Lunch out and yoga practice

Today Mommy had some fun in store for us. She thought that we might need a bit of just us time without Clara Shei. So...we left Clara Shei at home with the nanny and went out to lunch just us. It was really fun and I really needed to know that I'm very special and my family still loves me just as much as they did a week ago.

Then, later on Mommy and I did yoga together....well our version of yoga anyhow.
Ummmmm!!!!!

Worried again...

...poor Mommy. If it's not one thing its another. Today, the amoebas have come back to reside in her tummy and she is feeling very bad. On top of that, she is really having problems with my adoption lawyer and is considering firing her. Mommy REALLY hates firing people. But, Tanzania is a good training ground.

I had a great day. Jane couldn't come to work today because she is finishing up at her old employers. So....Uncle Topher took the day off to spend with us. We played and played. Here I am pretending to be ghost....aren't I scary!!

Returning to our regular schedule

hmmm....that's what Mommy is trying to do. However, I'm not sure if its working. Will we ever get back to normal? I miss spending time with Mommy just the two of us. And, I'm starting to show it. I'm definitely more aggressive than usual and I'm definitely more whiney than usual and I'm trying to climb on her or be carried by her constantly. Mommy wants me to know that I am still just as important and special and loved as I was a week ago....on the other hand, she also wants me to behave! oh dear.....behave???? Why would I do that????

It's my 20th month birthday today....and it's Mothers Day

We were a little too busy today to celebrate Mother's day. But, I do love my Mommy and I show her every day with big hugs and kisses and lots of love.

We celebrated my 2oth month birthday yesterday with ice cream and juice at the Blue Heron (they are closed on Sundays). But, we did my weight and measurements today. At 2o months I am 32 inches long and 28 pounds. I'm right on target and feeling great!

Today we spent the day as a family just playing around the house. I really really love my new little sister and run around the house calling for Shei Shei until I find her. I give her lots of hugs and like to hold her hand.

Hanging on by a thread

Mommy just keeps saying she is "hanging on by a thread" all day today. Geeze, I don't know what it means exactly, but whatever it is, it sure seems to make her grumpy (and cry every once in a while). I think that between the meetings with the social worker (one on Friday that went rather badly where Lillian seemed to be upset with the process and Mommy was petrified and panicked that she was going to loose me. Silly Mommy....we're a team, I'm not going anywhere), and the appointments with the doctor for Clara Shei (I call her Shei Shei), Mommy is just really really frazzled. Clara Shei and I had a doctor appointment after my social worker appointment yesterday to discuss vaccinations for us. We both had a quick check up and the doctor said I'm doing really well and look very healthy. He also said he was impressed with my verbal skills and that I'm "dialoguing" very well....whatever that means.

Today we spent the morning as a family hanging out. We stopped by Linda, Kyle's and Aidens as Linda once again came to Mommy's rescue. She is letting us borrow a whole bunch of stuff for Clara Shei until Bestamom and Grandad arrive in July to bring us more stuff. And, we quickly went out to the orphanage to visit late this afternoon. Mommy has a friend who is thinking of adopting and Mommy wanted to introduce her to my friend, Maria who is really looking for a forever family to go to. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Maria....she is such a nice girl, she really deserves a good home!

Mr. Panga

Today Mommy made up for not spending much time with me yesterday, and took the day off....just for me. I thought she was taking the day off work to spend with Clara Shei, since she's just come home. But, instead, it was all for me!

First we had a new nanny start today. Mommy says she loves her so much she wants to marry her. (I think that's weird). The new nanny's name is Jane. She came in and got Clara Shei looking all spic and span right away. And....she got Jenny, our housekeeper, to be much better at her job. All day long, Jane (the new nanny) kept telling Jenny to do stuff. Mommy was really happy.

That freed us up for our appointment with Mr. Panga, the social worker who is dealing with our adoption. He has to do his final report on us and it has to be done in the next three weeks in order to make our last and final court date in June. We got on the road early and went to pick up Mama Lillian, my biological Mom. We all arrived at Mr. Panga's office by 9am, and then his secretary told us that he wouldn't be in until 12. So, we left and went home....and got lunch ready and played. Then, we went back to his office at 12. We sat, and we waited and we waited and we waited. And, he came....and looked distressed to see us. And, then we sat....and we waited, and we waited and we waited. And.....finally I decided to be as loud and obnoxious as I could...and Mr. Panga gave in and realized that he would have to see us in order to get us to leave his waiting room. So...we went in. And, he gave us the report that he has to fill out. And, he told us that it would take up too much of his time to do it himself, so if we could take it home and bring him back the report tomorrow he would appreciate it. So....tonight, after Mommy finishes helping me blog and putting me to sleep, she is going to write my adoption report for the social worker. We have an appointment to go back and see him at 2 tomorrow. Wish us luck!!!

