Hi everyone!

Today’s posting is an auspicious one, it’s my 150th blog! Wow, I can’t believe that I’ve written so much in my short little life already. This roughly translates into a ¼ million words! Before I get into this week’s blog, you may be wondering what’s up with my usual Sunday night posting. Well, it’s a Public Holiday in South Africa today (Human Rights Day, from yesterday), so Dad is home and able to help me with the posting this morning. Also, Mom and Dad went to the Elton John Under African Skies concert at the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens last night, so I had to concentrate on Granny-sitting and couldn’t blog. In case you’re wondering, Mom and Dad said the concert was awesome, and asked me to send a big thanks to Bev and Claire in New York who made it possible for Mom and Dad to go. I must say, the Mom and Dad looked quite humorous last night when they left – owing to parking and traffic congestion at the concert they went on Dad’s bike. Both of them were dressed ready for the Antarctic, and to boot, Mom had a picnic basket on her back! I was getting nervous that they’d be late for the concert, as they left twenty minutes before it started, but apparently, being on the bike, they zipped through the traffic and parked right by the entrance. They were seated before the concert started – I love how my Mommy and Daddy do things!

Being my 150th blog posting I thought it worthwhile to chat a little about the blogosphere (blogosphere is the collective term to describe all blogs in the world). According to Nielsen there are currently in excess of 126 000 000 blogs in the world. Given that the world population is currently estimated at 6 809 900 000, it therefore means that on average every 54th person on the globe has a blog. Wow! I think that’s incredible, considering that blogs only truly made their presence felt in the past decade. From Technorati’s WebPages I also managed to deduce that 60% of bloggers are in the age band 18 to 44, with the majority (28%) being 35 to 44 years old. Two-thirds of bloggers are male, and in excess of 40% are graduates. Statistics also show that most bloggers are actually on a good wicket, earning good professional salaries. Blogging has also opened up a new world of media coverage and analysis, and social scientists even use blogs (and Twitter) as yardsticks of societal behaviours. New types of writing styles have emerged, such as confessional and snarky, to be added to the usual journalistic. Blogs are used by the public to push political agendas and challenge institutionalism. And here I thought I was just sharing my life story!!!! Incidentally, on the topic of social media, Twitter turned four years old yesterday. Did you Tweet #HappyBirthdayTwitter?

Another noteworthy event this past week was that I turned 21 months old on Friday! Wootness. I looked everywhere for the ‘key to the house’ but apparently I’ve got to be 21 years old to get that, not 21 months! From today’s blog title you will have also guessed that it is exactly 80 days to the World Cup kick-off. We’re ready to welcome the world, and are super excited. Dad and I both have matching Germany soccer jerseys, and our German flag still hangs proudly over our front wall.

Ok, now for my week!

On Monday Mom took me to OT and Physio in the morning. I had a pretty hectic workout and snoozed afterward. In the afternoon I helped Mom bake biscuits. Sitting on the floor I helped Mom cut out cookies with a cookie-cutter. We made all sorts of shapes – trains, dinosaurs, rockets and lions. As I was cutting cookies I asked Mom why they are called cookies if one bakes them? Surely they should be called bakies then? Mom didn’t have an answer.

Dad was home on Tuesday morning, as he had to go into hospital for a procedure in his mouth. Sadly 15 years of poor dentistry work has lead to some major surgery now to rectify some issues. We all chilled together for the morning, and Dad watched mournfully as Mom and I drank tea and snacked, as poor Dad was on NPO (nil-per-oral) prior to going under anaesthetic. Dad had a quick appointment in Morningside, and upon returning home Granny arrived to look after me. Mid-morning I bid Mom and Dad farewell, as Mom took Dad to Morningside Medi Clinic. Granny and I got down to some serious playtime. Mommy sent regular messages to say Dad was doing well, and that the surgery proved successful. By late in the afternoon Mom came home to collect me, as Granny had to go back home (she can’t drive in the dark).

At the hospital we found Dad on his bed, fairly lucid. I was so happy to see him again and we played a little. While at the Morningside Medi Clinic Mom and I went to NNICU to visit the nurses that had looked after me for so long. They were thrilled to see me again and marvelled at my progress. For them it’s really important to see their little success stories, as it keeps them motivated, strong and believe that babies do make it. Sadly for them, some don’t, so I visit as a testament to say that many do! We also bumped into Dr Nicoletta which is always a huge treat for me. Hugs were generously dished out all round. En route back to Dad’s ward my usual celebrity status ensued and we bumped into Dr Walch, my regular anaesthetist. Again, a hearty chat followed.

By early evening Dad was told he could go, but it was taking a while for the nurses to arrive to take out his drip (they were doing a shift handover). Mom and Dad then decided that Mom would take Dad’s drip out. As the drip came out, Dad promptly passed out! Mom swung into action, placing me on the ground so I didn’t fall, and then getting Dad onto the bed properly and into a flat position and lowering the bed to flat. Then calling the nurse. I thought it was hilarious! After the better part of 15 minutes Dad eventually came round again, and we left. In the parking lot we saw Dr Nicoletta, and Dr Walch again, and Dr Nicoletta even checked Dad out of hospital, which he forgot to do on the way out. We got home really late, and all three of us fell asleep quickly after a hectic day.

