For the Grandparents - It's Millie Time!

Today Miss Millie is a whopping, holy moley SEVEN MONTHS OLD! And just in time for a celebration, Grandma and Grandpa Phillips are arriving today to corroborate all our claims of sweetness. Millie continues to be a curious little kitten. The most interesting things are still cell phones, ceiling molding, pieces of paper and anything that is not solid food. How are we related to a child that isn't enthusiastic about food?? We shall soldier on.... These days the main thing Millie wants to do is stand up. Want to get a smile out of her? Stand her up and hold her hands and she will beam. We suspect she'll skip right over crawling and go right into walking as she's not really showing any inclinations to even do an army crawl (tummy time has never been one of her favorite past times). If this is the case, Mama can toss the workout videos and just rely on chasing Millie around (probably with a spoonful of pureed squash in hand!) for her daily cardio workout.

During month 7, Millie has donned a bathing suit for the first time - once at the beach and later at the pools in town. Our trip to Pangani Beach was a big hit. After bravely enduring an 8.5 hour drive from Arusha, Millie came alive when she saw the beach and the sea for the first time. It was mesmerizing to her! She dipped her feet in the Indian Ocean, but didn't really go much further than that as the sea was quite kelp-y and murky. Instead we opted for al fresco bathing on the porch of our bungalow. Millie made the transition to sleeping in a new place seamlessly, much to our amazement and pleasure. So smooth was the transition that we were even able to put her to bed around 630pm, then skip over to the dining lodge (about 30m away from our bungalow) at 7pm for dinner, while she remained (sleeping) in the protective care of a Massai guard ready to alert us should she stir! He sat on the porch while Mom and Dad enjoyed leisurely dinners with friends (yes, we were there with friends even though our pictures tell a different story - we will get better at that!).

What is most remarkable about Millie is her strength, resilience and tolerance. We are constantly amazed at how easily she adapts to situations and hardly makes a fuss, yet we (ok, mostly Mama) are always so hesitant about inflicting too much change on her at one time. When it is too much, she let's us know. Month 8 will have Millie spending loads of time with Grandma and Grandpa, returning to the slopes of Kilimanjaro and going on our first proper safari - to Lake Manyara, Tarangire and Ngorogoro Crater!