We apologise for the terribly long drought in this space! We are alive and still in India and the first half of this year has been quite eventful.

I will try not to bore you with long stories in this entry, but I’ll attempt to give you a brief update on our experiences during the first few months of 2010.

February – love and laughter

Three days before Valentine’s Day my ever romantic husband started to send me gifts with a romantic handwritten message. Not handwritten by Theo, but by the online local company from which he ordered my gifts and flowers. And with every gift the same handwritten message arrived in a beautiful card.

What was supposed to bring a tear to my eyes, indeed had me crying, but with laughter. Every day, for the following three days. The gift company’s technology seemingly twisted the “ê” in “wêreld”, and the poor bloke who had to write Theo’s message every day, ended up having to recreate the following:

Our new au pair, Shaneen Steenkamp, also arrived in India. She’s a lively, Afrikaans girl from Brackenfell and managed to make Kara forget all about her separation anxiety. Kara loved Shaneen and they played and laughed for hours. Shaneen was also the only one who received spontaneous kisses from the little miss, leaving me slightly green.

Unfortunately Shaneen’s dad became very ill and, as she is her dad’s only support in Cape Town, she had to return home in March to help him through some very tough months. I’ve tried several local nannies by now, but after Shaneen, Kara has been refusing to accept anyone else into her play world, leaving me a little drained and sleep deprived at this stage. Kara is also understanding Afrikaans by now, so the broken English spoken by the local nannies probably also makes her uneasy.

March – colours, family and friends

On 1 March we celebrated Holi, the festival of colours, with the rest of India. Shaneen was very excited about her first Holi experience and the paint they used permanently coloured her blonde hair all the colours of the rainbow! She dyed her hair dark brown shortly after this to get a more normal look again.

Two days after Holi we left for South Africa where Kara and I stayed until after her birthday in April.

We stayed with my mom in Bellville and had a great time with our friends and family. The anxiety and clinginess Kara normally displays in India made way for a relaxed, social little being – as if she knew she was among her own. She did ask after her “pappa” a lot, though, as Theo couldn’t stay in South Africa for the whole two months and had to return to Hyderabad.

She also enjoyed a few play dates at our friends’ houses, with little ones of the same age, and attended the first birthday of her friend, Tiaan.

Kara is like a little otter when she sees water, and she thoroughly enjoyed the sea and the beach at Blouberg.

April – happy birthday, baby girl!

On 20 April our precious little girl turned one. I worked until deep in the night of the 19th to create her bunny cake and enjoyed it so much that I’m already looking forward to her next birthday!

We’ve been amazed at the big, glamorous parties parents give for their one-year olds these days – some of the photos we’ve seen really had us scared. Our viewpoint was that Kara will just become over-stimulated and tired, and will she really enjoy a huge party with people she doesn’t really know? So on the Sunday before her actual birthday we invited our family over for a relaxed cake and tea.

Kara and Gabrielle, one of my friends’ daughters, were born on the same day. So on the day of her birthday, the two both attended the Toptots class of that day with their other little friends (whenever we are in Cape Town Kara and I attend the Toptots classes with her peers and their moms) and we had a small party after the class.

Kara was very excited on her birthday and refused to take a single nap! We’re not quite sure if she knew what she was excited about, but she seemed to have had a great time.

Soon after the big day it was time to shift our bodies, minds and loads of luggage back to India. We usually have a heavy load when we return to India, as we try to “import” as much as possible of the things we don’t get in India (e.g. formula for Kara, baby food that contains lamb and beef, as our little girl is a “boeremeisie” who loves her meat, etc.). Therefore we usually request a bigger car to transport us to the airport. For our trip to the airport in April, the travel services decided not to take chances with the Scheffler load and sent the Sanlam Takalani Sesame minibus to pick us up!

