Baby Games

Here is Aminata, over her foot and mouth disease and feeling MUCH better, suddenly able to roll onto her stomach, grab toys that are overhead, and laugh like crazy when you tickle her. I mean, it is ridiculous. She's also eating all of her food again. Here's to happy!



Also in the photo is a child I call Sweet Boy. (His real name is hard to pronounce.) When I first met him, I was very worried. He wouldn't make eye contact, and even when I picked him up and rotated his whole body to face me, he would just turn his head again and again and again, avoiding me. What had happened to that little boy I couldn't imagine. Some trauma? Separation anxiety? Autism? Regardless, I made it my personal mission to hold him for at least 30 minutes per day, and after a week it turned out he was just shy! Now that we know each other, he smiles and laughs like crazy! Curiously, it's become a bit of a game for him and now he often PLAYS at being shy, but we both know the gig is up and that we're friends, and so after a 20 seconds of making me work for it he'll look into my eyes and then just laugh and laugh at our big joke. A sense of humor!

I started this thing where I don't take showers until after returning from the orphanage in the afternoon, because I just get spit up and pee all over me, and slobber in my hair, so why bother? Of course, my hair can look pretty kooky without a morning wash, but who's going to see me, right? Well. So on Day Two of this experiment, the PRESIDENT of SENEGAL visited the orphanage. That's right. He brought with him about 30 day-gowned women and a TV camera crew. The next day a the nannies told me I had been on TV the night before.

Voila.