South Africa 2014 - Part 1

It's taken me 2 weeks to write this, mostly as it's been super busy being back at home, work and routine. But now that I can finally sit down in some peace and quiet, I can focus and get all these amazing memories written down.

We planned our trip to South Africa, months ago, as you know and amazingly the time dragged on as we waited for this trip and then, just like that it was over but the memories we made from this trip and the time spent with our families has been overwhelming and so so so special.

As Darian was going to be away for a full month, we took a few snaps on his last day at daycare. He seemed to take forever to say goodbye to his teachers and friends, and would not leave without saying goodbye to his new favourite teacher, Young (the only male teacher at the centre).

In the photo's below, Darian is hugging Rianna, his little girlfriend, the two of them are joined at the hip and although "Na" (what Darian calls her) is a few days older than Darian, he is totally smitten with her. And then you can see him playing outside, he took forever to play as if he knew he wouldn't play there for a while.

As this was the official last day for him in the Babies room, I had to take a pic with him and his two teachers who looked after him so well for the past one and a half years. Sam (holding Darian) is the senior teacher in the babies room and absolutely loves our little boy and we are so happy that in the time we were in SA, she was moved to the Over 2's room so she gets to look after Darian now that he has transitioned. Maylin (on the right) has been looking after Darian since he was 6 months old. I always teased her that he was more her baby than mine. He calls her May-May and she nicknamed him Dae-Dae, a name he calls himself! I'm so grateful for these amazing women who have been so good at taking care of my baby and helping him develop into the little munchkin he is today. They've taught him so much and I know their influence on him will always be imprinted on his psyche. 

So, the trip to South Africa started on Thursday, 10 April with a very early start. We had a 7am flight so had to be at the airport at 5am. The shuttle picked us up at about 4:15am and in the cold Auckland weather we headed off to Auckland international Airport. Darian woke up as we got into the shuttle, and was so excited that we were on the move. It's like he knew something great was about to happen. We checked in about 5am and then headed to the International Departure lounge. Darian didn't want to be in the pram so going through security, we were the parents with the screaming child. Most were accommodating, so that was good, an old couple even stopped to try and assist me while Cameron went into a shop to get last minute supplies and gifts for home. We got onto our flight, without much hassle and Darian was so excited to sit in his seat and put on the earphones and seatbelt. He sat still and watched Peppa Pig all through take off and once we were in the air he wanted to look out the window. He was very well behaved, even ate some yoghurt and toast from the breakfast tray.

He was very well behaved on the plane and we were very grateful. He fell asleep as we moved from one gate to the next and although we thought we wouldn't make it onto the next plane, through mistakes made by the check-in clerk at Auckland International, we got straight onto the Sydney-Jo'burg flight with a sleeping toddler. 

*Just a side note, the help offered at Sydney International was invaluable, without their expedient help and eye for detail we would have surely missed our flight, but I'm grateful God had his hand on us and even though Air NZ had failed to check us into the next flight and had not checked in our baggage, we managed to get this all sorted at the Transfer desk in Sydney with the help of a wonderful Qantas assistant.*

Darian slept for about 5 hours on the plane and when he woke up we gave him dinner. Then he wanted to walk around the plane a few times. He then played games and watched videos on the Samsung tablet we had bought especially for this moment and then slept another hour or two before we landed. He was amazing and we were so relieved as we were expecting him to be as miserable as he was on our last trip to Sydney over Christmas.

We got to Johannesburg airport only to find out that Cameron's baggage was left in Sydney (along with a few other passengers bags) so had to check in only Darian & my bags to Durban. Thankfully his bag arrived Saturday afternoon so he didn't have to go too many days without his stuff. We arrived in Durban and as the plane landed Darian fell asleep, to our disappointment, as we were really interested to see his reaction to everyone when we landed. But as soon as we got to everyone, Ricky (Cam's uncle) politely grabbed Darian out of my arms and carried him and he then woke up about 10 mins later, bright eyed and bushy tailed. He loved all the attention, well after he made sure we were still around, and yes he needed a little cuddle from mum first but once we were at home he was so happy to be running around and playing with everyone. 

Our first night was as expected, catching up with everyone and relishing being back home. Unfortunately on our second night Cam had a few people over for drinks and sometime that evening, while Darian & I slept on one room and Cam's parents in another, someone rummaged through my stuff and stole some of my jewellery, including my wedding rings, and R800 cash out of Cam's dad's wallet. We woke up Saturday morning to discover this and, needless to say it pretty much ruined the excitement we had of being home. Cam's mum had organised a few of the ladies in the family (including mine and Shamini's mum) to attend a charity breakfast for the Feed the Babies Fund at the Hilton Durban. 

