr Nelson Mandela. In the afternoon Daddy had a doctor’s appointment as he had a really sore throat. I decided to go with him, and we really had a fun afternoon together.

In the evening we were invited to Shabbat at our neighbour’s Shelli and Joseph. We were all super thrilled and felt very honoured. Unfortunately I just couldn’t stay awake, so Mom and Dad left me in Granny’s care and went without me. They got home after midnight and on Saturday morning Mom and Dad told me what an amazing evening they had and how interesting all the rituals were.

Mom had to go out for a meeting in the morning so Dad and I stayed home and played, but not before making a fruit smoothie. It was such a lot of fun! Dad’s fluey symptoms were starting to get the better of him, and once Mom arrived home we all had a team snooze for the rest of the afternoon.

Sunday was declared a day of prayer and reflection, and to show our respects we headed off to the Nelson Mandela Square to lay down a flower bouquet and a card that we’d written in for Nelson Mandela. The Square was packed with people and stanchions had been erected to manage the flow of people. Mom, Dad and I went right up to the edge of all the flowers, balloons, candles, drawings, cards, teddy bears and even a boat, where we found a nice little gap for our bouquet. I placed it gently on the ground and we all then shared a moment of silence.

In the afternoon we decided it would be the perfect time to wander through the Rose Garden’s but unfortunately the heavens opened up and it poured with rain. In the evening we popped into the Spur at Morning Glen for dinner. I had a great time playing with the other kids there. At one point though I took too big a jump and landed skew, spraining my ankle. It was really sore, and I howled and howled, but pretty soon I felt ok again. Back home after a hot shower it was off to bed.

Until next week!

Love

Jarrod

Video 1 – My concert Part 1
(Click here)

Video 2 – My concert Part 2
(Click here)

Video 3 – My concert Part 3
(Click here)

Video 4 – Bumper Cars (Click here)

Photo 1 Please don’t forget to vote for my blog by clicking here

Photo 2 The programme for my concert

Photo 3 The art work my class did

Photo 4 Arriving on stage

Photo 5 Hi Mom, Hi Dad!

Photo 6 Quick grin and wave before I start singing

Photo 7 Places everyone….

Photo 8 Clapping

Photo 9 Now what were those lyrics again?

Photo 10 Yay! My certificate!

Photo 11 Need to show Mom and Dad

Photo 12 Proud cuddlebunny

Photo 13 With Teacher Bernadine

Photo 14 And Teacher Diana

Photo 15 (Three) Fattis and (One) Monis hanging out in Dad’s study

Photo 16 Furballs

Photo 17 In Dad’s car boot

Photo 18 Waiting for my turn at Mr Funtumbles

Photo 19 Checking out my car

Photo 20 Strapped and ready to go

Photo 21 And driving. On my own.

Photo 22 Hi Mom

Photo 23 Hoot hoot

Photo 24 Racing

Photo 25 Looking cool in my Ben 10 gown

Photo 26 Kittens with Missy

Photo 27 Me, Sheldon and Archie the Scare Pig

Photo 28 Naomi and I drumming

Photo 29 Building with Naomi

Photo 30 Awesome fun….

Photo 31 Stilts

Photo 32 Bathing with toys

Photo 33 Putting my waterproof camera to good use

Photo 34 Chef Jay-Bee getting fruit ready for a smoothie

Photo 35 And some melon

Photo 36 Keeping the lid on it

Photo 37 Mmmmmmm, its good

Photo 38 Laying a boutique for Nelson Mandela

Photo 39 #67 seconds of silence

Photo 40 Reflecting

Photo 41 Taking pictures for my blog

Photo 42 Goodbye Tata

Photo 43 Solemn….

Photo 44 …followed by a cheeky grin

Photo 45 Photo I took of my Dad

Photo 46 #46664

And here are some of our favourite Nelson Mandela photos over the past few days…..

Photo 47 From The Presidency’s webpages, just after midnight

Photo 48 This went viral on Facebook

Photo 49 Apple.com

Photo 50 The Eiffel Tower in SA colours

Photo 51 Empire State in SA colours

Photo 52 This also went viral on Facebook – a photo from Vilakazi Street, Soweto

 

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(Three) Fattis and (One) Monis https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9879 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9879#respond Sun, 01 Dec 2013 20:33:24 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9879

Missy’s kittens are getting really big and fat. The one is a real moaner so Dad has named them 3 Fattis and 1 Monis, just like the pasta! We all love the name, and slowly we’re getting pretty attached to the kittens, so we can see it’ll be quite hard to give them up for adoption when the time comes. Monday morning was pretty chaotic, as Mom’s car won’t start. We’d realised it hadn’t been used in quite a few days, so I guess it decided to take a break. But pretty soon Mom hooked the booster pack to the special terminals under the hood and fired up the beast. In the evening Mom had a late meeting so Dad and I made dinner for the two of us and Granny.

Sometime on Tuesday I spilt some purple ice-lolly on my bedspread. When Mom came in and spotted it, she asked me what had happened. My immediate answer “Barney had a wee on my bed!” Mom left the room giggling. In the afternoon Dad and I chilled and chatted in the garden. Mom had another late afternoon meeting so Dad, Granny and I made some dinner. I was put in charge of tossing the salad, and it was slow going, so Dad said “Come on Jarrod, put your elbow in it!” And what did I do? Put my elbow in the salad. Dad left the kitchen giggling. I didn’t understand.

Wednesday morning Dad drove me to school and en route he got a call from a colleague in Mauritius needing some insight how to explain an operating model for banking to a client. So Dad (and I) explained it in detail. Each time Daddy mentioned certain key words (like money, model, start, design) I added my own interpretation. It was really fun and I felt I can also build a bank now! Later in the day at school Santa arrived to hand out presents.

Thursday was Dad’s turn to be hectic. He was gone early in the morning for a top-secret-hush-hush meeting with a client. Dad was very excited with the prospect. In the evening he was home a few minutes, waited out the rain storm and then headed off to Randburg to our flat to do some repairs. Speaking of rain storms, it was one of the worst we’ve had in a while – some suburbs had golf ball and even tennis ball sized hail. The hail was extraordinary in some areas.

Friday Daddy was hectic again and left early. I also had an early start, this time with Lauren for early morning OT. It was interesting going so early. The rest of the day was pretty quiet and for a Friday Daddy got home really late.

