My healthy lifestyle plan!

Oh this forever journey of trying to lose weight... 

I go through three different phases:  sometimes, I'm obsessed with eating clean, exercising regularly, hopping on the scale, etc.  This can last anything from a few days to a few weeks.  The next phase is when life gets in the way, and I let things slide a bit, become a bit less obsessed, still eating *mostly* clean, still exercising although not as regularly as I would have liked to.  This phase will be quite okay for when I want to maintain weight, because usually, that's what happens - I don't lose any weight but thankfully don't pick up either. 

But then... I have a self-sabotaging phase, where I stop exercising, eat chocolate slabs daily, and just feel uninspired and blagh.  And then this phase tends to last the longest of all 3.  Which, obviously, is not good!

I am still 2kg away from getting to pre-pregnancy weight, and then after that I would love to lose another 5kg.

I'm busy getting my mojo back, and the next week Monday is the perfect date to kickstart my mission and get rid of these last couple of kilo's for good.  It's the first of June.  And it's a Monday.  What better day to get started?  It suits my OCD tendencies. ;-)

I don't want to follow a specific set "diet" as such, this must be a lifestyle, a way of eating. 

I must use common sense, and find a healthy balance between all aspects of this journey!

Here's my plan:

• Do Kayla Itsines strength training workouts 3 times a week
• Do 45 minute cardio workouts twice a week - either at the gym or a brisk walk
• Do kettlebell exercises at home, aim for 5 minutes every day, or 10 minutes every second day
• Do stretching exercises daily
• Eat as clean as possible! Follow paleo guidelines 90% of the time
• Eat smaller portions
• Chew food slowly and thoroughly
• Stop buying chocolates!
• Drink 8 glasses of water daily
• Drink green tea every day
• Do dry body brushing to stimulate circulation
• Use anti-cellulite cream on body
• Pamper myself and invest in me-time: doing mini-pedicures and mini-manicures for self, tinting and waxing eyebrows for self
• Weigh myself once a week, evaluate what I'm doing right or what I'm doing wrong
• Keep track of progress

Some pics that have inspired me recently:

Whoop whoop, let's do this! :-) xx

Mother's Day Questionnaire 2015

2015 Mother’s Day Questionnaire

My Mom’s name is _____Jessica Viljoen____

She is __maybe 3 and 16______ years old.

She has ____brown____ hair and ____green____ eyes.

My mom’s favourite colour is ___purple_______ and her favourite flower is ____a daisy______

Her favourite food is ____stinky fishy and chicken pops_______ and her favourite pudding is ____one berry mixed with icecream___

My mom’s favourite thing to do is ___sleep!____

My mom likes to go to __the sweetie shop_____

When I am at school, she ___leaves me___

My mom makes me laugh when she __tickles me!______

She always says: ___I love you my darling______

I love to ___paint and draw____ with my mom.

My mom is very good at __drawing stars_____

I want to buy her ___new colourful pajamas_____

My mom looks beautiful when she ___is having a party_____

 

I love her because __she is my mommy and she is my darling!____

 

Love from

Mia

xx

A note to self: Why two kids is enough for me

I am feeling this need to write a letter to myself, listing the reasons why two kids is enough for me.  Just the other night, while watching Mia playing quietly by herself, a game with her dolls that had kept her busy for most of the afternoon, I said to hubby, I can understand why people have a third child. In three years from now, when Ella also keeps herself occupied and doesn't need me to entertain her all the time, what am I going to do with myself?! I'm going to want another baby!

Also, recently, two friends have said to me that they think I'll have a third baby. Hearing that triggered a rollercoaster of emotions in me, ranging from, "aaaw another tiny body" to "oh shit please no!"

So, I need to put it down on paper, the reasons why I'm done having babies. So that, three years from now, when I'm having a moment of wondering whether I should put the mirena back in or not, I can read this, be reminded, and go on and keep the mirena!

