A day all about the babies

Today we drove out to a friend's house for a pancake breakfast (with chocolate chips!) She lives on Elkorama which is a farm adjacent to Mpala so it is always quite a drive, but we often get lucky and see some wildlife.

Our first sighting were some lovely Giraffes, a male, a female and a baby who only just came up to his Mom's tummy. Not a great photo as I only thought to get the camera out when they were moving away from us.



Then as we were coming up to the house we stopped for some ellies and quickly realised that one of them was not much bigger than Emma! Well... maybe a little bigger, but SO cute. He was with two other elephants, a large and a medium sized. He was horsing around with the medium sized one and she was doing her best to ignore him. I decided she had to be his older sister.



I liked this pic that K took of us watching the ellies, not just because it is Emma watching elephants but also because my hair looks awesome.

Soon after we arrived L told us that one of her guides had found the cubs of the leopard who has been eating the rock hyraxes from outside her house. As an aside here, the hyraxes climb into her engine block to hide from the female leopard. A fact that just tickles me for some reason. The girls climbed into the car and K stayed back to tend the bacon and Emma. We drove almost to the border of Mpala ranch, and then drove some more into the bush and off the road, watching out for thorn branches whacking into the car. Then we parked and walked down a hill and back up the next and up onto a kopje. (Rock outcropping with ubiquitous fig tree growing on top.)


Now during this little walk I was becoming uncomfortably aware of a number of things.
a) I did not bring my hat and I was definitely wearing town shoes.
b) Where there are baby leopards there is a mother.
c) I have previously had a close encounter with a leopard and didn't like it.
d) The bush around us was getting thicker and harder to see through.
e) I was the last person in the line of people walking towards the kopje.

Thankfully we arrived as this somewhat horrifying list appeared in my mind. We hung back while one of the guides hopped up into the rocks to check for the adult leopard. I was glad not to have his job. Then we clambered through the grass and came upon a large rock wedged between two others making a sandy bottomed cave beneath them. Initially I had a bad angle and this is all I could see.

Then I moved around to the top of the rocks, casting about with a wary eye for a cross mommy and got a look at the babies. Oh how lovely! Bundles of fur, confused and squirming, not looking at us and with dark spots and squashed faces! There were three but I only saw the two. I was completely enchanted for a few moments just looking at these tiny helpless creatures and imagining the graceful predatory lives ahead of them. Then one of the few swahili words I understand made it into my consciousness. Mzea. Wait, isn't that like, Daddy? Or Man? or possibly Big Man? Turns out the guides had seen a male leopard hanging around that morning as well as the female. My reptilian brain began to chitter in the back of my head in quite a severe way and I was more than happy to traipse off into the bush again. Leaving the cubs snuggled together in the shade and dust.




I have also added this blurred one as a demonstration of my hands shaking after the mention of Mzea.

And here we are again...

Day zero of chocolate free household:
- Notice that noticeably less of feet are showing beneath belly. Not pregnant, so not a good sign.
- Also notice that belly no longer goes away when flat on back. See point above re pregnancy.
- Decide to have a chocolate free home.
- Walk resolutely past chocolate aisle with no signs of weakness in grocery store.

Day one of chocolate free household:
- Morning, no problem!
- Afternoon, discover unexpected boon of half a bounty bar in bedside table. A little old with a few ants but who cares!

Day two of chocolate free household:
- Can we still call it day two if chocolate was consumed on day one? Confident head nod. Yes!

Day three of chocolate free household:
- Nutella by the spoon, use plastic spatula to get remnants from jar. Search rest of pantry for more.

Day four of chocolate free household:
- Eat the following snacks post dinner;
small amount of old ice-cream, mango flavour. (It's like eating fruit.)
ginger cookies
popcorn
cup hot milo

Day five of chocolate free household:
- Gibbering wreck by lunch. Cursing fact that car is in shop, consider walking to find chocolate.
- Question husband intensely as to whether he may have some hidden in his office.
- Consider baking chocolate cake.
- Instead, surf cooking websites to look at pictures of brownies. Promise myself to one day make these:
http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2012/02/02/simple-super-bowl-sunday-dessert-mini-peanut-butter-brownies/

We'll see what day six brings. I'm rooting for acceptance and closing my belt.

