Cade's first birthday

"We did it, we did it, oh yeah yeah yeah!!!" Yes, that is a song from Finding Nemo. I won't talk about how many times we've watched this over the last few weeks but this post is not about how much my boys (yes, both of them) are really into this movie! But rather about our little boy turning one! And yes, we did it! We made it, we survived the first year of Cade's life as well as well as the first year of parenting two rambunctious boys!

We couldn't decide what we wanted to do for Cade's first birthday celebration. As usual the guest list just got bigger and bigger the more we thought about it. We looked at venue options and doing something similar to what we had for Darian but in the end we decided that it would be better if we just had a few close friends at home. It turned out to be a great day and our little boy was celebrated in true style. 

Adam entertaining the kids

A house full of babies

Our birthday boy

Cutting the cake

A full house indeed

Celebrating with our nearest & dearest

A full house

He likes to drum

Joash, Lee, Lenny & Premika

Kajal, Luka & Liley

Luka, Liley & Lily

Madison & Darian

Mason & Cade

Getting ready for cake

Wanted to walk down the stairs so mum had to help

Our little boy is 1

The cake

Thea & Sean

On his actual birthday, he celebrated at daycare with his friends. Unfortunately the day care rules have changed somewhat since Darian turned one so I was unable to bake a cake for my little boy, like I did his brother. But the teachers were very obliging and baked a cake for him so he could celebrate with his friends. Of course there was no way I couldn't be there when Happy Birthday was sung to him for the first time, so I took time off work to be there to witness it. And of course Darian joined in and ate as much chocolate cake as he could muster.

Mum I'm watching tv

Ok, one smile then go away

If I can act like I'm looking at you while I look at the tv, ok

now you're in the way mum

celebrations at daycare

Cake... mmmmm

mouth stuffed with cake

big brother had to get in on the cake action

Cake for everyone

My boys

Little Evelyn and Cade - litle siblings of Elise & Darian who sat next to each other at Darian's first birthday celebrations

We are so grateful for our little boy. He is such a joy, always smiling, always laughing and always loving on his brother and looking for mama and dada. I am blessed beyond measure and when I see all the friends we have that take us as family, that came to celebrate with us, each person that took the time out to wish our boy or to make his day special, I realised just how much God has blessed us.

Thank you to everyone who made celebrating his day so special.

Cade at 10 months

Cade is doing really well.  He is in daycare full time now and he is beginning to love it more and more. He still still has days where he will moan and cry if he sees me leave but most of the time his teachers distract him so that I can leave, although trying to do the same for Darian is harder. Seeing Cade socialise with other kids as well as the way in which he gravitates towards his teachers, warms my heart and assures me that he is doing well and is well taken care of. The other day he even waved bye to me as I left and the crying days are becoming fewer and fewer. Pick ups are so cute. He will automatically dash to the door when he sees me and will cry the minute he sees me, as if to say "where have you been all day?"

(Cade & Darian at daycare drop off one of the days last week. Cade loves to climb up onto these couches and sit like a big man. So Darian, the ever so-concerned big brother went to sit next to him in case he fell.)

Another little kid bit Cade while at daycare, it wasn't the best call to get from daycare and because they won't say which child it was we have to deal with him being in the same vicinity with this child all day but thankfully the teachers are keeping a close eye on said child and have supposedly given a stern warning to the parents. He has had a bite mark for about 2 weeks now, gone from red and scratches to just a blue hue.

(The bite mark on his cheek)

When Darian went for his dental check up, Cade got to have his teeth checked too and the dental therapist was very happy with him, especially the fact that he has been introduced to the toothbrush already. He loves to brush his teeth and will make a huge deal when it's over.

He has learned quite early on to say "mama" and I encouraged him to say "dad" which he continuously says nowadays! But he loves his daddy... will follow him all over until he picks him up and loves his brother too. He thinks Darian is the funniest person ever and is always behind him and wants to be involved in whatever his brother is doing. So I'm not sure if the "dada" is Daddy or Darian, maybe it's both!
He also loves to say "ta", whether it's him giving you something or wants something from you. And especially loves to try to feed his dummy to daddy and will say "ta" while he tries to stuff his dummy into daddy's mouth.

(Daddy and Cade at Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium)

He continuously is picking things up off the floor so we have to be really careful with things that could get stuck in his throat. And because he loves to be in Darian's room all the time, we have to always ensure it's safe. He responds to his own name and makes me laugh when he tries to kiss his own reflection, saying "baba". I will say, "Say hi to Cade" and he will look at his reflection and smile and say "baba" and even wave. If I say, "Give Cade a kiss" he will kiss his reflection. It's so cute.

