Movements

We're still not crawling forward, but ... does this count for anything?




Everything is going very, very well here. Dessi just laughs and laughs all day long. Right now she is chewing on her new wooden stacking toy and rolling around next to me, smiling. It's early and we've just pooped and peed in the potty, had breakfast and now she is ready for her morning nap. Still sleeping 12 hours a night with two 2-hour naps per day, and the crazy eating thing has subsided a little; we changed her meals so that she gets one about an hour after each of her bottles (so, four times per day) and just one small bowl each time. This seems to have made her feel more secure, and I worry less about her gorging herself.

She just returned from her 9-month checkup -- 75th percentile for height, weight and head. A big girl! And this is with the American growth charts, not the international ones. I wonder if she'll end up being tall? Most Ethiopians are so petite.

We have a fabulous nanny, Vallarie, who mostly cleans the house for us (things gets dirty here really fast) but also is just a ridiculously good cook and takes care of Dessi while I work with the street boys or to French classes. Dessi loves her. We call her "Tata," which is Wolof for auntie, and ... I don't know, am I the only one who thinks it's kind of weird to have toddlers calling adults by their first names? I never did this! It was always Mr. O'shaunnessey or Mrs. Whatever. What about respecting your elders? When my friends started having children and introducing me as "Linda," I was like, what?! I'm LINDA?

My brother's kid does what I have been thinking of doing, which is he (the child) calls adults Mrs. Sara or Mr. Pete. I really like this. I may ask Dessi to do this, too. I am thinking about it.

Anyway, no, we're not crawling. I've stopped predicting when it'll be. I am excited for her to start because I feel like there will be so many more cool things for her to see and discover, but on the other hand, it will make a LOT more work for me, so, whatever.

:)