Fun at school

I have been so impressed with Emma's teachers, even though the kids are only 18 mo to two and a half the teachers really go all out with planning a theme for the year and setting all the activities around it. This term there Miss Anne pitched a tent in their classroom as the theme is: "Let's go camping!". I mean, literally pitched a tent!! They have also put together this amazing board. Each week they read a poem from a book and then do a painting activity around it. So the children painted the background and the sky and then piece by piece the teacher has filled in exciting things on the board and puts a photo with each piece so the children know which is theirs. Emma's is the leading elephant.

Blue pancakes for breakfast!

Snugs

I want desperately to remember and hold close moments with Emma. I want to always feel her skinny arms holding on to my neck so tightly that her shoulder is against my windpipe. I want my arms to always have the feeling of being wrapped around her, and how small she is and yet how solid and strong her body is. I want forever the feeling of the back of her head with it's matted hair that fits into my hand. I want to remember the coldness of her wet tears on my neck and the feeling of her hard little nose rubbing the snot off onto my shirt. But most of all I want to remember how it was she who came to me and how she didn't want to let go, but wanted me to hold her and hold her and hold her.

Nakuru National Park

K's folks came to visit and we had them on a whirlwind trip trying to see as much of possible of Kenya to get a flavour for the country. Emma and I mostly stayed at home to try and keep her routine as simple as possible while K acted as guide and chauffeur. Em and I did go with them to Nakuru National Park.

It is a small park compared to others I have traveled in, from any point in the park you can look down towards the lake and up towards a hill, or cliff side. On most of the hilltops you can see evidence of human habitation. Either rows of crops or twinkling metal rooftops. In the two nights we were there the park was most spectacular at first light. The air was cool and fresh but not cold, and the dust was still settled from the dew. When you looked up at the hills there were parts illuminated and coloured by the early sun, and parts so completely in shadow it must still have been night there. But it was looking down at the lake that made you hold your breath and try to take a photo with your mind. The fever trees stood at the lake's edge, so tall with bright green trunks and the table top canopies. Between their trunks there were glimpses of white and you could just make out birds on the glimmering water. The mist covered the lake and steamed up into the air, reaching towards the sun and hiding the far shoreline.

My two most exciting moments in the park came on our way out. The first was driving along the shoreline with standing water on either side of us. We marveled at the numerous birds, zebra, gazelle and buffalo on either side of us, wading into the water to drink. As we were moving along the road a monolithic creature made us stop. A white rhino, paused on the side of the road, waiting to see what we would do. When we just sat in the car watching him in amazement, he decided to go ahead and cross the road. In the middle of the road he decided he didn't like the look of us and lowered his head to stare at our car over his long and very pointed horns. K gently reversed down the road to indicate that we were well aware of our submissive status and the rhino continued across the road, then splashed down alongside the car, taking a sip of water now and then. When he faced us, he was almost as wide as the car, and when alongside, almost as long. I really felt that we were looking at a dinosaur. Armour plated and heavy, ready to defend himself or attack, whichever he chose.

The second exciting moment came when we were almost to the gate. Looking through the trees and out onto a plain we could see that multiple herds of gazelle and buffalo were moving along, pausing now and then but then moving faster. We were sure there must be something pushing them along, just waiting to choose prey but we couldn't see what had to be lions. Then we rounded a corner and came upon four lions reclining in a partially fallen tree. They were young adults, grown but still spotted and striped. Some were completely relaxed with giant paws dangling off the tree and one couldn't find a good spot and moved along the trunk, stretching, yawning and generally showing himself to best advantage. As we watched an older female came and lay under the tree. Clearly keeping an eye on the youngsters while the rest of the pride rustled up some lunch.

Whoah Slug!

Biggest slug I have ever seen in my life. Emma was less afraid than I was. EW.

Masochism, but in a pretty place

So I feel that I just have to share my most recent physical exercise triumph. One of the Dad's at Emma's school is a personal trainer and he does his training on school grounds. In Em's first week one of the Moms was standing in the school yard, "naming and shaming" as she called it for people who should be doing "bootcamp".

Now yes - this is an army town, we have a British Army base here as well as a Kenyan one but still - bootcamp? Pulease!

At least that was my thought. But here is the thing. I am NO good at peer pressure. Standing at a new Mom's meet old Mom's coffee and eating large amounts of sticky iced chocolate cake while self-congratulating other Mom's told me how hard they had just worked and how they deserved the cake, I found myself crumbling, much like the cake in my mouth, and nodding my head vigorously at their comments. (Maybe if I nod hard enough I will work off the chocolate calories and not have to actually, ugh, exercise.)

On top of this my closest friend here keeps sending me damn texts about how she went for a run this evening. YES - you KNOW who you are. THEN, you know the pair of jeans you can always fit into, even when you are in the throes of PMS? Well the button was a challenge. I blame Nutella.

