February 2011 - 16 MONTHS!

Wow 16 months! Time has been flying! Especially being at Ouma and Oupa's house!
On the 7th we had to get ready to fly out to go back home, it was a sad time of goodbyes, but we are very much looking forward to Oupa maybe coming in the summer to visit and be with us at summer camp!!!! :)
Getting back home was very different, cold, grey and dark. Mikki misses his ouma, oupa and family that side. He misses being able to just go outside into the sunshine and playing with the dogs. Here mamma dresses him with layers and layers and layers and it takes forever to get out.
This month Mikki got another two teeth! During our time in South Africa he got six teeth!!! Wow, we should go there more often :) So now Mikki has 14 teeth!
This month Mikki has been changing so much! He is growing daily and is doing so well!!
Some highlights:
*He started saying "sssssss" for the sound a snake makes :)
*Started kicking a ball
*He tries to say "woof" for the sound a dog makes, but he only gets "ffff" out. :) It is so cute!!!!
*He started saying ball, he says it with the double "ll" sound silent :) It is so cute!
*He is bouncing on his big ball all by himself! Ok, well he holds on to the couch but it is still amazing!!!!
*And the best of the month, is probably that when he is asks how old he is, he shows the number 1 with his pointy finger!! :)
He is getting so smart, so big, and so much more amazing!!! Mamma and pappa love him so much and are so proud of him!

January 2011- 15 MONTHS!!!

Yip, we are 15 months already and time is just flying by here in South Africa!

This month has been a major "tooth" month! This month Mikki kicked out three teeth!!! So now he has 12 teeth!!! WOW!!!

The major thing this month is probably that Mikki has started weaning himself! At night he is still waking up tons and drinking, but during the day he is totally off of nursing! :( For him that is great and mamma is so proud of him for weaning off by himself (that has also made it a lot easier physically for mamma) but mamma misses those special times!

With not nursing during the day, Mikki is eating a lot more solids and gone are the mushy-mushy foods, he only wants real food now :) Hooray!!!

Mikki is babbling A LOT more now, we think that all the people and little ones around has also helped a lot :) He is also starting to try and make new words, like "kagggg" for car. :)

Mikki is walking faster and faster and he is not walking with his hands up anymore, he looks like a real big boy now! :)

The BIG thing for this month is that Mikki started swimming lessons and he is LOVING it! He is doing really well and catching up with what the others in class have already learnt. We think that he is doing even better than the others :)

We went to the zoo this month with his cousins and he loved it! All the excitement was just too much for him and he fell asleep :)

We also got to visit the Lion Park for Mikki's aunty's birthday! He LOVED it! We got to see loads of lions from the car and Mikki kept saying "gggggggg" to them :) Then we went to go and play with the lion cubs as well as feed the giraffes! We had a ball of a time!!!!

December 2010- 14 MONTHS!

Wow, we are 14 months old and in South Africa! :)
Before we came Mikki was dedicated in our church in Odessa :) It was so wonderful to bring our little one before the Lord and to promise to God and the church that we will raise Mikki in a God honouring way!

Mikki is LOVING his time with oupa, ouma and all the family!
It has taken him about three weeks to get used to the new environment, all the people, the animals and such but he is loving it!
Mikki has stopped taking his afternoon nap, too much action and excitement! With Mikki not taking his nap he also went down to only one nursing a day! He is eating more mushy solids. For now there is no new favourite foods, but he does enjoy eating with everyone :)
What was really cool is that he recognized everyone from the photos that he has back home :) So that was fun. He tries to say oupa and does really well with ouma! Go ouma!!! Hee hee hee. He is trying to communicate with everyone around him in babble :) His little cousin, Joseph and him had a big chat the other day :) (That only the two of them understood of course :)
Mikki is walking more "solidly" and walks with his hands up in the air for balance. He is doing SUPER well though and seems to be getting faster and faster!!!
Mikki LOVES playing with Lexi, ouma and oupa's dog. Pappa and Mikki go out every morning to throw the ball to Lexi :) Some mornings Lexi even meets them at the window and "calls" to them to come out. By the end of the month Mikki also started throwing the ball by himself to Lexi!!