That morning I had woken up and started getting my things ready and although I noticed my suitcase open, didn't think twice of it as I though, "oh I must've left it open". But when I started getting my jewellery out I realised my rings weren't where I left them and then panic set in. I searched the whole suitcase (upturned everything) and Cam's mum moved the bed to look under it and found one of my earrings, then I realised that a few of my earrings were also missing. When she checked Cam's dad's wallet and we realised money was also missing, we knew then that it wasn't just me having a lapse in memory but rather that someone had taken it. We went on with the day nonetheless, me holding back the tears and smiling through it all. And that evening Cameron and his dad went to the Police Station to report it. The worst part was that Saturday was our 6th Wedding Anniversary, needless to say, the saddest one we've had.

Our First week was somewhat uneventful, we spent most days trying to get Darian into a routine. The jetlag did get to him as he was sleeping at all odd times and although he would go down for a nap, he would sleep for like 3-4 hours during the day and then at night would sleep between 11pm and midnight but at least we got a bit of a sleep in as he was sleeping til 9am! We did manage to do some shopping and visit our old favourite place to be, Gateway Theatre of Shopping and also managed to visit Suncoast Casino, where we had gone for lunch on Pam's (Cam's aunt) birthday on Monday the 14th. Darian had a grand ole time playing at the kids playcentre at Spur Restaurant at Suncoast. 

As Darian and my dad share the same birthday (April 16th) we had to have a celebration with the two of them together, so we headed off to Wimpy at Windermere Centre for a birthday breakfast. Darian really clicked with dad, this was the first time they had ever met. We had a really good catch up and after breakfast said our goodbyes and headed home. It was a rainy day but still so humid, so although all the Durbanites were wearing boots, scarves and the like, we were in shorts and tees... to used to NZ weather!

Dad & Darian at breakfast on April, 16th - celebrating their shared birthday

At Gateway Theatre of Shopping

At Suncoast Casino

Back home, my mum came over and brought Darian his gifts, a race car and a semi-truck with a boat on its trailer, and he was totally thrilled with it (thanks mum). We then spent the day just relaxing and enjoying our little 2 year old. Darian and Granny (my mum) played a new game which became the game for the holiday. He would stand at one end of the drive at Cam's parents place and mum would say "Ready, Steady, Go" and he would jet off, speeding down to the other end of the drive. He would do this over and over and over until he was exhausted. But every time, my mum said "go" he would laugh with delight and then take off. He soon learned that granny wasn't the only one who knew this game and he would "teach" everyone that came over, his new game.

Playing "Ready, Steady, Go" with Granny

We then had dinner and Cams dad brought home a cake for Darian so we got to sing "Happy Birthday" to him and have some cake.

Singing Happy Birthday to our now 2 year old

Having some birthday cake

That Thursday I headed off to the hair salon (my old hairdresser) who happens to now live & work out of the house I lived in when I was in high school. So it was surreal going to the house and being in the place where I spent my teen years. Colleen (hairdresser) gave me a semi-new look. For those who don't know, I've been natural for a few months now. From the age of 6, I've always had my hair chemically straightened (or relaxed) and late last year I decided (after heaps of research) that it was time to see what my natural hair looks like. So I cut my hair into a shoulder length bob, cutting off all the relaxed parts and as it never really had a style, I decided to go further and do a BIG CHOP. And thankfully I had Cameron in my corner, motivating me to "do something different". Colleen was so keen and grateful that I had decided to go natural, she says she's trying to get all her clients to go natural but I guess it's not easy, it's hard to change a mindset when we've been taught that straight is best and curly aint! So we did the big chop and then decided that the next week I would come back for a colour.

This is me after the Big Chop.

And me after the colour (done about a week after the cut)

So we went into the weekend, getting ready for Darian's big birthday bash. That story deserves it's own spotlight so I'll have to do it's own little post.

Stay tuned!

Corrinne

Too much to catch up on

Ok, so I thought I would back track and update the blog on all that's happened with individual posts but looking back there's way too much to talk about! So I'm doing it all in one, concise little post!

Since my last post, we've been to Sydney over Christmas, our little boy has grown exponentially and we're in the middle of planning a trip back home. Work has also been quite busy for both of Cameron & I and we've been trying to tidy up the house, well Cameron has. He's been water blasting and staining the deck and fence so that it's all neat and tidy. And has done a remarkable job so far.

It's been a beautiful summer in Auckland so far and we're dreading the end of it, with the end of summer comes cold, wet, dreary weather so we have to take advantage of this as much as we can.

To start our wonderful summer holidays we had our annual Ports of Auckland Christmas Family day at ASB Showgrounds and Darian had his face painted for the first time and got to play on bouncy castles which was much to his excitement.