So anyway, I strong-armed Keir into accompanying me. Misery loves company. And we went to a bootcamp session called "get tyred" because you use tractor and car tyres for this particular kind of torture. We literally had to squat and lift and flip TRACTOR TYRES! They are heavy! And they smell! This was a Thursday. On Saturday we went to D's and she lives on the fourth floor with no lift. It took Emma and I 40 minutes to climb, thankfully Emma believes in taking breaks when tackling D's steps. I couldn't pee cos I couldn't sit, and then when I did I had to stay there and take advantage of being down because I couldn't get up again. Squats, with tyres! Oh and did I mention lunges? All kinds. Wanna make me cry? Say to me: "split lunges for 30."

I walked like a geriatric cowboy 'til Tuesday. Then I felt pretty good for two days and went back. Then I went on Tuesday. Today I thought - hey, maybe if I go again only two days after, the punishment will work out Tuesday's kinks? Wrong again chum. New kinks and I have decided water and wine and juice are all overrated. As is peeing.

Oh and the pretty place? We face Mt. Kenya while doing bootcamp. It is a beautiful mountain, often with rain and mist swirling around it. Sometimes cursing and spitting at it is the only thing that gets me through the jump lunges.

nuttin' much

So I haven't blogged for so long, not really having anything matching the excitement of an eye to eye with a leopard but then today I thought, well Kenya is still an interesting place to live and I should write about that!

Today I went for the first time to a side of the street stall for my veggies. I usually get them from the grocery store where the veggies all look as though they have been there a while and aren't enjoying the visit.

Today's stall is on the same street as Em's school, it is a wood hut with a couple of corrugated iron roofs that make a little porch. On the porch are the veggies. I wondered under the porch and the two ladies shelling peas looked at me suspiciously. Thankfully a man came out of the hut to help me. We had a little tussle over the largest passion fruit I have ever seen as he tried to choose them for me, but I like to choose my own fruit and with a shrug that clearly said "ok Mzungu" he made space.

The best part of the stall are the 8 or so baskets of dried beans. Beans I have never seen before and when I asked, never even heard of. I couldn't resist the pitch black beans that have a white stripe. No idea what I will do with them. Put them in a chili I suppose. The man weighed all my veggies on a scale with actual weights and I paid him what seemed a paltry amount for some really lovely veg. I also feel quite proud of myself for finally feeling comfortable enough here to get out of the car!

coupl'a pics

Monkey and Emma with matching hats!


All prepared for the power to go out!

Living in Nanyuki

Living in Nanyuki is still an adventure, even if there are no ravening beasts. (The little barkers in the landlord's garden don't count until they actually draw blood.)

When it rains, which has been often recently, the power goes out. When it threatens to rain, which it does on the days it doesn't actually rain, the power goes out. The other day, from 9 til 5 the power went out on the hour for half an hour and then came back on for the second half of the hour. This led to me almost showering, losing power, getting distracted, getting naked for the shower, then losing power and getting distracted... it took me about three hours before I actually figured out there was a pattern. And then there are Thursdays. As a load shedding exercise we are supposed to lose power from 6 til 9 each Thursday night. This translates to the power going out anywhere between 4 and 6 and not coming back til, well anytime really, and sometimes not coming back at all. This makes dinner, bath and tea an entertaining dance. Whenever someone switches on a light Emma exclaims; "Yay! Power's back!"

Emma Update

Oh the fun we have had this month!

I asked her if she was my sweet girl and she said; "No! Spicy girl!"

She is continuing her potty training and her bear, froggy, bee and assorted other animals must take their turns on the potty too.

K is trying to teach her to use an f at the beginning of words as well as at the end. She can say "off" just fine but food comes out "dude". The other day she came inside from just such a lesson and said: "Mommy, fffff ffff ffff, DUDE!"

Each toothbrushing session is a game where her toothbrush is "naughty" and apparently leaps out of her mouth. (This happens when she jerks her head) The poor toothbrush gets told sternly how he is not doing the job and put back in the cupboard. This game does lead to some yellow teeth until Mommy comes in and has a "talk" with the toothbrush.

Some of the habits she has brought home from school and as a nearly two year old has latched onto as something to be experimented with are a little challenging. We now must deal with eternal "NO!" as well as "Go away Mommy!" The former I enjoy playing around with and when she says "No" I say "Up!" then she can't figure out whether she should say yes or down? Quite often she just goes for No again. Sigh. When she tells me to go away, I do. It's quite funny how quickly that changes her mind.

