Gums and Roses

Hi everyone,

Ten days to Christmas and things are getting pretty exciting around the house. Last night Mom and Dad put me in my brand new Greco Jolly Jumper in the lounge and they proceeded to decorate a tree. After about an hour’s work, a very plain looking green artificial tree was transformed into a fantastic looking Christmas tree with baubles, lights, glitter and tonnes of pretty little ornaments. I can’t wait for my first Christmas!

My fun filled week started with a visit to last Baby Club of the year. I weighed in at 6250 grams. Huge celebrations as it was again confirmed that I’m en route to an appropriate weight for my age and height. I guess after some holiday festivity I will be even heavier at my next weigh in next year. On the topic of weight, Mom and I put in a panic order for Infatrini, as last Sunday evening I finished my last bottle. During the course of Monday 480 bottles of Infatrini were delivered, which I reckon will see me through until a new order can be placed in the new year. Early Monday afternoon I had an appointment with Dr Nicoletta, as my ear has been bothering me a little over the past day or so. Also, the stoma around my MIC-Key is looking a little angry and red, so I asked my Mom to have that checked out too. It turns out I had an ear infection, which is actually quite exciting, as it’s the first normal baby ailment I’ve ever had!! To date, everything I’ve been treated for has been extraordinary or unique. Late Monday afternoon Nina and Gene popped by for a visit, and they brought with them an enormous round mattress for me to chill and play in. It’s really cool!

Tuesday involved lots of driving around, which I quite enjoy, as we can then sit in the cool air-conditioned car. Admittedly though, my baby seat is so snug that my back gets really hot and sweaty. After the clicking of some bones and mobilisation of my back by Dr Sonja, we headed off to a Mom’s Club mom was invited by Michelle! There I met a whole bunch of Mommies and I made friends with a whole bunch of guys my age. I even came home with some pressies from Michelle. Late in the afternoon Dad picked Mom and I up and we headed off for my last OT of the year with Lauren.

Shopping was on the agenda for Wednesday, and together with Granny, Mom and I hit the stores. We got Dad some cool little attachments for his camera, and I got a Jolly Jumper from Gran, as well as something else that I’m not allowed to see until Christmas. Opa and Aunty Birgitt arrived for a visit on Wednesday afternoon, so we spent the afternoon chatting and drinking tea.

Another first for me was to have my eyes checked. This happened on Thursday afternoon, after a chiro session with Dr Sonja in the morning. I was bundled into the car and off we went to Garden City Clinic. This is now the fourth hospital that I’ve become acquainted with. There we met with Dr Ishmael Mayet who performed a whole bunch of strange and wonderful tests on my eyes. After having run through a battery of ophthalmology tests I was told my eyes were in order. This is a huge relief for me, as the embolisations and treatments in the Vein of Galen in my head were extremely close to the occipital nerves that control sight. Owing to the close proximity to the occipital nerves by the treatment there was always a fear that my eyesight would be impaired or harmed. The other positive discovery was that I have no AVM’s on my retina; having developed an AVM in the Vein of Galen, there was a risk that I would have an AVM in my eyes too. Needless to say this was a big relief for all of us. Even Dad came to the appointment to offer me and Mom support and strength in the event the news was not positive.

Thursday evening Mom’s book club had their year-end-function at Tuscan Table; apparently you go there to make your own food! By the sounds of things Mom had a blast as she learnt a bunch of new recipes and techniques, enhancing her status as a domestic goddess even further. I was looking forward to an evening of quality time with Dad, but I just couldn’t stay awake, so Dad was left to his own devices while I snoozed. Mom arrived home in time for my 2:00am feed!

