First Food--A play by play

2 weeks ago, when Davy turned 6 months, he started solids! We tried sweet potatoes first, and he loved them...eventually! Since then, he's tried carrots (yum), zucchini (gag), peas (yum), and avocado (a little leery). These pictures document each step of this milestone. Thankfully he had his big sis to help him.

First bite...this is not bad


...or maybe not...

I don't wanna!

...please don't make me!

no way Jose!

okay, I'll try again...

not good!

...wait--I do like it, Vera-I-am!

I do so like sweet potatoes!

All done!

International Fair and a Camel Ride!

2 weekends ago we attended the International Fair at our school. There were loads of countries represented with booths showcasing food, typical dress, traditional products, and more. Vera wore her Ethiopian outfit and tried to eat as many sweets as she could. She ate churros for the first time--oh my! My favorite booth was Turkey, with the pastries and baklava. We had a really fun time, and Vera rode "high in the sky" on a Saudi camel for the first time.

This is Vera with 2 of her teachers--Ms. Joan and Ms. Lanie, in front of their Filipino tent



She adores her teachers, and often talks about wanting them to come to her house on the weekend.

Family photo in front of the Philippines (we miss you Borocay and Bohol!)

Some of the booths

Who looks more scared?

So brave!

Holding on for dear life

Getting off was scary!

The Sri Lankans went all out

Vera's Hair

Ethiopian Hair...every white mom of a brown baby wants to do right by his/her hair. It is intimidating, and there is a certain pressure to make sure it is as beautiful as it should be. Up until recently, I have been relying on "puffs" and our dear Miss Mildred (one of our 2 helpers, who I will describe in a separate posts) for simple braids. I have spent hours researching the right products, and have tried many. We have been doing the "curly girl" method since the summer, which means that we don't use shampoo on her hair because of the oil-stripping sulfates present in almost all shampoos. Instead, we use conditioner only. Right now we are using a special curly-girl product that is called Devacurl No Poo. I also have the Devacurl conditioner and deep conditioner. Typically, I do the No Poo once a week, followed by the conditioner. Mid-week we will often do another conditioning, and then use the deep conditioner every 2 weeks or so. Unfortunately I spent most of my research this summer on conditioners, and didn't stock up on styling products. Currently we're using leave-in cream conditioners to style, but I would like to buy these Carol's Daughters products soon: Hair Elixir. and Hair Milk.

There is a family here that has 2 African-American children. Daughter A. has beautiful curly hair that is almost the exact same texture and curliness as Vera's. Her mom wrote me an email a few weeks ago offering to teach me her expertise in what she has learned so far about curly hair. I have wanted lessons ever since we got Vera, so jumped on her invitation. Vera and Miss Mildred and I all went over to A.'s house last weekend and had a lesson on parting, twists, Zulu-knots, and under-handed braiding. We took one of Vera's favorite Elmo videos and had fun experimenting.

Unfortunately, Vera refuses to sleep with her hairstyles, and insists on "hair off!" before bed. So, this cute "do" only lasted a day.

Warm Weather Fun

It is safe to say that our family loves the warm weather. Being able to go to the pool every weekend makes us feel like we're on vacation, and we can almost pretend we're on the beach. Our big treat at the pool is the delicious mint lemonade from the compound restaurant, and an occasional ice-cream cone. Vera gets EXTREME delight from both. Here are some recent outdoor pics from the past 2 weekends.

Davy lounging by the hot tub

Vera--Post-Swimming Pose

Daddy and the kids

Mommy and the kids

Vera is actually performing a "stomp" routine here with the broom (inspired by Elmo)

This train was set-up for the compound bazaar weekend

Outdoor Activities--February 2012

One thing we love about this place is the parks. There are 3 parks on our compound, and they are all very close. Before we took these jobs, people described living on a compound like living in the States back in the 50s, when kids could ride their bikes everywhere and people left their doors unlocked. That's a fairly accurate picture of what it's like...aside from the armed guards at the gate.

We go to the park almost every day after school. I will often strap Davy in the Ergo and take Vera on her trike, while Shannon cooks dinner. Many of Vera's friends show up to play, and we stay until the call to prayer--our signal that it's time to go home. I will try to take some better photos of the park, but here a few from the day Davy turned 4 months.

This is "Tia Alli's" compound, called Arizona. They have a petting zoo, which was fun for Vera, although she was scared of the horse and definitely did not want to pet the chickens.

13 years ago Alli and I were sharing The Piso in Madrid. It is bizarre but wonderful that we are living near each other again, in the Middle East, of all places. Vera adores her Tia, and demands her complete attention every time we get to hang out.

Pictures and a Sandstorm

Gran Jan was unimpressed with the blog, as it was weak on pictures. Maybe this will improve readership.

Vera decided she needed to watch her bedtime show with all three balloons I brought home from a baby shower.

Davy's scared face

Favorite sleeping pose

Celebrating 5 months by snoozing at the pool

Our little stinker

Tripod!

Sandstorm! This was after the worst of it--the sky turned black at 4:00 pm and the sand blanketed everything. We were in the car and I was scared to death!

Kisses for his big sister