He started walking, fully, at 10 months. From about 9 months, he started cruising around and would take a step and fall down, etc. But he was ready to walk. Up to that point, from the minute he learned to crawl he was trying to stand up, then trying to take a step. And now, trying to run! I'm sure he loves to do so because he wants to be with his brother all the time.

He still loves to eat and will eat anything you give him. I think he may be going through a growth spurt at the moment because he was up at 2am this morning and it took me about an hour to realise that he wanted a bottle. Even Cameron thought, maybe let's just see if he wants to cuddle and then a few minutes later said to me, "no, he needs a bottle". Then this morning, he had his cereal, toast and about 60ml's of milk before he stopped nagging and following me everywhere. I think he realises that mummy knows what he wants and will only come to me if he is hungry, wants his bottle or wants to sleep but Daddy is the go-to-man when it's play time. Typical!

He also had a bout of hand, foot and mouth disease, the week before he got bit (was not a good time for him). And even though he had red spots all over his mouth and on his bottom, he was still his happy, go-lucky self and never stopped smiling.

(Cade & Mummy the week he had HFMD - still smiling. Mummy had to stay home to look after him)

Darian's 4 year old check up

I don't know how the time has flown so fast but here we are, with a 4 year old little boy. He is doing so well and from today's B4 School Check, it's proven that my baby is gone and has been replaced by this amazing, wonderful and clever little boy.

So here in NZ kids start school when they are 5, most on the day they turn 5, although that decision is up to the parent. You have the whole year that they are 5 to decide when they start. Anyway, when they turn 4 they go for their final health check with Plunket (the national child care provider) as well as their final immunisations. We had his immunisations done a few weeks ago while we were on leave and with Cade being sick with hand, foot & mouth disease and also having a little cold while we were on leave, I've had to reschedule the B4 School check at least 3 times. But today we finally had it and I'm happy to say he passed with flying colours. So the nurse got him to recite the alphabet (he even knows the vowels - "a, e, i, o, u" he keeps repeating), he knows all the colours and he knows his shapes too. She was quite clever in that she got him to colour in a picture and while he did he started saying the colours out loud and of course, they were all his favourite. Then she got him to throw and catch a ball to test his reflexes and motor skills and then got him to build with some blocks, which of course he loved. The nurse gave me so many pamphlets to read up on, including healthy eating, parenting styles, etc. But I know I just have to trust my instincts with him. He's doing so well and is growing up so well. I trust God has him in the palm of his hands and that Darian is just going to go from success to success.

He is 17.7kg's and 106cm and is within the 50th percentile for both weight & height. Still a picky eater and will only eat the usual, weetbix, toast, peanut butter sandwiches, jam sandwiches, yoghurt or custard and of course his mummy's pancakes. He loves fruit though, apples, bananas, oranges and I hear at school he eats pears too. And loves milk, water and juice. And of course, he loves cupcakes and chocolate cakes with sprinkles! We do try to get him to try something new but he's a stubborn little fellow. He doesn't like fries anymore unless of course we go to a restaurant.
He has the best imagination and spends hours playing with his toys and creating these stories. I love listening to the stories he makes up with his trains and dinosaurs and animals! He still loves sea creatures and we still spend every weekend going to Kelly Tarltons. He got his dad to buy him a stuffed shark and of course I introduced him to "Bruce" from Finding Nemo so he replays the scene when Marlin & Dory meets Bruce and now knows the whole scene, verbatim! We laugh hysterically as we listen to him playing with all his little sharks and "Bruce" - "fish are friends not food" he screams, or "Anchor, Chum" or "pshht, he's really, pshht, a nice guy, pshht". So funny! Love my boy!
He still loves music and walks around the house with drumsticks, air drumming and pretending he's in a marching band. And even has his brother following him around and around the table, so they really look like they in a marching band. Only thing is Cade's just started walking so Darian goes way too fast for him!
He is learning Te Reo, Maori too. They have Te Reo books at school and he is constantly singing "Mahi Tahi Tamariki-ma" - don't ask me what that means but I know it's a good thing! LOL!
He loves playing with daddy and every day waits for daddy to come home from work and cries constantly, daddy play with me!!
I love the relationship he & his brother have and am beginning to see how close they'll be. Although, now that CAde is walking and into everything, we constantly hear "Mummy come take Cade" when Cade is in his room, playing with his toys. Or "No Cade" or "Stop it Cade". It's tiring, but it's so awesome.