May – back to reality

May was quite a difficult month. I didn’t have the luxury of Shaneen’s company and her helping with Kara anymore, and Kara struggled to get back into her sleep routine, while clinging onto me as if she immediately realised that (apart from her dad) I’m her only family and friend from now on again.

We did our best to still have a good time, though!

On Mother’s Day we went to the Taj Deccan Hotel for a fabulous lunch.

We also joined Theo’s Afrikaans colleague, Cassie Kromhout begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting and his lovely family for a day of sun, swimming and good company at ICRISAT.

Situated in Hyderabad, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT) is a non-profit, non-political organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It has various partners throughout the world and its aim is to help empower the poorest of the poor to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agriculture.

It is a lovely spread-out, green setting with very tight security, and it is clean and neat. One feels as if you’re in a different world when entering those gates.

Although it was a rather tough month, we stayed positive while visualising our return to Cape Town in June for the Soccer World Cup – a unique experience that deserves a blog on its own!

Our staff and Alexandra

Theo already wrote about Alexandra, our first au pair, in the previous entry. Well, our staff liked this blonde, attractive girl who moved into the house. Especially Raju. He constantly tried to feed her, telling her that she was too skinny and that picking up weight would mean that she had lived the good life in India. He thought nothing of entering her room unannounced for chats and once even thought it appropriate to stand outside and knock on her bedroom window (which was on the top floor of the double-storied house) with a broomstick. Suffice to say she became very quickly very annoyed with him.

Then Alexandra got a bad flu, and Nurse Raju stepped in. Every hour he would take her “Afrika tea” (Rooibos tea, which I brought from SA) and try and force her to eat something. On the third day, he decided it was time for the steam treatment. He took a pot of steaming water, a strong menthol balm and a towel up to her room and forced her head over the pot with the towel over her head. Not used to this flu treatment, Alexandra was convinced he was trying to finish her off. “Raju, I can’t breathe!” she would say to him. And Raju would just keep her head down, shouting, “Breathe, Madam!! Madam, I don’t hear you! Breathe!” And then Alexandra would try again to escape, shouting back, “But I AM breathing!”

It was probably a combination of shock and steam, but Alexandra recovered rather quickly after that night.

Family visit & trip to Bangalore

Theo’s parents and his brother, Hein, visited us in India.

Kara & her grandfather


They went to see a Champions League Twenty20 match that was played in Hyderabad.

At the end of October all of us (including Alexandra) set off to Bangalore to explore India. We stayed at the beautiful Taj West End. Kara, Theo and I stayed behind in Bangalore, while the others visited the wonders of Mysore. This was Kara’s first Indian expedition outside Hyderabad and she was an absolute angel. We think she really enjoyed the getaway.

Kara’s christening

When we arrived in SA in December, we only had one day to prepare for Kara’s christening, which included her first hair cut! We also had to fit and adjust her clothes for the christening and the tea afterwards. First worn by my grandfather and, among others, also my father, Kara’s christening dress was exactly 100 years old with a proud history. She looked adorable.

Christmas in SA

In December we spent most of our time between Bellville and Durbanville and for Christmas we went to Jongensfontein. Kara had a blast on the beach.

She also enjoyed taking long walks with us to explore Jongensfontein.

We visited Willie, Corlia and Tiaan (a month older than Kara) in Stilbaai and Kara had her first playdate. It looked as if they both enjoyed playing together.

Kara also enjoyed her first Christmas and had a great time opening all her presents!

Back in India

Alexandra went back to America on the same day we went to SA for the December holidays. Her stay with us was over and she was going to resume her studies. Our flight was early that morning and hers that evening.The arrangement was that she would leave the front door key (of which we had only one) in the car and that we would get it there once we return to India.

On our return to India we found that our front door key was not in the car, but in America with Alexandra … We went through the whole of January without a front door key, leaving the door open with only the dogs to protect the house when we went out, and using the back door when we went away for the weekend as we waited in vain for the key to arrive from America. We never realised how a front door key (or the absence thereof) can affect your life! Yesterday we finally gave up and changed the lock – but not just any lock … here in Whisper Valley they use special locks with special keys which cost special amounts of rupees! Anyway, our lives are much more convenient again.

