Amboseli again!

Our third trip to this beautiful game park was just as cool- its in such an amazing location at the bottom of mt kilimanjaro, just on this side of Tanzania. We had a beautiful evening the first evening, sitting outside in the middle of the bush, drinking dowas and champagne, watching the sun set in front of us and the moon rise above us. And the impressive sight of the clear, snow topped Kili on our left.
Nicolas was very well behaved the whole trip. He did get fed up with all the time in the car but handled it very well. His routine was very much out of kilter, he had to have his bath at like 5pm and only went to sleep at 8pm...due to our evening activities, but he just adapted - he is brilliant! He only really erupted once, on the way home when he screamed the house down for 20 minutes for no clear reason. Its SO hard to calm a baby down when they go ballistic like that. And its impossible to know why they are screaming too.
The second day we got up early and did a few hours game driving, all with a clear mountain as the back drop - which is rare. We saw loads of elephants, giraffes, buffalo, hippos, buck, warthogs and hyenas. No lions, leopards or cheetahs, but hey we just saw all of them at the mara last month.
The lodge we stayed in was lovely, the walls everywhere were made via a combination of twisting logs and cement, a great affect, and our tented rooms were divine. Really big and luxurious. We were even given a cot for Nicolas. On the saturday night we left Nic in our room with a masai guide outside - a manual baby monitor!
We left on the Sunday after plenty of g & t's and great food and some spectacular views.

Nairobi Half Marathon

So Benedikt and I ran the 21km this last weekend. It was quite a big race with some amazing kenyan runners showing us how its done. The route consisted of loops so we were able to see the marathon and half marathon winners running circles around us. Wow they SPRINT the whole way.
Benedikt and I ran together and we finished in 1 hour 54 mins. Yay - so chuffed to have broken the 2 hour mark. Although admittedly the course was mostly flat with some gentle hills.
Benedikt claims he could have run faster than we did in the last few kms... and that I held him back! Whatever :-) It was his first 21km ever - he's gotten quite into the running thing lately. Finally he sees its benefits!
I was quite proud of myself for not walking one single step. And it was only 3 months after I gave birth. Not bad eh?
Now its time to get my cycling legs back. Will back off on the running a bit.

Omi and Opi arrived in the early hours of the morning today, and were very happy to wake up and meet their grandson. They bought us loadsa cool goodies from Germany too and some really cute clothes - Yay!

Nicolas is now 3 months old

And he is much cuter then when he was newborn! I look at photos at when he was first born and he looked awful! His skin is a much better colour now and his head is no longer swollen. His face is more in proportion and he has eyebrows (very feint ones) and eyelashes and is generally looking much cuter! He is SO much more alert now and he smiles and coos all the time. The newborn stage is actually not so nice when you look back on it. They are just sensitive little shriveled blobs! They are so unresponsive and fragile in the beginning and you have to be so careful when handling them. Nowadays we can pick Nic up, plonk him down and hold him any old way. His neck is nice and strong and he likes to sit up and face the world. And its just SO nice getting a response from him... the smiles and coos and gaas are just so addictive. I never thought I'd be the coo-ing type of mother who would talk in baby language for long sessions... but I am! I never get tired of interacting with him - he is just SO cute when he is in a good mood and smiles away and talks to you.
He knows exactly what he wants too. Like he refuses to breast feed during the day anymore. He only does it at night now. So we give him breast milk via a bottle during the day. I think its easier for him to get the milk - lazy bugger.
He also isnt happy to lie on his back anymore. So dumping him in his playpen under his mobile while you want to do something no longr works. He wants to be where the action is. ie in the kitchen while we are cooking. Or on our laps while we are chatting with friends.
He is still very happy in his pram though. And he LOVES going for walks and being outside amongst the birds and the trees. He does all his day time sleeping in his pram - its such a great pram, well its a whole travel system. The carry cot fits into it, or the car seat. Very handy. Thanks Vicky - we think of you everytime we use it! His day time sleeps are becoming less and less - he sleeps on average about 3.5 hours during the day. And then he sleeps from 7pm to about 7:30am at night. Waking up at least twice for a feed in that period. His first feed being around 1am or 2am usually, so he does sleep for 6-7 hour stints which is great. We are working on ways to get him sleep for longer so lets see if they work.

