• Lambert: Working at Saatchi & Saatchi (Paul called it Naartjie)
• Paul: First year with Marelize at Greenacres
• Me: Working with Emilia on blackboards and doing markets
• Tom: Born 3 Feb 2000

FEBRUARY

•  Tom was born 3rd Feb 2000 at 10 minutes after midnight

JULY

• Building at home well under way
• Paul says “Tom so cute I burst my bum out”
• Paul got a pair of zip-off pants
• Paul went to Ratanga Junction
• Our neighbours Mitzi and Clayton got married
• At 5.5 months, Tom can sit up on his own
• Paul good friends with Matthew LePanne
• Paul drew Buzz Lightyear

AUGUST

• Tom loves prints on T-shirts, and shadows
• Our stoep has been built and the wall made taller, the gables are up and the 3 big beams delivered
• After the beach, Tom woke up with one eye glued together and Paul said “Tom’s a pirate!”
• We moved next door to Mitzi & Clayton because it’s just not possible to be at home with the building
• Builders knocked out the ceiling and the new roof looks amazing!
• We moved into a B&B
• Lambert had to fetch dogs from SPCA (Spot, Meg and Rex I) because the builders let them out accidently
• The staircase is finished
• Mom and Brian came for a Braai at the B&B
• Moved back home with the double story, new roof and stoep! From upstairs we could see the sea and a beautiful sunset!

SEPTEMBER

• We hired a long ladder to paint the new parts of the wall which have been built, nerve wracking!
• We’re all sleeping upstairs
• It rained and the new roof is VERY loud
• We moved the computer inside (it was in the den)
• Lambert says Tom has a tooth coming through at the top
• Tom got an ear infection and Paul got all the dogs to go outside by giving them rusks
• Amy had her first birthday party here and we gave her a teddy

OCTOBER

• Paul turned 6 and loves Pokémon
• We hung Tom’s Piccalo (car-chair thing) from the rafters to make a swing for him
• Laurence Garrett came for a sleep-over
• Mitzi & Clayton are building on to their place too
• Friday 13th, Paul got a black eye at school
• Went to Andrew & Emilia for a curry
• Grandpa & Ethel came to visit for Paul’s birthday, they brought lots of old toys and games
• Paul got an action man for his birthday with motorbike, lots of soldiers and a blow-up ball of the earth
• Grandpa, Ethel, Lambert and Paul went to Montague, Tom and I stayed home
• We bought the double bunk so that Grandpa & Ethel have beds to sleep in
• Tom is crawling and getting around fast on one knee

NOVEMBER

• I started working at TEAC (The Exquisite Art Company) again till 15th December
• Tom loves shadows and light patterns on the carpet
• Tom turns 9 months old and crawled all the way down the passage to Paul
• Paul has a sleep-over at Laurence for Laurence’s 6th birthday
• We constructed Paul’s double bunks
• Tom loves the broom, talks to it from across the lounge then crawls over to go and fetch it
• 15th: Tom is pulling himself up and standing at the furniture, shouting at dogs
• Tom started crawling with both knees

DECEMBER

• Tom still has no teeth!
• Had Paul tested for allergies because he keeps getting sinus infections, the only thing that came up was mould. He asked us if he was allergic to ‘moles’
• Had the Greenacres Christmas party, it was windy and Granny slept over
• Marie & Hans arrived 10th Dec. They brought awesome Adidas shoes and Action Man bubble bath for kids. We had a walk on the beach and Tom went on Lambert’s shoulders and held onto Lambert’s ears, Tom loved it!
• 14th Dec Tom’s first tooth through!
• 18th Dec, Tom’s second tooth coming, very painful
• 19th Dec Brian & Chelsea moved into their new house in Capri, just around the corner from us
• 20th Dec Hans & Marie helped Paul build a fort in the garden, Monique arrived and Hans & Marie took us all out to dinner at the Nag’s Head, Noordhoek.
• 21st Dec we took Paul to the Castle to see the dungeons then he got a yo-yo from Spur. Then Marie & Hans left again on their way to the Kruger Park
• 22nd Dec Uncle Willy’s Christmas party, Paul got a Jeep that you have to construct and a slinky. We also too James and he got dinosaurs.
• 23rd Dec, Tom fell in the fish pond, I rinsed him under the tap, full of pond slime
• Paul shouted from his base “Moooom, come do-un-this-knot please!”
• 23rd Dec went to Brian & Chel for a chicken braai, Tom and Amy played together
• 24th first rain of December