red, yellow, blue and green

Deqlan watching Hopla
The family enjoying the delicous braai

The Duplessis family

one of Meggies 3 Birthday cakes!

Meggie and the boys in their party hats!

We got a hat on Deqlan - he normally cant tolerate anything on his head - but he actually was putting on his head and our heads!

Jelenka and Mila

Deqlan playing with the seal

Jumping Gianna!

Peek a boo Keaton

Beautiful boy

Deqlan and our doggies

My stunning white roses from Mark for our anniversary

Updating the blog on the 20th after we got Deqlans 3 monthly check up results - NED!

Deqlan and Keaton playing with Nannas back massager - they love it cause it vibrates!

All the gifts for our anniversary, a stunning new duvet set from Mom and Dee, a huge fruit basket from Grandpa and Nan , a huge basket full of fruit and sweets from Megs and Conrad and keaton - thank you all for the stunning day and for spoiling us rotten!

Hi Everyone

As per normal, things have been very busy on this side of the world!

Dee was man down with a very tough virus, he was treated with swine flu meds just in case, and it definitely helped, he was much better the next day

Wednesday we took Deqlans stitches out and he was as good as gold, only wriggling every now and again, but settled as soon as they were out. That very same evening, as i turned my back dor 10 seconds to answer my phone, i heard a loud bash on the tiles, and turned around to find Deqlan face first - he tried to get out the bath himself and slipped -stupid mamma....he had a massive bump on his forehead, the size of a guava - i kid you not, i got such a fright - by the next morning the bump was down , and now we just waiting for the bruise to go...again, stupid mamma

Lets start with my check up appointment with the ear , nose and throat doctor - i didnt actually think it was necessary to go as i was feeling better. The doctor told me my right sinuses are not looking good and the tonsil tissue that has grown back is not good . But he asked if i was having stomach issues - which i gave a definite yes to - he put a camera into my sinuses and down my throat and had a look at my oesaphagus - which apparently looks like a read strawberry! He says i have bad reflux and this is causing all my problems to recur - tonsils and sinuses. He asked if i had been under any type of stress lately? hmmm, let me think, actually sit down doc, and i proceeded to tell him about the last three years and the tough times but also the blessings that

we had been blessed with

I had to go for a ct scan to check my sinus passages which are thankfully full of air and nothing else! I was really frightened - seeing Deqlan go through so many scans and now i had to lie in this machine - i really was a little baby and Meggie came to hold my hand while Nanna looked after Deqlan , thank you both so much dont know what i would do without you two.

The doc has put me on Nexiam for 6-8 months - i need to go back in 6 weeks to check if my symptoms have improved and then Dr will decide what to do about my tonsils - oh boy, i pray he can leave them right there. I already feel better on the new meds!

Thanks so much to you all for your calls and emails and messages of concern and support and love for me- really appreciate it!

Deqlan wasnt really himself on Friday and we knew going to a massive shopping centre like Menlyn wasnt the greatest idea, but we gave it a bash anyway seeing he didnt want to be doing table work at home. Of course he wasnt happy ...but Nanna and I paused for a few minutes to reflect back on the past few days to think of what was different ....CAROB!

We gave Deqlan carob rice cakes as a treat - its kinda loke chocolate , but safer for Deqlan to eat - except that its also a fruit and has sugars in. We decided to give it a go and watch for possible changes - although Deqlan LOVES LOVES carob, we think its definitely stirred some candida issues up again....we decided a playdate with our friends, could maybe calm Deqlan and feel more like himself..

Friday afternoon we met Jelenka, Gianna and Mila at Munglonastix as they sadly wont be here for Deqlans party ! We had a lovely play date together and cant believe how big and clever Gianna is and how gorgeous Mila is - you are such a great Mommy Jelenka and thank you for the gorgeous gorgeous Naartjie outfit for Deqlan, its to cute ! Look forward to catching up with you guys soon and enjoy your holiday!