There was a quite a vibe around the house on Saturday morning, as Mom pulled out her best domestic goddess skills and put me and Dad to work on catering. It was Daddy’s turn to host the guys for poker and Mommy had a reputation to uphold. At around midday Daddy’s friends arrived and I played a few rounds of poker with them. I must admit, that there was more eating and drinking done than poker playing, and it looked like everyone had huge amounts of fun. Mom downloaded the Lego movie for me off iTunes and I spent the afternoon watching Clutch Powers. It was such fun. I fell asleep before Dad’s friends left. Dad then fall asleep next to me in my bed ‘to keep an eye on me’.

Sunday was pretty chilled. The weather was really amazing so I spent some time in the garden. We had a team snooze in the afternoon, and then Mom and I baked and made dinner. We started a fire in the kitchen, but Mom was really quick to deal with it. Dad and I spent some time at the complex Christmas party and meeting the neighbours. In the evening I showered and headed off to bed.

Til next week!

Love,

Jay-Bee

Please vote for my blog by clicking here for the 2013 SA Blog Awards (voting opens at midnight 2 December 2013).

Photo 1 The original Fatti’s and Moni’s

Photo 2 Our Three Fattis and One Monis

Photo 3 Missy checking on her babies

Photo 4 Purple ice-lolly on my bed aka Barney wee!

Photo 5 Helping with dinner

Photo 6 Shopping for ice

Photo 7 Chilling with David and Bruce during a break in poker

Photo 8 Dad keeping an eye on me!

Photo 9 Dad and Buzz Lightyear

Photo 10 I love having my own shower

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Kittens Galore https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9866 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9866#respond Sun, 24 Nov 2013 18:45:07 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9866

On Monday morning I woke up to discover Missy now had four kittens in total. She is a very proud mommy and looks after her kittens really well. On Tuesday morning, as Mommy was about to leave to take me to school, she discovered that I’d fallen fast asleep again after having had breakfast and gotten dressed! I guess I’m going through one of those tired patches in my life. Once I was awake we headed off to school. Sadly as I arrived all my friends started taunting me with a chorus of ‘late again, late again’. I was not impressed. After school I had speech with Nicki which went very nicely.

On Wednesday Daddy took me to school. After school we had music to continue practicing for our year end concert which is just around the corner now. In the afternoon I was left in Granny’s care as Mommy had an appointment to go to. Once Daddy got home, he, Granny and I went to the Spur for dinner. It was a new Spur that I’d not been to before, in Gallo Manor. It has an awesome play area and we had a great deal of fun. In the evening the skies opened and a huge storm ensued. When we woke up Thursday morning and looked out the window, our pool was brown. The sand from the construction site next-door had flooded into our pool. We weren’t impressed. At midday I had OT – Lauren needed to bring my session a day forward. I found Mom and Granny giggling in the reception while I was in my session – they picked up my discussion with Laruen “Oh no, not cereal again! Please don’t say I must eat cereal!”

In the evening we went to the Spur. Again. This time we went to our ‘old’ Spur in Victory Park. There we met Jaco with Kate and Gene, as well as Michelle and Daneel with Emma and Liya (Nina was in Miami and missed all the fun). We all had such fun. The girls and I played like mad things, and somewhere in the evening we dared Dad to have bottomless ribs. He took the dare, and did us proud. We rolled him to the car.

Friday Daddy took me to school again, and in afternoon Mom, Dad and Granny collected me. It was so nice have a troupe of loved ones collect me! Back home in the afternoon Mom, Granny and I played while Dad worked.

Saturday morning Dad and I rolled up our sleeves and started cleaning the pool. It was hard work, but also a lot of fun. By midmorning we had pumped the pool empty and the walls and floor were scrubbed and hosed down of silt. It was then time to refill the pool – I had such fun playing in the deep end of the pool, albeit just a large puddle. Mom and I had a snooze in the afternoon, and once I was awake the pool was full again and I helped Daddy flush the filter and the pipes of any remaining silt. My job was to stop a whirlpool forming at the weir. It was great fun.

Sunday morning I made a picnic for Mom and Dad outside. It was great sitting in the early morning sun chatting and eating. Later in the day we popped into Toys-R-Us Express, next door, as Daddy had decided to buy me another Disney Infinity character and some power discs for working so hard yesterday in cleaning the pool. We had an early lunch and then spent the rest of the day at home where I played and played. Granny arrived back at our place in the late afternoon and there was lots of fun to be had.

In the late afternoon Dad and I chilled on my balcony where I started winding up my gymnastic rings, hanging on, and letting them unwind. Eventually I was so dizzy I walked into things. It was hilarious. Suddenly Daddy shouted “Crab!” as he was looking into the garden from the balcony. And there, true as life, was a crab! I didn’t last long after that – I told Mom I want to lie down and “Think about life” and I promptly fell asleep.

Until next week!

Love

Jarrod

Photo 1 Four kittens in a pile


Photo 2 Wednesday afternoon Dad found me sitting here – he thought I was on a time out. I just wanted to sit in the sun!

Photo 3 Spur dessert with Granny and Daddy

Photo 4 Mom took this photo for me at her meeting because I like big trucks!

Photo 5 Our pool Thursday morning

Photo 6 Having fun at OT

Photo 7 And forwards

Photo 8 Wheeeeee

Photo 9 To be an expert climber I got this climbing kit

Photo 10 Love it!

Photo 11 All of us chilling at the Spur

Photo 12 Dad taking the bottomless rib challenge

Photo 13 Chilling on my hammock

Photo 14 Taking Pooh Bear for a drive

Photo 15 Dad scrubbing the pool

Photo 16 With me helping

Photo 17 Hi Mom

Photo 18 Being camera shy

Photo 19 Peek-a-boo

Photo 20 Trying to splash Mommy

Photo 21 Working hard

Photo 22 Hi!

Photo 23 Believe it or not, there are crabs in Morningside

Photo 24 Washing my bike

Photo 25 Drying

Photo 26 And decorating…..

Photo 27 Done!

Photo 28 BIG art in the sun room

Photo 29 Window art

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A Mini Scare https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9833 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9833#comments Sun, 17 Nov 2013 19:13:07 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9833

On Monday morning I decided that I wanted to be the Hulk and a Masterchef. At the same time! I made some ‘cookies’ before school with Playdoh. The afternoon was mellow and was highlighted with a delivery from my Godparents (Sharon and Marc) in Australia. The delivery was for Mommy, but included were some Kinder Joy chocolates for me. I was thrilled. In the evening Mommy had to go out so Dad made dinner and us boys ate dinner together chatting.

