Kids, Kids and More Kids

I thought it was time for a Kiddo update post. Above is 'Freedom' playing with Charlie the Zebra. Tiffany (our new volunteer) and I went to a "Perskefees" (peach festival) last Saturday and came away with some peaches, kudu burgers and mr. Zebra. He is pretty awesome... 'Freedom' is a very precocious little man - he has decided that even though he is only 8 months old (and has baby size 1 feet!) he should be walking and is working very hard on his goal. He can already stand for a few seconds alone. In a house where kids generally don't walk until 15+ months, he is very ahead of the game!

This is our big girl - she is so convinced these days that she is the 'big sister' in the house and LOVES to 'help' the Aunties. When I was doing night shift a few days ago she helped me put vaseline on the babies, clean the floor, take out the laundry and held a bottle for our littlest one. One day last week she was even running around outside after one of the boys trying to get him to drink the bottle he had discarded :-). She loves being helpful and cries (screams!) whenever she is told off for doing something naughty. This evening I went into her room and she'd taken the entire bottle of vaseline and smeared it all over her freshly braided hair.
Above is a photo of the 'little monster' at one of our OT sessions with Dr. Bridget. She works at a clinic called TMI which is full of organizations designed to help children's charities. They do all of our OT work, blood tests, etc. for free. The Little Monster was discharged from OT following this visit, thankfully and is now functioning at an age appropriate level. He is very full of energy and is also learning to walk now that he is 1.
This is my special baby - he is showing you where he thinks food belongs in this photo. Not in his tummy but smeared everywhere else! He is very high maintenance and hates to eat anything that needs to be chewed. Possibly a little spoiled by Auntie Kate too. He is very sweet though and it is such a relief to see how well he is doing now. This is the one who was in the hospital last Christmas and even this August he was still unable to roll over. Thanks to the work of Dr. Bridget he is now fully functional and runs, kicks a ball and does everything a boy of 16months should be doing.
This is our little Potato - he is SUPER CUTE and has the best eyelashes a girl could dream of. He is the only one who is still cute while he's crying because instead of a proper cry he sits and squeals until someone comes to help him. He is our lazy boy at the house but has put all of his effort into growing. Now, at 9 months, he ways 1kg MORE than our 16 month old! He is very sweet and gives very good cuddles. :-)

We have 2 other kids at the moment - the oldest and youngest but I don't have photos of them for you right now. Check back soon!