In January we took a quick trip to Delhi to visit Gerhard and Jolene Joubert. The trip back was already Kara’s tenth in an aircraft (and she was not even 9 months old at the time.) Is this a good thing? Hopefully it kindles a spirit of adventure in our little girl.

Two days ago our new au pair arrived. She is Afrikaans and her name is Shaneen. It looks as if Kara has accepted her into the family, although a little separation anxiety has kicked in, causing our little one to favour her mommy at this stage. However, I am grateful that Shaneen is here to help with the little bundle of energy.

We are really enjoying our little girl now. She has started to wave at Raju – to his absolute delight. She is also crawling through the whole house and regards nothing as off limits. She is standing up against cupboards and yesterday started climbing stairs. All of us are getting plenty of exercise, running after the little missy to make sure she doesn’t chew on wires, suck on the floor cloth, slam her fingers in drawers or eat the carpets. At this stage everything is going into her mouth, which boasts an impressive set of six teeth now. She is also starting to say little words after me and then looks very pleased with my delight.

I’ve started taking small trips with Kara to the grocery store and one of the quieter malls and she seems to enjoy it, as long as we keep it short. We also take a stroll around Whisper Valley everyday and she loves being outside. She adores the dogs. Whenever she sees them, she lets out a loud, low-pitched “Whooooo!” and launches for them. Then you just see dogs fly. The dog children seem to be a little weary of this little creature, as she likes greeting them by grabbing them by the upper lip. “Gentle” or “saggies vat” doesn’t make an impression on her at this stage.

We’ve been quiet on the blog front, but things have not been so quiet on the home front.

Almost two months ago we had a very smooth trip to India with Kara, but it took quite a while for us to find our feet again here in India.
It was especially hard for Marga who has been in South Africa for almost 6 months and was surrounded by family and friends during her pregnancy and the weeks following Kara’s birth. Suddenly we were alone in a somewhat familiar and still somewhat foreign and somewhat unhygenic country, with a vulnerable newborn.

And to top it off we arrived at the start of the swine flu pandemic in the East and it has since just gotten worse. (Swine flu and babies don’t mix well).

New House

To make things even more interesting we also moved to a new house in Hyderabad. It is in an area called Whisper Valley. Here are a few pics.

Friends, visitors and couriers – lend me some white powder

Before the move we were pleasantly surprised to discover that my mom and aunt would be popping over to India for a blitz visit. We asked them and our friends Japie and Elmarie (who visited SA) to “smuggle” a powdery white substance for us into India. (Who knew you could make baby formulae sound so exotic).

It was great to have family here with whom we could explore Hyderabad (and who could babysit …). During this time we also visited Ramoji Film City – the largest film studio in the world. I took way too many pictures – but I will try to sort and post them one day! Here are a few snaps of our visitors.

Flu – it does not only happen when pigs fly

I made a trip to Delhi for work and I suspect that I contracted a nasty bug on the airplane. I was struck down by flu for quite a few days and we were also really worried that I could infect Kara. So precautions had to be taken – and a regiment of quarantine and masked appearances was prescribed.

We sent the resourceful Raju on a shopping expedition to buy some gear. The end result:

So, after a rocky start we have been finding our feet again. We now live in a beautiful area called Whisper Valley in a somewhat smaller house, but one that is definitely a safer environment for an active child. We’ve also been extremely lucky to find a wonderful au pair to help out with Kara.

Another addition to our family

Alexandra is from Montana in the USA. She is studying early childhood development to become an elementary teacher, but is taking a semester off to broaden her horizons. At the age of 20 she is already a seasoned traveler and have even visited South Africa before. She is really good with Kara and we are lucky to have her here. She is an absolute master at rocking Kara to sleep!

