Toddler Fears

A few months ago, we noticed that our son, Keyan started being afraid of loud sounds. All of a sudden from one day to the next. It was difficult for us to understand as he had been sleeping with us in the lounge with the TV on for the first few months after he was born and was used to my husband, Gunther playing war games on the Xbox in the background. Noise should not be an issue for him! The hairdryer, vacuum cleaner, lawnmower....

After some research on this topic, we realized that this was normal behavior and nothing strange. A stage, just like the separation anxiety and tantrums we had already started experiencing. So for me this meant that vacuum cleaning was officially a challenge. And who minds that right? Well one has to clean at some stage! The same for my husband mowing the lawn. Each time either of us now does want to do either activity, we have to make a big thing out of it. Introduction of the vacuum cleaner or lawnmower, giving time to get used to it, see it and touch it and slowly switching it on and off. Letting him switch it on and off until we are all finally at a stage where we can go ahead and complete the task.

Then about 3 weeks ago, a new fear developed. The fear of Bath time. Oh NO! Can you imagine what this is like? Each night when I would put Keyan into the bath, he would scream and automatically one leg would come out of the bath and he would grab at me trying to pull himself up. I read into the topic and everywhere I found this is normal behavior and toddlers can develop fears such as this one for no apparent reason. I received advise from numerous sources, friends and family and tried them all. From bathing in a different bathtub, a different room, outside in the garden, new toys and games, to even trying in the sink and so on and so forth and just as I was about to become truly frustrated, I tried one last thing that was apparently recommended by doctors, and it WORKED! The solution was to add an inch of water into the bathtub at a time and slowly increasing this by a single inch each day until back to normal. I started off as instructed by placing him in only shallow water, and each day would increase this a little as he would become more and more comfortable with the idea.

And today, four days in, I struggle to get him out of the bath again from all the play and fun. The joys of Toddlerhood...

“Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.”

― Bill Ayers

Photo 1 Attribution: by  Kristian Thogersen

Photo 2 Attribution: by Till Westermayer, tillwe

Toddler Fever

We have been very blessed the last 13 months and Keyan has never developed a serious fever. We have had an instance or two with a bit of a raised temperature at 37.5 degrees (99.5 Fahrenheit) in the past, but nothing too serious and nothing that Panado for Infants could not fix at the time. This all changed last week when we experienced for the first time what it feels like to really worry!

As a mother, one instantly knows what your child's forehead should feel like and when it is time to get out the thermometer to check. Even a slight 0.5 degree temperature increase that would push it over the 37 degree (98.6 Fahrenheit) mark can be felt instinctively. So when I fetched Keyan at daycare the one day, sometime last week, I could see his eyes were red and swimming with water and his forehead was on fire with a temperature I had not felt before. I rushed home and the dreaded thermometer returned a terrifying 38.8 degree reading. (101.8 Fahrenheit) As it my nature I have done some reading up on this topic online and have come to learn that in the States, the golden rule for a temperature reading above 100 F is, that this should be considered high, but I had no idea about degrees Celsius and what exactly to do.

I froze and my mind drifted off as I was rushing through my thoughts, trying to find the answers of what to do next. After a little while, my husband Gunther called me back to reality. In most circumstance when I panic or get a shock, my husband is always the one to act as I just freeze up. Especially when our children are hurting and this extends to our two doggies. I immediately gave Keyan Neurofen, the strongest fever and pain medication we have in the house, as I know the Ibuprofen that comes in this is what is needed to decrease the temperature. While Gunther played with Keyan {{yes, no matter what, our toddler continues to always want to play and run around}} I "Googled" what else can be done. {{How did anybody do parenting before the internet??? Here I can't help but giggle, imagining mommies rushing to libraries with their heads buried in books reading up on things like these in days gone by}}

Little did I know that fever can also be perceived to be a "good thing" because this meant our little one's immune system was now finally starting to work. Woohoo, a new milestone. 

