4 Months

Edited to Add: Internet went down for a while today, so I did most of my composing as a word document during Tiras's nap. It is finally back up and since typing the bulk of this post, Deron and I were able to do a fair bit of unpacking once the boys went down for the night. Definitely a very satisfying progress to make! And rather energizing to feel some unpacking momentum get rolling. (You might detect a little weariness in this post.)

They say it takes about four months to get settled here and I think that will prove to be true. There are so many wonderful people easing the transition, but it will probably take about four months before we have our own car, our belongings in order, Micah up and running in school, and various quirks of the house resolved (some of which have an uncanny knack for taking about three permutations before resolving, which can feel tedious, especially since it means being homebound to be on hand for the workmen). But we are falling into the rhythm here and have come such a long way in even the few weeks that we have been here, so we are good.

And now, more bullets:

• Our second visit to Nairobi afforded us the chance to finish up checking in at the Embassy and to learn yet more about the ins and outs of living here. Very useful and helpful.
• While in Nairobi, the boys and I got to peruse the Village Market and enjoy our very beautiful hotel (the Tribe Hotel); the complimentary magazine provided in our room was an interesting read for me as it talked about such things as the rising film industry in Nairobi, music in Nairobi, the rising technology culture in Nairobi and etc. It felt like a nice way to start getting a better bead on the personality of that city and the broader country. I am realizing just how little I know and hoping to see what A.mazon might have to assist me in the learning process!
• Our air shipment arrived Monday and we have been enjoying watching the boys enjoy their playthings and books (Micah and I read about heffalumps before his bedtime last night, which was wonderful!) and enjoying having some more of our things on hand. Including our consumables. We have a nice stash of such items as diapers, wipes, medicines, dental products, and even some applesauce (great for our malaria meds!)
• I am also elated that some paper towels and toilet paper from home made it in the shipment. I had no idea at the time how luxurious they would seem to me when contrasted with the paper goods here! Which probably sounds very diva-esque and spoiled of me, and that is not my intent. I just tended to take such products for granted and thus they are a wonderful treat to have interjected in our supplies!
• We had a swim and lunch playdate with one of Deron's coworkers and her two kids, a boy age 7 and a girl age 5. Micah and the little girl had a ball swimming in the kiddy pool and a very nice rapport. The playdate was at a restaurant/meeting center right on Lake Victoria and it was really refreshing to take in the scenery and the company!!!
• We also went to dinner at this same location with some other new friends and took in the sunset and a family of hippos--Micah (and all of us, really) was delighted by the hippos!
• Micah was very intrigued by the little popsicle molds that came in our air shipment and yesterday we made four kinds of popsicles from the wonderful juices we can buy here: mango; apricot; kiwi cranberry; and pomegranate lime.
• My triumphant joy today is having my sink in working order again. It only had very hot water and Deron put in a request to fix that, but the influx of cold water brought with it sand and silt and that blocked off our water flow, so for two days we have been sort of limping along. Today the issue was resolved and I cannot remember being quite so enthusiastic about doing dishes as I right now am!!!
  

On the kid front:

• Tiras started walking in Nairobi!!!! He had been taking steps since the end of May, but fairly tentative and erratic in his efforts and interest in walking. Perhaps the carpet in our hotel was the final incentive he needed, but now he is a delighted walking machine who often smiles and giggles with glee at his new skill!
• The air shipment seems to have gotten the creative juices flowing for Micah. He was thrilled to receive some art supplies and has been drawing lots of wonderful and colorful pictures and writing out words (I dictate spelling; this game is all his idea, not something I am pushing and he just seems to have a ball doing it—let’s hope that holds for school). He also contorted his body into the shape of various letters to entertain me. He would say, “Am I making a challenging Y (or B or H or what have you) now?” and wait for my confirmation. Very hard to stay irked even about a recalcitrant sink with that kind of entertainment going on!
• Micah and Tiras were playing with our compound neighbor yesterday. She just turned 3 and has a water and sand table that arrived in her family’s sea shipment. Tiras had a ball with the table and Micah and this little girl had a ball racing each other on her big wheels. Very fun to see the kidlets all getting comfortable with each other. She and Micah will be at the same school.
• Tiras and Micah have playdate tomorrow with a little 8-month old boy and I have a playdate with his mom! She stays at home too and is very eager for the stay at home moms to find each other. Which will be wonderful!
• Micah quote as recounted to us while at dinner with friends where we saw the hippos. One of the women at dinner is a PhD student with expertise in animals and she was telling Micah that hippos spend the day in the water only coming up to breathe and then at night they come out of the water and eat loads and loads of grass.
  He replied to her: “Oh, so they must be nocturnal.”
  I would like to say it is the books I read to him about owls that taught him this word, but that was months ago and Deron and I are pretty sure it is the PBS DVD series “Curious George” that gets all the credit on this one!
  The PhD student was quite tickled by his response to her and I pass it along in case it tickles you as well.
• Kenyans are very friendly and loving toward children and Tiras in particular really seems to love this aspect of life here! He will smile expectantly and even put his hand out to greet just about any Kenyan he sees and he breaks out in a joyful smile when they respond to him with a very warm and friendly greeting!

So that is a bit of an update on the last week and a half or so of happenings. We are doing well and meeting lots of great people. Deron is busily about the business of learning the ropes of his new job, and very enthusiastic about the substance of his work!