• Pregnancy first time round was great, second time, not so much - and I can just imagine that third time around even less.  First time pregnancy, I had time to sleep late in the mornings and have an afternoon nap often. Second time around, some afternoon naps with Mia, which was great. But third time around, I imagine there will be none of that.  Preggy aches and pains were more pronounced second time around, like leg cramps, restless leg syndrome, I can just imagine as one gets older these are harder to handle.
• Birth.  Enough said!
• Breastfeeding is hard. It's not as easy to do as one would think it is.  Cried many tears of frustration with both my babies.
• I am not a tiny baby mommy.  The first year of having a baby is hard!!  It's all-consuming, it's a daze of sleep deprivation, milk spit-up, poo nappies, crying (from baby and from mommy!) and just a general state of zombified  ups and downs.
• I love to sleep.  With a baby in the house, well, sleep becomes a distant memory...  And I know this lack of sleep will one day become the distant memory... but for now, at night, when the baby sound monitor goes on, it feels like a frozen finger touching my brain.  And when I can't get baby back to sleep and she just stands up crying in her cot, and it's 2am... oh gosh, it's hard.
• Nappies are not fun! Not the explosive nappies that newborns have, or the way that you have to try every trick up your sleeve when baby gets older, to keep them lying still for nappy changes and getting dressed.
• Everyone said, "the second baby is much easier!" Yes, yes the second baby is easier.  What nobody says though, is, "having two children is much harder!!" Truth. Because it means that constantly, someone needs you. Keeping them both happy at mealtimes. Bathing two bodies, getting two bodies to bed, loading and unloading two bodies in and out of the car...
• It took me a year to get my body feeling like my own again!  Pregnancy, well, your body is busy building a miracle. After pregnancy, everything is swollen, or saggy, or "just not quite right."  I gained 15kg in 2010 when I was pregnant with Mia. I lost some of them during the first couple of months.  Then I stopped breastfeeding, and gained like 5kg in a month, and carried on with the struggle until I was below pre-preggy weight in May 2013.  Then I fell pregnant, had a miscarriage, fell pregnant again - and proceeded to pick up 20kgs.  Of which I've lost 18 so far.  What a forever struggle!
• I have worn the same, small, stud earrings for a year now, as I'm too scared my hoop earrings or long dangly earrings cause baby to grab them!
• The baby proofed house isn't much fun. Dustbins on counter tops, toilet paper can't be on it's dispenser, it has to be out of reach. Tables are without tablecloths.  Everywhere is a potential hazard - watch that baby doesn't climb the stairs, watch her outside so that she doesn't fall off the patio step or crawl into thorns in the garden.
• Mia watched Lollos over and over and over.  Now we're headed the same way with Ella.  Oh gosh, I love how Lollos keeps them entertained for half an hour, hence the reason why I continue to switch it on every day... But, please, I'm done with Lollos after this!
• Having to plan things around baby nap times make things difficult... Some people don't struggle with this, they just take their kids wherever they want to go whenever they want to go, and their kids just sleep wherever. Neither of my two did this. Mess with their nap times, and their whole day is messed up...
• Babies and kids get sick. Often. And it's stressful! Handling two sick kiddies is tough enough, cannot imagine then dealing with a third.
• A third child would mean having to get a bigger car. I like my car that I have right now, thank you very much!
• Baby's day naps are so unpredictable.  One day she'll have a two-hour nap, the next day, just half an hour.  It makes it difficult to plan things, it often happens just as I start a specific task, that she wakes up.
• I have two arms - one to put around each girly. I have enough space on my lap for two of them to sit.  I would hate one child to be feeling left out!
• Schools are expensive... As are extra-mural activities. Enough said.
• The week that Ella turned one, I felt a literal feeling of fog lifting... As fast as the baby stage goes, and as many precious and awesome moments as there were... as much as I mourn packing away the 6-12 months clothes... That much I'm also glad we're through it!

Well, that's all I've got right off the top of my head, but I'm sure I'll be back to edit this post and add things in!

So, to answer my own question as to what I'm going to do with myself three years from now, when both my daughters are old enough to keep themselves occupied for hours on end, I will be:

• Reading. Oh, how I miss to read!
• Having wonderful conversations with my two girls, instead of having to constantly say, "I'll be with you in a moment, the baby needs me..."
• Be able to go places at whatever time of day and not wait for a baby to first have a nap or have to wake up.
• Hopefully have more time to work in my salon and earn a bit more of an income than I'm currently managing
• Be able to just get in the car and go somewhere and not have to take nappies, snacks, juice, toys...
• Drive in the car without listening to or singing nursery rhymes
• Wear hoop earrings or long earrings as I wish!
• Revel in not having to buy nappies or formula milk.
• Use both hands to do things and not have to struggle with only one hand, as I'm holding baby on the hip with the other!