Tuesday I had speech after school which went well. In the late afternoon I built a tent for myself in the spare room and promptly fell asleep and slept through to Wednesday morning! Daddy, Mommy, Granny and I went for a quick lunch together at the Wimpy where I got two characters from the Khumba movie – Khumba and Mama V. I was thrilled. In the evening Daddy had a team dinner. While he was out we had a horrific thunderstorm which meant I didn’t fall asleep. I was still up when Daddy arrived home.

Thursday Daddy took me to school, and on the way he played the Khumba theme tune for me, off YouTube, about five times! One time was interrupted by Dad and I having a long debate about Bluetooth and wifi and how Daddy’s iPhone gets YouTube in the car and then plays it through the car’s speakers. I was pretty amazed. In the late afternoon there was a huge thunderstorm again and it caused Daddy to be late for his meeting – it was the first traffic jam Daddy had experienced since we moved. In the evening I told my folks about ‘money business’ which was our theme at school and how it will be my ‘new profession’ and that ‘it’s gonna be wicked’! Mom and Dad howled with laughter.

Friday I took Khumba and Mama V with to school for show ‘n tell. It went really well. However, there was a big scare afterwards. I started throwing up and my speech was slurred. It felt very scary for me, and Mom was immediately informed. She rushed through to collect me, but by then I was feeling a little better. Doctors were put on call as it was feared I was having another stroke. Fortunately it turned out not to be a stroke. Nevertheless we all got a major fright! Mom still took me to Lauren where I had cranio on my head and it definitely made me feel better. Afterwards we popped into Toys R Us where I chose a Mickey Mouse Club House Megablok toy. Afterwards we popped by Tasha’s to say hello to Daddy – he was meeting some colleagues there. I greeted them and showed everyone my new toy! For dinner the four of us went to the Walnut Grove at Sandton City – it was such fun.

Saturday morning we popped into the Nicolway Bryanston to take some photos of Mommy’s motor show. While Daddy took pics with his camera, I also took pics with Mommy’s iPhone. Daddy even managed to get a huge stepladder from Food Lover’s Market from which to take photos. We promptly made friends with the manager of the store, showed him all our photos and had sushi there for lunch. I ate salmon and caviar. Two of my favourite things. The rest of the day we all just chilled around the house.

Sunday was the Cycle Challenge so we spent the morning at home. At midday we popped into Montecasino for a walk about (and to get out of the extreme 32C heat). Back home in the afternoon we mellowed again, and I decided on another career – expert climber! But I was still going to be a Masterchef and the Hulk. At the same time! After dinner as I was getting ready for bed, Missy started having her kittens. By the time I was off to bed two black kittens had arrived!

Until next week.

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 The ‘cookies’ I made before school

Photo 2 A loerie right outside our window

Photo 3 Having an ice lolly before school

Photo 4 Because Dad was putting on a tie, I felt I had to too

Photo 5 Going to school

Photo 6 Waiting for the elevator

Photo 7 Ooooooo Lindt chocolate display at Sandton City

Photo 8 Riding Santa’s sleigh

Photo 9 This is awesome!!!!

Photo 10 Riding the train

Photo 11 Toot toot

Photo 12 Taking photos of cars

Photo 13 Trying an artistic angle

Photo 14 One of Mommy’s cars on show

And these are the photos I took, all by myself:

 

Photo 15 Mmmmmm sushi

Photo 16 And caviar!

Photo 17 Still not big enough to drive Dad’s car

Photo 18 Being a kitty

Photo 19 The tower I built and using my grapple hook to be an ‘expert climber’

Photo 20 From my balcony, through the trees we spotted this fellow

Photo 21 Some gaming

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A 3D Day https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9803 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9803#respond Sun, 10 Nov 2013 18:18:10 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9803 I figured it would be a 3D day on Monday, so just as Daddy left for work I gave him a pair of 3D glasses that I insisted he take with “In case you have a 3D day!” Mom and Dad thought it was really funny! The rest of the week was pretty quiet with nothing major happening. Tuesday I had speech with Nicki which went well. We had music on Wednesday where we practiced for our year end concert. On Friday I chose my own clothes and dressed myself all by myself. I even brushed my teeth and put on my own shoes. Mon and Dad were thrilled. Midday I went to see Lauren for OT and afterward Mom, Granny and I went to the Oriental City Rivonia where I got a bunch of toys.

Dad arrived home early so he helped with assembling my new track – it was a blast. Afterwards we chilled in the garden enjoying the afternoon rays. In the evening Mom, Dad, Granny and I went to dinner at Pane E Vino; it was a great deal of fun. I mixed up my own pizza dough which was baked into a non-descript something-or-other! I waited at the pizza oven for ‘it’ to bake, and was thrilled when it was done. I didn’t eat it though! Instead I had chips and calamari.

Saturday was Joseph’s pirate birthday party. It was a blast – there was a pirate jumping castle and lots of game. We stayed ’til dusk but which time I was exhausted from playing. Sunday morning Mom and Dad registered to vote in our new district, as we have moved since our last elections. It was pretty quick and easy. Afterward was another pirate birthday party, this time for Mathew. It had a slip and slide with foam in it. Ryan and I played in the mud with a grader. We got filthy dirty and we left just after midday as the thunderstorms started rolling in.

This time I feel asleep in the car and snoozed for the afternoon while it rained.

‘Til next week,

Love

Jay-Bee

Video 1 My race car track! (Click here)

Photo 1 Tending to Opa’s walnut tree that we brought with from the old house

Photo 2 I love muffins

Photo 3 Heading out

Photo 4 Caged Minion

Photo 5 Our pool. At night!

Photo 6 Early morning climbing on my balcony

Photo 7 Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Photo 8 Piracy and mutiny

Photo 9 Hanging about

Photo 10 I love Joseph’s tree house

Photo 11 Covered in chocolate and mud – a good day

Photo 12 Ice lollies for a HOT day

 

 

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‘Little’ Home Theatre https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9789 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9789#respond Sun, 03 Nov 2013 17:40:23 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9789

Monday I was still on mid-term break, so no school! Granny came by for the morning and helped Mommy with some work.