Afterwards, Mommy had a lunch for everyone. Mama Lillian came back to the house with us and all the staff at the house, Jane, Jenny, Osmund and David, as well as Mama Lillian, Uncle Topher and Mommy and me all ate lunch together. It was a very fun way to have everyone meet Jane and to bond as a household.

David and Osmund told us that John, the nightguard saved us last night. A car came to the gate around midnight last night and tried to get John to open the gate. He refused....he peeked through the hole and wrote down their license plate number, and then he told them to go away and that if they wanted to see me that they had to come back during the day. Eventually they went away, and, of course, never came back. There have been three break ins in the neighborhood in the past week. The rainy season is a good cover for breaking in. This is because it rains REALLY hard at night and it is hard to hear anything for the pounding rain. This gives thief's the cover they need to get over the compound walls and try to saw through the bars of the house. Thank goodness for John....he saved us once again!

confusing...

oh dear, I didn't get to see very much of Mommy today. You could tell that she felt sad though and we spent some extra time together tonight before I head to bed.

One weird thing that happened today is that Mommy let Hope go. Hope is one of the girls who help to clean, cook and take care of me. Jenny is still staying on, but Mommy explained to Hope that with my new sister, Clara Shei, home and so small and sick, we need to have a proper baby nanny working at the house and she can't justify having three people working in the house. And, since Hope leaves every day at 2pm, she is the logical choice. Mommy didn't tell her that she is also not the greatest at helping around the house and breaks a lot of things and then hides them.

So, end of story, today was Hope's last day working at our house and tomorrow a new nanny is going to start. Her name is Jane. I hope Mommy found us a good one! And, I sure hope I get to see more of Mommy tomorrow!

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

I have a little sister! Her name is Clara Shei and we brought her home from the orphanage today. More to tell later, for now we are all very exhausted at our house. We all went to get her around 5pm tonight. She came home and we all bonded for a while together and introduced her to Twiga. Then, I had dinner. Then Clara Shei had dinner and then she pooped diarhea all over Mommy. After a lot of clean up, Clara Shei went to sleep and now I am going to sleep so that Mommy and Uncle Gogo can go to sleep. We are all very tired.

I am so happy to be a big brother and I already love my little sister so much!!

Check out HER blog at www.theworldaccordingtoclarashei.blogspot.com

Dinner with Friends

Well, it's Monday so you might think we all had the Monday blues. But, in order to combat them, we decided to go out for a fun Indian dinner. When we got to the restaurant (Impala Hotel) who should we see than the Nyiti family. Mommy works with Freddy and he is married to Carolyn and there are 4 kids. Charlie is 9, Otis is 7, Lulu is 5 and Nyala is 3. Nyala is my favorite even though I really like them all. I guess its cause Nyala is closest to my age. So, we all sat together and had dinner....and it was really fun! Mommy made me sit in my stroller and all the other kids got to run around....but they were really nice and came over to visit me a lot. And, I had a fish curry dish for the first time tonight....I loved it! Can't wait to eat more....yummy fish!!!! Thanks very much to the whole Nyiti family for letting us join their fun. Hope to see you all again soon.

Then and Now

Every once in a while Mommy gets a really nice email from a past volunteer at Cradle of Love who has seen this blog and wants to write and check in on me. She is always so happy to hear from those people who knew me when....and even more excited when they send photos of me before I came to my forever home. It means a lot to me too....and I know how great it will be to have these photos of me when I was a little boy. Thank you so much to all you past volunteers who were and still are soo good to me! Mommy is going to send a personal individual email tomorrow to send thanks....but for tonight I am sending thanks for both of us.