Just as much fun as the conversations and games we have with Emma are the conversations that happen between the two parents. How many of you know of Dr. Suess' Yink who drinks ink? Well I was reading the nursery rhyme to Em that goes:
If all the world were apple pie, and all the sea were ink
and all the trees were bread and cheese, what would we have to drink?
K said from the front seat; "We'd all have to be Yinks"
My response; "But it would have to be pink ink wouldn't it... can Yinks drink anything other than pink ink?" and the conversation went from there for quite a long time. This is not the first time we have had such a conversation.

Natural Blue Light Shows

At the beach this year I went swimming at night. It was about 9 O'clock and the water was so black except for the edge of foam where the waves lapped against the shore. We went swimming because the phosphorescence was in the water. These are tiny algae that glow when you move in the water.

I floated there in the black with one of the cousins, looking up at the far lights of the stars, and the nearer lights of the welcoming houses on the beach. It was an experience that brought me into an acute awareness of my body as well as a wish to use every part of it. With each swish under the water my skin was alight with a ghostly blue shimmer. My legs kicked and the colour flowed down my leg and off my toes. My fingers twinkled like I was making magic.

Just a few weeks later Emma and I were in Windhoek. The air there was very dry. Each night at about 3am the air chilled. When I moved a blanket over Emma her crib lit up with eerie blue sparks jumping off the blanket and rebounding around her.

Emma update, long over-due!

So much has happened and so much has grown in our lives. We are now settled into Nanyuki after plenty of travel, lots of wonderful time with family and friends, and for Keir, a trip around France and Spain.

Emma is occupied with watching, as she calls it, a movie. It's about a Bear in a big blue house who teaches his wee companions to use the potty. I love it because she is inevitably thrilled about using the potty during or after a viewing.

It is just impossible to explain how grown she is, how she is a personality and smart and thoughtful and working everything out but then also so small and so tiny and you remember that she has only been in the world for two years.

She has started school! She goes three days a week for two and half hours each morning. It's really not long but just long enough as we come home and she heads straight to bed! We started off with me staying with her and then leaving for longer and longer periods at a time. Now she is so confident and knows the routines of her classroom. Her favourite of all is painting where she is quick to cover her hands and feet in paint and use her whole body as a paintbrush. Each Thursday they wear their swimsuits and have water play, which is so much fun with all the kids in and out of the tubs and in and out of the sand pit.

She has 5 other children who are in class with her, some days there are only two of them and some days all the children come in. You can tell how many by how ragged the teachers look. Hehe.

She is also slowly working on the potty training. We are still in the stages of familiarising her with the idea and she luuurves to sit and read on the potty. She also (like any good quinn girl) likes to run around with no diaper, which makes her Daddy very anxious and we had to get rid of the lounge carpet in case of accidents.

She is still incredibly cuddly and lovely and every moment with her is fun and special and active. But we really do have to keep her brain working or she gets bored and then the frustrated two year old comes out and it is NOT pretty!

poop of all kinds

Emma has started to talk about things that have happened weeks ago and her memory is quite exacting. We must talk about the entire incident once she has remembered it, repeating the most salient points multiple times.

One example of this is from a visit we made to a farm with Grandma and Dad. At the farm we watched a sheep having his tummy sheared to keep him clean until his whole body was ready to be sheared. Now every time we see a sheep or sing Baa Baa Black Sheep we must go over how the "Teep's" "tummy" was "cup" (cut) and keeps him "keen" (clean).

THEN last week Daddy took her to the zoo. There they saw a panda. The panda ambled over to where Em and Daddy had their noses pressed to the glass and took a spectacular poop. Apparently panda's poop is bright pink, and somewhere between the consistency of cow pats and dog poop, as K named it: panda pate! Upon observing the panda vent his bowels Emma cried heartily. Since then, we discussed at length how "pana's poop" on the "gound" and how "I cried" when that happened.

The panda pooping on the ground has also sparked discussion of where everyone else poops. Mommy and Daddy poop in the "toilo" and Emma poops in the toilo and the diaper. This conversation happens almost always in public places and very loudly. On one particular incident where K was taking her into the bathroom with him, she said at the top of her voice: "Daddo poop toilo?"

Upon your return

I have paused in my umpacking from our epic trip to the states. Paused partly to have a cup of tea and partly to take stock of life.

This morning we have had multiple power cuts and there are extremely suspicious spiders all over the house that have met the wrong end of my slipper. We had a terrible sleeping night last night as Emma adjusts to another house and another bed. Also my internet is soooooo slooooow.