He can roll over from his tummy to his back now. He did this already at 2.5 months which we were very impressed with. And he can hold himself up while on his tummy pretty well. Check the video!

I've been going to a couple of baby groups which are great. Its so nice to hear what others are doing in the same situation and to compare babies. Nicolas is always the best behaved. And the best looking. And the best dressed. Yesterday we had an unofficial baby massage class where a couple of the girls shared their knowledge on baby massage techniques. Nicolas wee'd on me 3 times during the session!


Sara, our nanny is turning out swimmingly. She's here monday to friday 8am to 6pm, although she gets a lot of time off when I take Nic places. She has a room on our compound so all very handy. I just sms her when I get home and she comes and carries Nic inside for me! She also works Saturday and Sunday mornings so that we can go for runs or rides. As soon as we get home she is free. We like to have Nicolas as much as possible to ourselves on weekends.
Sara is REALLY good with him. She constantly points out things and gives him things to hold and to look out. She talks to him a lot and takes him on walks. He loves sitting on the terrace in her lap watching the dogs!
I do feel bad about how much I leave Nic with her. But then I remind myself that plenty of mothers do it when they return to work. I have been working quite a bit lately, and going to the gym and for runs and to yoga of course.
What I especially like about Sara is that she doesn't hog him. She hands him straight over when I get back and goes and cleans his room, or does the dishes, or sterilises the bottles, or chops some veggies, or some other useful task. She also encourages him to smile at me and notice me whenever she is holding him - these small things are important I've realised!

I do feel VERY spoilt having a full time nanny. And I appreciate every moment of it. I'm pretty sure it wont be this easy with our next child. Theres no help in bloody first world countries!

Oh yes, before I forget... a funny incident with Nicolas. He was just 6 weeks old (which seems like a lifetime ago) and I'd dropped off my mum and dad at the tea farm for the day. I was on my way back when my car broke down. And I was in the middle of a real african town - Banana Hill: Terrible road, muddy pavements, shack upon shack lining the roads, dodgy little kiosks selling everything but the kitchen sink, matatus blazing past and hooting loudly, people milling about everywhere. Goats, donkeys and stray dogs all digging in the piles of rubbish. And there sits me, a mazungu woman with her baby, broken down on the side of the road! I must say I didnt even feel scared. In SA I would have been petrified. Although in SA I would never have been driving through a township in the first place. And it was BOILING hot. My car just died on me, so I couldn't even run the engine and use the aircon. And of course Nicolas started to cry, he was cooking in the back of the car in his car seat. And he was very thirsty. So I had to breastfeed the little guy. Right there for all to see! It was too hot to cover him too. And uno the funny thing, people didn't even stop to stare! They just walked on past. No one even approached me. So Nic and I just got on with our thing and waited for the tow truck and Benedikt to come and rescue us. It was only about an hour or so that we had to wait for. Guess the whole incident made me more relaxed about breast feeding in public in the end!

I've done 2 mtb races already!

So for my mum's last weekend here we took her away as a way of saying thank you for ALL her amazing help with Nicolas. It wasnt because we wanted her to babysit or anything for the entire weekend. But she did. And we happened to go off cycling. Fancy that!
We stayed in a beautiful 5 star lodge very near to Mt Kenya, Benedikt and I had stayed there before and loved it. And needless to say, my mum loved it too. How could she not?!
So after a very bumpy journey there we had a very peaceful and early night on the Friday as Benedikt and I got up early to ride on Saturday. We did a 70km mtb ride... which took me almost 5 hours!! I did have a puncture that needed to be fixed twice and caused a half an hour delay. But still! I DIED. At about 50kms I was facing YET ANOTHER hill I just wanted to get off my bike and lie down in the shade. I was crawling upwards at about minus 10km/h... the sun was baking down on me, I was on my own at that stage and I was not in a good way! Somehow I managed to finish, and I was broken for the rest of the day. What an introductory post pregnancy ride (8 weeks after giving birth) - I couldnt have chosen a harder one! Everyone found it very tough. It was at a high altitude too, all round the Timau/mount Kenya area.
I still managed to enjoy a glass of wine or two in the evening though which perked me up a bit :-) We had a really social dinner with the couple that manages the lodge and the other guests. Mum was very kindly looking after Nic for the night so I could recover and get a full nights sleep.