Fevers are graded as follows:

Low 37.7 - 38.8 degrees (100 - 102 Fahrenheit)
Moderate 38.8 - 40 degrees (102 - 104 Fahrenheit)
High above 40 degrees (above 104 Fahrenheit) 

A fever is activated by the body as this is its way to fight bacteria and infection and is actually helpful. So from this I derived that it is not as important how high the temperature is but rather how your little one is acting because of it. That being said anything above 40 degrees / 104 Fahrenheit should still be treated with fever reducing medication such as Ibuprofen and possibly be treated by professional care! You should ask yourself, is your toddler still eating, playing, acting normal? If yes, then most likely there is no need to stress. What is essential is that he continues to drink liquids and more than usual as he will be sweating and his fluids need to be kept up. If you find that it is a low to moderate fever, there is really no need to worry or treat it extensively as the body should be working its magic.

Nonetheless, when our little one had reached 40.8 degrees (105.4 Fahrenheit) we did stress and it was not a nice thing to see him get so hot but we realized this was brought on by two new canine teeth pushing through at the top. It was around this time that we noticed the fever seemed to start breaking. We made the active decision to keep monitoring him closely and if it did not continue to decrease, that we would rather take him to some 24/7 medical center. However with Neurofen at hand, lots of love, loads of comfort and support, our little family managed to overcome this first fever "attack". It lasted a whole 2 1/2 days where it would go down to normal values again only to return again at night. In the end after all this time, a teething nappy later {{I will write separately about this}} and as little sleep as humanly possible for both mom and dad, we still don't have those two "Vampire teeth" through. 

My colleagues laugh when they see me in the mornings  as one can clearly see when I lack sleep. Those with children tell me it will take many instances like these before all those teeth are finally here. I must always remember that they grow under the gums and push through a whole lot of flesh before they finally arrive. Good luck to us for the rest I guess! There are 12 teeth we are still waiting on :)

Blog Photo Contribution: By Amarand Agasi
Blog Photo 2 Contribution: By Thomas Guignard, timtom.ch

Keyan's First Year Milestones

Ever so often people ask me when our son, Keyan had his "firsts". What is "firsts" you may wonder. Well they are milestones so to speak. These are for example when your baby/toddler grows his/her first tooth, crawled for the first time, had his/her first haircut, taken their first step, etc and while it is so exciting once it actually happens, let me tell you, there comes a time past the 4 months mark where these things happen so quickly and on each other, that one can easily struggle to remember them all. This happened to me and I was scratching my head trying to remeber them all. This is when it dawned on me that we added all our proud moments to Facebook in the form of posts or comments and pictures etc. It just takes long to search and find everything on there again and hence we wanted to create an overview of all of Keyan's big milestones during the course of his first year. ♥

03.08.2012             - Keyan is born

3 months 3 weeks   - First flight to Johannesburg     
                                (after birth :)) 

4 months                - Received his 1st Passport

4 months                - Keyan turns over on his own 
                               (my parents first to witness)

4 months                - First solid food 

5 months 23 days    - Keyan sits up right on his own

6 months 6 days      - Keyan crawls

7 months 10 days    - Keyan says his first word (Papa) 

7 months 3 weeks   - First tooth (bottom, centre)

8 months 1 day       - First top tooth has arrive.

10 months              - First report received. Keyan is thriving.

10 months             - First time Keyan slept through   
                                     (but that did not last long :))
        
10 months               - First haircut

10 months 3 weeks  - Takes his 1st Step!!
                                 (daycare to witness first)

11 months               - Walking towards us - 11 steps

12 months 1 day      - Baptism

13 months               - Keyan joins next class at 
                                daycare

13 months 1 day       - First face painting at daycare



What an awesome and amazing 1st year it has been!! Full of so many proud moments. Parenthood is simply amazing. It is wonderful to create life and see all ones love and heart overflow in the achievements and steps of ones child...Life is wonderful!

Pay it forward

Life is very busy and stressful and very often we do not take time for the important things in life. If I think of myself, I work 8 hours a day, I travel 3 hours to work and back and the time that I am at home, I spend cooking, cleaning and preparing for the next day. This leaves me with about 1 hour each day with my son and very limited time for my dogs and husband. 

