Friday, October 14, 2011

Tiras Tidings and Micah Moments


I am utterly besotted with these little guys and it is definitely such a fun age and stage for both of them. With Tiras talking more and more, we get that much more of a glimpse into his personality and how he thinks. Micah is in Year One now and it’s amazing to see him navigating longer school days and his social world so independently. Another great dynamic is how much Micah and Tiras enjoy spending time together. Yes, the squawks and outcries of dismay do occur at times, but there are far longer stretches of companionable chattering and boisterous and giggly wrestling. Love it!


And now, just a bit of a snapshot of Mr. Tiras at the present time:

The Talker – Tiras chats away in sentences and paragraphs these days. Some words are clear as a bell and others I can’t quite discern. He also has a grand old time playing make-believe with his toys and I’ll hear him talking away to them and he reminds me of Andy in Toy Story (and of his big brother when Micah first started pretend play in earnest).

Some of my favorite words are the words he doesn’t quite say correctly yet, such as “hopter” for helicopter. I just love that one! I also love how he adds his own exclamations to things now, “Good gwief!” and “I cannot bewieve it!” are two I hear fairly regularly and they always make me smile!

The Charmer – I have noticed that Tiras has definitely caught on to the “you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” principle. He will sometimes smile brightly and give us hugs before asking for something he wants. He is also quick to burrow his head into one of our shoulders if he thinks we need extra hits of adorable for one reason or another, including to smooth over troubled waters. Troubled waters caused by another facet of his personality…

The Scowler—Let’s keep in mind that he is two and it is utterly age appropriate to be a bit mercurial at this age. That said, Tiras is embracing his age and very much exhibiting some of the age two drama. If he doesn’t like the answer he gets or if he doesn’t appreciate being misunderstood or if he generally thinks something is just not quite going as he likes, that boy can scowl like nobody’s business. It’s hard not to smile a bit because even his scowls are cute. It is less hard not to scowl when he adds some vocals to those scowls. He’s got some good lungs and he is not afraid to commit to the part of “two year old throwing a tantrum”.

The Awwww Maker – Still, the much more overarching dynamic and facet of Tiras right now is the little boy who constantly makes me go “awwwwwwwwwwww”.
• One morning, Micah was getting ready for school and scraped his back on the doorfame as he was coming into the bathroom to get lotioned up with CereVe. Tiras immediately came rushing over and asked “Micah ok?” and then hugged his brother to comfort him.

• Micah and I often hug Tiras when he successfully uses the potty and we will say “I’m so proud of you.” Tiras has shown a decided lack of interest in the potty since we got back from the U.S., but I still think that in his mind, the phrase, “I am so proud of you” is a nice and loving thing to say when you hug somebody.

That’s the background for the following encounter I had. I took a semiprivate yoga class with a much more fit friend. I came home sore, tired, and more than a little haggard and light-headed. Tiras came running to greet me and said, “I’m so proud of you, Mommy.” It was wonderful timing and lifted my spirits and soothed any dismay I might have felt over my dismal performance quite a bit.

He got such a great reaction from me that he has repeated it several times and it is always nice to hear, even if I am not so sure he knows what proud means. He has definitely placed that phrase in his “charm and awww” arsenal and just a couple weeks ago when not sleeping at two-ish a.m., he rolled over to hug me as we snuggled and said with a smile, “I’m so pwoud of you, Mommy.” He eventually did fall asleep and when I went to get him out of his crib much later that morning, he hugged me and sweetly said, “I’m just so pwoud of you.”

And, at the end of September, I sent this email to the grandparents:
I've told you how Tiras will hug me and say "I'm so pwoud of you, Mommy." While realizing full well he was unclear on the meaning of "proud", it always made me smile! Last night it made me laugh.

Tiras has taken to snuggle time before going to bed. I was wearing my blue cargo pants as I got him ready for bed. They are a bit loose, but not so loose as to sustain my large stretch to get onto the twin bed with Tiras in arms. I heard and felt a huge rip occur along the seam of my pants. I must have groaned or gasped because Tiras asked: "What happened, Mommy?"

