Dylan and Emma’s second Birthday

To sum it up they had an excellent day. We had laid out some presents for them in the dining area so we had to make sure while we were getting them ready that they didn’t escape from their room until we were all ready. Emma needed a bit of convincing but we managed to pull it off. They were surprised to see all those boxes when they walked into the dining area. Emma immediately knew what was going on and started unwrapping the presents. On a normal day they have a short play time before breakfast and then they insist on eating. Well Dylan could not believe his luck. He has been enamoured with cleaning tools for quite some time now as you have seen his love for mops in the past. With this in mind we bought him a janitors trolley for his Birthday. Boy was he over the moon. He has spent hours watching Renice, our maid, cleaning the house. He therefore has many good techniques already under his belt. So when he got his own mop, broom, trolley and stuff he was in heaven. He had no interest in eating breakfast, cake or cupcakes. He was cleaning the house. Emma loved unwrapping the presents and unwrapped most of them. She liked the dolls we picked for her but also loves Dylan’s cleaning set. She generally now gets the broom and he has the mop. Anyway Emma had her Birthday breakfast with us. Dylan ate later.

From Janine and other friends in the complex Dylan got his new favourite toys: His Fire engine and his electric screw driver. The Fire engine makes a driving sound when you push it along. Dylan extends the ladder and uses this as a handle like a remote steering wheel. He then pulls his truck along behind him while he runs down the passage and the motor wines. It is really amazing to watch. He was not keen to do this on video though yet. The electric screw driver came with a car that had to be built together with plastic screws. It is as good as the real thing. There are a number of different bits to attach for star and flat screws. Dylan can change these himself. It winds forwards and backwards and even makes the torque noise when the screw is tight. There was no need to show him how all this worked. He just new. Boys and girls are amazing how some things are just entirely preprogramed. Emma is preprogramed when it comes to her dolls. She does exactly what we do with her, with her dolls. Dylan couldn’t be bothered.

In the afternoon Anina and Janine took the kids to the botanical gardens where they enjoyed the nice weather. Later that afternoon some friends in the complex with kids, came round for a small tea party. At the end of the day Emma and Dylan were both very tired but were extremely happy. They truly did have a wonderful day. Anina baked them cupcakes that they loved.

Emma has now really started talking. It started last week when I went to Cape Town for two days. I got back and was bathing her when she said “Mommee” and “Daddee” with great clear annunciation. Up to now she had been mumbling Mama and Dada and similar words but these were real words. That was where it started. Now she has a lot of words. Many of them are not the right words yet but she gets her point across. We can understand most of them but I would not really always call it English yet. The speed at which she catches onto new words though is amazing. Dylan is also coming along and has a couple more words but he is more reserved and holding back.

Emma, like her grandmother, has a great fear of dogs. We went to go and visit someone last week who had small yapping dogs. They were very eager and wanted to lick her. She was terrified. Today we took the kids on their first walk into the neighbourhood without the pram. Emma is now starting to sprout two word sentences. So when some people came walking with their dogs, Emma said to her Mom very pertinently “Woof Up”, meaning she needed be picked up as there was a dog approaching. This is her best two word sentence to date.

Stats:

Emma: Weight 13.055 kg

Dylan: Weight 13.695 kg

Click to see plenty of Birthday pics here

Here are many Birthday videos to enjoy:

Emma unwrapping her first present and Dylan with his penguin:

Emma unwrapping her doll:

Dylan and Emma upwrapping the janitor set:

Dylan showing off his cleaning skills:

Dylan with his own Dustbuster and Emma with the trolley

Emma showing off the new janitors trolley

Emma in her angel set that she got from Jenny

Emma the angel pushing the trolley

Holiday in Umhlanga

Our holiday to Umhlanga went really well, all things considered. It started off a bit rocky with the airline first letting us know by text message that our flight would be delayed. This being the case we put the kids to bed and where preparing for a little rest ourselves when we received the next text message that the flight was now on time. By this time we were now late for the flight. So after a mad rush to get to the airport and three trips back and forth from the car to get the luggage, we arrived in the departure lounge to find that the plane had not yet arrived. They were flying in a backup plane from OR-Tambo that had not arrived yet. The backup plane was not that great either. We boarded the plane, pushed back and the stood on the tarmac for some time. After a while we could see a technician with his head in the left engine. Not good. After another while the captain announced that they were going to have to park the plane again since they could not get the left engine started. A couple more long minutes passed with lots of frantic activity. Eventually they got the engine going. Very disconcerting. Then after having to wait in the queue for about 5 other planes to take off and land we were finally on our way. In Durban all went smoothly and we hired our VW Bus, just like the one we had had in the Cape. It is perfect for us.

Our apartment in Umhlanga was excellent. It was really a home away from home. It had 2 bedrooms on the eighth floor with a beautiful view. We rearranged the second room to fit the kid's cots in. They slept very well and were extremely excited to be on holiday and with the apartment.

The kids walked very far in their terms and got plenty of practice climbing stairs. In the mornings we would take them for a walk on the beach promenade either to the lighthouse or to the pier. Then they would have their mid morning nap. We ate at the apartment most days and then went to the beach in the late afternoon. Our beach time was quite short since after lunch there was not much sunshine time left before the shadows of the large buildings in Umhlanga hid the sun. Then we went back to the apartment to get changed and then put the kids in the pram for a walk along the promenade in the evening. Then the usual bath and dinner routine and by that stage all were ready for a good nights rest.

We took a drive to Uvongo one day. We stopped off in Scottburgh but it was so full we could not even find a place to park let alone walk around. The beach and sea in Uvongo were the best. Here the kids and I went into the sea together. Emma has gotten over her initial fear of the sea she had in the Cape last year. She is now as eager as Dylan. So I had quite a time keeping the two of them upright with waves rushing in. We were in really shallow waters but the kids are not that used to water washing around their feet and ankles. Emma took a tumble with one wave but was having such a whale of a time she didn’t really notice how I had to pluck her upright again. We had a really good time there.

We also took a drive north to Ballito on the one and only rainy afternoon. The development there has been phenomenal with a huge shopping mall and urban sprawl. The afternoon was cloudy and rainy so we could not go to the sea but opted to find a nice place that sold hot chocolate and cake, Cinnamon & Silk. The cakes were awesome and the kids had to learn a bit of style and elegance. We are starting to use the pram less now since the kids can walk better by themselves. They made it to the coffee shop even though we parked on the opposite side of the shopping centre not knowing the setup. The kids mainly ate our own supply of Marie biscuits but did have a couple of bites of gorgeous Toblerone cheese cake.

Sadly Emma got very sick with a cold and high temperature on the day of the British Royal Wedding. Luckily by the next day when we had to depart she was much better. The flight back was uneventful and almost on time. Dylan had the same cold as Emma yesterday and also ran a very high temperature. Last night he was really not well. He slept well though after we gave him medication and today he is much better, still with a bit of runny nose, but no more temperature.

The kids put on some weight on their holiday. The muscles in their legs got to work really hard:

Emma: 13.135 kg

Dylan: 13.780 kg

More pictures of Emma and Dylan on Holiday

Dylan and Emma walking on the beach sand:

Dylan on the beach in Uvongo:

Emma and Dylan having fun:

On the pier looking to the lighthouse: