Peter

Oliver has a knack for naming animals, dolls, etc. My favorites are Serena (Henni's doll), Jordan (oliver's snake), Charlie (Oliver's lizard), and Bulldozer (Oliver's doll). Oliver's name of choice as of late has been Peter. Our fish Bo Bo and Ulysses recently got a new friend - Oliver named him Peter. Oliver also named most of the lizard's he found in the Bahamas Peter and has decided to rename some of his trains Peter. Oliver was therefore quite excited when he received a musical Easter card from Papa and LeLe that sung Peter Cottontail - "The Easter Bunny is named Peter!"

While the Easter Bunny tried to be a good bunny and checked all labels for things like high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors - the bunny was not very smart in the hiding department - a reminder for next year - don't hide chocolate eggs on the heater.
The Easter Bunny also brought Oliver money. Every time Oliver found an egg containing money he ran over and gave me the money. Each time I told him to put it in his wallet and save it so he could buy something later. Each time he said - "No mommy, you take it and use it with your money to buy me something."

Man O War: Part 4 (AKA The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)

For better or for worse we are back.

While Nurse Thompson put Oliver back on the road to recovery it seems as though she gave him just enough antibiotics for the devil inside Oliver to recover, but not the sweet little boy I know and love (this was confirmed by Oliver's pediatrician back home who stated he'd been under-dosed and upped his antibiotics). Given that, our last several days were, shall I say, trying.

We did, however, manage to do a bit of adventuring.



One of the most amazing places in the world is Baker's Bay on Great Guana Cay. The first time I went there there was nothing - just close to six miles of unimaginable sand and blue-green water. While Baker's Bay remains secluded, it is changing - for the first time we weren't the only people on the beach, instead the beach was crowded (we were joined by another family (ok, so a total of 10 people on the beach may not sound crowded, but...)). Also, a golf course has been put in nearby and multi-million dollar homes are being built (and we were told that the likes of Beyonce and Jay-Z and Derek Jeter had just stayed there). Although these changes will financially benefit the Abacos, I am selfishly sad to see the changes and to share the seclusion of Baker's.


We started (hopefully) our own coconut grove, planting five palm trees over the period of our stay. As mentioned previously, Oliver was diligent about watering them.

One morning Davis found an Abaco Boa living in the cistern. The next day he found two - mating. While I wasn't keen about the idea of snakes living (and mating) just a couple feet from where we were all sleeping, I kept reminding myself that their presence will reduce the rodent population (always a plus).

On our trip Henni's love for Davis got a bit ridiculous. Seriously, I was around for Henni to eat, otherwise she wanted to stare at Davis. If I was holding her and (gasp) obstructed her view of Davis she got pissed - if she could have pushed me out of the way, she would have. While funny, it was a bit dramatic, we may have (another) drama-queen on our hands.


So we talked about the good (adventuring, love for daddy, snakes to eat the rats) and the bad (sick, devil Oliver, snakes) - now to the ugly. The kids were (surprisingly) wonderful on the plane. While we were waiting to deplane I was standing up, holding on to Henni as she sat on the top of the seat in the row ahead of us. I was basking the success of our flight and the comments from the people around - "Your children were so good!" "Your children are so cute!" "Excuse, I believe your daughter is leaking." Here you can imagine the sound of the needle being scraped across a record. I look and Henni is in fact leaking. She has managed to poop up her back and out over her pants, so much so that in the seat in front of us (there was no one sitting there) there was a puddle of poop. Lovely.

We are home though. And with both kids on antibiotics (the right dose) we are on the mend. Oliver is, as of last night, back to being himself and back to sleeping. Henni is also feeling better and slept from 8 until 6:30 (where did this child come from?!). For a few days I had considered searching out a full time job in order to save me from the craziness of our life, but am now just wanting to have another vacation - one that is a bit more of a vacation than we had. I need a Bahamavention as it is so called. And, despite what I have been saying for the past week, I would love to share it with the kids.

Man O War: Part 3

So, here's the thing - there is reality in paradise.

The night before last Oliver fell asleep at 5:15, before dinner, on the couch, and a full hour to hour and a half before he normally goes to sleep. A few hours later he woke up, feverish and coughing, then fell back asleep - asleep for a record 14 hours. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been truly scared. There is scared, and then there is scared. To put scared into perspective, one of the times I was truly scared was when I was traveling in an aid convoy at over 100 mph through a desert on the Sundanese border hoping not to be attacked by rebels - a mere few weeks after an aid convoy had been attacked along the same road; those on the convoy had been killed. When Oliver woke up sick I was just that scared. 1) Oliver never gets sick, 2) accessing health care is not the easiest thing on Man O War. The reality is that there is no health care on Man O War. There are clinics on other islands and a hospital in Marsh Harbor (however it is not open 24 hours and people who live here fly to the US rather than go to the hospital in Marsh Harbor). Not only is Man O War, and the general area, lacking health care facilities, we were/are pretty secluded. The phone here works sometimes (not the night Oliver woke up sick), the golf cart doesn't work (so our only means of transportation to the settlement is by foot or boat), we haven't tried the VHF, and our cell phones don't work. In an emergency we would have to get to the settlement (a mile or so away), have someone call to arrange an emergency flight out, we'd have to take the boat 5 miles to Marsh Harbor, get to the airport, and then get to Florida. W Oliver woke up with a super high fever I have to say that any number of horrible scenarios were running through my head. When the sun rose I was feeling better (daylight seems to bring a bit of clarity), but not calm. We took Oliver to the clinic in Hope Town (a nurse who is there for a couple hours a few days a week), and she listened to his lungs, took his temperature and tried to look in his throat (the stubborn Rocket refused). She declared him sick and prescribed antibiotics. As the sun set last night Oliver's fever soared, he cried, was limp, and I again began to play horrible scenario after scenario in my head. I started to pack and began planning our exit strategy, This morning Oliver awoke a little more himself, and as the day went on he turned into the crazy bundle of energy and general chaos that he usually is. I give full credit to Nurse Thompson. While the system is a bit scary for a mom who likes to (try) and be in control of everything - it worked.