I laughed as I answered him, "My pants ripped."

Tiras rolled over to hug me and tenderly said, "I'm so pwoud of you, Mommy."
I am still laughing every time I think of it! :-)

The Loyal Little Brother – Tiras may fuss at Micah if he doesn’t get his way sometimes, but just let ME try and do something Micah doesn’t like and Tiras emphatically defends his brother’s position. Just recently I had said no to something and Micah was not pleased. Tiras put on a determined scowl and drew himself up to his full (less than a yard) height and loudly declared, “Yes, Micah (do whatever something to which I had just said no)!”

The Getting Bigger and Bigger All the Timer – Tiras is showing so many signs of becoming more and more of a little boy and leaving the baby/toddler stage behind.
• He has casually been tossing out colors as if he’s known them forever and as if he did not refuse to engage in any “what color is this” games with Mommy. (a lot like Big Brother in the whole learn it on their own preference)
• As mentioned before, his pretend play has really increased and come into its own. One especially cute example was when he decided to dub his canister of wipes “Baby” and carried it lovingly around the house and insisted I give it Aquaphor after its diaper change.
• Watching Little Einsteins is a favorite activity and “Rocket” and “Big Jet” are his two favorite characters. He seems to have also taken in the music sheets they show at the end of each episode and has repeatedly pointed out music notes in other contexts (a picture in our friend,Aria’s, house and a Barney plate with music notes on the border) and commented “Music”
• He loves drawing and will often announce what the subject of his drawing is. Micah remains skeptical that the scribbles really are eggs and such, but does not rain on Tiras’s parade and say anything to this effect. (In fairness, Micah is not being unduly critical of Tiras--during Micah’s own abstract years, he never called any of his drawings anything but drawings and if an adult asked what he’d drawn, he’d look at them as if they were a bit out there because, clearly, he’d drawn colorful designs. End of story.)
• He is still not a giant fan of haircuts, but went on a triple haircut run and after his brother and a friend only two months older than Tiras had haircuts with no complaints, he sat down quietly and endured his own haircut without a single tear or protest. A FIRST!
• He is so agile and fearless and runs around the house climbing and jumping as much as he can. He loves to do a two-footed jump off the bottom stair and declare victoriously, “Pie-yah!”
• He loves to play with the “big kids” and it is quite something to see this very opinionated kid mimic exactly what the older kids do and run after them and echo what they say so exuberantly.
• Speaking of mimicry, Micah briefly used the repeated use of “not” to emphasize that he did not care to do something. About a month ago Tiras informed me: “I’m not, not, not going to take a bath with Micah.” He also proclaimed, “I’m not, not, not going to get a haircut today.” This latter was said shortly after his tear-free haircut, but I guess he didn’t want me getting any crazy ideas about another haircut any time soon!

The "Pardner"--Deron was watching Tiras and apparently Tiras said to him, "Slow down there, Pardner!" Later he cautioned Deron, "Careful, Pardner!" We are not sure where he gets this as he isn't exposed to Westerns and neither of us use the term. It's pretty funny. He realizes we get a kick out of it and will sometimes greet us with, "Hi Pardner Mommy!" or "Hi, Pardner Daddy!"



And now, a similar snapshot of Big Brother Micah. There are so many quotes and moments that make me smile that I can’t capture them all in my memory. I did scribble a few down and will just toss out some of what he says, does, and likes these days!

The Loving Big Brother-- Micah can be quite the affirming and encouraging big brother. One example was when Tiras was happily using a hand wipe to wipe the walls in our office. I think he was pitching in in the effort to clean some of his own crayon markings. At any rate, Micah was impressed and exclaimed said to me, “Mom, I think you should get Tiras an extra airplane!” (We have used a rewards system with Micah and apparently the concept came to mind as he watched his brother.) Micah then excitedly said to Tiras, “Tiras, this is what you do to get treats! You’re going to get treats!” He added warmly, “You’re doing a really good thing, Tiras.” (Ok, so the internal motivation to do the right thing played second fiddle to getting a reward, but at least it was in the mix. It’s a start!)