So we've started makig enquiries at Huapai District School which will be the school we will be zoned for when we move to the new house and so we will start taking him for school visits from February next year. That scares me, my baby will be starting school soon. Where has the time gone?!

Darian's annual dental Appointment

Today we visited the mobile dental clinic at Rutherford Primary school for Darian's annual dental check up. As he is a low risk and has such a good set of teeth we don't need to see them any more than annually. Anyway, the dental therapist was extremely happy with Darian's teeth and he was just amazing, sitting still, listening and ever so excited to have his mouth inspected. He got 2 stickers and a spider necklace which he was very proud to take to daycare and show off to all his friends.

While we were there, the dental therapist looked at Cade's teeth too and was very happy with him as well as the fact that we've introduced the toothbrush to him. Even though he isn't meant to see the dental therapist til at least 15 months, as we were there, he got in on the action too. He was a bit worried but soon relaxed and let he check his mouth.

Sadly there aren't any pics of Cade cos he was on my lap but we'll do it next time!

They are both such healthy, happy boys! I'm so pleased and beyond blessed.

Our almost 4 year old

Darian is almost 4, how did that happen? Not only is he growing in leaps and bounds but he is the best big brother in the world. He loves his little brother so much and I am so impressed by their relationship.

So, what is he into at the moment. All things Kelly Tarlton's, we've been there too many times to count in the last few weeks and we have promised to go a lot more times in the weeks to come. He is also very into trains and airplanes and helicopters. We've tried appeasing the train obsession by taking him to MOTAT but he was more interested in the airplanes and very dissatisfied with the fact that he couldn't get onto the airplanes. Our next stop is to try to get him to an air show so I have to keep on the look out for that. We also have promised to take him to the Glenbrook Vintage Train Day Out with Thomas event so we have to keep to that. At our Seeport event he got really up close to a helicopter but because it was so loud he retreated a bit and was happy to steer clear. He hasn't quite been bitten by the boats bug yet and thankfully with my contacts at the Port I'm sure when he is of age we could get him on board one of the tugs.

He love riding his bike and is a pro at it. We have yet to take the training wheels off yet as we need to train him a bit more, I think I'm just a tad over protective so maybe we'll do that when mummy is ready! 

He repeats almost everything he hears and of course has mastered the Kelly Tarlton's you tube video almost verbatim. Which is the CUTEST thing I've ever heard. 

Since he turned 3 he has only been attending day care 3 days a week, and with my mum still here with us she takes care of both him & Cade on the days he isn't at day care. He loves his teachers and the centre Manager, Robyn, is his fave at the moment. Rianna is still his closest friend however I have noticed that they tend to play with others now, more and more. Last week Darian spent most of his days at school with Mackenzie, but Rianna was on holiday so we'll see what happens there. On the days that Cade is at day care with him he tends to spend more time in the babies room taking care of his brother than he does with his friends. 

He still loves reading books and at the moment his favourite is "We're going on a croc hunt". He loves listening to the CD over and over and over again. We had to buy him the book and CD for Christmas last year as well as we couldn't always guarantee we could get it from the library. He also loves visiting the library and can spend hours just looking through the shelves of books and playing with the toys they have on display. 

After the issues we had in the past with his breathing, we have finally made some headway and thank the Lord have no more issues. A few months ago we were referred to an ENT specialist, Dr Robert Gunn. He wasn't keen to perform the Tonsillectomy as our GP preferred and put us on a nasal spray for a few weeks to see how it changed. Well, after a few days we saw a major difference with him. He started sleeping through the night and the sleep apnoea just went away. So Dr Gunn told us to just keep using the spray, he says even his own son uses this daily and it helps so much. With the significant changes we've seen we will continue to do so and are so grateful our boy didn't have to go under the knife again. After two adenoidectomies I wasn't happy to let him go for another operation so I'm glad it didn't happen. 

We haven't successfully potty trained him yet but we're getting there. I don't want to push him as I've seen this backfire with some kids so to maintain a healthy relationship with the potty we'll wait til his ready. 

The eating is still not the best. He still loves his weet-bix or "breakfix" but will not eat much throughout the day. He prefers sandwiches, marmite or peanut butter and still loves his fruit and yoghurt. He also is just like his dad and loves to drink water and is really into his Nesquik and Calci-yum. We keep trying to offer him new food but he refuses. We'll get there.

He still loves his music, Of Monsters and Men is still his favourite. Even though he has gone through phases of loving Bruno Mars and Pharrell he still keeps coming back to Of Monsters and Men. He loves music, his drums are always out and even plays with his brothers little trumpet toy as well. He sings all day long and (just like his mama) memorises jingles really quickly. 

