amanda's blog

This was taken at the beginning of the year at Boulders beach in Simonstown. Just came across it now while doing some spring cleaning.

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"We should not complain about impermanence, because without impermanence, nothing is possible" - Thich Nhat Hanh

Picture taken by Finley

It was Saturday morning and we had just finished eating our fruit salad when Finley's eye caught the bottle of bubbles on the shelf. He's become really good at blowing bubbles and holding the bottle by himself, dip and blow.

Dip. Dip. Blow.

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I said to myself that the next time I blogged I would finish Fin's birth story, since, let's be honest, it is dragging on a bit. But I'm too tired. My body is tired, my head is tired, the folds of my brain are tired. Too tired to try and access memories from 21 months ago anyway. And the reason I'm so tired is because Finley has been sick since last Monday. For those of you who aren't parents yet, having a sick child is hard work, even when it is just a common cold with a touch of respiratory tract infection, some vomit and diarrhea thrown in for good measure.

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So back to the birth story...

30 November 2006, 7.30am
We phoned Liza a little bit later in the morning to keep her in the loop with the progress. Contractions were still irregular so she told us to come through to Ballito for a check-up. I remember Nadine being worried about us driving all the way out there since things can progress quite quickly. But I told her that contractions were still quite irregular and that active labour hadn't started – I was still in phase 1.

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Liza welcomed us into the apartment. It was a rental she used for meeting clients in Durban since her practice was in Ballito. We sat down and she offered us some tea. Before it was cool enough to drink, I knew that she would be the one to assist us in our home birth.

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Part 2

So before I carry on with the birth story, here is a bit of background information for those of you who don't already know.

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Two of my closest friends and my cousin are all pregnant. They vary from 13 weeks to 28 weeks to 40 weeks and are all in Joburg, which makes me a little sad because I would love to have seen them during this magical time in their lives. It's also made me the teeniest bit envious and enormously broody. Brad insists that if I remember my pregnancy correctly I would never want to be pregnant again. And he does have a point.

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I've been meaning to write down these words for such a long time. I'm forced to keep repeating them in my mind so that I don't forget them, but its time to free up some mental resources and put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard, you know what i mean)!

Dear Finley

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Winter in Cape Town has arrived and although it may not be especially cold yet, it certainly is very rainy and windy. Fin and I have been exploring this new wet weather and even though he isn't into wearing his Wellington boots, he loves being bundled up, especially in his hat and scarf.

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Most people only learning about the power of saying no much later in their lives, usually when they get tired of being or doing things for other people at the expense of themselves. Our son doesn't have that problem. And neither does Scarlett, his girlfriend. It seems to be a quality that you possess around 17 months where "No!" becomes the most favoured response to any and all questions. Here's a typical extract from our daily conversations:

Me: "Finley do you want some cheese?" (to which the answer used to always be yes)
Fin: "Tseez? No, no no! (shaking head wildly)"

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