BUT! The sun is shining into the house, I boiled the kettle for tea between power outs and Em and I have already had a romp in the garden. Last year was tough in some ways but looking at pictures now I remember the really amazing ways it was good.

I find myself anticipating with some excitement what is to come this year. But as with all things in Kenya I am also glad that it is only for a year and this too will end.

I'll leave you with some of the pics from the year:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emma update

Man is she cute! Below are things that are cute that she did in a cute way:

On the metro today she pointed at a little boy and said loudly: "What is dat?" When I told her it was a boy she said: "Hiiii boi". UHOH!

When we arrived at the Grandparents' house and she was introduced to the cats she got right down on the floor in Utter Kharma's face and said: "Hiii Kiddy" about a hundred times 'til Atta got bored and left.

A few nights ago she found the clean cat bowls and took them to the bottom of the stairs. There she stood at the baby gate and called up to the cats who were hiding out on the second floor: "Ca-aaats, bllablllbib your Du-ude*".
*translation: Cats, come get your food.

She is insistent that she know where everyone in the house is at all times, so there is the endless question: "Ooh is Gampa, Gam'ma, Daddie, Cats?"

While we visited with a friend now known to us as 'Bina, Em found her Crocs and wore them around and around the house all week. A few days ago she woke up from her nap demanding 'Bina's Doos, So now we are sure that she does dream.

Months ago we decided to start instituting time out. Emma thought this was an excellent and hilarious game. She would engage in the naughty activity and then put herself in time out, telling herself sternly; "No! No!" K and I were laughing hysterically into the couch cushions. It's hard to be stern yourself in these moments.

There are hundreds more but now I can't remember them. Oh well... another post, another day.

Emma Update

Couldn't wait to share this. We have spent the week at the beach in North Carolina and Emma has loved every second. From all the attention from grandparents to digging in the sand with her cousin who is only two weeks older to playing in the waves with Mommy and Daddy.

Today was the last day at the beach and we had a slow start this morning as Emma woke at 3am and never really went back to sleep. So K and I were having breakfast while checking out mail and as we were almost done I casually said to K across the room: "Shall we head down to the beach?" Emma flung down her toy and barreled across the room shouting: "go, go, go, go BEACH!" It was adorable.

States side

Well we have successfully negotiated the very long trip across the pond. Amsterdam airport got massive thumbs up from us as a stopover. Not only do they have a play area with slides and "tree-houses" where Emma could stand and watch screaming, running, playing children with what can only be described as horror but they also have a quiet baby room. In this room there are curtained booths with cribs and cushioned couches for babies to take naps and parents to nap or check their email. This room also comes equipped with a microwave and actual baby baths with actual clean, hot, first world water. It was heaven.

K's Mom picked us up from the airport and we drove on the most fabulous roads. TARRED roads, roads with LINES and SIDEWALKS. Where people did not try to KILL YOU with their cars, motorbikes, bicycles or COWS.

Then this afternoon we went to pick up a few essentials at the grocery store and I made K walk up and down each aisle so that I could bask in the Americanness of things like individual size (as in for one meal) spices and 12 different kinds of M&M's.

Other wonderful things about the first world include not having to use drinking water to boil potatoes. But the BEST thing is being around my kitties again. Henry is giving me love right now and attempting to hijack the keyboard and Oleo is squeaking at everyone in the hope that someone will take pity on a poor starving cat. I have to leave ya'll now and go give them a group hug.

0;0'7"

We are still living in the southern hemisphere in our new little Nanyuki house. Which is a small fact that makes me as happy as all the other small facts about this house do.

Emma can run out of the house, out of the little gate and into a lovely lush garden. We spend a few hours each day playing outside with her balls or looking at crickets and grass and puddles and all kinds of good things.

The house has three bedrooms, one of which functions as K's office, a little dining room, excellent for playing Carcasonne and a large sunken lounge which opens onto the porch. The whole house has very quickly started to feel like home and I was surprised at how much less stressed I am here. I can leave my doors open and there is no Vervet to threaten Emma. She can run outside and no rabid hyena or curious leopard will steal her off the porch.

Also - and it seems like a small thing until you are without it for months - the shower is heavenly. Hot water, clean water and as much of it as you want. Emma's Grandma asked us if Emma liked bubble baths and we don't know as we have never had enough water to do a bubble bath!

So really, it turns out that I am a town mouse and not a country mouse as I have always thought myself to be.