The Realistic Big Brother – About a month ago, after hosting several children at our house during Bible Study, I praised Micah for his excellent sharing. Matter of factly, Micah commented that while he’d done fine with sharing, “Tiras, not so much.”

The Encourager – Micah is often saying affirming things. He was trying to encourage Deron to progress in a video game they both enjoy. He advised Deron, “If you concentrate and practice…” To illustrate his point he did a long jump in the kitchen and then, getting an intent look upon his face, continued to do several more jumps. He then concluded his lesson, noting, “See! My jumps improved!”
He also recently touched my heart when he sent Deron off to work with a loving, “Bye Daddy! Hope you have a perfect day at work!”

The Obliging Helper – Every now and then when I ask Micah to do something, he answers me thusly: “I’d be happy to do that.” It always makes me smile to hear this rather charming turn of phrase come out of my five-year-old’s mouth.

The Perspective Changer – Micah and I were running errands together in a tuk tuk one morning in August. As we exited Nakumatt and made our way over to George, who was parked a bit down the street, a motorcyclist approached me about giving us a ride. Micah did not realize that this was a for fare ride and just as I was thinking that one thing I don’t love about errands is having to deal with all the offers for tuk tuks or motorcycles, etc., Micah said, “Wasn’t that so nice of him to offer us a ride.” He was so sweet about it and even though the mortorcyclist was looking for work rather than offering a ride, I did think it was nice and refreshing to see the world through Micah’s eyes.

The Budding Francophile – Micah is thrilled to be taking French at school. There is a weekly class and Micah loves to use the phrases he learns and sing the songs they sing. He has taken to saying “Au revoir! A bientôt!” when I leave him at school and even when I say good night.

A Few of His Favorite Things
• Micah’s hands down favorite color right now is orange. He eats out of an orange bowl, drinks from an orange cup, wears orange crocs and orange clothing whenever possible.
• Micah loves school and has lots of friends and happy times there. He is doing football (soccer), tae kwon do, cookery, and badminton clubs and enjoying them all. He is also still keeping up with his swimming.
• Cats! Micah continues to love the big cats and the wild cats, such as lions, cheetahs, leopards and cervals. He also very much hopes to see a tiger one day and keeps asking to go to India to so do. Along with the big cats, he loves his feline stuffed animal buddies and he hopes very much to have a pet cat one day.
• He still loves to line up his toys and will sometimes even ask me to take a picture if he thinks he has hit upon a particularly aesthetically successful arrangement. He will also sketch something he has built with blocks to remind him of how it looked so he can make it again after they have been put away (or in cases of being rearranged by his brother, etc.)

School Boy


After Labor Day, Micah began Year One. I think the British style uniforms are so adorable and I just about exploded from all the cuteness when I would drop him off at school and see all these kiddos in their very formal and very darling garb. The teen boys have long pants and really looked quite proud and distinguished. I was skeptical of the change from comfy (and practical) khaki shorts and blue tees. Having seen the kids and the way they carry themselves, I am now a believer! :-)

Yes, as you might guess, the white shirt requires daily washing. For this reason we have three sets. And, yes, those shirts are untucked come lunch time. But they look very "smart" indeed! It is also more in keeping with the style of uniforms all the other students in Kenya are wearing.

Above: Don't They Look Smart?!

Return to Kericho




Well, I see by the date of my last post that I did not manage a single September blog entry. With school starting, it has been busy here. Busy but happy! We went back to Kericho over Labor Day weekend. We joined another family and they have a two year old too. He is only two months older than Tiras, but very tall for his age, so they can look like Abbot and Costello sometimes. :-)

It was gorgeous and restful! Now that the weather is really heating up here in Kisumu, we may find ourselves returning regularly to enjoy those cooler temps!