Friday night Conrad arranged a surprise dinner for Meggies birthday with the family and Megs was truly surprised ! Even Sophie and Ivan came up from Scottburgh to celebrate with Megs. Megs loves Winnie the Pooh and Conrad had got Helium balloons and party hats and plates and the most gorgeous cake of Keaton, which he loved helping his mama blow the candles out on. Deqlan still seemed to be better than he was in the morning, and had a great time with Keaton in his play room

Saturday, we woke up to a lovely warm day for Meggies birthday and enjoyed the most divine breakfast at Pappcinos - the most awesome restaurant ever with so many things for the kids to do - truly kiddie paradise. Deqlan fell asleep in the car on the way there, very unusual for him to sleep so early - Dadda sat with him for an hour and a bit and Loggie and I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with Megs. Deqlan did wake up in time to have a bit of a run around and sand throw and a run around the race track!

We went home to show Logan her surprise - we re did her room in a Hannah Montana theme - she was so very very chuffed - Deqlan likes it to - he pulls everything off and out of its place every chance he gets ! Dada says thats what little brothers are supposed to do hey!

Saturday afternoon we went to Megs and Conrad for a lovely spit braai - but Deqlan was not his normal happy self. He started his old tricks again of wanting to throw sand and stones into the fountain - this is called stimming - he does this as a calming technique ..what our precious boy doesnt understand is that sand will clog the filter - so we had to say no...he was so very very upset by this and nothing we did would console him - you name it we tried it, it just got worse - can someone say , we hate candida???? We had no choice but to take Deqlan home into his safe environment

We tried for over an hour to get Deqlan to sleep - but he wasnt having it - he just wanted to throw stuff into our pool and line things up...his new favorite version is something we like to call red, yellow, blue and green

We are delighted that Deqlan is recognising the colours and even saying them - but we have now noticed a pattern that is fascinating to our little guy

Each day could be a different set of things - dvd covers, plastic play fruit and vege, pots of paint and last night, bath toys ...always in the same order red/pink/organge , then yellow, then blue then green. In the last week he has even woken up at 2am or 4am in the morning crying , only to be consoled by putting these precious items in the 'right' order.

We eventually went to fetch Logan from Meggies party and we all had an earliesh night , hoping that some rest is exactly what we all needed.

Sunday morning came, what another beautiful spring day - Deqlan seemed a lot calmer and happier and to lovable for words! So we decided we were going to go off to the pretoria botanical gardens to join Lisa in celebrating her 30th Birthday. It is so beautiful there, i cant believe we havent been there before! The kids had a fabulous time with all the open spaces to run and mud to jump into - Deqlan was covered from head to toe! It was so lovely to see every one and catch up with them , and even meet new faces who are so interested in Deqlan and his amazing triumphs - i cant thank you all enough for your continued love and support and above all prayers, please dont ever stop them!

Deqlan discovered a pond at the gardens ...oh boy ..we were worried that we might have a repeat episode of Saturday, but i calmly allowed him to throw stones and sand into the pond, actually more like a little dam, and no one seemed to mind, except for Deqlan when it was time to go!

This morning, our little guy is lining things up again ...and just wanting to be in the car...his safety zone ...we got into touch with Dr Louise and we decided we not going to give carob for 3 days to check if that helps Deqlan improve , and if not, its another round of Diflucan! We dont think the diflucan is really making any difference - we should be seeing a die off reaction - shocking nappies as a start...so we will make a decision later in the week! Hope Deqlan feels loads better especially for his party next week!

I was going to make some gluten casein sugar soya yeast free cupcakes for his Birthday but now will be very careful with the ingredients and search for the best possible recipe....

New words for the week:

seal

biscuit

white

Deqlan has started to wave hello now - when i say hello and wave he waves back! Its not just a flapping of his hands as before, as an actual wave! so we working hard on that so he can wave hello when he see's you next time!

Hope you all have a great week , please continue the prayers for our gorgeous boy and for all the people around the world fighting cancer. September is childhood cancer awareness month so please please support where ever and however you can - we need to find the cure!!!!

God Bless, lots of love

Mark Samm Deqlan Logan

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

p.s- i forgot my camera cord at home - so will post all the other photos from the weekend later!