Darian's daycare also had an awesome Christmas party but all the pics are hazy and distorted cos mr didn't stop dancing and had a massive tantrum when it was time to go home!

Over Christmas we headed over the ditch to see Bradley & Shamini. It was a wonderful two weeks of holiday that ended way too quickly. We visited the Australian Reptile Park, where no one took pity on me, who was a blubbering mess looking at all the snakes, reptiles, spider and other dangerous creatures in the Aussie wild.

Darian had a wonderful time playing at the beach, park and other exciting places we visited.

And on Christmas Day we got to spend a relaxing day at home, eating all kinds of yummy food and enjoying each other's company.

New Years was a quiet one for us. For the first time in a long time. We ended 2013 finding out Shamini is pregnant. She had a positive HPT on December 31st and another one on New Years Day. She then had a subsequent appointment with her GP who confirmed her pregnancy that Thursday, the day before we left. So our holiday ended on a massive high!

I promise to blog pics as her pregnancy progresses. 2014 is a baby boom year for the Pillay/Subban Family. Not only will Bead & Sham have their first in late August, but Cam's cousin, Kremalin & his wife Reena are expecting a week before Brads & Sham and Nicole, Cameron's cousin in Cape Town and her hubby are expecting their first at the end of May. Darian will have heaps of cousins by the end of 2014 and won't be the only one in his generation anymore!

On a sad note, at the end of 2013 we also lost the "Father" of our nation, South Africa. Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5th 2013. It was a sad day for all South Africans and was felt all across the globe. I happened to be in the office when the news broke, and one of my colleagues walked out of his office and announced it. I had to then google it to see if it was true. I spent the rest of the day reading up on all the good works and the life of this remarkable man and what he meant to me, as a South African. I also started reading his book, A Long Walk to Freedom.

So far, 2014 has been a busy year for us. Darian is now 22 months old and growing like a weed. He loves daycare and loves helping mum & dad around the house. Whether it be daddy in the garden or mum in the kitchen, he is always around saying, "help, help". He is such a joy and even though we're in the middle of tantrum season, we love every minute of parenthood. He is starting to mimic all we do and repeat all we say. Soon we will have to start censoring our vocab. He loves animals and thoroughly enjoys visiting the zoo. He's favourite animals are the seals and can spend hours just watching them play in the "Ta" (water). He is also loving his stuffed animals at the moment, including the "mama" (monkey - which is not funny that he has the same word for both mum and monkey), the "popo" (Hippo), pig and frog. He is still very much into his musical instruments and we are considering getting him a drumset but weighing up the noise factor against whether he will really enjoy it or not! And have decided once he turns 3 he'll start piano lessons, hoping his interest is still musically inclined by then.

We are planning a trip back to SA in April/May so that we can have Darian's second birthday party there so I'm in planning mode again. Lots to plan for with catching up with family & friends. It's super exciting!

So, I've tried to catch up as much as I can. I need to plan a day every week to update the blog so that I keep to it! Harder than it seems, keeping a blog updated!

So that's it from me for now. See you on the flip side!

Fathers Day 2013

We celebrated Fathers Day in New Zealand this past Sunday which also happened to be the first day of Spring, September 1st.

Darian had made a card for Daddy at school and they also baked Ginger cookies for all dads which was really cool. They had arranged a packed lunch for all dads for the Friday before but Cameron had a 7:30am meeting and couldn't drop Darian off at school so he missed out on that.

Saturday we headed to the park so Darian could let off some energy. He enjoyed playing in the sunshine. We took his ball as well so him & dad played with the ball on the grass which they both enjoyed. As usual, Darian found a steering wheel, which was nailed into the jungle gym and once he saw that, that was all he wanted to play with. We've decided we have to find him a steering wheel he can play with at home, cos no matter which park we go to, he finds something with a steering wheel, a car or a boat and stays there for the duration of our visit.

On Sunday we had a lazy morning. Darian gave Daddy his gift (a ear, nose and eye brow hair trimmer) and after a home cooked Fathers Day breakfast we got ready for church. Darian played a bit while we got ready and we got him dressed in his baseball shirt that uncle Bradley & aunty Shamini bought for him last Christmas and finally fits him. He looked so cool, and dad was super chuffed with his gorgeous boy on Fathers Day.

After church we got home and Darian had a nap. I intended on going to the Zoo for the afternoon but my boys decided they wanted to stay home for the afternoon and have family time.

We then headed to Ponsonby for an early dinner at Thai Classic.

It was a great Fathers Day weekend. I said to Cameron that for the rest of his life he will always have a celebration on Fathers Day and his response, "and the gifts can only get better as Darian gets older". Don't know what that meant but you can draw your own conclusions! LOL!

