Letters to my Grandchild

What a Christmas season you've had Em! Dad's friend Kevin and his girlfriend Jacqui were supposed to arrive in South Africa last week but there has been a big freeze in Europe with major airports closed and their flight cancelled.  So, earlier in the week Mom and Dad took you to the Emdodeni Lodge and Cat Rehab Centre in Zululand, close to Umfolozi-Hluhluwe Game Reserve. Their aim is to care for wild Cheetahs, Cerval Cats, African Wildcats and Caracal (Lynx), which have been orphaned or injured in the wild and are in need of care and rehabilitation.  Some of the cheetahs have been reared at the centre from young and visitors get to interact with them.  You were able to touch a grown cheetah!  You were afraid at first but eventually you plucked up courage and touched one when it lay down.  On the way home you travelled through the Umfolozi Game Reserve and saw nearly all the animals there excepting for the cats. On Christmas Eve we all w...

Hello Little Em, You have been a little bit niggely lately and then on Thursday your parents told us that they could feel a little tooth on your bottom gum. On Saturday morning I was holding you in the church while Greg & Sharon's wedding rehearsal was taking place, and you kept rubbing your gums on my hand. By Sunday afternoon, a second little tooth had come through! Dear little babe, two front teeth and more to come! On Saturday night you three slept over at our house for the first time. It was Greg's Bulls Party and Mark couldn't drive home afterwards and he didn't want your Mom to spend the night alone. Mark and Tammy brought your camp cot, blankets, toys and food and spent the whole of Saturday and Sunday here. We weren't sure how you would sleep in a strange place but you were an angel and slept through from 7pm to 2:30am without even a beep. You are eating vegetables now. Your Mom only buys organic vegetables and steams them all before blending them ...

Hello little Em. On Friday Tammy picked me up and we went to Patty's so that Tammy could use the laser printer. Your Mom is a clever girl - she is making her own wedding invitations and has designed them and downloaded a template for cutting and folding them. We put your play mat on Patty's bed and you lay there talking and exercising your arms and legs for over an hour. Then you got a little bit restless so I picked you up and carried you around the house. Within 10 minutes you were asleep - just like a little angel! You didn't sleep for long - probably 45 minutes - and when you woke up it was feed time. Tammy fed you and then you lay on your play mat again. You seem to be fascinated with toys that have faces, and also with those that have different sounds. There is a mirror in one corner and you get excited when you catch a glimpse of yourself in it! You are very rewarding now - smiling at us, talking away with a serious frown, kicking and waving your arms around. I took ...

6th February: Hello little Em, You'll be 4 months old on the 16th February and already you have become a smiling, chuckling little chatterbox! I have been able to baby-sit a couple of times this week and it is SO rewarding when you smile back at me. I give you a chance to have a good look at me and then I smile and say your name. And you beam back at me! When I talk to you, you watch my face and then you start talking, little brow all furrowed, mouth moving every which way and such a lot of different sounds from it. I love this photograph of you sleeping with your Mom. It just shows how much you have grown in the last month. Many of the little outfits that were given to you no lomnger fit and soon you'll have to go into the next size nappy. I was able to feed you today for the first time. Mark and Tammy want to go to an exhibition tomorrow afternoon and have asked me to baby-sit. But, you might need a feed before they get back so Tammy has expressed milk and today was a trial r...