Ambassador Bebe

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Today we went to Machumbutane for their church dedication. Machumbutane is way out in the bush, down a long long long sandy road. True to regular form, I slept through the bumps and stayed awake on the smooth tarmac. I am becoming a true Mozambican!

Mommy was a little trigger happy at the Machumbutane church dedication today, so you shall see lots of photos here.

I seem to have achieved celebrity status at times, as you’ll see in some of the photos. Mommy and I have been talking about how being God’s ambassador here in Mozambique is my most important job, even more important than skateboarding!

The new church was very full, as you can see here. There was the group of South African volunteers (staying at our house now) that helped build this church. Plus two busloads of volunteers from Auburn Adventist Academy (in Washington, USA) came too and managed to fit inside after this photo was taken.

Here I am playing during the church service:


Here are the cows outside listening to the sermon. I said "moo" when I saw them.


Here is the old church:


Here are the new toilets. They look pretty, but be glad this photo isn't scratch-n-sniff!


Here I am playing Zacchaeus:


Here are some friends I met:


And another friend . . .


And another friend who couldn't stay awake for the whole thing. (We finished lunch around 5 o'clock, just to give you an idea of the timing of things.)



Here I am meeting some new friends:


And here I am with my entourage while taking a walk:



Mommy says this photo reminds her a little of Princess Di or some other celebrities:
Here I am saying goodbye to my friends from inside the truck:
And here are a couple of videos for good measure. The first is the children singing a song, and the second is me and Auntie Susan walking around the church with some friends.

Developmental Update

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Since I am nearing a year old, Mommy checked out my developmental milestones again to make sure I am still on track. I am, mostly. A little slow on words (or maybe Mommy and Daddy are slow in understanding them). I prefer to carry a ball to you rather than roll it. And I CAN drink from a cup by myself, but I sure make a mess. Other than that, I am way ahead of the curve.

And they don’t even list skateboarding. I am doing hot! I can squat and then rise to a standing position while boarding, just like a regular surfer girl. Even Daddy can’t do that! Here's my latest video. If you don't watch any other videos, you gotta watch at least this one!

My major accomplishments have to do with figuring out how things work. I am really good at putting things where they belong - and it's not always my mouth these days. Some of my achievements:

• I put clothes in the dirty clothes basket. Sometimes I take them out of the clean laundry pile to put them in the dirty basket, but clothes are clothes, right? I even put a bar of soap in the dirty clothes basket, too.
• I put everything into the trash can. It’s meant for an array of stuff, right? Like scrub brushes and toothbrushes and dummies and important papers and towels and apples.
• I know how keys work. They go into the car ignition, the safe, and the gate lock. I don’t always get the right key in the right place – haven’t got the car to start yet – but I’ll get there one of these days. Here I am trying to open the gate.
• I can call California all by myself. Just watch that phone bill, Daddy!
• I put rubber sink stoppers into sink drains.
• I use hand soap when I wash my hands.
• I use my packages of new diapers to climb up to tables so I can get to Daddy’s money on top. After all, money belongs in my piggy bank.
• I put dangly things around my neck, like jump ropes and cords and belts and clothing. I am a real fashion accesorizer.
• I put belt straps into belt buckles.
• I say “moo” at cows and cats. I say “grrrrrr” at dogs and bunnies and all other animals. Picture or real life - it doesn't matter.
• I put lego-like blocks together (though taking them apart is still more fun).
• I put computer wires into their spots on the computer – network ports, USB ports, power connectors.
• I put air conditioner remotes to my ears and talk into them like telephones.
• I put coloring markers together after I take the lids off. It doesn’t matter if the lids and colors don’t match, of course.
• If you tell me to go fetch something in the other room (a ball or doll, for instance), and I am in the right mood, I will get it.
• I can twist bottle caps on and off.
• I can read books while lying on my back. Mommy wishes she had a photo of that – it’s also one of her major accomplishments. Though she hasn’t read in the past year except while nursing me.
• I can spit my food out when Mommy makes a comment about how well I'm eating.
• I take care of my dolls and share everything with them, even my toys and books and food.

As you can see, I am quite accomplished. Mommy says she is constantly amazed at how much knowledge I am displaying every day. Ouma says I am very mechanically-minded.
Well, I must go play now. We have a houseful of a dozen visitors, which is way cool. They are from South Africa and they camped in the bush this week, building a church. Now they are living in the civilized environs of our house before heading back home. And I need to demonstrate my skateboard skills for them.