Dad was still booked off on Wednesday to recover, as drilling in one’s jawbone can be quite hectic. He surfaced remarkably well, but kept his actions slow and deliberate. Any fast movements on his behalf caused him to have dizzy spells and go pale. By midmorning, when it was time to go to music, Dad felt he needed to go out, so he joined us. At music he sat in a corner and observed, as there was no chance he could jump and dance and throw me in the air. He did have his camera with him though, so he managed to take some photos. Every so often I crawled over to him to make sure he was ok.

In the afternoon Mom set up some paper for me on the study patio and hauled out my paints. What a wonderful experience – I just sat and painted for hours on end. Needless to say the walls, paving, a cat, one dog, some chairs and the table were also covered in various hues of paint, but that’s the life of an artist I guess.

On Thursday we shipped Dad back off to work. I was really sad at his having to go, but apparently ‘he needs to go make money’. I still don’t fully understand this concept, as I can draw and paint money myself – so why can’t Dad? Oh well, I guess I’m too young to understand the fiscal policies that drive scarce monetary resources in a capitalistic economy of supply and demand, with futures indices and stop losses. During the day, Brenda, Shazza’s sister, came to visit us. We had a nice long chat and I played around her and Mommy. We were excited to learn that she is currently doing a carpentry apprenticeship. I can’t wait to see the goodies she makes.

The exciting news of Thursday was that Nina had a little girl, Kate, at the Sandton Medi Clinic. We sent her lots and lots of love and messages during the day, and even arranged for cousin Lisa to have a Lily ‘n Jack bunny and nursing apron delivered to her. Nina was thrilled! In the evening we all bundled into the car to visit her; unfortunately I fell asleep en route so Mom went in alone to see Nina and welcome little Kate into the world. Jaco and Gené weren’t there as Gené had to go home to do her homework.

Friday Dad had to go back to the dentist (in fact to two dentists for two appointments), so he left a little later than usual. During the morning Granny popped in and I promptly fell asleep! Mommy then spent much of the day making and icing cupcakes and decorating candles for Rachel, Jen’s niece, as it was her birthday on Saturday. When I woke up there was a good deal of activity around the house. Dad also arrived home a little later and spent the afternoon working from home, picking pieces of dental rubber from his teeth and lips (which I thought was hilarious).

Kyle and his Mommy Helen popped in for a visit. It was awesome to see Kyle again, as he and I share a special bond, having lain side-by-side in NNICU for so long. Mommy and Helen also chatted for ages, as again, these two Mommies really understand each other in terms of what it feels like to have a baby in ICU for so long. After Kyle and Helen left the three of us went to Jen’s place to drop off all the goodies Mommy made.

I gave Mom the day off on Saturday and sent her shopping with Granny. Dad and I spent a good deal of the morning playing, and then I went for my usual snooze. After my snooze, I noticed Mom still wasn’t back so I suggested Dad and I go to the zoo. It was a wonderful trip. Dad immediately took me to the lions and the polar bears. Because of the heat of the afternoon, the lions were all snoozing in the shade. The polar bears were hiding indoors. I also noticed the zebras properly for the first time, and I was pretty intrigued by these horses that were lounging around in their stripped pyjamas. Dad bought a Cornetto for us to share, but I decided to eat the entire ice cream on my own, and Dad let me! Yum! I was pretty exhausted and heading home I fell asleep in the car.

Sunday was very quiet, but even so I fell asleep late in the day, at midday to be precise. My ear is bothering me a bit at the moment, so snoozes are in order. We were invited to a braai at Roelof’s place in the afternoon for his birthday, but Dad eventually went on his own, as I wasn’t budging! By the time Dad was back from the braai Granny had arrived to baby-sit me, as Mom and Dad were going to the Elton John concert in the evening.

Well, that’s about it for this week. Some things that I’m really proud to share with you are some new words, such as tree & garden. To Dad’s surprise on Saturday, sitting on the patio, I pointed to the garden and said ‘garden’! Granny had a similar experience when I pointed at a tree and said ‘tree’. Both of them were bowled over. I also say ‘Hi’ to people and animals now. So the moment someone comes into the room I greet them with a big ‘Hi’. This includes Roxy, Sonic and Shatzi. When asked how old I will be at my next birthday I now say ‘two’ as well as hold up two fingers. Again, Mom and Dad are overtly impressed. Last but not least, a common conversation between me and my folks goes along the lines of ‘Jarrod, what goes on your feet?’, to which I answer ‘tjooos’!

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 Helping Mommy bake cookies

Photo 2 In the mood of 2010 – a ball shaped ice pack

Photo 3 Mommy and I at music

Photo 4 Getting into drumming

Photo 5 Loving my music lesson

Photo 6 Smoking a rhythm stick!

Photo 7 Just Jay-Bee

Photo 8 Animal themes at music are a favourite of mine

Photo 9 Where’s the elephant?

Photo 10 On a mission

Photo 11 Cool! Drumming with maracas

Photo 12 Picasso!

Photo 13 Loving this

Photo 14 Midday snoozes

Photo 15 Mommy’s cupcakes #1

Photo 16 Mommy’s cupcake #2

Photo 17 Hanging out with Kyle

Photo 18 Soothing Roxy during a thunderstorm

Photo 19 Floury footprint

Photo 20 Drinking and driving

Photo 21 Saturday snoozes

Photo 22 Ice-cream at the zoo. Yum!

Photo 23 Climbing

Photo 24 Lunchtime

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