I love my two girlies with my whole heart.  More than I can express in words. They fill my world with colour, love and laughter and happiness. There's nothing I love more than being with them, cuddling them, kissing them, staring at their beautiful faces.

My family is perfect and complete. ♥
xx

Such a fun wedding this weekend!

On Friday, hubby and I went to my cousin's wedding.  Sonja our domestic worker stayed at home with the girlies.  What fun to dress up and have a night out!

The wedding venue, Memoire was absolutely beautiful.  Everything looked stunning and perfect.

After the service, we had some fun in the photo booth, even Wyn was a good sport and donned a prop or two!

It was special being with my family, and we enjoyed the evening of good food, dancing, laughing and happy togetherness.

Sonja sent me regular updates on how the girls were doing - they were just fine and she managed perfectly with bath and bedtime routine.

I always enjoy weddings, the happiness and love shining through the bride and groom always inspires me.

Good times, good times indeed!
xx

A visit to the homeopath

I took both girls for a consultation at a homeopath two weeks ago.  We have literally been struggling with their sinuses now, non-stop, for two months. It's crazy. We've been to a GP and to the paed, so I wanted to try something different.  Here's a nice link with more info on homeopathy.

It's the first time I ever try the homeopathy route.  I've always had an interest in alternative therapies, but at the same time, a lil bit sceptical and unsure.

The consultation was super interesting. He used electro-dermal acupuncture point measurement - where the patient holds on end of an electrode, and he uses another electrode on acupressure points to find imbalances, and he could even pinpoint allergies using this method! Not painful at all, literally just holding onto an electrode, and he used acupressure points in hands, feet and face. It was a bit tricky getting Ella to hold the electrode all the time, but we managed!

Both girls he picked up sinus, allergies, bladder imbalance (prone to bladder infection) lymph imbalance (due to infection in body) and bronchi imbalance (not lungs specifically, but bronchi inside the lungs - associated then with sinus and allergies.

When he tested the allergies, it was super interesting how he could pinpoint specific allergens.  For Mia, it was Marmite and Bovril, artificial sweeteners, and sorghum (like Maltabella porridge.)  For Ella it was instant coffee (haha!) and bananas.  Really bummed to hear this, as Mia eats Marmite every day on her sandwiches to school, and Ella loves bananas, it's such a great fruit to fill her up with if she doesn't eat enough at a mealtime.

The homeopath then mixed them each their own personalised drops of homeopathic medicine, of which for the first 4 days they had to have 10 drops every two hours, and thereafter 10 drops three times a day.  It was difficult for me to stick to the two-hour interval one, didn't quite manage that!!

Now, two weeks later, unfortunately, both girls are still unwell.  Ella cleared up for about a week after the homeopath visit, but started with a snotty nose and bit of a cough again this weekend.  And Mia, well, unfortunately, she just hasn't gotten better. She coughs coughs coughs terribly, especially at night. Like 5 nights per week, for the last two months, I've needed to get up and assist her, either giving Pholtex syrup to try and suppress the cough (doesn't always help), give her a drink of water, rub some Vicks on her, elevate her pillow, etc etc.

I'm feeling quite at my wits end!
I've decided to do an experiment on Mia, and not give her any dairy for a couple of days and see if that doesn't help the coughing...  even tho the homeopath didn't pick up a dairy allergy, it's one of the most common triggers of sinus, so let's give it a shot, before we use more money on doctors...

I was very keen to make appointments for myself and Wyn at the homeopath too, to also get tested for allergies, but will postpone that for now. Unfortunately, homeopathy wasn't the big miracle cure I was hoping for to get my two girlies healthy!

My bathroom counter looks like a pharmacy...
It's terrible when they're sick, I feel so sorry for them. Argh!
xx

Ella's First Birthday Celebrations

I have a one-year old in the house now! ♥

I'll let the photos tell the story...