Camp Meeting

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Sorry for the delay in blogging. Mommy is overwhelmed with work right now. Well, she is always overwhelmed, but sometimes she stresses about it more than others. Anyway, payroll is mostly done for the month, so we will try to get caught up.

I wanted to tell you about camp meeting. We took a long road trip to Sedaven on Friday, where there is a Seventh-day Adventist camp meeting every Easter weekend, with tents and everything. It is south of Johannesburg and about 8 hours drive from Matola (or 12 hours if you are being a fussy baby). Here I am actually helping to take down camp.


It was really cool - figuratively and literally! I got to wear my warm clothes in the evenings.

I also got to walk and walk and walk and walk until I was tired of walking. Me, tired of walking? That's amazing!




And there were lots and lots and lots of people there. I like people.


I got to play with other kids and share my snacks with them. One boy let me try out his scooter bike. Another boy loaned me his matchbox car to play with - my first matchbox car! I like cars! And I chased another boy around and around the seats in the big auditorium. I did my skateboarding tricks on the terrace there, and one big boy (who borrowed the skateboard when I wasn't using it) was very impressed - he even tried out my method of knee on the board while pushing with the other foot.


Remember Mommy’s blog about older kids that are mean and parents that don’t intervene? Well, there was no problem with that here. Parents were intervening right and left and applying lots of corporal punishment. Interesting – wonder if that has to do with the South African Adventist environment.


I went to my own class on Sabbath and Sunday mornings. We got to play with musical instruments and sing songs and put felts on the board and color pictures. I really liked the “Read Your Bible, Pray Every Day, and You’ll Grow, Grow, Grow” song.


Daddy played volleyball on Sunday and I got to watch. His team won all the way to the finals, but in the middle of the final game of the finals, there was an electrical fire in the ceiling, and they couldn't play anymore. So even though his team was behind, he is not conceding defeat - a bit of a disappointing end to the tournament.

We ate most of our meals at the dining hall, but we went to the Spur one night. Here I am coloring there.

Oh, I forgot the best part. Ouma and Oupa were there! And now they’re with us here in Matola! They came for my birthday, which is next week. I’m gonna become a real big girl then.

Here I am on the drive back on Monday. It was a real long drive and there was lots of traffic going the opposite way because of the holiday weekend. We got through the border by 9:30 p.m., but there were tons of people heading to South Africa that were stuck there filling up the whole road on both sides, so we had a hard time getting past them on our way out the border.

Here’s a photo and video of the geese we fed on the drive back. Though I think I ate more bread than the geese did. I like bread!

SpyKid?

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Our school theme today was “Duck.”

As Mommy was going over the word “DUCK” in foam letters, I walked away (as I often do when I get bored) and came back in a few moments with a book I had grabbed from my book pile. It said “DUCK,” too. See?

So now the bets are on as to whether I am an 11-month-old genius SpyKid who can read but is not talking yet as part of my undercover alias. Or maybe I’m just starting to make word-picture associations now. Or maybe I’m just ducky-lucky.

Not that I've seen any REAL ducks in this Mozambican environment, yet. Mommy is really wishing she could take me to a duck pond to feed the ducks.

Playtime Intervention

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Written by Esmé’s Mommy.

I love watching Esmé play with other kids. She gets right in the mix, passing toys back and forth, checking out what others are doing, and inventing her own games too.

Occasionally a “situation” will develop when two kids want the same toy, and if I see the other kid becoming unhappy, I’ll step in and encourage Esmé to give the toy back or to share, offering her another toy in its stead. She’s always quite content to acquiesce.

Quite frequently, when there are older kids (2-3 years old) in the mix, one of them decides Esmé shouldn’t have any toys. He (she) will take away any toy she picks up, rebuking her sternly with a “No,” and stockpile the toys in his arms or under his legs. It’s a different kid every time, and he (she) does it only with Esmé, not the other kids (generally bigger) that are playing.

So far she has taken things in stride and just keeps moving on to the next toy, sometimes even bringing that next toy to the other kid to inspect (just to have it grabbed away with a “No”).

Can someone explain this to me? I could understand if the other kid wanted the toy, but that’s not the case. The best idea I have is in some situations, the kid is trying to “parent” Esmé and is role playing his parents’ constant “Nos.” But in other situations, he just seems plain mean.