Broken promises – the name and shame list

I must admit that I have been more frustrated with India the last month than ever before. Having moved from a furnished house to an unfurnished one we had to arrange for everything from furniture, telephone, internet and even drinking water. The dozens of “false promises” and deadlines that came and went and came again and went again, and so on …., really started to hit a nerve. So, to get it out of my system – let me name and shame a few companies.

To date we still do not have either a telephone or an internet connection at the house. (And we were assured by 1 August it would be ready).
I have also spoken to 4 supervisors and countless staff at Tata Indicom – everyone made me a promise that someone would either call me / visit my house that day, or the following day. To date I have never received a single phone call or a visit to my house. What I did get after relentlessly pursuing the matter for a week was a cancelled order. Apparently the “signal” is to weak at my house – the fact that my neighbour next door and the one across the road has the exact same connection made no impression on these tele-nazis working at the call centre. I have been promised an alternative connection by Saturday or Sunday, but on Thursday I found out that again the order was cancelled and the connection was “impossible” – despite the fact that several residents here have that connection.

Next on the thumbs down list is Kinley – a brand/division of Coca Cola. They sell mineral water. We got a water dispenser and wanted to get water delivered to our house. Unfortunately we were mistakingly under the impression that Kinley would like to acquire new clients. After ordering water with a promise that it will arrive the next day, nothing happened (not unusual), but 3 days later I called to ask what happened to the water. “Oh, there is a problem at the plant, so we are only delivering to our existing customers.” What about phoning the people you promised to deliver water to and telling them that its not coming?? “We have never heard of such a foreign concept” (some paraphrasing here) “but sir the problem will be resolved tomorrow or the day after and we will definitely call you then”. That was 2 weeks ago – to date no call, but Raju was successful in getting water from Aquafina (Pepsi’s brand).
I would love for Kinley to one day show up with the water so I can give them suggestions about where they can put it.

With the furniture I did not fare much better. The first things we bought were a fridge, water dispenser and a stand for the tv. (Yeah we have our priorities in order!) The tv stand arrived, the following day a technician comes to “assemble” it. Upon opening the box we realised that the stand was damaged. After a phone call to a manager at Reliance he promised that by 6pm the following day there would be a new tv stand, or else I can take any action against him that I wish. This was intriguing so I asked whether this would mean I could come and beat him up. A nervous manager agreed. (Keeping in mind that I am two to three times as big as the typical Indian male this could have been “interesting”.) At 4pm the next day a technician and delivery crew arrived with a “new” tv stand. And when they opened the box they realised that this one was broken even worse than the first one. I couldn’t resist, so I picked up the phone and spoke to the manager and told him to speak to his people to confirm that they have delivered another broken piece of furniture, and that I would be “seeing” him in 2 hours.

Just before 6pm a third tv stand arrived that was mostly unscathed. (In a large company like Reliance, getting a delivery to take place in 2 hours is only slightly less difficult than turning water into wine – so I guess someone was really scared).

With the water dispenser they fared slightly better – after delivering a damaged one they managed to replace it successfully the first time!

But after a number of initial promises were not met by Reliance staff, the concept of “or else” seemed to have “encouraged” some staff to take ownership and at least they resolved the problems.

Sajid

Sajid seems to be really enjoying our move to Whisper Valley. We suspect his status might have increased now that he is working here. But his status comes at a price (to us!). Earlier this year Sajid had financial troubles (relating to medical expenses for his mother) and while we were outside of India his creditors came calling, so he had to sell his motorbike and buy a cheap old scooter. This was okay when we stayed at the other house, but it was a serious matter for him after we moved to Whisper Valley. So he came with brochures of new motorbikes, financing plans and schemes, etc and it became the daily topic of conversation, until I agreed to loan him the money to buy a new bike.

So Sajid is very happy with his brand new stylish bike.