She woke up to balloons in her room - she loved it!

Opening prezzies

Cupcakes for breakfast!

Dressed in her beautiful birthday outfit

 

Mommy and her two angels ♥

A special moment between the two sisters

 

Pure happiness!

 

Birthday party time!

 Messy play fun!

My loves

Hip hip hooray!

 

Special number one cake made by Oumi

 

 

 

All partied out and such a happy girl! ♥

Tomorrow is Ella's First Birthday!

We have a special day planned tomorrow, to celebrate Ella's first birthday.  So I decided to write her birthday poem now, while I have a quiet moment to contemplate this past year. It really does go by so quickly...  My heart is filled with so much love.

Happy First Birthday, sweet Ella Jill!

Sweet little girl,

It’s your first birthday!

You’re a beautiful and precious angel,

Our gift from the Lord.

You’re such a joyful happy soul,

Your smiling face is a wonderful thing to see!

I adore the excited kicks and waves you give

When you’re feeling full of glee.

You give us lots of special baby kisses,

And lay your head down on us to hug

It makes my heart explode with so much love!

I love to kiss and hug you back.

My darling Ella-Bella,

You have completed our special family

You are perfect and wonderful and beautiful

Just the way you are.

 

Happy Birthday sweetheart!

I love you to the moon and back,

Forever and ever,

With my whole heart.

Love,

Mommy

xx

Ella's last baby update!

1. How old today:  11 months and 4 weeks

2. Current weight & length:  Will find out for sure when we do her vaccination next week, but guessing she's around 10.5kg.

3. Recent milestone reached:  She loves standing up against furniture and walking along like that.  Seventh tooth is through.

4. Next milestone:  More words, more teeth. Walking. Sleeping through the night.

5. How is baby sleeping at night?  At the moment she's sleeping a bit better, thankfully, as I'm giving her Allergex to help clear her nose.  But it's still up and down though!

6. Day naps?  She has a morning nap and an afternoon nap. They differ in length... her awake time is around 3 hours between naps.

7. How is feeding going? She has 3 milk bottles of 150ml each, and she eats breakfast, lunch and supper, with biscuits or fruit in between for snacks.  She eats really well, no baby food at all any more, except the pureed fruits as a snack sometimes.

8. Feeding times?  Not really set times, it's according to her nap and wake-up times...

9. What has been the recent baby highs? The way she's starting to interact with us, giving hugs and kisses.

10. And baby lows? I sure would love some more sleep at night...  Also, separation anxiety makes her very clingy sometimes.  She's had a snotty nose on and off for a few weeks now.

11. How is the rest of the family doing?  Good! Hubby's working hard, but he helps so much with the evening bath and bedtime routine, and weekends are great to all be together. Mia's a very good big sister, adjusted well and she's happy.

12. What has been working best recently, baby-related?  Having different "play-stations" set up all over the house.  Ella gets bored quickly. So we play in the lounge, then we move to my room and she plays there, then we go to her room and we read books, play with stacking cups and blocks, then we go sit outside, etc etc.

Party planning!

Ella turns one next week!

Her birthday is on Thursday, so we'll have a special day together - I'm busy convincing hubby to take the day off.

Then on Saturday, we're having a small birthday party for her.  The theme is just "number 1" and the colour scheme is pink and gold.  We're having the party here at home, in the garden - hold thumbs for nice weather!

I'm enjoying planning this, makes it easier to handle the twinge of sadness I feel that my baby turned into a toddler so quickly!

Her beautiful invitation was designed by a friend of mine, Kelly, who has a design business, Envelope.

The Sleep Issue...

I haven't blogged much about how Ella sleeps.  But now, I have quite a lot to say.  Let this very tired, exhausted mama get her ramble on...

She's 11 months and 3 weeks old, and with no "sleeping through the night" in sight for us yet...

Since birth, her sleeping patterns have been up and down, hit and miss. Some nights only 2 dummy calls, some nights every hour or more. The average is about 3-4 wake-ups, but usually I just need to reposition her and she goes straight back to sleep.

