Three Little Friends

Zoe has been lucky enough to find two new close friends since we've been here. I guess it's just the right time in her development to have a playmate, and she's taking to it quite well. Until I get their parents' permission to put their names in the blog, I will use their first initials. Hopefully I'll be able to get some photos up as well.

Within a week of our arrival, we met H and her parents at a playgroup we were invited to from Andrea's co-worker. H is about 2 months younger than Zoe but about the same size, and extremely physical. She's into climbing and jumping, and is very outgoing. Last week when she was at our house for a playdate, H was holding a maraca in her hand, watching herself jumping in a mirror, and talking incessantly -for more than an hour straight. She thinks Zoe is wonderful, and the feeling is mutual. Last Saturday when we went out to dinner with them, H became very covetous of Zoe's things (again, the feeling is mutual)and she said several times, "This is mine," which really got Zoe angry. The next day Zoe and I were playing, and out of nowhere, she told me "This mine. That what H says!" And she had a great laugh about it. We have a tradition of meeting H's family every Saturday morning at the Novotel swimming pool for the girls to swim and eat the wonderful croissants.

I think it was a little less than a month ago that Niamh (pronounced "Neeve," it,s Gaelic) and her family moved to Kigali. We were asked by H's mom if they could come by during a daytime playdate a few days after they arrived, and they all hit it off immediately. Niamh is even more outgoing and physical than H, and so we were worried that the dynamic would produce a lopsided triangle with shy introspective Zoe sitting in the corner reading to herself while the other girls were practicing Tae Kwon Do or jumping from balconies or something. But so far it has not turned out to be difficult. Zoe does often need to withdraw a little, but it seems to solve itself until she feels like engaging again. We know that she looks forward to time with them. Last Friday Zoe and I were waiting for Andrea to come home from work when Zoe had the idea that we walk up to H's house to see her (they live less than a half-mile away). Once the idea was fixed, she suddenly missed H so much that she got a sad face and started crying that she missed her and wanted to see her right now -the next morning wouldn't do. We ended up walking there and eating pizza with them, then saw them at the pool, then went to Ethiopian food with them the next night.

The next day we took a road trip in the country to Lake Muhazi with Niamh's family for a picnic, which was a blast. It's really beautiful out there, very mountainous. Zoe and Niamh played like maniacs for hours until they were just spent, then back in the car for an auto nap on the way home.

We have developed a routine for the summer of morning playdates: Monday -our house, Tuesday -H's, Wednesday -Niamh's, Thursday -H's, Friday off, then any and all meet for swimming on Saturday. It's seriously a lot of time together and they don't seem to get enough. Zoe and Niamh will start the same morning daycare/school in September. H's parents are hoping to get her in too. And a new expat family has just moved in with a daughter E who is 2 months older than Zoe and very shy and introspective, so it could be getting even more interesting! I really think we're going to have to put a little playground in our yard. By the way, H's father and both of Niamh's parents are British, and so we're wondering if Zoe will develop an English accent in any new words. Oh, and both of these girls speak French very well, so hopefully this will be a positive influence on Zoe's as well.

NOTE: Things on the house are still going. The driveway is getting close to finished. Supposedly the kitchen gets finished tomorrow. It's actually starting to come together. I don't know if it will truly be ready this weekend or not. But it will be very very close. Now the biggest question will be the arrival of our household goods (esp. furniture).