To further adapt to his new role as a “Whisper Valley driver” he also bought some material and commissioned two “driver uniforms” to be made – which was both a surprise and a source of amusement for us.

Tooth-ache

I have managed for the first time in my life to break a tooth. Not something I recommend.

I was also not particularly planning on having a root canal or crown implantation done in India – but faced with a raw exposed nerve versus Indian dentistry it was a simple choice. Not having received the best in terms of “service” that India has to offer, I was a bit nervous when I entered Dr Mahendra’s practice. He started off by giving me 2 injections – 1 in the gum (where you would expect it) and another in the roof of my mouth (ouch!) – a first for me. Thereafter it felt like he had a jackhammer in my mouth (I was fearing a concussion), before the hand-file came out to remove the nerves from tooth’s roots – but too his credit and my surprise / delight, the procedure was virtually painless.

I still need to get the crown, but thus far I give a big thumbs up to Dr Mahendra.

And about the star of the show – who recently celebrated her 4 month birthday!

Kara is healthy and happy and she is doing really well. She is very active, smiles at us (except when we hold a camera!), loves to talk, hates to be ignored and still is not fond of day time naps. She averages around 6-7 hours of sleep per night – so we count ourselves pretty lucky.

She has also learned how to roll over from her stomach to her back, and she is quite comfortable on her stomach as well. Sometimes Kara and I lie on our stomaches facing each other and she will lift up her head with ease and smile at me. (Yeah, I’m a big softie when it comes to Kara).

At night, right after bath time, I still give her one bottle of formula as a last meal before bed. It is really a special time for me to spend with her and I will be sad the day that she no longer needs that bottle.

Kara has developed quite a personality, and she communicates very effectively. She is extremely cute in everything she does. She loves her bath, but afterwards she gets very impatient for her bottle and makes it clear that the drying and putting on clothes should be done quicker so that she can enjoy her bottle. By the time she is my lap her mouth is already open and her eyes locked onto mine to ensure that I am aware that she is waiting.

We plan on remaining in Hyderabad for quite a while still – the swine flu and other illnesses in general is bit of a barrier for us to explore India further. We hope that things would look more healthy around October so that we can introduce India to Kara (and Kara to India).

Hamko subse acchi beti sub duniya me hain. Hamari choti rajkumari bahut khoobsurat aur bahut khaas hain. Meri biwi aur meri beti mera zindagi, meri piyaar aur mera duniya hain. Ye se pahelle, mera dil ko jaise khushi kabi nahi maloom hain.

Pir milenge

After spending the first month with Kara I was filled with self-confidence (gathered by reading many books) and it was easy for me to handle her, calm her and soothe her to sleep. After the long break I found my daughter almost 30% bigger than when I left her (and my wife back in her pre-pregnancy shape!) and she didn’t want to be held in the same way anymore and I had to re-connect with her.

I arrived on Saturday (13th) afternoon and was fumbling my way through trying to get back into things with my duo of girls. On Sunday I was treated to an early Father’s Day lunch and Kara accompanied us of course. During lunch Kara became hungry, but Marga had prepared a bottle for the occassion. With fond memories of our previous bottle encounter, I scooped up Kara and the bottle and within a few seconds she started to blissfully empty the bottle. Thereafter I rocked her to sleep and we both knew that father and daughter had rekindled their bond. (I think the picture says it all)

After a few terrific (but cold) days in Cape Town we had to head back to India. Honestly we were terrified about the 20+ hour journey ahead, after hearing so many horror stories of children crying through entire flights. So with almost a 100kg of baggage (and even heavier hearts) we departed for India (via Dubai) on Wednesday.

At Cape Town International Airport our first stop was at the SAA lounge where we directed to the “Kids’ Room”. Here we had time to relax with Kara before our long journey started.

Kara had such a great time that she decided to take a nap in her dad’s arms by the time we were seated in the flight. She slept straight through take off and this peaceful start to our journey was a signal as to how the rest of our trip would evolve. She was a complete angel during the whole flight.