However, something that has been happening more and more frequently, specifically in the last 3 weeks, it happens about 3 nights per week: she wakes up in the middle of the night, and then refuses, REFUSES to go back to sleep, and stays awake for 2-3 hours.  This destroys me.  These hours feel like an eternity.

We have quite a nice consistent bedtime routine. After supper, the girlies bath together. After bath I take Ella to her room and quietly dress her, and then sit on her bed and give her a milk bottle. After bottle I lay her down in her cot, switch off the night light and walk out.  Mostly she either falls asleep straight away, or might hum or chat for a couple of minutes and then go to sleep. But some nights, she stands up and cries. Sometimes then I lay her down and she goes to sleep, but sometimes I have to pick her up and rock her. I try put her down after a while - sometimes she's calm and goes to sleep, other times she cries again and I pick her up and rock her or sit on her bed with her in my arms until she's asleep.

But these long awake stints - she stands up straight away each time I lay her down.  And she screams if I try and restrain her by holding her tight in my arms.  So what Wyn and I have been giving in to, is putting her in bed with us.  But even then, she crawls over us, pokes us, pulls my hair, flops down on us, etc etc.  And only after a long time, she eventually falls asleep.  I then usually carry her back to her cot, and sometimes she stays sleeping there, other times she wakes up and cries immediately, other times she wakes after 10 or 20 minutes and everything starts all over again.

It's not ideal for me to keep her in bed with us.  Mia often also still calls us over the monitor, or has dreams or coughs.  The dog sometimes growls or wants to be taken out. Wyn and I get up and go to the loo. We snore. The wake-up alarm goes off.  All these things will wake Ella up! Also, I'm so aware of her in bed with me, that although I doze, I don't go into deep sleep.

I'm really feeling horribly sleep deprived, it's affecting so many things in my life, besides feeling physically tired...  I am impatient, emotional, teary. I am even shaky today! I can't stop eating, specifically comfort eating, today I've gobbled up more chocolate blocks than I care to mention.  I feel horribly guilty about the way I'm not handling the middle-of-the-night stints very well, lashing out at poor Wyn who tries to help and stays up with me and takes turns. I hate how frustrated and agitated I feel with baby girl... I hate how I find myself wishing time away and that she was two years old already. :-(

Some days I handle it all better than others.

I realise this is a stage.
I know it will pass.
I know I will sleep through the night again.

But oh my goodness, it's so so difficult when you're in the middle of it...

The baby stage passes so very quickly, I mean, look at how quickly a year has gone by.  I try to cherish each moment, make memories, enjoy the little things, I really do.  But in the middle of the night, I just sob because I'm so frustrated and tired and overwhelmed.

Today I've spent some time reading up on sleep training.  There are lots of different methods.  I know my heart won't be able to handle any of the crying-it-out methods, although Wyn recommends we try that.  I just couldn't. Although at 4am this morning I was ready to cave and give it a try...

I found some nice websites and articles, some of them pro sleep training and some of them against.

Troublesome Tots is a site with lots of articles, all mostly pro sleep training.
Mommy Shorts is a mommy blogger who successfully sleep trained both her girls.  The way she experienced it makes me think I should give it a try, she talks about it being the greatest gift she could have given herself.
Why sleep training isn't for us is a heart-breaking article that includes all my fears about letting babies cry themselves to sleep.  It's traumatic for baby and mom, could have psychological effects later on, baby feels abandoned... This makes me not want to try sleep training!
Why your baby doesn't sleep through the night is a really nice article doing the rounds on Facebook, about why babies wake often... It just gives some reassurance that it is normal...

A book that was recommended by a friend, is Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, going to look into that as soon as possible.

I haven't decided what route we're going to take, I just know that I can't carry on this way for much longer...

I'm off to the chemist to buy Rescue Remedy Night Drops, let's give that a try first.
xx

The big decision: Big school for Mia

Last month, I attended three "open days" at private schools in our area.  Two of the schools I absolutely adored - just loved the look, feel, sound and ethos of them both, and the third one I didn't like at all, for various reasons.

The private school fees, however, are R5000 a month.  Which, to me, is a ridiculous, ludicrous amount of money, that I'm struggling to justify.  And for a young family like ours, who are still busy paying off two motor cars and still looking to buy a house, putting all our money towards school fees just doesn't make sense.