The next ride I did was 2 weeks later... another 2 day mtb race. Well, I did day 1 while Benedikt looked after nicolas. And Benedikt did the harder and longer day 2. We rode from Tigoni which is just north of Nairobi to Lake Naivasha on day 1. It was a self supported, self navigating team event. I'd done the web site actually and Benedikt had been involved a little with the organising. It was a great weekend, we stayed in a lovely camp site on the Saturday night, with great food and great company. About 40 of Nairobi's cyclists came out for the weekend which was a good turnout.
The distance was 70kms on day 1. And I managed no problem. Besides from an obligatory wipe out or two. Mike and I ended up riding with another 2 teams for most of the ride which made it quite social and fun. And it made sure we didnt get lost as Mike and I were not so hot on the gps side of things. The last 8kms was a flat tar stretch which I absolutely LOVED. How I miss tar!!
Benedikt and Mike went substantially faster the next day and arrived back at the camp by 1 o clock, after I'd had a nice chilled morning with Nicolas. Who was an absolute star. He slept well and adjusted to the new environment no problem. So far the little guy is fitting into our lives very well which is great. I needed to get back into sport after being a blob for 9 months!
I have been running loads and loads (and going to gym and doing yoga) and the weight is coming off quite fast. 3kgs to go! I cant wait to fit into all my clothes again and to feel normal. Benedikt and I are running the Nairobi half marathon at the end of this month. We've been training for it so we should do under 2 hours - lets see. Getting back into cycling is a much slower process as I only get out on my bike once a week... but slowly I will get back to how I was. I am determined! Its fantastic having a nanny as it allows me to get out during the week and for Benedikt and I to train on the weekends. Living in Kenya and having kids is great!

Masai Mara

So while my mum, dad and sis were here we left Nicolas in their capable hands and buggered off to the Massai Mara for 2 nights. Nicolas was just 6 weeks old and we were abandoning him!
I was very very very very sad at the airport waiting for our plane to depart. Sad because we were leaving Nic, sad because I’d had to say goodbye to my sister, sad because Benedikt and I had been arguing and mostly just plain sad due to lack of sleep! I snapped out of it though and proceeded to have an amazing weekend.
Benedikt and I revived our relationship after 6 weeks of hardly even speaking to each other... between Nicolas and all our visitors and going to the coast and all our grumpiness due to sleepless nights etc it was really really good to have some time alone.
We arrived at Camp Naibor by midday and had a lovely lunch watching over the resident hippos, one of which had just had a baby 2 days prior. I wanted to know all the details of the birth of course! And wow, those little hippos have to dive down to reach mamas teets to suckle. Nicolas has it easy!
We then had a nap (sleep was my priority for the weekend) before going on a really pleasant game drive where we saw loads. Tons of lion, tons of wildebeest, elephants, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, topis and the obligatory Thompsons gazelles and impalas. The evening dinner was so social, we first sat round the fire meeting everyone before moving to the dining tent to sit at a big table with everyone. I really enjoyed having a gin and tonic or two!
The next morning we went for an early morning drive and headed out to the mara river to hopefully catch some animals crossing. We weren’t disappointed. Unfortunately we didnt catch the most exciting part of all on camera, but seeing it in person was quite something. We saw 2 crocodile kills within the space of 5 minutes! The animals all congregate on the banks and hesitate and procrastinate FOREVER... before one brave soul decides to go for it. Or sometimes he is pushed in by the sheer number of animals behind him, moving towards the river. So of the very first lot of wildebeest that we saw cross over (after a good couple of hours of being there), the far right one was taken out by a croc. We saw it fighting for its life for a good 3 mins or so, being swept down river at the same time. We hardly even saw the croc, and weren’t even sure that the wildebeest was being attacked at first. Poor thing.
Then we had just turned our vehicle around when we saw 3 Topis making their way across directly in front of us. They were all just swimming along nicely, when we see this crocodile launch itself off the bank and make a beeline for the last one. The croc was like 3 times the speed of the topis and had this massive V shaped wave behind it as it glided through the water at full speed. That topi stood no chance. The Croc attacked and down it went. It fought and fought, we saw a confusion of hooves, horns, the tail, its body turning over, legs shooting out... but within 2 mins or its movements stopped and we saw the croc-topi shape drift down river. Poor thing. I was really sad for the two animals we just saw being killed by the mean crocs.
Anyway, we had a lovely massage after lunch, followed by another nap. And then an awesome evening game drive. We saw cheetahs and leopards which meant we could tick off everything we’d wanted to see.
That night we had our own impressive stories to swap around the fire. We made friends with this lovely English couple and they were yet to see the crossing... so we got them all excited. We also chatted loads to these interesting American guys who had done a whole southern African trip by that stage. One ditzy yet clever lady from Albercurcie was thoroughly entertaining!
I had a lot of red wine on the second night... and we’d agreed not to have a game drive on that last morning but to rather sleep in and have a chilled breakfast. It was a lovely treat before returning to dawn patrol with Nicolas!