What’s also interesting is the parent of the other child never intervenes. Just an observation, not a judgment. I’m not there yet, and for all I know, the parent feels as long as the child isn’t murdering someone, he’s doing pretty well for his “terrible two” state of affairs.

So I have a question for any parents out there: When is it appropriate to intervene? As long as no one is getting hurt or upset, I’ve tried to stay out of the picture. But today at mother’s group, Esmé was looking quite bewildered as she searched for an "acceptable" toy to play with. And I hate watching someone be mean to her. Even more importantly, I don’t want her to think that type of behavior is acceptable and has no consequences.

Sundry Topics

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My birthday is coming up soon. I know this because Mommy is working on birthday party invitations. So I got into her birthday supply cupboard and started wrapping myself in “Happy Birthday” streamers.

Here’s a photo of me being an “entropy catalyst” (to use Uncle Mike’s term). I emptied out my package of diapers all over the floor – it should make them much more accessible for Mommy when she needs one.

Mommy also wanted me to let people know about my trash-swapping talents. I like putting things into the trash (plastic containers, spoons, toys) and taking stuff out (carrot peels, used plastic bags . . .). As long as things balance out, no big deal, right?

We found yesterday out our friends aren’t coming with the Auburn Adventist Academy group this week. So I won’t get to play with their little girl – bummer! But they are having triplets, which I think is very cool.

We watched Hidalgo on the “big screen” yesterday with some friends. Well, I only watched a little. As Mommy says, she hasn’t watched a movie all the way through since I was born. (Well, there was one, but she watched it in bits and pieces and finished it in the car on the way to the beach while I was strapped in my car seat and couldn’t get into mischief.)

Tonight we went to my favorite Indian restaurant. My friend C. is leaving Mozambique next week, so it was a farewell meal. He is walking, too, so we had lots of fun walking around and around and around the tables, wearing our mommies out. Here is a photo of him:

Unknown Device

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Today I was chewin' on one of the USB ports while Daddy was working on the computer - after all, I am one Unforgettably Super Bebe, you know.

I must have got my tongue in it, cuz a "Found New Hardware" window popped up on the computer. It called me an "Unknown Device." Can you believe it?

So I gotta work on my reputation and get rid of that "Unknown" factor.

You'll be happy to know the USB port still works fine, by the way.

Soap Day

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Mommy saw that my face was dirty after breakfast, so she decided that the theme today would be "Soap."

So today I learned that soap tastes really good, especially the Johnsons Bedtime Baby Soap.

I learned that it doesn’t always make good bubbles when you mix it with water and blow with your bubble blower. But it does usually foam up in the water, and that is fun to play with.

I learned that it is slippery when I poured my bucket of soap water on the floor and then did a split.

I learned that three of its letters have holes in the middle which make them fun to grab and play with. "O" is my favorite since it has the biggest hole.

I learned that you should sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" when you wash your hands to make sure you wash them long enough.

I also learned that soap comes in handy when you’ve been an artist and colored all the walls and your face, too.

Naptimes (or Lack Thereof)

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Esmé’s Mommy here.

Now I’m betting I’m not the only parent who spends some days counting down the hours and moments to naptime. All the work I need to do, or just the need for a little "me" time, is pressing on my mind.

So what do you do when the baby will NOT go to sleep? I may have a schedule for Esmé, but she’s made it quite clear that it’s not HER schedule as far as sleep times are concerned. Some days she skips morning naps, other days she skips afternoon naps, and sometimes she just takes forever to fall asleep at night. And some days it’s a combination of the three, or all three.

So I have a couple of options: 1) take her out of her crib and let her play, 2) sit close to her crib and keep her stocked with books and toys, or 3) leave and let her cry.

(All you perfect parents out there – trust me – letting her cry does NOT result in her taking a nap eventually. I will not tell you how long I’ve left her in there for fear of incriminating myself, but if she’s decided not to sleep, she DOES NOT sleep.)

I’m doing my best to avoid option 1 for her own best interest. If I’m feeling like a good Mommy, I go with option 2. But some days I just HAVE to go with option 3 for my own sanity, or so I tell myself.

So I go to work or try to relax with the sobbing soundtrack in the background. For some reason, it’s never as productive or restful as I’d hoped.