This weekend was just a regular old weekend.....we visited Cradle of Love, we played and played around the house, we sat patiently in the car while Uncle Topher practiced his driving skills on the side roads, we went to the Tengeru Market to see what was for sale, and we ate. I love to eat....I mean I LOVE to eat. Mommy is getting worried about the amount of food I eat. She doesn't want to stop me because I keep asking for more, but on the other hand, you wouldn't look at me and call me slim. Really, as long as its all healthy food, I don't know what she is worried about....I'm just storing a bunch of calories in my tummy for the winter time (or a growth spurt).

Here are some old and new photos of me....see how much I've grown! Thanks again for the photos!!!

oh, and for the record books...one of my new favorite words is Arusha.....I am Akira from Arusha and I want everyone to know it! I say Akira, Arusha and Mommy a LOT!!!

THEN

NOW

Friday Fun

Today after Mommy got home from work, we headed out to the orphanage to visit. I had fun playing with Prince, Rachel, Maria and Staci. Then, after a short time playing there, we continued down the road to the Mt. Meru Game Reserve for a lunch playdate with Ella and family. The Lodge is on the edge of the Arusha National Park and they have some wonderful animals to have lunch with. The Monkeys come right out of the forest and hang out in the trees above us while we eat, hoping for a bite of something left over. We had fun watching them steal the plates and bowls off the tables. Ella and I ran around and explored...and as usual had so much fun. We always play well together and our families are very proud of us. Thanks again, Ella, Inneke and Dirk for a really fun afternoon!

Just another day....no power, no hot water

It's Thursday....so I did normal Thursday things. I played outside in the garden (where I helped to do a little sweeping). I played some ball with Mommy while Uncle Gogo and Twiga played rough and tumble football outside. Basically I had fun.

Tonight was a bit more difficult. Poor Mommy, she is having a tough time. The water heater here flooded a week or so ago, and the landlord delivered a new one to be put in. Only it's about half the size and holds about half as much water as the old one. She can't get a warm shower anymore....it last for about 3 minutes and then turns cold. And, this is after heating the water for an hour and a half (here you have to get up before you want your shower in the morning to turn on the water heater....they do not self regulate). So, Mommy is now waking up VERY early to heat her luke warm water that lasts about 3 minutes....and each morning when she comes out of her shower the last few days she is kinda grumpy. Then, tonight the power went off just as we were about to get my bath ready. Now this is very common here in the evenings....the power goes off a few times a week....sometimes for an hour and sometimes for 12 hours, you just never know. I take a lot of bath by candlelight. I don't mind. But, Mommy and Uncle Gogo couldn't get the water to come out of the faucet. It seems that without the power to turn on the water pressure button, there is absolutely no way that the water heater has the gravity on its side to push that water out of the faucet. Tonight, therefore, Mommy and Uncle Gogo had to heat up pans of water and pour them into my bath. Mommy really wishes she had her old water heater back ;(

Just Like Uncle Gogo

ONLY CUTER!!!!

Court

Boy, did this day start early. Mommy got me up when it was still dark outside, for heavens sake. What was she thinking?? Well, we got up and going pretty fast today and got all dressed up in nice clothes and headed out to pick up my BirthMom, Lillian and head to the High Court for an adoption appearance today. It was very rainy today and we had to wait outside the courthouse for about an hour and a half until the Judge was ready to hear our case. Mommy didn't want to put me down for fear of me getting myself and my nice clothes all muddy in the rain, so she stood and held me while I squirmed for and hour and a half in the rain. Geeze, the woman has stamina.

Then, we went in to see the judge. The social worker was there and mostly this seemed to be about setting dates as to when Mr. Panga (the social worker)'s final report would be in and when we could set the final court date. There were lots of references to the rules of law though...and all the lawyers and judges had their rule books out and kept reading from them. I was busy reading from my book, "I love you because you're you". I think my book was better!

Anyway....the grown ups finally set the final court date for 2 June. Then, the Judge asked to talk to me. He asked the grown ups if I preferred the name Lawrence (my old name) or Akira (my new name). Why in the world was he asking them what I preferred??? Well, I thought I better set him straight, if he has a question about me, he should ask me! So, I looked at him straight in the face and said VERY loudly, "A-KIR-A". Well, that got his attention. He is a nice man though, with a big, jolly laugh. Then he asked me another question about how I was doing today (he kept calling me 'young man'). Well, I told him how I was. I looked at him, again, straight in the face, and I pointed and gestured to get my point across and then I said, very clearly, "gobbledy gook, funbana fuduko mabanga wanono!" I went on for about 30 seconds while all the adults stared at me dumbfounded. I ended with great emphasis and then waited for their reaction. Silence and then a crowd full of laughing lawyers. The Judge thought I was VERY funny (which, lets face it, I am). I had fun in there and look forward to seeing them all again in 5 weeks. At the end, the Judge said bye to me, and I said it back to him about 20 times (wanted to be sure he heard me) and then I blew him kisses as we left the room....he was laughing as we closed the door behind us.

