We're Back!

We are back from a glorious four days out in the middle of nowhere.

We actually did very little while we were there - exactly the plan! Although the farmer's wife commented that whenever she saw us we were feeding the twins.

The house, which was located in the back garden of the main farm house, was a fully equipped, functional house with a lounge, massive kitchen and two bedrooms. We even had satellite TV.
We spent most of our time on the front lawn of our house (our own private lawn) sitting under a massive umbrella or basking in the winter sun. The farmer's wife really looked after us sending out biltong and nuts, fresh farm milk (daily), freshly baked bread with home made butter and jam and custard pies through the day. Not bad for a self-catering facility!

The holiday was wonderful for all of our relationships - Daniel and Emma really enjoyed being with us. I feel as if all the relationships and bonds are really beginning to grow very solid as they begin to recognise us as part of the team! Shows the importance of these kinds of holidays.
Emma has become a really busy child always crawling after us or climbing over us or angling to hold herself up against our legs or a chair. Unfortunately, she sometimes slips and falls quite hard - all part of the learning curve. She still has no fear of falling off a chair or couch so I dread the day for that learning to happen. However, I have noticed that she is far more cautious when she is getting down from a standing position. Maybe, the learning will come through lesser experiences. Lets hope so.
Daniel is also starting to pull himself up to stand, but is not doing nearly enough crawling yet. He spends a lot of time playing quietly, singing away to himself or lying on his back while kicking madly and beating some toy to death in his hand. Interestingly enough, he does not respond to a curt warning (Emma usually thinks about it and then bursts into tears but she listens to the warning). Daniel listens, thinks and then carries on as if he didn't understand, when we know that he did register. Interesting as one realises the value of the loud verbose trouble maker versus the difficulty posed by the silent rabble rouser.

Both battled with the strange environment full of very different noises and smells. When we arrived, Emma was very clingy, crying as soon as we moved away from her. That night Daniel woke up with a complete panic attack which took about an hour to sort out. He then managed to scream Emma awake, who then was ready to play for the next hour! We loved them though when they slept through to 9 am the next morning.
Last night, our last night at the farm, was the first night that they slept through - obviously they were now comfortable with the place.

They had their first fight! Daniel was playing with a toy that Emma came and just took away. Daniel then grabbed it back - without not making a sound. This to-and-from continued until Daniel took exception to Emma mounting a full bodily assault on him. She actually then lost interest but he was quite disturbed and screamed loud enough to wake Fiona up (she was sleeping in the house). He took quite a bit of calming even though he had won the battle!
They also now regularly launch high pitched screams at each other - obviously a form of friendly communication as it is accompanied by big smiles.

While we were there we saw a lamb being borne in front of us which was nice. Just wish the children were old enough to appreciate it - that will come with time. We also watched the sheep being sheared which was interesting. We felt sorry for them as it was quite cold at night - luckily we had wonderful log fire going in the lounge to protect us from the cold.
A bossy rooster punctured our Spar soccer ball [we were warned he was aggressive and when he threatened to go into our kitchen, I shooed him away which brought on an attack from him - so he had the ball thrown at him (hell it was my legs or the ball) which he then attacked before leaving us alone]. Both children actually played more with the smaller punctured ball than before it was punctured - a divine intervention for the two inexperienced parents?

Yesterday evening we did a wonderful dusk walk through the fields of mielie stubble - everything is waiting for the rains. Both children were laughing out loud and happily calling out to us and each other. A wonderful memorable experience in dusty light that only Africa can produce. We'll see the photos tomorrow.
Daniel now travels in a back pack on my back which is a pleasure to carry compared to the kango that Emma still travels in. The kangos get heavier much sooner whereas the back back is a more natural carry. The back pack even has a built-in stand so you can stand it up to put the child in or out of it. Very nice equipment.

Our minds are refreshed and and our bodies rested. Bedtime!