It was back to school on Tuesday morning, but not before I wrote Daddy a letter, actually an ultimatum, that I’m not going back to my current school because there is a bully there. Fortunately I won’t be there much longer. I had speech after school which went very well. At home a nice surprise was awaiting me. Granny had been really industrious during the morning, and converted the top bunk of my bed into a home theatre. I was thrilled. I can watch TV and videos there, as well as play my games. And all around are my fluffy toys to keep me company.

Dad was hardly through the door and I dragged him upstairs to my room to show him my new setup. He loved it too! He said that he and Mom lived in a double storey and I’m in a triple storey. So awesome. A little later in the day I asked Dad to swing me on my balcony. After a while I demanded a story, so he told me the story about Dusty in Planes. I listened intently as he told the story and once he was finished I announced “Dad, you forgot a few pages – what about Franz, the German airplane that changes into a car!” Dad was giggling at the ‘forgot a few pages’!

Later in the evening after I excused myself from the dinner table, and took our plates to the kitchen (it’s what I do!), I sang ‘No sleep to Brooklyn’ – Mom and Dad had a real chuckle at that too; it’s from a Beastie Boys song that Daddy plays to me sometimes!

Wednesday Daddy decided to take me to school. I was very chatty, and when Dad opened the boot of his car to get my bag out I commented on everything in his boot – the PwC CDs, the PwC bound packs, and to finish off I said to Dad “Enjoy your lunch at PricewaterhouseCoopers today!” I love the name of my Daddy’s work.

After school I had music, which I enjoyed as always. At home I decided to bake a cake. I made a round cake and iced it with vanilla and decorated it with Hershey kisses. It was a real hit for tea in the evening.

Thursday after school Mom and I played lots of games, and Daddy surprised us be coming home earlier than expected. He messaged us to say he had a late meeting, which ended up not happening. I was so happy he was home.

Friday Daddy was looking ultra-smart for work. He had his nicest suit on and the tie I bought him for his birthday. I asked him why he was dressed so nicely, so he told me he had a presentation to make to a client. I didn’t understand any of this and when I quizzed Daddy a little more he told me it was like my ‘show and tell’. “Ooooohhh” I said “Is your theme also puppets this week? You can borrow my Puss in Boots hand puppet for your show and tell!” Daddy just grinned and gave me a huge hug. He then showed me the ‘pack’ he was presenting – I didn’t think it was as cool as a puppet, but that’s adults for you. Also, I asked if I could present at his ‘show and tell’ – somehow Daddy wasn’t too keen on that.

Mommy collected me early and took me to OT with Lauren. Afterward it was my mandatory Friday visit to McDonalds for a nice long play. Daddy came home a little earlier, looking very excited but tired. Apparently his ‘show and tell’ went very well – ‘the client bought it’ he said. I’m so confused, no one buys my things from show and tell.

We all decided to go to movies on Saturday morning to see Khumba, a 3D South African movie. To get ready I decided I’d shower myself; since I have my own full en suite bathroom now I might as well make use of it. I heard Mom and Dad just outside the bathroom giggling as I was singing and soaping myself down, exactly like Dad does! I even chose my own (matching) clothes and dressed myself!

At the movies, I salted and got my own straws for my cold drink – I’m becoming super independent! The movie was really awesome and I giggled in some parts and other parts I was a little frightened. Afterwards we shopped using my pocket money – an Iron Man 3 car that is really super-dee-duper. Granny arrived in the afternoon and we all had a little snooze.

In the evening we popped out to our new little local – Pane E Vino. Mom and Dad glow with pride when they take me to a restaurant, especially in the evenings, as I’m so well behaved. I order from the waiter myself, and I thank him each time he does something for me. I don’t run off from the table and I try participate in the discussion. When this gets too difficult I admit my attention gets drawn to playing on my Nintendo or iPad.

Sunday morning we headed out for a play which was really nice, but halfway through the day I just had an emotional meltdown – I’m not sure what triggered it. Mom, Dad and Granny could do nothing to console me. Eventually Daddy suggested a visit to Toy-R-Us Express where he spoilt me with a new Infinity character and some power discs. It made me feel a little better, and by the time we were home and Daddy had loaded my new characters and their power ups I was calming down. Mom and Granny went for a snooze, and Dad and I played in the Infinity worlds – I’m honestly sometimes not sure if he’s buying them for me or for himself!

Dad and I spent the afternoon watering the garden and tending to the pool. We then proceeded to fix the washing machine – it turned out it had gulped and choked on a sock which we extracted. In the afternoon Mom and I made Cars cupcakes. I decided to add blueberries and banana to the mix – Mom wasn’t too convinced it would be a good idea, but once they were baked and ready to eat they were divine!

Well, that’s it for this week. We’re well into summer now and the days are getting hotter and hotter, which we’re loving!

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 My ultimatum. The next day I remembered every character as I had explained it the day I wrote it!

Photo 2 My home theatre on the top floor of my bunk bed (check my Angry Birds perching)

Photo 3 Making a cake

Photo 4 Mixing the icing

Photo 5 Being Jay-Bee

Photo 6 At the movies to watch Khumba 3D

Photo 7 “Upstairs”

Photo 8 Watching ‘Toy Story’

Photo 9 Working

Photo 10 Taking a Christmas present for a test drive (please take note Santa)

Photo 11 Mmmmm, no reverse

Photo 12 I’ll take two!

Photo 13 Message to Dad – We need 3D TV at home!

 

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Pearly Whites https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9774 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9774#comments Sun, 27 Oct 2013 19:46:56 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9774

Monday was routine, apart from the continuous soft rain. Tuesday I had speech therapy and then in the afternoon I had an appointment with my neurologist, Tiziana. It was a good appointment, and after the session, as is custom I was offered a sweet for being so good. I told Tiziana that I’m really not into sweets – she was thrilled and gave me a Monsters University book instead. I was thrilled.

By Wednesday the rain had subsided, apart from the odd thunderstorm at night. I had music after school, and I was really missing my Daddy. Although he was around, he was leaving really early in the morning, and in the evening he’d start working as he got home. He’s been on training the whole week. I asked how does he fit into the little tables and chairs at the Business School! He and Mom had a good chuckle about that – me, I still don’t understand why he’s still going to school and how he fits under those little tables we have in our classrooms.

Thursday Mom and Dad took me to school at Fastracks. They were very nervous, as they were going to my new school to see if I’d meet the admission requirements. The good news is that I’m in! I’m so thrilled. It’s a school of gifted children while giving special attention to those areas that need focus. It’s the perfect combination for me, as some stuff I’m doing at an 8 year old level, whilst other things I’m struggling with a little. The class will only have 5 learners in it, and three teachers, so it will be really awesome for learning!