He is currently enrolled at Twinkle Toes and Playball at school and on weekends we take him to swimming lessons, this semester he is enrolled at WestWave swim school. Twinkle toes is a dance class that incorporates movement and music. He loves it. We didn't sign him up at first but after a few classes Robyn rung us at school to tell us that he is so keen and they just can't keep him away when the class is going on, so we signed a deal with the dance teacher and got him in halfway through the semester. At Playball they learn co-ordination and teamwork through playing different sport oriented games. He absolutely loves Playball and Twinkle toes and can't wait to get to school on the days they're on. 

He loves helping mum out in the kitchen and wants to always be involved in anything I've got going on. I have to give him little jobs when I'm busy so he doesn't get under my feet too much. He especially loves it when I use the planetary mixer and wants to help add all the ingredients into it. And he is finally over his fear of the food processor. I don't know why but he would get so scared of the food processor, so much so that he would not come out of his room til it was literally packed away. He is over it now though and is quite proud of the fact that he is scared anymore and will proudly announce "I not scared of the food processor mummy". Too cute! 

Summer 2016

Well it sure has been a scorching hot summer in Auckland and I wish I could say we're enjoying every moment, but Lord knows I am not used to this heat anymore. It is very reminiscent of Durban weather so much so my dear mother seems to not be coping with the heat, much to my amazement as it wasn't that long when she experienced Durban in it's full summer glory, whereas we haven't experienced one since 2010. With temperatures easily going into the 30's (Celsius) and humidity in the high 60's (%) it is really sweltering in Auckland, in fact even the south island, known for it's cool weather is reaching record highs. We shouldn't complain though because once it's over we'll have 9 months of cool, rainy weather! So let's enjoy it!

Since I've been so bad at keeping the blog updated I thought I would just do one post that includes all the stuff we've been getting up to the last few months. (Not like it's the first time I've done this but I really can't find the time to update this blog so I apologise to any and all followers.)

We've spent our summer days at the beach and when Cameron was on his Christmas leave (and I was still on maternity leave) we tried very hard to do as much as we could with the kids. Lots of days exploring the city and doing fun stuff with Darian, as much as we can! He is absolutely obsessed with Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium at the moment so we had to get an annual pass so that we could take him as often as he wants. It works out as well, in that we get out of the sweltering heat and into some decent air conditioning. Although not very good for my claustrophobia but I've survived so far.

Here are just a few pics of what we've gotten up to in Auckland this summer:

At MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology). It was a special trip, just with Darian. He absolutely loves any vehicle, especially Trains and Airplanes so this was right up his alley. We had to do the Aviation Display Hall twice because he just couldn't get enough. But was very dissapointed that he couldn't get onto the airplanes. Cade stayed home with Granny on this occasion!

On the Tram - MOTAT is 40acres big so to go from the Aviation Hall to the other exhibitions you can take a Tram (or walk) and as Darian is slightly obsessed with Trains, we had to go on the tram (and it was the only reason he would leave the Aviation Hall).

At the Aviation Display Hall 

This Seaplane was a favourite for me. Working at the Ports of Auckland, the building our offices are located in, is the original Engineering Building where these awesome planes were engineered and maintained. These seaplanes would fly into Auckland Harbour and the "bay" in which they flew into (which is currently the body of water which is now at the Fergusson Terminal end of the Port) is aptly named, Mechanics Bay.  

Our little Captain, saluting

At the Sounds Amazing - Discover the Science of Sound Exhibition

He loved the walking piano

Special shout out to Nana - "All Aboard Nana"

At the Science on the Move exhibition

Enjoying the steam train - one of his favourite things is trains 

The Transport Exhibition was more interesting for mum & dad, Darian couldn't quite understand why he couldn't get into all the cars and trucks 

At the MOTAT Playground 

The Tram - Darian was super excited to be aboard this beauty. It's hard to believe that Auckland was once a city filled with working tram. The trams used at MOTAT are old, working Auckland trams that have been refurbished. 

Kelly Tarltons Sea Life Aquarium is Darian's new favourite place to go. For the last few weeks it is all he talks about and the only place he wants to go. He just can't seem to get enough. Here are just a few pics from our family trip there.

Isn't that just the cutest face!!!

Seeport 2016 - At the Ports Of Auckland Annual Open weekend. Had a blast on all the carnival rides. What was meant to be a fun evening out ended early as the rain started and we thought it best to get out before the kids got sick. Although the rain came and went and it was supposedly a great evening with Music from the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and Fireworks off the wharf. Oh well, there's always next year!