So we decided to not apply at any of the private schools.

I did research about all the government schools in the area, and made a shortlist of schools, and went about getting info from people who have children in these schools. 

It has all boiled down to one school that I have set my heart on. It's an Afrikaans school. A very big school, but with a very good reputation.

Tomorrow morning their applications for 2016 Grade R open at 7am, so I'll be there in the queue, with all the necessary documents and deposit to pay.  They take 240 pupils (oh my goodness, 240 children, at the moment she is in a school with only 24 kids!!) and they have specific criteria that needs to be met to be on their "A-list", if you don't live in the feeder area, work in the feeder area, or have kids in the school already, you go onto the B list.  It sounds like our area is pretty much borderline to their feeder area...

Then we have to wait until the last week in June to find out if we got a spot or not. Stressful!!

On Friday they have an open day that parents and children can attend, so I'm going to take Mia along to have a look, and start preparing her and talking to her about what's ahead of us for next year.

Exciting times, indeed.
xx

Easter 2015

We had a special long weekend at home. I was so relieved that we didn't have to go anywhere and be on the roads.  The inlaws came here, and it was nice to have them here longer than a usual weekend, because things were less rushed - always trying to fit the most into a weekend.  They arrived on Thursday afternoon, just in time to come and watch Mia's swimming lesson, they loved that, and Mia was in her element too!

The rest of the weekend was spent eating yummy food and copious amounts of chocolate, lots of vino, and both girlies spoilt us by sleeping well!  We went to church on Friday, and on Saturday Wyn and I went to the movies, so much fun. Watched "Ballade vir 'n Enkeling", it was brilliant, really enjoyed it!

This was our little Easter table decoration display that my MIL and I made:

Sunday's Easter Egg Hunt remains a highlight of the year!  Loved Mia's anticipation and excitement.

 

Mom's lil chocolate piggies ♥

 

We did a couple of Easter crafts.  This handprint one is an idea I saw on Pinterest ages ago - so glad I managed to convince Wyn to let me paint his hand, haha!  Want to frame this. ♥

Mia painted some polystyrene eggies and made a nest

For Easter cards, I let Mia colour one picture in, she traced the words, and then I made photocopies.  Much better than her having to colour a picture in ten times!

♥

xx

Sick girlies!

I've got my hands full with two sick girlies.

It started two weeks ago, when Mia got a tummy bug. I think it broke down her immune system, because she wasn't even completely better from that bug, then she got a cold with a runny nose and a cough.

Ella followed shortly on her heels, not only with a runny nose and a cough, but cutting four teeth at the same time. Lil miss grumpy pants!

I got a prescription from the GP that had treated Mia's tummy bug, and both girls went on a course of Celestamine and nebulising meds, Pulmicort. Also used Monte-Air sprinkles, to no avail.  Carried on with Demazin for Mia and Allergex for Ella.

Those meds didn't help.

Then last week Thursday night Mia coughed the whole night. Literally, coughing in her sleep, the whole night. Saturday night, Ella starts the same.  Last night every time Ella coughed she cried - obviously hurting her chest or throat each time.  Since Saturday night Mia had a constant low-grade fever too.  We were at Sun City for the weekend with my folks - lesson learnt - don't go anywhere with sick kiddies! Couldn't swim, couldn't sleep much...

First thing this morning I phoned for paediatrician appointments.  The girlies have different paeds - it just happened that way that when Mia was born that I took her to Unitas to Dr Engelbrecht, and since then have always gone to either her, or dr Da Gama.  Neither of them were available, so we made an appointment with dr Grobler.  Then, I couldn't get Ella an appointment there, as she's not an existing patient of theirs!  I take Ella to dr Angela Colquhoun, at Kloof Mediclinic, who was the paed present at her birth and assisted with her jaundice.  I tried to get a double appointment there, but same story - Mia isn't an existing patient so I couldn't get a slot for her!

So we had a 9am appointment for Mia at Unitas and then a 11h45 appointment for Ella at Kloof.  Goodness me!