First Class was empty so the kind staff of Emirates made it available to Kara and Marga for Kara’s meal times. We also had time for some in-flight fun and games with Kara.

When we arrived in Dubai, Marga and Kara were mobbed by fellow female passengers on the airport shuttle bus to stare and marvel at the amazing baby that travelled so well. At the airport we headed straight for the hotel because of our long lay-over.

At the hotel Kara was particularly excited and she interacted enthusiastically by talking (in her own language) and waving at us. She was so cute that it took us quite a while to drag our weary bodies to bed. Eventually we did get some sleep before our next flight. Here are a few scenes from Dubai:

My trusty backpack has accompanied me to many places in the world, but travelling with our new extended family required a “new look” for the bag.

Our second flight (from Dubai to Hyderabad) went just as smooth. Cumulative (over both flights) Kara cried for maybe a minute – only to signal when she was ready for her next meal. She was such an angel and I don’t think any baby has ever travelled as well as Kara did. (Her mom and dad is terribly proud of and chuffed with their daughter!).

When we arrived in Hyderabad Kara got to test drive her new car seat.

When we arrived at our house our staff made it very clear and visible how much they missed Marga and longed to welcome Neha (as Kara will mostly be known in India) to their home in India. They decorated the place spectacularly.

We are still settling in here in Hyderabad and we’re trying to find our rhytm as a new family. Kara in particular seems to be excited to be here, but she views sleep as only getting in the way of exploring her new world.

Here are a few pictures of our “new” life in Hyderabad:

Playtime is never a problem – Kara is so cute and excited that it is really fun to play with her.

We’ve also been for a family stroll around the neighbourhood. (I love the picture with the neighbourhood cow!)

So the Indian adventure continues – with a new star to spice up the show.

Pir milenge

He missed most of the pregnancy because of us being worlds apart. To contribute in his absence, he bought and studied a number of books on babies, raising girls and even sleep training.

It was great to have Theo a little to ourselves the month right after Kara’s birth. The little missy and her daddy bonded very well as she loved falling asleep on his broad chest, and it was beautiful to see the relationship between them unfold. He even looked after her wardrobe. Being a rather tiny baby, Kara drowned in her new-born clothes. Theo decided his baby needs something that fits properly and came home with a couple of vests and very cute babygrows for tiny babies, which she wore almost every other day until recently, when she finally fitted into her new-born and 0-3 months outfits.

Theo did an excellent job looking after his two women. The three of us moved into a cottage on a smallholding just outside Durbanville, and he made sure I always had plenty of healthy food to eat, he washed the dishes, cleaned the house and went shopping a few times a day so that we could have everything we might need.

His speciality was calming Kara down and rocking her to sleep – especially when I asked him to buy me 45 minutes or so to take a nap before feeding her. Again. With great patience he often had to endure a few minutes of violence from the hungry little miss, who would, in between her screams, get a firm grip on one of his nostrils or pull out his chest hair and keep them like souvenirs between her fingers for us to discover.
Even in the middle of the night, when Kara would be restless, Theo would sit with her, rocking her and watching TV from 2 – 4am so that I could get some sleep.

Bottles and dummies

I had a dentist appointment for a crown and Theo had to take some time off work to look after our little bundle. At that stage no-one but Theo and I had looked after her yet, so we didn’t trust anyone else with her! First, it was a given that hunger would strike, so Theo did some research and came home with a good (and extremely expensive!) breast pump (with accessories to make life as easy as possible). After that, I asked him to buy a few bottles (cheap ones, just to see whether or not she would be interested – although I should have known by then that he’s not interested in “cheap” when it comes to Kara). After some shopping around he decided that, since he would be the one operating the bottles, he could actually choose the bottle. He came back with bottles and teats that are “closer to nature” and made for babies that are being breastfed, and I started praying that she would reward her dad’s shopping spree and like them!