My Family's visit

So... my parentals arrived on the 17th of August, my dad stayed for 3 weeks and my mum stayed for 6 weeks. My sister came for the middle 2 weeks. It was SO cool to have them all here. But gradually they all left and my mum just left yesterday too.... boo hoo. So now I am all alone again! Boy will I miss my family. Especially my mum.

Nicolas has gone on strike since she left and is refusing to sleep in the day time. That was always my mum’s job.... she’d feed and him and change him and get him to sleep for his mid morning 3 hour nap every day...while I’d be off exercising or sleeping or just getting things done. Then we’d go out in the afternoon.... so my mum wasn’t caged up here completely! It was a really special time having my mum here for those extra 3 weeks. We got really close again and shared our job of looking after Nicolas with fun and lots of love. My mum spoilt me with all she did for me... I really did what I liked while she was here. Be it going to visit friends, going to the gym, going running with the dogs, or going out with Benedikt for the evening – we seemed to have a busy social calendar while she was here so that was convenient!

So I have this week of being on my own during the day while looking after Nicolas... before our full time nanny starts next week. I CANT WAIT!! I’m finding it tough being cooped up inside with him, unable to exercise, especially after having all that freedom while my Mum was here. But I will live. Life is tough afterall ;-)

So while they were here we went to the coast, as my previous blog describes. Nolly and Dolly came out for that week too. They were SO much fun. Although I found it tough being a new mum and not being able to join in all the fun and games all the time. Catching up sleep takes up so much time! And of course I am still feeling very self conscious about this extra weight I am carrying around. I am losing it slowly. 6kgs to go before I am back to pre pregnancy weight. But Nolly, one of my bridesmaids to be, understands and next time we see each other, I will be back on form!

So... while my family was here we did a lot. Nicolas is a well travelled young man.



My parents REALLY enjoyed their holiday here. My father just LOVES anything colonial so he was in his element. He shared my sentiments when he first arrived, about how much it reminded him of Rhodesia here. The trees fascinated them as did the magnificent houses around here. They really enjoyed just chilling out at our house which was really good because they did a lot of that....w hen I forced to look after their grandchild while I went out gadding. The view of the valley from our house was just awesome for them, as was the birdlife. They were really really easy guests who always did all the cooking and washing up. Even though we have slaves!

As for my sister, she bonded SO much with Nicolas. (As did my mum of course) Especially when they would look after him for a full night, which they did quite a few times so that I could sleep through the night. What bliss. My sister really takes her Aunty status seriously and will seriously dote on little Nic forever I think! It makes us sad that we live in different countries. I was SO depressed the day the day my sis left... wow. I haven’t felt that sad for a long time. I miss her energetic presence SO much.

It was so nice to have other people around who love Nicolas as much as Benedikt and I do... it meant we could all ooh and aah over everything he did and no one ever got bored!