Friday morning I was on midterm break, so no school. Granny came round and together we all went for a walk up to the Morningside Medi Clinic. Granny and I carried Darth Vader swords and the moment I got tired she’d chase me with the sword. I giggled and giggled as she slapped my bum with the sword. Lauren had taken ill, so I didn’t have OT.

In the afternoon we went to the River Café to celebrate Ryan’s birthday from a few weeks ago. It was really awesome. Daddy also came and joined the fun. I played in the foaming slip and slide, and bounced around on the jumping castle. It was almost dark by the time we left.

Saturday morning was traumatic – I had to go into surgery to have my teeth fixed. Because I was on a ventilator for so long, and the heavy drugs, my teeth are basically rotten before they even popped out. So it was time to put new veneers on, and sort out a few holes that were hurting me.

Mom and Dad are real pros at the process already. Dad left about an hour before us, did the paper work and checked me into the ward. When I arrived there was already a bed waiting for me and my wait was not a long one. I shared a ward with my little friend Christian who also needed to have his teeth done, for the same reasons. It was nice seeing him again.

The anaesthetist was awesome, but when it came to going into theatre I did put up a really good fight to not be gassed. Dad rode in the bed with me to theatre. Mom, being a pro at this (having done it 17 times already), is allowed to go into theatre with me, wearing hospital garb, to hold and soothe me.

I was in surgery for about an hour, during which time Mom and Dad meet and chatted with all the doctors that were there that morning, including a long chat with Nicolletta and Enrico. My celebrity status at the hospital hasn’t diminished, and everyone that treated and cared for me over the years wants to hear how I’m doing, and of course see me.

Coming out of theatre was a nightmare. I was totally confused and screamed and screamed. Needless to say Mom quickly donned surgery garb and was at my side soothing me – too much crying can actually kill me, from the intracranial pressure screaming creates. Eventually I was settled and Mom rode with me in the bed to my ward. I slept for a short while, had some food (I was starving because I wasn’t allowed to eat), and pretty soon Dad checked us out.

The interesting news is that I have four molars already coming out, so my adult teeth are well on their way. My baby teeth have been veneered and I have a pearly white smile again!

I drove home with Mommy, while Dad headed to the toy shop where he got me the Disney Infinity starter set for my Nintendo. I was thrilled when he got home and we set it up together. I played with the different characters for the rest of the day, testing them in the different worlds with different powers. It is really an awesome game, known as a sandbox platform, as it is so versatile. It’s called Infinity as the possibilities are infinite.

Saturday night we had another thunderstorm, but by Sunday it was really hot. We went out for some breakfast and I spent my pocket money on another Infinity character – this time Syndrome. Back home we had a snooze and then Granny arrived. I spent the afternoon playing around the pool and on my balcony, building a huge Thomas track.

Well, that’s it for this week!

Love,

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 My school photo

Photo 2 Walking home

Photo 3 Hide and go seek

Photo 4 Giggles

Photo 5 The Naughties

Photo 6 Sandcastles

Photo 7 Foam party!

Photo 8 Loving it

Photo 9 Escaped foam

Photo 10 Mud! Yay!

Photo 11 Going in

Photo 12 No need to bath tonight

Photo 13 Flying Lego car around in my hospital ward

Photo 14 Being brave

Photo 15 I now have a big boy bed with a remote control!

Photo 16 Hold my mouth to stop my being gassed

Photo 17 Acting brave, but feeling really scared

Photo 18 Out of theatre, with sticky tape residue all over my face

Photo 19 Time to put my new teeth to the test

Photo 20 Getting ready!

Photo 21 Chocolate smile

Photo 22 Here goes! Chocolate croissant with extra Belgian chocolate poured on top!

Photo 23 Nice!

Photo 24 Time to swim

Photo 25 Going in

Photo 26 Practicing for Show And Tell with my Infinity characters

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Trialling https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9746 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9746#respond Sun, 20 Oct 2013 18:08:58 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9746

Monday morning I was woken up just as the sun was coming up, which is very early for me! Mom, Dad and Granny were already dressed, and then it dawned on me that we were still at Sun City. After I was dressed (and more awake) we left our chalet. I was very sad, but also understood that it was time to go home.

We reached Jo’burg in peak traffic and the last few kilometres took really long. Back home Mom and Dad changed into work clothes and headed to their respective meetings and activities. I stayed home with Granny, as I was feeling a little ill.

It was a very exciting day on Tuesday. Mom and Dad were trialling a new school for me. I spent the rest of the week there and it was really nice. It was great meeting new people and making new friends and doing some new activities. At the same time though I really missed my friends back at Fastrack Kids; so I’m really in a dilemma. Also, Mom and Dad have some other options up their sleeves (I’ve heard them planning and talking) so it’s still not confirmed where I’ll be next year. So many challenges, and options!

Being at a new school was pretty taxing on me – we worked really hard there and we had to leave earlier in the morning, so most afternoons during the week I was too exhausted to do anything hectic, so the rest of my week was pretty subdued.

Saturday morning Dad and I did a tenant exit inspection in Randburg. On the way back Dad and I popped in at Morningside Shopping Centre where we had frozen yoghurts and got a takeaway for Mom.

At midday we went to Papachinos for Tweetup with Dad’s social media friends. It was really cool to see the gang again and play with some friends I don’t get to see too often. All too soon it was time to go home again. Back home we endured a horrific thunderstorm, complete with hail. Needless to say the hail had hardly stopped and I was playing with the hail stones in the garden.

A neighbour popped by afterward for a play date and we can an awesome time playing with my Legos and climbing on my Guippeto climbing blocks. In the evening we all vegged and watched TV.

During the night it started raining again – nice soft soaking rain – and it has basically not stopped since. The forecast is rain for the rest of the week. Sunday morning Dad and I headed back to Randburg to meet with a tenant and hand over keys and do an entry inspection. On the way home I decided we all needed hot cakes from McDonalds (and of course a Smurf toy for me).

Back home we munched through our takeaways. Afterward Dad and I let Mom have some quiet time while we played Wii tennis, bowling and surfing. My backhand in tennis is coming along beautifully and Dad and I are quite a fearsome twosome now. In bowling I got my first strike, so I was thrilled. Surfing, which needs my whole body on the balance board as a controller is still a bit of an issue for me, but I guess I can be forgiven for that.