At the dentist, just before going back to the waiting room while the computer made my new tooth (didn’t know the dentist can make your crown these days in 30 minutes while you wait!), hunger struck and from the dentist’s chair I could hear Kara “calling”. Very nervous and curious I made my way to the waiting room – expecting to find a screaming child and a terrified dad. But I found Theo, Kara and the bottle – just as he was about to start feeding her. Worried about Kara’s possible reaction, I tried not to direct Theo in terms of how to hold her and the bottle, but couldn’t help myself! Theo asked me to give him some “room to work with”. And then a blissful picture unfolded as the little one started drinking, with both her and her daddy in a bubble of happiness and satisfaction, and Daddy nearly bursting with pride.

The dummy hunt also started. We started with a rather expensive dummy, given to her by her granny Wipplinger – but Kara wasn’t in the least interested. Then Theo bought dummies of the same brand as her bottle. Again she wasn’t amused. Just before he went back to India, he bought three old-fashioned rubber dummies, and lo and behold, although she’s not at all fond of them, she chose the cheapest one to occasionally sink her gums into (take note: she doesn’t suck).

Off to India

Kara and I are almost off to India. Although my biggest concern is her health there, I know she at least has a beautiful room (which I haven’t seen yet) waiting for her. As I wasn’t able to create a room for her here in SA, Theo did some “nesting” of his own. While alone in Hyderabad, he did some shopping and bought a wooden cot, matching furniture and a few toys to match.

Reminding me of my own dad and the huge role he played in our lives, I think Kara is the luckiest girl to have Theo as her daddy. I cannot wait for the three of us to really start our life together.

Here are a few pictures of Kara. (The grandparents are enjoying Kara’s presence in SA!)

Kara has become even cuter, but her taste for the “night life” has also evolved. She loves entertaining her parents between 1am and 7am.

When she is not sleeping – she is in motion. She communicates, waves, kicks and crawls/slithers (mostly in search of a food source …)
She has a very healthy appetite. In Marga’s words : “She drinks like twins!”

Either her yellow tint has diminished, or we have become more used to it because it is not bothering us as much. We are still keeping our fingers crossed that it will disappear soon.

But you don’t really want to read stories – everyone has been asking us to be more forthcoming with the pictures. So here are a few of Kara in motion:
(If you click on any picture a bigger version will appear)

Striking a pose & the distant look:

Little model & lots of motion:

Dance moves: (these 2 pictures were taken a fraction of a second apart)

Colourful communication:

Strutting her stuff:

Names, Games & Passports

I’ve been interacting a lot with the Department of Home Affairs lately and we’ve had some “fun” to date.
Firstly – they didn’t like the names we gave Kara, because they decided to rather register her as “Kara Weha Scheffler”.

It took me more than a week to get them to correct this – it took very regular and vocal encouragement from me!
We were in a hurry, because we had to apply for a passport for Kara (after which we must obtain a visa) so that she can return to India with us. Obviously we wanted her passport to be in her correct names – so we had to wait for the registration to be corrected. (One Home Affairs official suggested we take the passport in the wrong names. I expressed my view quite graphically on this matter after which it was agreed not to revisit this suggestion).

Secondly – the rules for passport photos makes sense for grown ups, but they are ridiculous when the applicant is 2 weeks old!
The head must be completely upright, eyes open and looking directly forward at the camera, a neutral expression on the face and a white smooth background.

It took four days of taking pictures and some serious electronic creativity, but finally I got the money shot:

Its been a fantastic (although exhausting) 3 weeks. I’m back at the office – and I’m already missing my two girls terribly!

We have fallen in love with our daughter and our first week with her has been magical.
And a big wave from us and Kara (see below) for all the well wishes, emails, phone calls, flowers, gifts and support:

Our status check after 1 week:
Sleep-deprived – yes
Worried – yes
Feeling incompetent – yes
Having the time of our lives – absolutely

Our biggest worry is that Kara left the hospital with a nice yellow tint – jaundice (“geelsug”). This is quite common in newborns and fortunately her condition was not severe enough to require time under the lights in hospital, but it does mean that Marga and I (with our years of parenting experience – or not) must “monitor her condition”.