Above: Our Trio of Explorers Enjoying The Tea Fields

Monday, August 22, 2011

On Structure, "Home Schooling" of Sorts, and And a Fun Link

I do really, really love me some structure. I think last year was a bit of a fog for me wherein I was just often a step or two behind and unable to feel like I was on top of just about anything. After a year of learning and a respite in the U.S., I am finding that I am much more efficient and comfortable here. I have lots of systems in place and systems make me such a happy, happy camper! (Systems can be as simple as figuring out "pick up sites" for objects that need to go up or downstairs; how to stay on top of menu planning, inventory of stuff like diapers, etc.,or a monthly day to deep clean and seriously organize the playroom. Basic, but EVERYTHING had to be figured out last year and now it all feels much more manageable and doable.)

As for home schooling, I am just referring to super cool materials I just ordered for Tiras. There are great resources for activities with toddlers. We have decided to keep him home one more year and I am really looking forward to having some structured activities with him! (Yep, there's that word again!) I even ordered a lesson plan book so that I can have each week's activities blocked out in advance so that all my good intentions don't simply remain intentions but actually turn into actions!

My Little Student To Be



As for the fun link, there is a missionary family that just moved here from North Carolina. They have four kids, two of which are pretty close in age to Micah and Tiras. They are keeping a blog and it has all sorts of fun and wonderful details about life here in Kisumu. Wish I had been so clever, but having missed that boat, am totally delighted someone else was and gave me the go ahead to link to their blog so you can check out everything from matatu names they've spied, to observations about the different foods here to typical moments they've entitled "Only in Kenya". It's definitely a slice of life here in Kisumu and really well done and fun to read. Enjoy!

http://www.theagapepages.blogspot.com

And, I just can't help but geek out over the fact that I am doing my first ever link insert. So very exciting! :-) Edited to add that my link did not seem to work so I just cut and paste their blog address. Hmph!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Weekend in Kericho



This past weekend we joined another family in our compound and drove up to Kericho. Kericho is the center of Kenya's tea industry and its rolling tea plantations made for a wonderful visual treat.

Our neighbor said that she grew up watching Indian movies where the male and female leads would sing love songs to each other in the rolling hills of tea plantations and I could well see how they make for a magical setting. They reminded me of wine country or hiking in the Swiss Alps and reminded Deron of driving through Germany--I think what they all have in common is a glorious pastoral vibe of blue skies and green rolling hills!

Another perk of our visit was that with its high altitude and daily rains, Kericho is significantly cooler than Kisumu. We even had a fire going in the evening and were snuggled in sweatshirts. It felt like autumn!

The kids had a ball together. Tiras has gotten so talkative and it's fun watching him hang out with "the big kids". It was an altogether wonderful weekend. Even the drive back was a pleasure as we made our way down the hills and back toward Kisumu.



Garden Entrance to our Lodging


Walking in the Tea Fields


Our Drive Back

Returning: Part 2

And after our trip to the U.S., we returned to Kisumu. And it felt like a happy return--Kenya really is home for us right now and I was struck by a few things. As different as it is from where I have lived all my life heretofore, it feels absolutely comfortable and like just where I am supposed to be. I was also struck by how far we have come since last summer. This time around we have our house up and running (albeit with plenty of surprise repairs and residents* with which to contend); we have friends and people we know; we have routines and a sense of how to function--Kisumu is now familiar.

And I was struck by the fact that we had not only survived travel with our young kids--it had gone fairly smoothly and that makes the whole world seem much more accessible. I think we are likely to do a lot more travel as the kids grow up than we might otherwise have thought to take on and I am excited about that.

And speaking of kids, we are at such a wonderful and fun stage with both of the kids. I was often reminded of the following exchange from Lost in Translation:

Bob: It gets a whole lot more complicated when you have kids.
Charlotte: It's scary.
Bob: The most terrifying day of your life is the day the first one is born.
Charlotte: Nobody ever tells you that.
Bob: Your life, as you know it... is gone. Never to return. But they learn how to walk, and they learn how to talk... and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life.
Charlotte: That's nice.

