A tale of two cousins

As you can see , we have a real surfer on our hands. Not only does Deqlan LOVE water , he LOVES the sand to , preferably both mixed together . His new thing is getting into the jacuzzi and then wanting to get out and get into the sand pit and mix it all up!

Nanna and Grandpa worked very hard a few weekends ago to drain and scrub and sterilise the Jacuzzi so we want to keep water in the water section, and sand in the sand section Mr Deqlan! I have had a vision of Deqlan as a surfer - even before he had his port put in, I had a picture of him, round 18 or so,leaning against a wooden railing, with board shorts on, hanging out with other surfers, but , with his port scar, on the left hand side of his chest. My Mom had a similar picture in her mind with Deqlans scar on the left hand side - and not knowing which side they would choose to put it in to, we both felt pretty sure it would be the left, and when he came out of theatre with the scar on the left, we both smiled at each other. So id like to hold onto that thought of my surfer boy, maybe Deqlan will do something with dolphins and the sea? I wouldnt ,mind living there either...

So after lots of water and sand enjoyment on Friday afternoon, Deqlan and I were invited to have a potjie with Conrad, Megs and Keaton as Mark was at a work function.Deqlan immediately jumped into the pool Conrad has just gotten for Keaton, and thoroughly enjoyed getting in and out and trying to catch up with their staffie, Kelly- I had to hold our soldier back a little as Kelly is very bostrous! We had a stunning evening and delicious food was thoroughly enjoyed by all! thank you guys as always, for taking such good care of us.

Saturday morning, i needed a little time and out and breakaway from the world we call neuroblastoma. After hearing that Jayden had progressed , and then reading another little girl who was ned for 1 year, had positive scans, i just felt plain down and angry and frustrated. Dada watched Deqlan while i went to the shops, Meggie and Nanna who cheered me up with some motivating thoughts and i was soon on my way back home, thanking God for all the positive and all the miracles i see in Deqlan each day. I wish that the cure could be found, i wished more childrens lives could be saved.

While Mark and Conrad went to watch the rugby on Saturday afternoon, Meggie and Keaton came for a visit and brought delicious treats with them. The cousins enjoyed some swimming time together, and then we had the very clever idea of taking the boys for a 'short' walk! It turns out my block is a lot bigger then we thought, and waking in 32 degree heat is not something we love to do. Especially not a 8 month old who doesnt like heat to start off with and is teething! Deqlan was an absolute star along the trip and didnt even make a sound!

We eventually got home and tried to console little Keatons, whose teeth are driving him silly! Megs decided it was bath time and was preparing us for Keaton to scream !I gave Deqlans Noddy car to Keaton before he got in the bath, and he didnt make a peep! For 30 minutes he played in the bath without moaning once ! Maybe it was Noddy? Maybe it was the Calpol kicking in!

We all enjoyed some supper together and then got Deqlan in the bath - he was so tired, that after his milk, sorry half way through his milk he fell asleep, shame, they had just a great time together. Keaton adores Deqlan and just wants to be able to run and jump and explore with him! Dont worry smiley boy, soon soon you will be on the move! Thank you Meggie and Keaton for a stunning afternoon and all the time we get to watch the boys grow up together - its priceless and i will treasure our moments always.

Sunday we started off nice an early, Meggie and I went to the 730 am Mass, and enjoyed it as always - cant wait to take Deqlan to church again, although, i dont think he would sit through 5 minutes of it, i would love for him to be back in Our Lords house and presence of our wonderful parish. Then I came home and Deqlan and I had a nice mid morning nap!

Dada soon got Deqlan into the pool after he woke up and they spent most of the afternoon splishing and splashing and having a ball together. Deqlan has become very brave ( always has ben) and can now swim around the pool step by himself. He also thinks he can run or jump off the step into the rest of the pool, luckily he had his big strong Dada to catch him! We tried putting water wings and other fantastically water floating devices onto Deqlan - but he wanted them off, IMMEDIATELY - so less is definitely more for Deqlan!

I then to Deqlan for a surprise visit to Great Nanna and Grandpa , and they were so happy to see us! Deqlan immediately ran for the sprinkler which was unfortunately off at the time of our visit - you can see the disapointment in the photo i took! He enjoyed running around and watching the birds and even asked two ladies to join in his line up game, they were very impressed that Deqlan wanted to include them shame! On Saturday morning round 4am, a drunk 17 year old girl, without a license came crashing through the gate of the old age home and down into the parking lot - she escaped without even one scratch ,cause a lot of damage to another car to and was arrested on the spot!

Deqlan and I then went home to help Dada wash the car, well, to be honest only Deqlan helped !

We then went for a llonngg ride to get the post and get some take aways for supper, before starting our health kick today, well Mark anyway, as i have already enjoyed a much needed ice cream already!

Deqlan is doing great otherwise - seeming to be a bit frustrated at times, i know he wants to tell us so much, and he gets angry when he cant say what he wants and he thinks we dont understand him - but we do most of the time, and we do say we understand my love , lets go get you some cooldrink - at the moment, Deqlan is only saying the word car. But, we will continue to work with him and we continue to say and describe everything we doing - even though he isnt speaking so much, i understand through his eyes some how. We go for our next evaluation with Dr Smuts next week tuesday, so i will be armed with all my questions, and hoping for Mark also to be able to join Nanna and I on this important session.

Have a great week everyone, please continue the prayers for Deqlan to remain NED always, and please pray for all our soldiers around the world , especially for Brody and Jayden at this time

God Bless you all and lots of love

Mark,Samm, Deqlan

P.S - THANKS SO MUCH PAT FOR ALL THE ADVISE AND HINTS ON MY BLOG QUESTIONS, GOING TO GIVE THEM A BASH ASAP - I THINK I HAVE FIGURED OUT THE VIDEOS , JUST A FEW THINGS I NEED TO DO FIRST, SO LOOK OUT EVERYONE, VIDEOS OF OUR SOLDIER HOPEFULLY TO BE POSTED SOON, I CANT WAIT!

FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU DECLARES THE LORD, PLANS TO PROSPER YOU , NOT TO HARM YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE

JEREMIAH 29;11