Grown up Dinnr Parties

I am a big grown up boy! How can my Mommy think it's acceptable to have a dinner party and then to not let me stay up for it???

Last night she had people over, and I even helped her to get ready, moving furniture and the rug and everything! And, then it was like I was Von Trap kid or something in the Sound of Music! When people showed up, she put me to sleep!

Home in Arusha with Bada

Today was a family day. A day for everyone to bond and to get to know each other. I got to show Bada all around Arusha today. It was so fun. We are already playing together. She is helping me swing in the backyard, read books....oh what fun we are having! I'm so glad that she's come to visit us.

Huge Weekend of Firsts!

Wow..Mommy said this was going to be big, but I had no idea. On Friday Mommy told me we were going on an adventure, just us, without Shei Shei, or Twiga or Uncle Gogo. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but we got in the car and started driving on a REALLY bad road for a REALLY long time. We stopped at a place where we had to do a lot of paperwork and suddenly....

Well, I was not in Kansas anymore! It was my very first time to cross the border and leave Tanzania. We went to Kenya for the weekend!

We drove to Nairobi and we drove to a very fancy hotel, the Stanley in downtown. We got to stay there in a nice big room, and we had room service (that's where people bring the food right to the room) and we watched the news on TV. Wow!

Then, the next day, someone showed up VERY early at our room. My Bestamom (grandma). I call her Bada. I've met her on the computer screen on Skype before, but there she was in real life. I was a little wary at first, but it wore off pretty fast.

Well, we had fun in Nairobi. We did a lot of shopping (who are we kidding, that was way more fun for Bada and Mommy than for me) and we went to visit the giraffes (raffes) and we even got to feed them!

And, probably most fun of all....we got to go swimming in the nicest pool. I love love love to swim, and the hotel has a pool on the rooftop and it is VERY heated and so you can go in at night and its all warm and comfortable and fun to swim in. Bada and I both LOVE to swim, so we never wanted to leave that pool. We went in at night and again in the morning before we drove back to Arusha. I loved it! And, the best part of the whole weekend is that Bada is coming home to Arusha with us!

Ella's for lunch

Today was so much fun. We went to Ella's house for lunch. I love to go there, it is sooo fun and Ella has the most fun toys! Well, today Shyam told Mommy she was a very strict Mom. I AGREE! She made me go to time out at the car twice today....how embarrassing. I mean, what is the big deal about chucking my biscuit across the table in the middle of lunch? I didn't want it...so I thought maybe someone else would. Mommy was NOT amused!

Celebration!!

Today was Clara Shei's 8 month birthday. At lunch we took her to the clinic to get weighed. Mommy was so excited about her weight that we went to celebrate. Shei Shei was tired and fell asleep....but I got a whole glass of passion fruit juice to drink. Mommy's never gotten me my very own glass before. She usually just give me some sips from her glass. Today I drank my very own, and I drank it all down very quickly. I LOVE passion fruit juice. Then, Mommy took me home and handed me off to Jane to put me down for a nap.

She told Jane, "good luck" as she handed me off and headed back to work. Why does Jane need luck....I just feel very happy and energetic after ALL THAT JUICE!!!

Home Alone

What a morning. It started out normally enough. Mommy, Shei Shei and I all had our milk together and called Bestamom and Grandad to talk. Then, we had our breakfast and Mommy got ready for work. But then, BAM....suddenly Mommy left for work and took Uncle Gogo AND Shei Shei with her. She left me home with only Jane for company. I mean, sure, Jane's nice and fun and all....but no Shei Shei!?!

Well, when they finally came home in the afternoon, I was SOOO happy to see everyone. I ran right over and kept yelling, "Shei Shei, Shei Shei" over and over and hugging her. I really missed my little sister today!

Brothers

I don't know if you know this, but I've got two big brothers! They are my half brothers, we have the same biological mom.

Mommy did a lot of tracking to find out where they live and she contacted the orphanage directors. They live in a bit of a different house, not a whole orphanage. This Non profit has several houses and Arnold and David, my brothers, live in one of their houses with 7 other kids. So, we went to visit them today. David is my oldest brother, and he is 8. Arnold is 6. They are really smart and are going to school. David is even going to an English medium school and he is doing very well.