While I know that at any moment paradise could, again, become a frightful place, this evening I didn't care that Oliver was up an hour later than his bed time, or that he was trying to do anything possible to make his bed time even later (did you know that a dog, a lizard, and a 2 and a half year old can play tennis together? Well, they can - and they are all "hoping to have their own tennis rackets back at home"), I didn't care that he turned into a crazy monster at the end of the day, or that his dinner consisted largely of blue cheese dressing and ice cream - I was just so happy that he was better.

Another nice part about Oliver staying up past his bed time - we were able to all watch the sun set together. To be together to not only watch the sun rise, but to also watch the sun set as a family - I could ask for nothing more.


Even though I couldn't ask for more, I got a little more - this afternoon Oliver turned to me and, out of the blue, said, "Mommy, I just love Henni so much."

Man O War: Part 2

Our days on Man O War generally begins just before sunrise. This is perfect in that we have the most beautiful view from our bed - the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean. The beauty is not lost on anyone - including the small ones. Oliver watches the sun rise above the horizon and then exclaims - "It is day time!"


Once it is daytime a favorite activity is watering palm trees. When we were here last year Oliver planted a palm tree. Unfortunately that one did not survive. But, after a secret mission we planted two more - one for Oliver and one for Henni - and we hope that these guys survive (with the attention Oliver is giving them, they are getting a great start).


Our days have also continued to include beach time and exploration.

Swimming at the Corn Bay Beach

Headed to Hope Town - note that Nemo also takes safety seriously; a dog must always wear his life jacket when at sea

Hope Town light house

On our way to The Low Place

Playing at The Low Place

Lounging at The Low Place

Man O War: Part 1

When the plane touches down in Marsh Harbor I always feel as though a bit of a weight has been lifted. When I get on the boat to head towards Man O War, a little more weight is lifted. And then, as cliche as it may be, when I am half way between Marsh Harbor and Man O War I feel a sense of calm - a sense of home. It is a feeling that I hope my children have, as this is such a special, almost surreal, place.

Oliver has been beyond excited for this trip. Every morning asking the question - is today the day we head to the, as he pronounces it, "Nihamas." Even with (or perhaps because of) his excitement, Oliver was a wonderful traveler on the way down, as was Henni. Oliver has also surprised me with how much he remembers from his previous trips down here.

As for Henni, she has had her first touch of the Sea of Abaco and of Bahamanian sand. She has also had her first trip to Nipper's (where Oliver spent a considerable amount of time choosing which shirt Henni should have, and not a lot of time grabbing a new Nipper's shirt for himself (for weeks now he has been prepping us, saying his shirt we got on the last trip was too small and he needed a new blue one).



Henni has also been practicing her sitting, and is doing quite well.

And Oliver, Oliver has been getting as much sand time in as possible.

(Interjection from Davis - This afternoon at Nipper's Oliver came over and asked if I would like to build a sand castle with him. I thought for a minute, and the reality - there was nothing more in the entire world that I would rather do than to build a sand castle with Oliver.)


Another milestone to record as well - after sleeping with us the first night, Oliver asked for his own bed. We put together one and there he sleeps.

Milestones

Since the blog serves as a baby book (as well as diary, photo album, and other things) I need to document a few happenings -

Henrietta has been trying to grab our food. And while it is still a bit early to do so, we gave food a try. She loved it. Unfortunately for her we have been so busy that after a couple of days we forgot to indulge her with pears and sweet potatoes. We have, however, promised her that once we return from vacation we will be more attentive parents and give her these tasty treats on a daily basis.

Henni is also rolling and jumping all over the place. You put her down and she immediately rolls to her stomach. While most of the time she stays there, she has started to keep going - rolling, for example, across the bathroom floor. We have also put up the jumper thingy. Like Oliver, Henni loves it. It is crazy how high she jumps, and she cries when she is taken out of it.

As for Oliver, he wants to play with everyone. We had some visitors the other week and he loved playing with all the boys - as soon as they left he asked - when are they coming again? Can they come again tomorrow? I wish.
Oliver also continues to do well with his big boy pants. Big boy pants, apparently, make it easier to slay dinos.

One thing we do have to work on is when and where one can pee. Elizabeth was biking with Oliver this morning and not once, but twice, he got off his bike, pulled down his pants and peed - right on someone's lawn.