We were worried (i.e. inexperienced) enough to take Kara to the hospital for a check on Sunday – which meant she was tortured with a huge needle in her tiny arm. Fortunately the bilirubin count was still within an “acceptable range” – not withstanding her striking yellow “glow”.

Let’s run through some of the week in pictures (which is supposed to save a thousand words each …)

Marga & Kara (Kara is 1 day old here)

Marga and Kara is still doing fantastically well. They have really found each other and are terrific together. Marga is amazing with Kara and is a superb mom.

Kara & godmother Petro

Marga’s sister Petro, Kara’s godmother, has been very involved – even before and during the birth of Kara. Petro assisted in the caesarian delivery – not many godmothers get their hands dirty this early! Ever since the birth she has stood by us with advice, errands, a vacuum cleaner and loads of support.

Kara has also met her new family members who were all eager to welcome the addition to the family. Here she greets uncle Hein with “enthusiasm”:

Kara has also been trying out various poses and looks to establish her identity in the world. Not wanting to rely only on her “funky” hairstyle, here she does the All Black “Haka” and tries out the Gangsta look:

Though the week was fun – it can also be tiring at times… (Apparently you do need sleep after all …)

Our little star has been on the receiving end of many smiling faces (fans) and been subjected to the constant clicking of cameras as the paparazzi (or just “pappa” for short) focused their lenses on her. She seems comfortable in the spotlight – but sometimes a girl just had enough and has to wave off the cameras:

Overall – everything is going well.
Kara has grown 2.5 cm and regained almost all the weight she shed after birth. (She is now an exact 3 kilograms). Apparently this is impressive since it normally takes 2 weeks to get back the weight lost after birth.

We have found a lovely cottage on a smallholding just outside of Durbanville where the three of us are hiding out and adjusting to our new family life. Thanks again for the wonderful responses we received after the arrival of our little angel – we really appreciate it.

She made a grand, but unexpected entrance today because we did not expect her so soon, but already we cannot imagine life without her.

20 minutes before we left for the hospital:

Fist things first – so where did we come up with the names?
Kara has many roots and meanings – just Google it to see how many!
It means “beloved”, “friend”, “sweet melody”, “pure maiden”, “love”, “the beloved one”, “pure”. All of these apply to our beautiful angel.
It is also a strong name.

Neha is a beautiful Indian name that we chose because of the undeniable connection that our daughter will have to India.
Neha means “cherished”, “beauty”, “love” and “affection”. (It also means “rain” in Sanskrit). It describes how we feel about our little girl.

Also not only does her names have deep and impressive meanings – they are lovely cool names.
(We will be calling her Kara.)

Here is our family: (Have you ever seen a mother look so beautiful an hour after giving birth!?)

About Kara

When she entered this world she opened up her lungs and cried to let the air in. After that she only cried while being measured and given a bath. Other than that, not only is she looking perfect, she is also behaving perfectly. She is the most beautiful baby ever to be brought into this world.

Thankfully she looks like her gorgeous mother – so lock up your sons if you don’t want their hearts broken.
She is tiny, has delicate features and weighs 3.09kg and was delivered through a caesarian section.

About Marga

Marga has been absolutely amazing (and still is!). She went through the operation and into motherhood with grace, style and skill. She is doing well and is resting in hospital for a few days to recuperate from the operation. She is doing fantastically with Kara and it is hard to believe this is her first child. (Its only the father hovering around that has been blown away into uncertainty what his new role is!).

I’ll try to keep you up to date how the extended Scheffler family is doing.
Thanks for everyone’s well wishes and prayers – we have been blessed by a wonderful, beautiful child – so whatever you did – it worked!