We are very grateful for such an amazing man that is the head of our home. God has truly blessed us with a strong man of integrity to lead our family. I'm so blessed that my boy has such a wonderful role-model. I love you honey! Happy Fathers Day!

My 30th Birthday weekend

Well the big 30 has finally arrived. I still feel like I'm the 19 year old Cameron met but sadly. Where has the time gone? I would say I was sad to turn 30 but I wasn't, I think the thought of it did get to me as saying "I'm 30" just didn't seem plausible. I cannot believe how fast time has gone. Now with Darian in our lives, time is flying by even faster.

Cameron has been talking up my birthday weekend for months now and had so much planned but sadly his dad fell ill about 2 weeks before my birthday and Cameron & Bradley decided on the spur of the moment to go to South Africa. Dad had triple bypass surgery on Saturday the 20th of July. Bradley & Cameron were able to arrive in South Africa on Friday the 19th and were able to see dad before he went into surgery which was awesome. They spent 2 weeks in South Africa (well 10 days) and got back to this side of the world on Thursday the 1st of August. Cameron was adamant he would be home for my birthday and he was. BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER! I can't express how hard it was without him. Both Darian & I pined away for him and were both super excited when he got home.

Needless to say he was very jet-lagged when he got home but still insisted we celebrate as best we could. At midnight he surprised me with my birthday gift, a beautiful peridot ring, which is my birthstone and my favourite colour too....

 I had taken my birthday off so we took Darian to school that morning and headed to the Stamford Plaza for breakfast. It was a nice, relaxing morning.

We then picked Darian up from school and headed back home so my dear husband could have a bit of a sleep.

On Saturday our friends Premika & Lenny came over with their daughter Kajal and CAKE! So they sang happy birthday and we got some Nando's for dinner.

It was a great evening and I'm so glad I got to celebrate with our friends.

On Sunday we headed out to dinner at Y-Not on Princes Wharf. We had a lovely time, just the three of us. 

All in all it was a wonderful birthday celebration. I can't complain about being in my thirties, I have an amazing husband and son and life is just perfect! What else could I ask for.

Darian's 15 month check up

Today we visited Plunket for Darian's 15 month visit. We've gone so many months without a plunket visit that it felt so strange driving into the car park at the clinic. Although I have to say I've been eager to see exactly how big he's gone.

He was a very happy little chap and "chatted" away to the nurse and played with all the toys. She was very happy with him and was very impressed by his social skills and the fact that he was so energetic and boisterous.

Darian's 15 month Stats:

Height: 79cm
Weight: 10.86kg's

The nurse's notes:
Progress: "What an awesome big boy. Very active, some words. Eating and drinking well"
Examination: "16 teeth; clear skin"
Comments: "Continue to brush twice a day; Remember safety with an active toddler; consider trying milk again; Keep up the great work!"

Last week Monday we visited the Mobile Dentist unit in Te Atatu and the dentist was very impressed with his teeth. She said that I would be surprised at how many kids his age have cavities and rotting teeth, all because parents don't pay close attention to good oral health in their kids. That was actually quite sad. Darian brushes twice a day and loves brushing his teeth, although teaching him to spit is the trick! But we'll get there soon enough. At that time he had 14 teeth and two were cutting through, this week they're all out and he has 16 in total.

Tomorrow he is booked in for hi 15 month immunisations which I am not looking forward to at all.
Here's hoping he'll surprise me and be a strong little boy!

Play time at the park

Today we took Darian to play in the park for a bit. On weekends he gets really bored and so we thought it would be a good chance for him to run around a bit and use up some of that energy.

He & I have gone previously but today was the first time he had gone with dad and he thoroughly enjoyed, I guess mummy doesn't run around with him and make it as much fun as daddy does.

He had so much fun on the slide with his daddy and playing in his favourite thing at the park, the little blue boat. He loves turning the steering wheel and then he loves running around after all the birds and being in the open space!

Mothers Day Celebrations

Well this Mother's Day it was just me and my boys. We decided to celebrate on Saturday evening instead of Sunday because everything is so overpriced on the actual day and well everywhere is so busy on Mothers day so we got out & about on Saturday. We went to Mecca Stonehouse for a five course dinner, which was super cool. 

Darian was well behaved up until the third course so we rushed through the last 2 courses and got him home. He was just over excited and wanted to run around the restuarant instead of sitting in the high chair.

We had an amazing evening, here are a few pics we took at home before dinner.

On Sunday we went to church for the Mother's Day service, which is always a delight at LIFE. We then invited some friends over for a BBQ and spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying some sunshine.

Was a good Mothers Day weekend. Can't get any better than just me & my boys!