Granny and my cousins flew to Cape Town on Friday, so sadly we won’t be seeing them for a few days. Hopefully they’ll all be back in time for us to celebrate Christmas together; apparently it’s quite a blast at Aunty Kim’s place on Christmas Eve. Mom and I chilled at home for all of Friday, and by afternoon we had decided to make Dad a special dinner when he got home from work. Mom had learnt to make smoked salmon tagliatelle, the night before, so we decided to make this for Dad. I was very nervous about Mom cooking with fish, for as most of you know, she is deadly allergic to all types of fish; even touching them causes a really bad reaction. I guess that’s why the cooking gloves were hauled out! Once Mom had taken stock of what was in the house and needed for tonight’s meal we emailed to Dad a shopping list of additional items. This became really funny, as below in black text is what Mom and I emailed to Dad, and the green text is what Dad emailed back while in Pick ‘n Pay via his Blackberry:

• Some Plain cheese – you choose ü please don’t give me choices, I panic;
• Philadelphia Cheese ü that’s really far to go for cheese;
• Mozzarella ü a chunk I guess?
• Full Cream Yogurt ü do you have any idea how hard it is to find full cream? All are either low fat or fat free? Settled on double cream Greek yogurt!
  
• Cream ü quantum (of solace) unknown so I settled for 500ml;
• Bread ü low GI, brown, white, best of both worlds or normal?
• Pesto ü could these bottles be any smaller? How on earth is one supposed to find these in a 4000m² retail store. Off to get help!
• Small baby tomatoes ü aren’t all baby things small?
  
• Garlic whole if you can ü expecting vampires?
• Smoked Salmon ü again quantum (of solace) unknown; nor is the unfortunate little scaly beast’s origin confirmed! Norway, Scotland, w.t.f?
  
• Chicken Breasts ü again quantum (of solace) unknown; nor is it evident that it should be boned, deboned, free range, organic, etc!
  
• Baby Spinach ü o.m.g. what does this stuff look like; I know its green, but so are lettuce, carrot’s leaves, cabbage, etc. Also, are we aiming for fresh, organic, or good ole mass produced non organic preservative rich McCains? Is baby spinach a variety or just spinach that didn’t make it to adolescence?
  
• Butter ü Lurpak biggie, an easy one;
• Sultanas ü limited to one choice, thank goodness: golden sultanas
• Raisins ü I’m hoping seedless was the right choice! Box or bag? Not sure. Opted for a 2kg bag just in case;
  
• Mixed Peel ü of what? Citrus fruit peel will have to do.
• Pine nuts û yeah right! I wonder if I could disguise sun flower seeds as pine nuts? List aborted!!!
  

My additional scope creep items:

• coke
  
• crisps
  
• chocolate
  
• one Red Bull to give me the energy to get through this list!!!
  

I must say that after all of that dinner went really well and Dad was very impressed with the outcomes of the salmon meal.

Saturday morning Mom slept in so Dad took care of me for the most part of the morning. We were up really early and after my cares were done Dad bathed me and then we surfed the net and watched some TV. Pretty soon we were singing along to Don’t Forget The Lyrics and each time a contestant got some lyrics correct we shouted with joy. Our cheering and singing eventually got Mom interested and she came and joined us. Just after midday there was major excitement in the house as a whole bunch of baskets were packed with food, and cooler bags were filled with drink. I spotted a blanket being added to the menagerie of items and I knew this meant only one thing: picnic! Pretty soon we arrived at the Rose Gardens at Emmarentia Dam where we were joined by Opa and Aunty Birgitt. I was so happy lying on my blanket looking up at the sky through the leaves of the big tree Mom and Dad had chosen as the optimum picnic spot. Nearby where gardens filled with roses and I could hear the water features a little way off. Birds bounced around in the trees and we spotted a whole bunch of butterflies and dragonflies. Dad’s last game with me was throwing me in the air and catching me again. I laughed so much doing this that the top of my nose creased! We did this a few times and Mom tried to photograph the flying baby while Opa and Aunty Birgitt looked on. The excitement made me quite exhausted, and soon I drifted off to sleep under the tree while the rest of the picnic party tucked into food and drinks. Sadly the afternoon came to an end and we trekked back to our cars. I bid Opa, and especially Aunty Birgitt, a big farewell as she was flying back home to Cape Town the next day.

Back home Mom hauled all the Christmas decorations out and the evening was spent making the house look festive. Sunday morning was scheduled for doing some shopping. First Dad and I headed off to the pharmacy to get some much needed meds for the family and then we made our way to McDoggies, our local vet. There I met Dr Chris Fourie, who looks after my ‘brothers and sisters’ (Jake, Roxy, Sonic, Shatzi and Maple) when they’re ill. This was my first trip to the vet and I was intrigued by all the toys and goodies that were available for dogs and cats. After loading bags of dog and cat food, and kitty litter in the car Dad selected two enormous bones for Jake and Roxy. Their favourites are the femur of an ostrich which looks more like a dinosaur bone because it’s so big. The cats got bagfuls of catnip. Back home I thought Jake and Roxy’s tails would snap off considering how fast they were wagging at the sight of the bones we’d got for them.