Yes, time is little and should be cherished. Ever so often you should stop what you are busy with to allow yourself the chance to appreciate each precious moment and those special people in your life, that mean something to you. That is why I try to do something nice for someone at least once a week. It does not have to be for friends or family, it can be random people at work or even for strangers. Letting someone else feel special, valued or loved is truly a wonderful experience.

I would like to challenge you to go ahead and do this weekly too. Maybe on your worst day of the week. Mine is a Tuesday for some reason. Give someone a gap in traffic; compliment someone unexpectedly at work on anything, whether it is a nice top, their work or their sparkling personality; let an older person take your place in the queue at the shops or buy your loved one a gift just because. A smile, a gesture, nice words, a flower, a compliment, these things are what makes our world go around and can mean turning someone's else day around completely.

I would love to hear from you on whether you did try it and what your experience was?

Happy Tuesday from me ;)

Blog Photo Attribution: By Daniela Hartmann, alles-schlumpf 

Blog Photo 1 Attribution: By LJWDevon

Germany 2003 - Picture and Song memories

With Kathi and Jan, my sister and her husband

Almost spelled correctly :)

We visited the little town Adendorf

Visiting the Brandenburger Tor in BER

A picnic right in Berlin

Look how young we were here

The angel of Berlin

Hamburg Fish market

Playing Uno and relaxing

The house we stayed in by Kathi and Jan

This is where I became addicted to Moorhuhn

My cousin Martin came to visit

Hamburg Dungeon

 

At the Heidepark

Having fun on the rollercoaster

Love my Diddl

USA!!! in the Heidepark

Going mushroom hunting

The poisonous mushrooms

Beautiful garden in Schwerin

With my uncle Lutz, aunt Ilona and their daughter Lena

Still in Schwerin, a castle

With my great grandmother, the last time I would see her

With my cousin Steffi and rest of family

Fun times with my uncle, aunt and cousin :)

There was a shop named Günther in Finsterwalde

With my other uncle Maik and aunt Daniela

My gran

Songs:

Items to pack for a Thailand vacation

I always say to anyone traveling, all you need is your passport and your plane ticket. All else can be bought wherever it is you go. And yes, this has so far fitted for all of the places we have visited. But also likely because I am not a bush or jungle camping adventurous person. In general, we travel to areas that are more commercial.

Life in Thailand is simple and not much is needed to pack and take along. I separate my packing lists into: Clothes; Medication; Paper work and Electronics/ Entertainment to make it easier.

Clothes:

1. Bikini/ Swim shorts/ Bather
2. Shorts x 2 
3. T-Shirts x 7
4. Underwear x 7
5. Warm pants x 1
6. Warm top x 1
7. Flip Flops
8. Closed pair of shoes 
9. Flight socks
10. Toothbrush
11. Toothpaste
12. Hairbrush
13. Hair gel
14. Shampoo
15. Body Lotion
16. Antiperspirant deodorant
17. Poncho x 1

Medication:

This might seem extreme, but I like to be prepared for all scenarios, especially in a different country. I can tell you, in Thailand over our trips I have suffered from weird food allergies where part of my face swell and water retention with extreme pain in my ankles from long flights. So rather be prepared than paying high amounts for medication you are not 100% sure about.

1. Headache tablets
2. Flu tablets
3. Water retention tablets
4. Sinusitis tablets
5. Muscle relaxants 
6. Oral Antiseptic
7. Antihistamine
8. Asthma pump
9. Plasters
10. Ear buds
11. Stomach cramp tablets
12. Diarrhea tablets
13. Sun screen 30 SPF minimum, here the spray on one is wonderful as one sweats so much in Thailand
14. After sun in case of sunburn
15. Mosquito cream
16. Mosquito spray
17. Baby / child medication for all of the above scenarios

That should cover you for most events.

