End of May week-end

Well, World Cup fever has struck...

On Saturday Claudia found a "cheap" vuvuzela while groccery shopping, so she bought it for Riley who has been talking about flags, the world cup etc. non stop due to the focus that is being given to the event at school.

Riley is quite a pro at "playing"  the vuvuzela, and Ethan thinks he is too.



The weather has turned a bit wintery this week-end, so we have been a bit cooped up, but this afternoon we decided to take a walk down to the park. Claudia had not seen Ethan climbing the jungle gym.

When we got there, we were the only ones, but as the time went on another three families arrived.

Riley made friends with some of the kids and they played happily.

Ethan enjoyed the time too.





I don't remember when Riley was doing this, but she was walking at the age Ethan is now (10 months 2 weeks).

There was also an 18 month old boy there and he and Ethan were fascinated by each other.

Ethan on Swing

I took a day off today to get some stuff done, so after picking Riley up from school and watching playball, we went to the park for a while.

As usual it was great fun, and Ethan especially enjoyed the outing.

He had his first swing experience... And then decided he could climb up the jungle gym ladder.

I managed to record the swing session, but not the climbing. The recording is poor quality as I used my cell.

Garden Fun

Today we spent quite some time playing in the garden. It is still pretty warm and does not feel like mid-winter.

It was really nice to spend some quality time outside as I normally only get home at 17h30, at sun down now days is at about 17h00, so no time to play... all rushing to get dinner done and kids off to bed etc.

Riley and Ethan play well together as you will see. Ethan loves ring a rosy, and loves the all fall down.

And Riley can be a real madam... Check the pose while she is talking to Grannie and inviting them to come down for a visit to play "scarey monsters" and have some "cupcakes" as made by her highness.

She definately seems to copy her parents... The prowling the hands etc.

Ethan gets more mobile

Ethan has finally started to crawl "properly". He is now very mobile and even manages to get up the stairs etc. He is quite happy to climb the stairs to Nona's house. Obviously we still follow closely, just in case.

He seems to know that he cannot just go down stairs "face first", but does not seem sure what to do. With a little prompting though he gets it right and goes "feet first".

He also seems mobile with the walker, the same one Riley used. It is fairly stable, just not easy to turn etc.

As you will see in the video, he also manages to move between supports. He is cautious too, which is nice.

The other day he even managed to climb up on to the toilet using the step stool that we leave out for Riley. We found him happily sitting there playing with the toilet spray.

He is still not keen on standing. If you can get him distracted, he will stand for a few seconds, but if he is aware that he is standing, he tries to sit down.

Sunday with the Cousins

On Sunday we were invited to the cousins to celebrate Nick's birthday (70). Before leaving Riley wanted to bake, so Claudia and her cooked up some chocolate muffins.

We then went off to Westville to have tea with the cousins. When we got there Noah was very excited to play with Ethan, and Noah, Riley and Ethan played for a while before hte older two went off to play outside.

It was really nice to see the three of them playing so nicely - hopefully a sign of the future. Riley and Noah have always played well, especially if they are left to their own devices.

Noah then took Riley outside and the spent a wonderful afternoon catching bugs with Gareth, "laying pipes" in the garden, which they have seen so much of in our area lately... Then came the cement.

They found one of Teressa's new flower pots and started "making cement". Lots of sand and water were mixed in but great fun was had.

When we moved inside, they found an old multiplug and some caps and started playing "electricians...

Liquorice

When Riley was younger, and even now, she LOVED liquorice, whch is NOT my favourite, or Claudia's for that matter.

It seems though that Ethan loves it too...

As part or our incentive program to get Riley to eat, she has been getting a piece of liquorice if she eats all her dinner, so we decided to give Ethan a piece too... The result speaks for itself!

What amazes me is that they both really love the stuff.

Riley's eating also seems to be a bit better. We had her Iron levels checked this week, and they are much improved, though not 100%, so she will continue the Feremed for another 3 months tille Ethan goes for his 1 year check up and then discuss with Dr. Kara.

He has however suggested that we give her a supplement, which is nto to replace any meals. We are using Pediassure, which seems to be working so far.

Since her first dose on Saturday she has eaten really well, even though the supplement could be expected to cause her to want to skip a meal!

Then and Now

This morning Riley and I were looking at some old blog entries, going all the way back to when she was born. I was amazed at how much she has changed, her face has gotten much leaner and she is most certainly not the "huge" baby that she was.

At the time she was a "big" baby, but now she is a "small" girl...

She also loves her teddy, who she insists is her friend. Teddy had a bath this morning (a few minutes in the washing machine), which is the only reason he is so clean.