Preparation

Today was a busy day. We went out for a drive today to Moshi, the neighboring town about an hour and half drive from Arusha. Neither Uncle Topher nor I had seen the town and Mommy really likes it there. So, she took us for lunch and to see the town. She is right....it's really nice. It's very green with jacaranda lined streets everywhere and its a quieter town with less tourists, less upscale obnoxious hotels with upscale obnoxious tourist, less street children attracted by the tourists trying to annoy you into buying the second hand map of Boise Illinois that they are selling, less fast driving insanely obnoxious safari vehicles....just LESS.

The actual reason we were on the drive though, is that Mommy is considering buying some land here in my name so that I will have something special of my homeland, even after I have to move away. We're not totally sure, and it can be tricky to buy land, but we are scouting out possible locations to make some inquiries into. We found a very nice little spot between Arusha and Moshi, which has two stunning views and located smack between Mt. Meru and Mt. Kili. It's called Sanya Juu (juu means small hill in Swahili). We'll have to go out again on some weekends and look more....it's just in the idea stage at this point.

Then, tonight we had dinner with Brooke Montgomery. She is our adoption lawyer, in town because we have a court hearing tomorrow morning. We all met tonight so that Mommy and Brooke could discuss what is going to happen tomorrow morning and what we should expect etc. It all sounds a bit complicated and maybe a little scary, but Mommy keeps giving me hugs and kisses, so I know that no matter what it's all going to be ok. I'll leave it to the grown ups to sort out all the legal mumbo jumbo....and for now, I'll just keep singing and dancing and playing!

Mischievous Monkey...

This is what my Mommy calls me....mischievous monkey. I beg to differ. I do not think I am mischievous, nor a monkey....can't she tell, I'm HUNGRY!!!

When I climb into my high chair, I am trying to explain that I'm a growing boy and I would like to eat now. Mommy keeps babbling on about how I can't climb up the furniture and I'm going to fall and hit my head and get a concussion or some such nonsense. I just wish she could understand that 1) I am an excellent climber; and 2) I'm HUNGRY!!

A day in the life of Saturdays

I love weekend days, and I can tell right away when it is one. First off....Mommy is just a few minutes slower in getting into my room to wake me up. Luckily, I'm not particularly impatient in the morning and am generally happy to sit in my crib and play with my dolly and Ella until she comes to get me. Then, the morning talk with Bestamom lasts a little longer and Mommy isn't always incessantly trying to figure out what time it is to stay on track. Then, we don't usually wake up Uncle Topher on a weekend day, but Mommy and I have play time for ourselves for an hour or so, before she goes out to the guest room outside to get him up and going. And, I usually don't get dressed in the morning, but I stay playing in my PJs until my morning nap is over.

Today was no different, that was the routine. Then, in the afternoon we went out for a bit of lunch and to buy some new African music that Mommy was certain I would love to dance to. She was not mistaken, I spent my afternoon dancing around the room with Mommy to the African beats. I am a GOOD dancer, if I do say so myself. Uncle Topher won't dance and only comes into the room to look at us in disdain everyonce in a while mumbling something about what a bizarre family he has before retreating to another room. How sad for him....Mommy and I have the best time dancing together. And, African music has some mad beats.

A small Baby Group at MY house

Today is Friday and we often have baby group in the afternoon, but it wasn't organized this week. So, we decided to have a small private baby group in the afternoon with myself, Ella and Aiden. Auntie Aleks came to visit and play with us as well. We ate some fruit and played with toys, danced to some fun music and even chased bubbles! Oh, the fun we had. I love to play with Ella and Aiden. They are my two favorite friends. We are all playing so nicely together now and I notice that when I do something sometimes one of my friends mimics what I am doing. And, when one of them does something, I want to do the same thing as well. We are all learning to be big sharers and to be gentle and play nicely together.

Thanks to all who came today!