Mia's doc listened to my long list of meds we've already given, and then listened to Mia's chest. She sent us for x-rays of her chest and sinuses - Mia was such a brave girly, so proud of her.  Results came back - thank goodness not an infection in her lungs - just a really bad sinus infection. The doc prescribed antibiotics - and sinus physio.

Then I dropped Mia off at home and fetched Ella for her appointment.  I really like dr Angela and it's a pity it's so difficult to get new patients in there - I'd literally have to book a "check-up" for Mia, because the waiting list for new patients is 4 weeks, and feels like such a waste of money, R700 for an unnecessary consultation, just to get her in the books as a patient!

Ella was diagnosed with Adenovirus, which is basically a bad cold.  Her symptoms are much the same as Mia's, except she hasn't had a fever, thankfully, but her eyes have been a lil bit gunky.  So she's on antibiotics as well, more nebulising meds, nose spray and eye drops.

I was quite relieved, dr Angela said I don't have to take Mia for sinus physio - I can just nebulise her with the same meds as Ella.  I think the physio treatment would be quite traumatic for Mia, although I've heard it to be very effective.

So! Hopefully the two littlies will be on the road to recovery quick-quick.  This mommy needs a good night of sleep...

These two, they fill my world with colour!

Every single day, I am filled with such an overwhelming feeling of love for these two lil human beings of mine. Mine! How lucky can one mommy be!

                                                   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥   ♥

Mia Mooi is growing so beautifully.  She is sensitive, compassionate and caring. She is so friendly, greeting people in town and even striking up conversations. (More with adults, not so much with kids!)

She talks non-stop, understands so well and asks a million questions a day. "What do bears eat? What do butterflies eat? How high can a cat jump? When are we going on a picnic?"

She loves her baby sister, plays with her, gives her hugs and kisses. And sometimes pushes her away or pulls her legs to make her fall over. Oops.

She's loving school and her self-confidence has grown in leaps and bounds.

She loves going for walks on the golf course.

She loves doing arts and crafts type things at home - colouring inside the lines so nicely now, using the correct colours for things, like green grass and blue skies.  She loves cutting out, sticking, painting.

Mia enjoys listening to my music with me in the car.  We've been stuck on Taylor Swift for a few months already now! She also loves One Republic and Bobby van Jaarsveld, hehehe!

After months and months of watching Barbie movies, she's gone off that a bit now, and mostly requests to watch Tarzan episodes, DocMcStuffins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  She's not watching as much tv as she used to a while ago - prefers to be busy with other things.

She is getting very independent with things like undressing herself, bathing herself and brushing her teeth, going to the toilet, choosing what to wear, etc. Big girl!

I just love the way she gives spontaneous hugs and kisses. ♥

Ella-Bella-Bytjie has made our family complete - this little bubbling happy person.  When she gets excited, like if she sees one of her family members, or a toy she loves or a food she wants, she kicks her little leggies in glee.

She's loving being mobile and keeps her mommy on her toes!  She's exploring everywhere, and picks up the tiniest speck she can find and puts it in her mouth... She even tries to eat bubbles when we blow bubbles outside!

She loves eating, really eats so well, not interested in baby food, only wants what we're eating! She especially loves chicken, pasta, peas, mielies and sweet potato.  But her favourite treats are marie biscuits, marshmallows and droe wors - especially the marshmallows.

She says "mamma", "pappa", "baba" and "num-num" (yummy). She responds to the question "hoe maak die voeltjie?" with a hadeda sound, "ha-haaaa!"  Very vocal in other ways too, demanding attention with shouts, enjoying herself with squeals, grunts and laughs.  She also gives an open-mouth smooch if I ask for a kissy! ♥  The best.

 She loves going for walks in the pram, stares at everything in amazement, and laughs at the dog when I take Nala with us.

She sometimes laughs at the most random things, like watching her sister brush her teeth, she seems to find hilarious!

She's started showing some interest in watching some tv, especially Lollos, keeps her attention for a good 10 - 15 minutes, which helps me a lot when I'm trying to do supper prep.

She's currently teething, toofie number 3, 4, 5, AND 6 are all busy making an appearance at once.

Our Moms&Babes class once a week is a favourite for both of us, special one-on-one time for us.

She's super pleased with her latest accomplishment of standing up against furniture. Crawling isn't enough, this baba wants to stand and walk too!