Tiras is talking so much now and Micah has long been talking. I feel like the talking piece opens up a whole new realm of personality and I love it. I thought I loved the boys when they were babies, but with both boys, a whole new exponential level of adoring and enjoying them came into play when the talking started. I am so with Bill Murray's character--these are two of the most delightful people I will ever meet! Things can get tiring, hectic, chaotic, and even frustrating, but underneath it all, this motherhood gig really is sublime. Truly sublime.


There is still so, so, so much more to explore and discover here in Kenya and about my two boys! I am excited to see what the year ahead brings.

*By residents I mean critters ranging from the cute (geckos and tiny frogs) to the less appealing (such as the bats who decided they wanted penthouse privileges in our home and whose aromatic urine and guano made us all too aware of their presence)

Returning: Part 1

In the months that have elapsed since my "Spring Cleaning" post, we have flown back to the U.S. to have Micah checked out for medical issues (he's fine); returned home for a week and a half and then flown to Spain to join Deron's family for a cruise honoring his mom's 70th birthday (it was wonderful); returned to Kenya with Deron's mom to visit with her here, share Kisumu with her, and visit the Mara (a happy, happy time with so many memories); and then flown back to the U.S. with Deron's mom where we hit Baltimore, Walnut Creek, and Atlanta (a whirlwind packed with many special moments).

Returning to the U.S. (without the underlying tension of medical issues, as we had with Micah) was a happy whirlwind--time passed way too quickly in each spot, but held so many wonderful moments and so many familiar and nice to see again sights. We came nowhere close to doing all we had planned to do or seeing all the people we had hoped to see. We probably underestimated how quickly a tri-city tour would zip past. If we saw you, it was fabulous and cherished and we thank you! If we did not, it was largely due to how quickly time zipped in Baltimore and Walnut Creek--we had large contigents of family gather to see us in each place--and we sure hope to catch you in the next wave!

Even beyond the obvious interpersonal connections, there were lots of things to love about being back in the U.S. There are way too many to list them all, so in no particular order, here were some often-taken-for-granted-but-newly appreciated aspects to being back:

Deron and I both loved the freedom of movement. Roads are so good in the U.S. (not to mention signage, police regulating how people drive thus decreasing the truly crazy and obnoxiously aggressive behavior that might otherwise ensue, rest stops, and roadside assist services should something go awry) and we loved the feeling that should we wish, we could jump in the car at any time and to be able to go anywhere (heck, I just loved DRIVING again!).

I had a giant grin on my face every time I stepped in Target. Whole Foods and Publix as well. There are products and produce items I have missed. There are ingenious products I did not even know existed but discovered. (Hello Munchkin diaper discs--looks like the start of a beautiful friendship! These little guys totally work on the diaper pail as nothing else ever has! We may be on the tail end of life with diapers, but what a happy note on which to end our run thanks to these brilliant little game changers in the fight against yucky smell in Tiras's room.)

I cannot possibly overstate how much I enjoyed having clean, running tap water with which to brush my teeth and wash my dishes. So nice! (And, yes, I do fully appreciate how lucky I am to have running water at all and to have the distiller for my drinking water. I am not marching for ages to a water source and then painstakingly carrying my water back to my home. I still have it easy and I am grateful. Still, clean water so easily accessible as it was in the U.S. was something I relished.)

Speaking of doing dishes, garbage disposals. Ahhhh...

Chocolate cream pie at Chow in Lafayette. Had it three (yes, 3!) times while we were in Walnut Creek. Also had fish tacos at Chow the day we arrived in California and they were so delicious. I basically ate whatever I wanted in the U.S. since I knew it would be a year until I would have access to certain flavors and types of food again. I savored and fully appreciated all manner of food and beverage.

And on that very sweet note, I will end my written reflections on the U.S. visit. I can't do it full justice, so just suffice it to say that it was a fun and refreshing time.

Below are some pictures of the kids enjoying Atlanta's Fernbank Museum (run, don't walk to see their amazing new children's exhibit on the top floor--so well done and so much fun even for an adult to explore) and Destin Beach in Florida (a road trip our family took during the Atlanta portion of our trip).