Highlights in South Africa so far for Mikki has been:
1. the family - loads of friends and love, cuddles, hugs, and all!!! :)

2. driving in a car seat in oupa's car! He LOVES it! He looks like a little king on his throne! :)

3. the WATER! :) Yes, he is loving all the water! Ouma has sprinklers in her garden, and Mikki found out that he can get the sprayers to spray hims! :) He had a ball. Also the bath times have been really fun! All the cousins all together in the bath, yet I must add that little Naomi and Mia are not so much enjoying these two "wild water loving boys" in the bath with them. One morning Mia was bathing and she wanted to bath alone, very understandable. Mikki was standing next to the bath watching her. Mamma and ouma were right next to the bath chatting and watching the kids. Well one moment Mikki was outside the bath and the next.... He dived head first into the bath, turned himself around, sat up and started playing - clothes, diaper and all!!! Needless to say he had a great big smile on his face, as you can see! :)

Mikki also got a tooth this month! Yes, the fourth bottom right tooth! Now he has nine teeth in all. You go Mikki!!! :)

Mikki is also enjoying the little blow up pool in the garden :)

4. Mikki REALLY likes going shopping... mostly because of the trolly's :)

5. Mikki REALLY REALLY likes going to a park not far from where oupa and ouma live, having picnics, playing, running....

Christmas Day 2010!

It is Christmas Day!
Praise the Lord for coming to this earth, humbled as a mere baby - for us!
We as a family had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Saviour all together. All of the family were together! Even mamma's sister and her family came all the way from the States!!! We had LOADS of fun together as a family and it was just such a blessing to be all together!

Christmas "stocking bags"

We had Christmas lunch at Mikki's great aunty's place and for lunch we had a traditional "POKIE KOS"

Two of Mikki's cousins, (from left to right) Naomi and Laila 

Oupa receiving the first gift- his Santa hat of course! Great Excitement!!! 

Mikki's Uncle Pieter and Aunty Nikki

Oupa and Aunty Zandri

Great Oupa and Ouma

The girls decorating their very own Christmas tree! (From left to right) Naomi, Laila and Mia.

Our very "normal" family- Great Uncle Jacques and Aunty Zandri

Great Uncle Frans and Aunty Liezel 

Oupa and Ouma!!!!

Looking back on Week 50

Wow another week gone and over!! AND only two more till our little one turns his BIG ONE!!! Can you believe how time flies!!!
Food:
Mikki has been doing really well with his solids this week. Mamma and pappa are so proud of him!! He started not wanting to nurse this week, especially in the mornings, he is just not interested. (?) Maybe he is ready to move on to solids… ?
* We gave him pumpkin this week! Mamma thought that he would just love pumpkin, but he does not really care for it, well at least not on the first few tries.
*We added cinnamon to Mikki’s oats and apples. He loved it!!
This week:
* The good news is that we have gotten rid of the thrush in Mikki’s mouth. On Tuesday he was “clean” :) Yipppeeee!!!
* His walking is improving SUPER tons and he really could walk by himself if he wanted to! A few times this week he let go of our finger, but then sank down. Any day now :)
* Even though he is able to crawl now, he is really not interested. Even if we put something that he really wants out in front of him, he will still try and reach it from a standing position. Only if he really, really has to will he crawl, funny little guy :)
*Mikki is talking SO much more this week. He is saying “gggggg” to everything. :) He is also making a ton of different sounds. It is so amazing to see him communicating more :)
*Potty training has gone VERY well this week. Mikki started realizing that he should go for number two on his potty :) He is doing really well. Mamma and pappa sometimes miss the opportunity, but Mikki seems to understand what it is all about :)
* Mikki has been ULTRA fussy :( Not quiet sure why though. He is still not sleeping well during the night, we did get him to sleep from 8pm till around 11-12pm with the help of some rice cereal, but after that he wakes up just about every hour crying!!! :(
* He started biting us this week!!! Really hard too!!! When we hold him he bites our shoulders, or our chins! Why?