And when I finally decide it’s time to commute her prison sentence, I walk into the bedroom to the most heartbreaking face in the world. But here’s what I love:

The moment she sees me, the tear-streaked, snot-nosed face brightens and smiles peak through. As she reaches for me, she gives me the hugest, sweetest hugs and kisses and smiles. It’s as if she is saying, "Mommy, you’re the best Mommy in the world. I love you SO much. I’m SO glad to see you."

No grudges, no guilt trips. Just love.

Why couldn’t all of us forgive and forget like that?

Red + Blue = Purple

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Mommy has been winging school lately. So she comes up with all sorts of weird ideas, like "Ball Art" on the day our theme is "Balls." That consists of coloring a ping pong ball with a magic marker and then crumpling up a piece of paper around it, resulting in a crumpled, smudged piece of paper.

Or on the day we had Moses and the Bulrushes theme, I ate pancake pieces floating in applesauce – I'm not sure the pancake pieces qualified as baskets, even though they were fibrous with whole wheat flour and sweet potatoes in them. They were yummy, though.

And yesterday the theme was "Bed." You can tell what's on her mind, huh? So I decided not to take a morning nap in civil protest. Some other themes have been "Money" and "Telephone," as well as some numbers and colors.

For art, Mommy lets me paint the bathtub. Here is me blending red and blue. She says I will probably be an engineer and not an artist, because I am more interested in how the paint lid goes on and whether the rubber bathtub stopper will close the paint jar than I am in my artwork.

We still have fun most of the time. Mommy's just not learning as much, since she makes up everything as we go.

Slippers and Wine

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We went to Nelspruit on Sunday: Mommy, Daddy, and me. Mommy had a doctor's appointment and Daddy needed to buy some things for work (that postponed trip from last week). So I had to tag along – this is me riding in the car again. Did I mention I am still sick?


Animals. We went down Sunday so we could get a few things done at the border and get an early start on Monday, and we took a 1½ hour detour through Krueger Park. I actually looked at some animals this time – always before I was much more interested in what was inside the car. The first animl that caught my eye was a giraffe. It was REAALLLLY tall – I had to look up a long ways. It was right next to the car eating branches. There were some cute little baby monkeys playing on the ground – I had to look WAAAY down to see them. And there were lots of impala and some elephants and a hippo, too. We didn't see any zebra until we were on our way back home and there was one by the side of the road, not in the park.

Sleep. The places we stayed didn't have air conditioning, so we were blown away with fans. I had fun exploring new places, though Mommy moved all the breakable stuff out of my way – bummer. It was fun to sleep between Mommy and Daddy again, and now I don't like my crib anymore.

Clinic. I was golden when at Mommy's doctor, but we had to wait for Daddy a while in the clinic downstairs. So I read up on Osteoporosis and then ripped the brochure and dumped it in the trash can. Rubbish. Then I browsed the Wine magazine and learned all about "Blending Bordeaux Wine." I'm an expert now – ask me anything! Then I made the rounds visiting all the sick people in the clinic and passing my flu germs on. Then I made the rounds of all four trash cans in the clinic, inspecting the contents, though Mommy wouldn't let me play with them. I did tear up a couple of magazines.

Mall. Mommy and I went around and around and around and around the shopping mall while waiting for Daddy. I like people, so didn't mind too much. I walked some when I wasn't navigating from the cart.

Mail. There was a package in the mail (we get that at the mall in Nelspruit) from Grandma! It had slippers for me! Plus a cat puppet and a calendar and some chapstick, which felt really good on my chapped nose.

11 Months. I celebrated my 11-month birthday. I am 24 lbs and 74 cms tall, maybe. You'd think I'd be growing from month to month, but the scale and tape measure are kinda funny.

Boy Chasing. I really like little boys. We stopped at Steers for supper on the way down, and I walked up to two little boys (maybe 3 and 5) and gave them BIG hugs. They thought I was very cute. At the clinic a little boy (4?) was hiding under the chairs and I said hi and touched him, too. Then there were lots of little boys to chase while I was shopping. Two of them were riding in a cart car down the hall, and I followed them into and all around a store. They also thought I was very cute. There was a 2-year-old boy in a stroller that I went to visit several times, and a boy at the Spur who I chased around the tables. Boys are lots of fun, but I don't understand why grownups laugh at me.

Then I had to leave all the boys and come back home. And here we are, back at school again.