Grocery shopping followed in the afternoon, and as always I had a whale of a time filling the trolley with all sorts of very necessary items. Interestingly enough, Mom and Dad don’t share my view of those items being ‘necessary’. The Barney Cupcake mix did survive until checkout, so back home Mom and I baked. Daddy has a course tomorrow, so we lost him for a few hours while he did the pre-reading and online assessments. It’s so funny seeing Daddy ‘going to school’!

Well that’s all for this week.

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 Saying goodbye to our Sun City chalet

Photo 2 School trial reception

Photo 3 Mom packs the best lunches

Photo 4 One of my new little friends

Photo 5 My artwork story of Me, Mom and Dad

Photo 6 Yum! Frozen yoghurt


Photo 7 Getting ready to paint a Hungry Caterpillar

Photo 8 Some help from Mom

Photo 9 Helping to shop

Photo 10 Driving the trolley

Photo 11 Barney cupcake time

Photo 12 Tastes goooooood

Photo 13 Washing up after baking

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Speed Boat https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9731 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9731#respond Sun, 13 Oct 2013 19:00:14 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9731 On Monday after school Mommy and I popped in at a potential school to see if it would be suitable for me. As we left the skies opened up and we finally had our first summer thunderstorm. At home I screamed in delight dodging the rain running to our apartment.
Dad was already waiting for us, and with him was a tutor that came for an interview and to meet with me – it was one of the options we’re looking into. I really liked her and immediately showed her all my toys and my bedroom. After the tutor left, Mom and I splashed about in a huge puddle in the car park.
Tuesday I had speech with Nicky, and it went really well.
By Wednesday I was feeling a little unwell, so I spent Wednesday and Thursday at home recouping.
Friday morning I was well enough to go back to school, sporting my bandana for Bandana Day sponsored by the Sunflower Fund in support of cancer. Even Daddy wore a bandana, but as a pocket-chief with his suit. He looked really nice.
When Mommy collected me from school she announced that we’d decided to go to Sun City for the weekend. I screamed in delight. Lauren had gone to a wedding so there was no OT. It was really fortuitous as Mom and I headed home to start packing. Granny arrived as well and again I screamed in delight. Next I FaceTimed Daddy at work and told him to come home soon so that we could leave for our mini holiday.
Not long after we were on the road and just before it got dark we arrived.
This time we had one of the new two bedroom units in front of the Honeymoon Grove and putt-putt course. It was awesome, and the Vacation Club Pool was a stone’s throw away. We walked around the complex and I ended up having a great swim by myself in the pool after dark. I was wrapped in Mom’s shirt to keep warm on the short trip home and then into a warm bath.
Saturday we spent the morning at Valley of the Waves where I swam and played. Afterward some gaming ensued and then back to the chalet to chill for the afternoon. We spent the evening back at the Entertainment Centre to escape the 38C heat!
We headed off to The Palm Terrace at the Cabanas for breakfast on Sunday morning. Chef Andrew had arranged a table for us and we had a delightful breakfast. Afterwards we went down to the lake where I played on the jungle gym, ran around in the underground tunnels and swung on the swing.
Daddy then enquired about the boating and pretty soon Mom, Dad and I were in life jackets ready to hop into a speed boat, but not before Daddy had a quick lesson in piloting the craft. Daddy docked expertly to collect Mommy and I and off we get. Pretty soon Daddy was confident enough to take the speed craft to its full potential. We bounced over the wakes and we giggled in delight. It was awesome.
After the thrilling ride we decided to head back to the chalet to cool off as the temperatures were again heading toward 40C.
Back at the chalet we played ball games, snakes and ladders and I squirted water at the monkeys that were lurking about looking for tidbits. It was hilarious – the monkeys would peak in the windows and Daddy and I would storm at them roaring to scare them off – they’re a real nuisance and mustn’t be fed, so we were keeping them at bay.
The afternoon was spent lazing about at the Vacation Club Pool where we swam and ate pizzas. After the sun had set we headed back to the chalet where I promptly fell asleep.
‘Til next week.
Love,
Jay-Bee

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Porcelain Anniversary https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9672 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9672#respond Sun, 06 Oct 2013 18:44:15 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9672

Monday morning I woke up to congratulate Mommy and Daddy on being married for 18 years. I gave them cards and we had a little celebration. The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I did my usual activities at school and had Be Sharp Beetles on Wednesday. Our theme this week as Lights, Camera, Action. It was very apt as Daddy had gotten me the new Thomas and Friends video – King of the Rails. I loved it and have watched it every day.

On Friday both Mom and Dad arrived at school to collect me. It had been an exciting day as it was photo day. Dad had gelled my hair in the morning and Mommy put make-up on the bruise on my forehead where I’d been squashed by some of the kids at school. As fate would have it, I also had a cut on my cheek – it seems I always look like I’ve been through the wars when its photo day.

Mom and Dad both came with to Lauren for my OT, which was really nice. In the afternoon Granny, Mommy and I gardened and planted seeds and flowers.

Saturday Daddy and I headed to Randburg to meet with some potential tenants – I always enjoy these meetings to see how my investments are doing! Afterward we drove past our old house for a quick look. It looked a little sadder than when we’d left it. We then met up with Mommy at Sandton City for lunch. Back home we played in the afternoon.

Sunday Daddy and I went to Builder’s Warehouse for DIY stuff. It was really fun. I grabbed a measuring tape and measured everything I could. At home we lunched, DIYed and then I got muddy in the garden before going for a long siesta.

Until next week!

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Cooking

Photo 2 Checking the recipe

Photo 3 I ran through the sprinkler before OT at Lauren’s place!

Photo 4 Looking at myself

Photo 5 Two chairs works better than one

Photo 6 Off to my OT session

Photo 7 Mickey and Missy chilling out in guest room

Photo 8 Measuring stuff at Builder’s Warehouse

Photo 9 Muddy play

Photo 10 Making faces

Photo 11 Being silly

Photo 12 Grrrrrr

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Braai Day 2013 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9658 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9658#respond Sun, 29 Sep 2013 17:57:25 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9658

Monday started as a quiet day – it was wedged snuggly between a weekend and the public holiday on Tuesday. Unfortunately for Mommy some arrangements with her exhibitors went awry and she ended up having to go to work, despite technically being on leave. Daddy worked at home, and in the afternoon, when he had a meeting, it was arranged at Papachino’s so that he and his colleague could chat while I played and made myself pizza. In the afternoon Daddy was supposed to be on a training programme from the UK, but a combination of poorly communicated times, because of time zones, and incorrect AV links caused him to miss it. In the evening, when Daddy bathed me, he introduced me to some of history’s best guitar riffs. While I sat in the bath he bought popular riffs from iTunes like AC/DC, Deep Purple, Cream, etc! It was really cool.