Soon Mom, Dad and I were off to Cresta where we did some more much needed shopping for detergents and general home wares. Some last minute Christmas things were also procured. Before arriving home we popped into the green grocer and bought a bunch of fresh veggies and fruit. Back home we all got onto of the bed and had a snooze.

The other huge bit of excitement on Sunday was that I discovered that one of my lower teeth has made an appearance! More cheers throughout the house!!! I also outgrew my sleeping sac so mom had to buy a new one.

Generally I’m sleeping much better, and I’ve dropped the need of one feed at night. To compensate I’ve upped my intake in the evenings. I’m also feeding on solids three times a day now; apparently Mom thinks my six weeks of settling in are now over, and its time for some changes in my routine. In addition to the usual baby food solids such as butternut and sweet potato I’m also prone to like chicken, yoghurt, honey, oats and even beef and macaroni.

Mom and Helen, Isabella’s Mom, have spent a lot of time chatting on the phone this week, as they’re really missing each other. From what I’ve been told Izy is doing really well, and is now 2.9kgs.

Over the past few weeks I’ve also made my acquaintance with a whole bunch of people that I’ve forgot to mention in previous blogs. Last Saturday, while out shopping in Sandton I meet Dave and Fi with little Emma. Also at Woolworths I met Rosemarie, one of my parents’ colleagues, and her friend Tony. We had barely settled down to a light meal at a coffee shop when we were greeted by Gay and her husband and son. Gay works at the physio practice that Mom and Dad have been going to for more than a decade now. They used to be known as the ‘physio girls’, but more recently they’re the ‘physio girls and one guy’!

Before I sign-off tonight I’m going to share some of my website stats with you again. I get so many questions about the number of people visiting my site, as well as where they originate from. During September the hits on my webpage peaked at 61 131, which was almost double the number in August 2008. October and November 2008 were a little slower again, with 55 484 and 44 825 hits respectively. As at this evening, the December hits stand at 16 910. Below I’ve included a screen dump of the graphs and numbers from my hosting company. In terms of the origins of the visitors to my site the predominate country is South Africa, followed by Australia, New Zealand, USA and the UK. Visitors from other countries include Switzerland, Portugal, Mozambique, Seychelles, Brazil, Russian Federation, Belgium, Germany, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, India, Greece, Spain, Denmark, Poland, Japan, Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, China, Estonia, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Romania, Italy, Bulgaria, Mexico, and even the Ukraine. So far, this year, in excess of 4 gigabytes of info has been accessed on my WebPages. Over and above the great stats for my WebPages, my blog is even rumoured to have been mentioned on Talk Radio 702! My celebrity status is definitely on the up and up.

Well, that’s about it for tonight. Enjoy the pictures.

Lots of love, hugs and kisses,

Jarrod

Figure 1 Me and Gene on Monday evening

Figure 2 At OT on Tuesday afternoon

Figure 3 Doing some baby Pilates

Figure 4 With Lauren, my OT

Figure 5 Shatzi tries out my new doughnut for comfort

Figure 6 Hello!

Figure 7 Multi-tasking: holding my foot and the cow on my mobile!

Figure 8 Enjoying my new Jolly Jumper (note all the Infatrini boxes in the background)

Figure 9 Getting chiro from Dr Sonja

Figure 10 Getting to grips with some reading

Figure 11 Giggling with Mommy in the Rose Gardens

Figure 12 A nearby water feature

Figure 13 Cooling off under a tree

Figure 14 Opa and I on picnic

Figure 15 Dad and I getting involved in the local flora

Figure 16 And the local fauna

Figure 17 Loving the outdoors

Figure 18 Using my first tooth to wolf on a biscuit

Figure 19 Evidence (however small) of my first tooth!

Figure 20 As I’m spending more and more time outdoors, I’ve invested in a pair of sunglasses

Figure 21 My first Christmas Tree

Figure 22 Screen dump of my Webpage stats