For the Grandparents - It's Millie Time

Well, it's been quite a while since I've opened the fountains of maternal effusiveness to update you on little Miss Millie.  Ironic, you might think, since this blog at one point was ONLY about her.  So let us begin.

Millie is developing at a rate of speed so fast it's hard to keep up.  We are at that stage where we have to definitely watch what we say because within a minute it will becoming out of her mouth as well.  Case in point - last night, after having a girls night out (Roger away for work), we returned home in the dark and the full moon had just risen so it was illuminating the otherwise pitch black streets (curious point - Arusha has street lights, they're just never on).  Millie was mesmerized by the moon and kept craning her neck to keep it in her sights.  When we got home, she kept staring at it, even while I was chatting with the guard and asking him how to say 'moon' in Kiswahili.  Interestingly, the word for 'moon' is the same word for 'month' which I remarked on to the guard.  Millie was still staring at the moon, but she managed to hear me say 'month' and then she kept repeating it throughout her bath!

In addition to mimicking words, she loves to mimic actions.  The nerdy experts call this symbolic play.  She does it quite frequently with lotion and soap, trying to rub it in to her arms and legs.  She just started doing it with deodorant as well (cleanliness is a virtue!).  But then yesterday, as she was eating oatmeal (on her own, mind you!) a little bit spilled on the chair.  She requested a napkin (by name) and proceeded to clean it up!  While this may be emblematic of her developmental acumen, it's probably speaks more to her mom's type-A tendencies when it comes to meal time, sadly.  But I think you get the point.

Millie's favorite activity is probably stickers, followed closely by singing and looking at books.  Oh my, the singing.  She has a rotating play list of favorites and at the moment its 'Wheels on the Bus', 'Pop a Little Pancake' and 'Zoom, zoom....'

The weather here has been funny lately.  The cold stuck around much longer than last year, then we had about 10 days of blisteringly hot weather and now we're back to moderate and comfortable temps.  During the hot week, we went to the pool about four days in a row and it's been really fun seeing her enjoy it at this age.  When we go, she says 'pool, yeah!' and is really confident in the water.  She particularly enjoys drinking it while trying to blow bubbles.  One thing about Millie is that she is a brave and confident little girl.  She will choke at least 10 times in the water (or while drinking water from a non-sippy cup) and isn't really deterred.  She even finds it humorous.  Seems kind of disturbing to laugh about it, but she is quite hearty. 

Mille has learned about five animal sounds - lion, cat, dog, horse and sheep.  Next weekend is Halloween and feels like we should take advantage of her talents (roaring) and attributes (massive mane of hair) by making her a lion.  I have the brillant idea of teasing her hair to make it into a lion mane, but methinks that could be more painful for us afterwards.  Thankfully, Roger is in charge of bath time, so its sounding like a better idea even as I write this.  What do you all think?

For the Grandparents - It's Millie Time

And so the countdown to Numero Uno begins. We are less than 30 days away from the last time I ate decent Thai food which ultimately led to our first meeting with Miss Millie! The build-up to this milestone has been quick and adventurous. The main event of month eleven has Millie showing off her walking skills to everyone! Usually she would be like "see what I can do?" and then after a few steps get down on all fours and crawl her way to her destination since that was faster. But in the last few days, she has been opting for the walking and doing just fine. Thankfully, she has learned to bend at the waist when she falls back and put her hands out when she falls forward. Plus, she is getting all kinds of balance its almost like we can put her on a treadmill until it's time for a nap! And in honor of completing eleven months of life, she got two more teeth bringing the grand total up to 4.

Her attention span seems to be increasing as there is less hoping from one toy to another. She is more interested in hearing the story in each book rather than grabbing at the book and throwing it on the ground. There is more recognition of things and people and a fascination with other humans under 3 ft tall. Lucky for us, a new family with an 8 month old boy moved in upstairs so she has a play mate at almost any time of day. And we've been going to play groups more frequently as well. Millie is usually happy to just sit and watch, but lately she's been taking part (read: pulling other kids hair). And we have also ventured on to a trampoline which Mama and Millie BOTH enjoy!

Her palette is finally expanding slightly and we're managing quesadillas, chicken, mac and cheese and pumpkin pancakes quite well. Daddy cooks oatmeal for the whole family every morning so we are eating breakfast together as well. But you never know what she will be in the mood for, and sometimes all your hard work ends up squished between her fingers and artfully smeared in the hair. She is not using a spoon yet on her own (is she supposed to be?) mostly because Mama is just loathing the clean-up after every meal. Any suggestions for moving towards this milestone would be greatly appreciated!

Sometimes it feels like the changes are happening so quickly I can't keep up. Whenever I notice something, I wish I could jot it down so as to relay to all of you loyal readers. But a walking baby is rarely to be left alone! You might have been thinking lately, where are all the pictures?? Well, consider it a paradox if you will, but Millie is such a ham for the camera that it is hard to snap pictures of her a) candidly and b) without her grabbing for it. But I leave you with a few pictures that we were able to slip in. Hope you enjoy!

Blue Plate Special

Santa was good to Millie this year!


Just kidding. We got our new car straight off the boat from Japan. Sure is purdy, isn't it?? It's a 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf with very low mileage and we like it lots. The title of this post refers to our blue, rather than yellow, license plates. You get blue plates if you're with the UN (and maybe for all diplomats?) which entails a whole host of goodies like exemptions from paying for parking on the street and never getting pulled over for the random police checks! How many of you can count those perks as part of your benefits package, hmmmm?

For the Grandparents - It's Millie Time

Today Millie is ten months old. And the theme from this point forward (for many years?) is on the move. She is no longer content to explore and experience the world from the comfort of a car seat/baby backpack/Mama's arms - she wants to touch and taste for herself. And now she has the skills to do so - crawling, cruising and even walking! Check out a video we posted on the right to see her in action. She also has a voice and hand gestures that she loves to use, particularly waving, which she does at the mere hint of a familiar face. You should see us as we set off for our walks around the neighborhood - it's as if a hometown hero has returned and is parading through the streets and all her fans are waving at her. Except the street is dirt, the car is a vintage Graco stroller and her fans are the security guards from the surrounding houses!

Most notably, she has uttered the two most important and precious syllables known to babykind - ma ma. And as the generous soul that she is, she's even thrown a few 'dada's' out there at choice moments during the day (when Roger returns from work). It seems like such a critical time to be constantly talking to her and pointing things out. In fact, during our daily walks I have initiated a rigorous training regime for turning her into a prizewinning U.S. state and world capital ninja (just like her mama). Instead of a pageant mom I'll be a geography bee mom!

If you asked Millie what the highlight of Month 10 was, I don't know if she'll say the trip to Nairobi, the visit from Santa or the new year celebrated on safari, but she had quite a full month. We seem to have skipped the dry season and the long rains (as opposed to the short rains of Sept - Nov) have arrived. The day alternates between sunny and torrential downpour making it very difficult to plan a day much less leave the house, so we're going to have to start getting creative! But there are plenty of electric sockets, unlocked cabinets and breakable photo equipment around to keep us busy, I imagine. Looking forward to some more teeth, more solo steps, play dates and new foods in month 11.

p.s. sorry for the delay in this post. with the rains have come inconsistent internet service. just coming off a three day internet deprivation, can you imagine?!