Tuesday, being Heritage Day, Mom, Dad and I decided it was a perfect day to go see the Smurfs 2 in 3D. Granny joined us for the show. We all really loved it, and I’ve tasked Daddy with finding the soundtrack from the movie as there were some really nice songs in the movie. Directly afterward we headed off to Paul, Claudi and Ryan’s place for a braai, as Heritage Day is fast becoming known as Braai Day. It was an awesome braai and we had a wonderful afternoon.

Daddy took me to school on Wednesday morning. After school I had Be Sharp Beetles which as always I really enjoy. In the afternoon I needed to go to the toy store and then for some lunch. We told Daddy and he met us at Morningside Shopping Centre. I got a really cool Turbo zip line which I love. In the afternoon Daddy and I built it and played with it for the rest of the day. Daddy had a team dinner in the evening so we bid him a safe evening. Mom and I chilled at home, she took care of my cares and off to bed I went.

On Thursday morning Mom, Dad and I went to see a new school for me, called Junior College. I really liked it, and they are happy to take me right away. So Mom, Dad and I need to do some deciding and thinking about this. Friday I had OT with Lauren (but not before we dropped off Daddy’s lunch at his work, as he’d forgotten it at home). Daddy didn’t recognise me in the car, as I was wearing a Turbo mask. I giggled like mad when I took it off and said, “Daddy, it’s me, Jarrod!”

Granny stayed over with us for the weekend starting on Friday night. I slept with Granny in her room, which was really fun.

Saturday morning Granny and Mommy headed off in different directions to do what they’d planned. Dad and I decided we’d go to Color Café in Dunkeld and paint a little. Unfortunately they were closed for a private function. Instead we then popped into Hyde Park where Daddy and I looked at the shops and had lunch at JB Rivers. In the afternoon Daddy went to poker and Mommy, Granny and I played up a storm. The sad news of Saturday afternoon was that Ryan’s birthday party for the next day was cancelled as he was very sick. I was very sad for him, that his party was cancelled, on his birthday, but I also know that being sick and trying to party don’t go well together.

Sunday morning Granny treated Mom and Dad, and me by default, to breakfast in lieu of their 18th wedding anniversary which is tomorrow. It was a really nice breakfast. Toy shopping at Toy Zone in Benmore was also a mandatory activity. On the way home we swung by Ryan’s place to drop off his birthday present, but they didn’t hear us at the gate so Daddy put the gifts through their gate. The afternoon was spent lounging around the house playing. Once again it threatened to rain, but once again, like just about every day this week, there wasn’t any rain.

Til next week!

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 Doing push-ups in the bath

Photo 2 Playing with my Turbo zip line

Photo 3 Turbo and Skidmark racing

Photo 4 Dishing up ice-cream for Granny

Photo 5 Lunch with Dad

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Stress, Tears, Challenges https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9651 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9651#respond Sun, 22 Sep 2013 18:25:32 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9651

I am terrified of school or leaving Mom or being alone with people I don’t really know.

I can’t really decide which it is, but each day I go reluctantly begging my Mother, crying with tears in eyes not to take me to school. I’ve even offered to go to her work and work hard there. Working hard is a value my parents have instilled in me. It often takes Mom a good 30 minutes to extract herself from my classroom while trying to pacify me and have all the other children hug her and tell her things.

I’ve noticed that Mom often leaves in tears and/or feels great frustration at having to get to work and do the emotional stuff with me. She knows I know and she knows I feel for her. What can be done?

I struggle intellectually, although I can do most things others do, I struggle to concentrate and my extraordinary willpower puts me in a difficult position. I have the standard appearance of ADD, however due to my extraordinary brain, I cannot be diagnosed with that, because a lot of the areas in my brain which would be responsible for that piece of information, don’t really exist. I cannot take meds as they raise blood pressure and that would be fatal for me. I asked Mom today if she remembered when I was lying in the bed alone? She asked me when and how little I was, I said I couldn’t remember expect how scared I was of being alone in that place (ICU at hospital). Mom’s heart broke again; I think I might have heard it crash into a million pieces.

Mom is worried at the moment that I am not up to speed. So Monday Mom and I played with numbers; we built a jungle gym downstairs and jumped from number to number. It was good fun. Then Mom had an idea – asking me what 1 + 1 was, I answered 2. She asked a few more simple questions and I answered correctly. She then asked the following: If a = 1 and b = 2 what is c=? Of course its 3 I said! Initially when Mom fell onto the couch, I did think it might be the fact that her head was lacerated by the ladder or maybe the fact that she got a log in her face playing with my hammock and me, but it was shock that I knew these things.

I spent the rest of the day building car roads with Mom and then when Mom went to water the garden, I decided I needed to dig a hole in the middle of the garden to catch the Backsoon from the Pooh Bear story. Needless to say my Mom thought it was cute enough to let me be. Dad is not a fan of the hole in our lawn. After a well deserved bath, I headed off to lend Dad support for the first owners meeting he attended (Special General Meeting to approve the rules). It was held in the garage as no one would give up their house. Anyway Dad managed to get a few points across, and it seems he has support from many of the other units. He met a couple who have a baby who is struggling in hospital at Sunninghill, and Dad offered Mom’s support to them.

Wednesday brought with it a teacher/parent meeting. The teachers essentially don’t know what I know. This is mildly confusing as I thought they were supposed to know. Some suggestions have been made and we are beginning to implement them. Wednesday was quiet and reserved with my parents spending a lot of time just talking to me asking me what school was like. They reverted to my OT, Doc Nicoletta and a number of other specialists, trying to find out what the right things are to do. A bit of a quandary as to my next steps about schooling, but nothing life threatening; that being said, we went to Unitas to get the digital angios we lost in the move for Paris and Dr Rodesch. I freaked out as we reached the hospital, screaming “I can’t do this, I can’t do this!” Mom covered me with a blanket, promised we were just collecting a disk. Mom could feel my heart racing I was so terrified so she got me a book and juice to help and told me we wouldn’t stop till we got to the office then a quick stop and all the way back to the car. Mom spoke to me all the way, and checked if I was ok. It was incredibly stressful as I knew this was the place where I’d had eight brain surgeries, almost died a couple of times, underwent chemical assaults on my body, and trauma to my soul and heart. I slept in the car, something I don’t really don’t do often anymore.