She has a way of crawling up to me and putting her head down on me - makes my heart explode! ♥

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Activities for 10 month old babies

Ella is at such a busy stage now! I have to constantly be hovering around her, because she crawls to all the off-limit places, such as the dog food, cell phone chargers, dustbins and washing baskets!  She also loves to pull herself into standing position against furniture, but doesn't yet know how to get back down, so she just lets go - grey hairs for mommy!

I've spent some time looking up activities for 9 to 12 month old babies, and found lots of ideas.  I decided to put my favourite ideas together into a list for myself, and to print out for the nanny to use for ideas for baby stimulation.

(Obviously all of these need constant adult supervision, and always be mindful of choking hazards.)


Music, Hearing and Movement:

• Sing lots of nursery rhymes, especially with actions such as clapping hands, stomping feet, nodding head etc.  Or make up your own silly songs!
• Play music, any music, and dance with baby, so she can feel the rhythm
• Show baby how you knock on a door, say "Listen! Do you hear knock-knock-knock?" Do the same with different sounds, splashing water, tapping, bells, etc.
• Bang on drums, bang on pots
• Put baby on a blanket and drag the blanket, taking her on a ride!

People, Body Awareness, Object Permanence, Toys

• Play peek-a-boo - use a cloth over baby, over yourself, over baby's toys
• Stand in front of a mirror, talk about what you're looking at. "Look at this baby! Look, it's you! Look, here's your nose, your ears, your hair, your feet!" 
• Page through picture books. Point out people's face expressions
• Copy-cat games: point to your own nose, say this is mommy's nose, point to baby's nose, say this is baby's nose. Ask baby to point out mommy's nose and baby's nose.
• Hand-over-hand games. Show baby how to put her hand on top of your hand, with your next hand over her hand. Will take a while for her to grasp the concept, but repeat often.
• When baby drops a toy, lower her to the ground and let her pick it up herself
• Use double-sided tape and make toys stick to a surface, show baby how to pull the toy off and stick it again
• Show toddler a toy, and hide it behind you, getting her to look for it
• Stacking blocks and cups
• Sorting colours and shapes
• Cut a slit in a tin and show baby how to "post" Purity jar lids

Outdoors and Physical Exercise:

• Go for walks, point out trees, flowers, birds, leaves, grass, sand
• Blow bubbles
• Bury plastic animals in a bowl of sand, or floating in water, and let baby find animals
• Have a tea party!
• Crawl and chase each other!
• Create a little obstacle course for baby. Use pillows, make tunnels with blankets and chairs.
• Use an exercise ball - let baby bounce on it, lie on tummy, lie on back, move backwards and forwards. Very good for strengthening baby's core muscles!
• Play ball games, gently rolling and getting baby to roll it back
• Toss bean bags

Tactile and Sensory:

• When outside, let baby feel grass, tree bark, sand, water. Always explain what it is and how it feels. "Tree bark, feel how rough it is. A green leaf, feel how soft it is."
• Use shaving foam on a tray or a mirror
• Let baby unpack Tupperware cupboard
• Tickle with feather duster
• Let baby play with cellophane
• Create little goody baskets or boxes for baby to unpack. Put similar things together: create a box of wooden goodies, a box of plastic goodies, a box of noisy goodies!

Messy Play ideas:

• Finger painting with homemade edible fingerpaint (Will do a post on this soon, we did this last weekend, so much fun for both Ella and Mia!)
• Jelly
• Custard
• Cooked spaghetti
• Dry cereals
• Shredded paper
• Smash (instant mashed potatoes)
• Water bowls with small containers, cups and utensils
• Do hand- and footprint art - great keepsakes!

Keeping babies busy in the car:

• Listen to sing-along nursery rhymes
• Easy finger foods such as marie-biscuits or biltong sticks
• A few different bags with a few small objects to explore - best to pass these on one by one than overwhelming baby with everything at once: wooden puzzle pieces, Purity jar lids, pieces of ribbon or material, small toys and rattles, big hairclips.

These are three of my favourite blogs for some creative ideas: Kids Activities Blog, The Imagination Tree and Happy Hooligans.

Please share what your babies love to do?
xx