Paper work:

1. Passports
2. ID documents (just in case)
3. Employee ID (in our case it is needed for travel)
4. Flight tickets
5. I usually draw up a full overview of itinerary of flight numbers and times, accommodation details and other contact data for ourselves to reference to in one easy overview
6. Medical insurance details for international travel
7. Accommodation details and print outs
8. Taxi or rental vehicle details and print outs
9. Details of where embassy of your country are 
10. Any foreign exchange you might have arranged
11. Contact details of bank in case of stolen card/ other problems

Electronics/ Entertainment:

1. Cellphone
2. Cellphone Charger
3. Camera
4. Camera Charger/ Batteries/ Memory card
5. Books in case you plan on a lazy holiday

And lastly, please remember to call you bank to advise you will be out of the country using your credit cards there to avoid being blocked for potential fraudulent international activity and advise your medical aid for cover of your dates too.

Have fun and travel safe. Remember to keep your passports and money safe.

Blog Photo Attribution: By Nicole Mays, MNicoleM

Blog Photo 1 Attribution: By litlnemo

Blog Photo 2 Attribution: By Jenifer Correa

Our Love for travel is born

Working for an airline comes with many exciting benefits. From a work aspect, the industry is super thrilling with constant change, aim for improvements and never ending challenges. Yes, pretty much all natural disasters, unrest in countries and unexpected extreme weather situations impact our customer's travel. And with this, each of the above impacts our service center and work. So when we see a tornado hitting America, a political situation in Cairo or unexpected snow chaos in Europe on the news, we automatically think of work and wonder what the impact will be to our call volumes. But that is another story for another day :) 

Today, I want to tell you of the time our love for travel was born. Gunther and I met in 1999 at Cape Technikon. We quickly fell in love and knew right there and then that this would be a thing that would last a long time. ♥ So as time progressed, we started planning our future and with that our first international vacation together. Little did we know of the beauty of the world outside of South Africa back then and opted to visit Germany, my country of birth, in the September of 2003. We planned for 3 weeks away, spending our time with the different parts of my family: my grandmother, my uncles, aunts and cousins and the majority of the time with my stepsister and her family in Hamburg.

This very first trip was an easy one to plan and arrange. Accommodation was sorted. We flew standby the very first time (as airline employees, one is able to purchase a reduced fare seat, however this does not guaranteed a place on the plane) and as nervous as we were, we did get on with only a seat or two to spare. Yes, I hadn’t set a foot on a plane since we moved to South Africa in 1990 and as I entered and experienced everything again, a new love and passion was born. Soon to learn that this getting on board a plane and the feeling of you want to go explore the world, would be one that would reoccur each year after that.

The travel bug had bitten us both.

'The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page' ~~Saint Augustine

Our holiday in September 2003 was unforgettable. We spent many fun times in Hamburg, Berlin and surroundings and the three weeks over there flew by incredibly fast. We were treated like a King and Queen.

It was a few years later in 2006 that my colleague Vicki mentioned that she had found these cute islands which were really reasonably priced with the low South African Rand buying power and we decided to go on a couple holidays together. As already mentioned earlier, the travel industry comes with many unexpected impacts and so during this time, I remember a major strike in Germany affecting our business and this resulted in us needing to move the vacation. But that was no problem and we ended up leaving for Koh Samui one month later. April 2006. 

Circling the island before landing

Gorgeous color ocean

Koh Samui - our piece of heaven on Earth

Almost there

If the first trip to Germany was not enough, then this second trip to Thailand was enough to seal the deal! That is how it all began: our love for travel. In between, I was lucky to visit Canada for 1 month while a new service center was opened there and also Istanbul in Turkey for a week. The world is big, the world is beautiful. So many cultures, colors, textures, tastes. Travel will be a further branch to our blog-tree we want to share with you as we plan to take many more road trips and many more plane trips over the years to come. In the meantime, I will share with you tips of our past trips, specifically of Thailand where we by now have been 4 times since. 

Until next time…

Blog Photo Attribution: By Pier-Luc Bergeron, LucBurgTender
Blog Photo 1 Attribution: By Victoria Nevland