This being said, we still have to try and close the fistula in my brain and this is also a stressful thing for the folks. Where to start and what to do next is freaking my Mother out.

Wednesday evening there was massive excitement in the house (for Dad) as iOS7 was available for installation on our Apple devices. At 20:00:05 (not sure why he delayed for 5 seconds) he started the installation process on his iPhone and iPad. He seemed thrilled with the results. My iPad Mini followed and then Mom’s iPhone and iPad. Now we’re all sevened!

Mom debated a Thursday and Friday school day for me; I was always for the NO school thing. I went Thursday but the extraction of my Mom took about 45 mins, including carpet time and I almost broke when she arrived to fetch me. We missed the park play because Mom didn’t read her Whatsup message. OOOOOPS.

Dad was already home when we arrived back from OT. He and I played with some of my toys.

On Saturday we had to do the whole errand thing to the Post Office at The Wedge. Afterward we got our month’s supply of kitty food and treats for Mickey and Missy – I love pet stores. By then hunger had set in and we popped into Pane e Vino for lunch. Dad had has standard order – pizza, Mom chose capparcio and I had Garfield’s favourite – lasagne. I tried some of Mom’s capparcio, and fell in love with it. It seems that as a five year old I have a very refined palate. The things I really like are smoked salmon, sashimi sushi, XXXXXXXX, and now capparcio!

Afterward we popped into the new Oriental Centre in Rivonia. It was cool checking out all the gadgets and stuff. Granny joined us there, and then came home with us. What a bonus! She stayed for the afternoon while the my old folk snoozed. Granny and I played soccer in the garden and read stories. In the evening we watched The Incredibles – something I’ve got really interested in since Disney’s launch of Infinity. Apparently it occupies a very prominent spot on my Christmas list. Not sure if me or Dad are more excited!

Sunday Dad and I went to Yeesh in Woodmead for the morning. As we arrived there was a Minnie Mouse wandering around the parking lot! So cool. Inside it was really full, but Dad secured a table for us. I spent the next three hours, yes three hours, playing within only taking a quick break to shovel some food down, chocolate milkshake, and a wee break. I also painted a snail, whom I called Turbo, and made his shell blue, just like Turbo from Dreamworks. I proceeded to tell anyone who would listen that there was nitrous oxide (NOS) in his blood, hence the blue shell.

Back home Dad and I played Wii until our eyes were square. First we played tennis, then bowling. Next I beat a few guys up in boxing and then we ended the play with some relaxing golf. I didn’t finish the ninth hole as my ball kept going in the ocean – eventually the Wii told me to quit!

Well that’s it for another interesting week. Tomorrow I’m not going to school, as Tuesday is a Public Holiday, so it’s a nice loooong weekend.

Hugs,

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Watering the hole where I believe the Backsoon to be

Photo 2 Excellent mud

Photo 3 Some art from my fellow learners and I (the sun, comets and stars and planets as this was last week’s topic)

Photo 4 The planets

Photo 5 Picnic before school

Photo 6 My friends from the Hundred Acre Wood

Photo 7 And playing doctor with Tigger

Photo 8 Hi!

Photo 9 I made breakfast for Dad

Photo 10 Table laid for Dad’s breakfast, all by myself

Photo 11 Doing a Garfield with lasagne

Photo 12 Ready, set, go!

Photo 13 Soccer with Granny

Photo 14 Protecting the goals

Photo 15 Busy at Yeesh


Photo 16 Rope climbing

Photo 17 Escape artiste Jay-Bee

Photo 18 This feels like bootcamp

Photo 19 Going strong. Don’t need help

Photo 20 Down the other side

Photo 21 Monkey rings

Photo 22 Strong bunny!

Photo 23 Balancing

Photo 24 The mandatory tower building when at Yeesh

Photo 25 Not my best engineering feat

Photo 26 Going down….

Photo 27 Painting Turbo

Photo 28 Silence. Artist at work

Photo 29 Looking good

Photo 30 Paint mixing time

Photo 31 Concentration

Photo 32 I’m sure the Sistine Chapel would have been quicker to paint with a hairdryer

Photo 33 Telling Mom about Turbo

Photo 34 Chatting

Photo 35 Happiness

Photo 36 Giggles

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An Average Week https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9605 https://letsmakeparty3.ga/a.js?/?p=9605#respond Sun, 15 Sep 2013 17:44:39 +0000 http://planetlederer.com/cuddlebunny/?p=9605 It’s been a really average week. Monday night Mommy popped out for a little while so it was just the boys at home.

Tuesday Mommy was really hectic so I was collected a little late from school. She said I looked really sad waiting for her – I had my backpack on ready to go. Wednesday Mommy tried to take me to the petting zoo, but when we got there I put up a scene so we came home again – sometimes I’m just not up to socialising.

On Thursday and Friday before school Daddy played bat and ball with me; I’d stand on the Juliette balcony with Daddy downstairs in the entrance hall. We’d then fit the ball to each other, with us giggling. When it was time to leave for school I’d put up quite a stick because we were having such fun.

Friday I didn’t see Lauren as she had taken ill, so I was at school for a full day. We learnt about planets and the solar system this week, so we made comets out of biscuits and sugar. In the evening we had pizzas and vegged after a long week.

On Saturday morning we shipped Daddy off for some pampering as a birthday treat while Mom and I shopped at Sandton City. In the afternoon we all passed out exhausted. The evening seemed promising with some thunderstorms but no rain arrived.

Sunday was Daddy’s birthday so Mommy and I showered him with gifts. We then had breakfast at Walnut Grove where I made cupcakes (and Mommy spied on her exhibitors!). Another team snooze followed and then in the afternoon Dad and I pumped the pool half empty so that we could take the pool lamp out and replace it. As the day drew to a close, Daddy set up a telescope in the garden for us to look at the stars.

Love,

Jarrod

Video 1 Mr Incredible (Bob Parr) in my bedroom

Photo 1 A pen I made for my cars

Photo 2 Making cup cakes

Photo 3 Adding Hundreds and Thousands

Photo 4 Playing at breakfast

Photo 5 Lifting a bucket with my magnetic fishing rod

Photo 6 Chatting to Cousin Shannon

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