It was so fun to go and visit them today. I got to see their room and the house where they live and then we got to play with the toys at their house. I loved hanging with my bros!
Mommy talked to the directors while we played. She is going to make sure that Arnold will also get to go to the same English medium school as David next year, so they will both have a shot at a good education. And, she also talked the directors about Arnold and David coming to visit at our house for some playdates. I really like my brothers and am happy that I have a chance to get to know them a bit.

After we visited their house, we went on to visit the orphanage where I came from. I got to see some of my old pals, Rachel, Prince and Maria and we got to play all together and swing on the swings. All in all....pretty fun day!

Trampoline

Today at babygroup, I had so much fun. It was at Henry and Elijah's house today and there are a lot of fun activities there. They have a sandbox and I am a sucker for the sandbox. Unfortunately every time I tried to go near it, Mommy seemed to steer me in a different direction. Hum!

There was also a big box of balls to play in and we had lots of fun doing that, and a tent to climb in with a slide to slide out of. However, my most favorite activity was the trampoline. I spent almost all my time on the trampoline today! Oh how fun!

lunch with Aiden

Mommy and Linda set up a very fun playdate at lunch today. We went to our favorite, the Blue Heron. We had our usual fun time. And, there was a little puppy hanging out that we got to play with too. Mommy was very careful to make sure that I asked before I petted the puppy and I was very gentle. We had such a fun time...I really love puppies! I kept running around the grass saying 'puppy, puppy'. What a fun day!

Sibling Love!!!

I love to give Shei Shei kisses. And, Shei Shei is always happy to see me. She follows me with her eyes whenever I am in the room and she is always laughing and smiling at me. I'm so happy to have such good company and a really fun playmate. She's actually already fun to hang out with, but when she gets a little older she's going to be even better!

Growing Up

I am a big boy.

29 pounds

34 inches tall.

And, happy as a clam!

Happy 22nd to me!

Friday was my 22nd month birthday. I am 22 months old!! Geez Louise!
We couldn't celebrate on Friday because we were driving to Lushoto. So, Mommy took me to lunch today at the Blue Heron for Avocado bread, Passion Fruit juice and some vanilla ice cream. For dinner tonight, she made me one of my favorite dishes, lentils with zucchini, red pepper, tomato, garlic, ginger and egg. YUMMY!!! Tomorrow we will weigh and measure me...stay tuned.

Lushoto

We went out of town this weekend, so sorry for not being able to post. We left on Friday right after Mommy got out of work and immediately headed on the road. The trip was supposed to originally be me, Mommy, Shei Shei, Uncle Gogo, Linda, Kyle, Aiden, Arif, Suchi, and Priya. Unfortunately, Linda's Dad wasn't feeling well, so Linda, Kyle and Aiden decided to stay a bit closer to home. So, Aiden didn't get to come with this weekend. Bummer!
The rest of us got in two cars and started our caravan toward the Usambara Mountains on the road from Arusha to Dar es Salaam. We got to the base of the mountain in about 4.5 hours. Then, we had to drive way way up into the mountains to get to the town of Lushoto and to the Muller's Lodge where we were staying. We ended up getting to the lodge very late in the evening.
The next day everyone went on a big hike. Mommy and Shei Shei and I stayed behind though...Mommy knew that it would be too much for Shei Shei and I to be on people's backs for these big steep climbs. And, there are no railings, so it isn't the safest for little kids. Instead, we played around the lodge and spent time together and then we drove up to meet the hikers for lunch.
All in all it was a pretty fun weekend. There was a lot of time to read, and some time for hikes, and time to sit outdoors and breathe the very cold fresh air. It is so beautiful up there! Mommy thought it was a lot of work, but I was glad we went.
I was SUPER DUPER glad when we came home. As soon as we pulled onto the small road that goes to our house on Sunday evening, I started to clap and sing, "appy appy...Twiga Twiga....appy appy" As soon as we got home I wanted to give Twiga a big kiss and hug. And, I spent the evening while Mommy and Uncle Gogo unpacked the car going through each one of my toys and organizing them all. Don't tell Mommy, but I was really just trying to be sure that no one had stolen any of them!