A Quiet Afternoon

While we were in Minnesota over the holidays, we made our home base in the cozy little bedroom with bath in my parents' basement. However, Zoe did have many great days at Andrea's parents' (Nana and Ata) house during the days when Andrea and I were running errands all over the Twin Cities. They spent time with LEGO, playing with Christmas decorations, cooking, and with Ata's painting lessons, which Zoe loved.

During our time home, Zoe only took one or two naps per week, which was frustrating for all, as she had been taking 5-6 naps per week before coming home. Every day we were in a place where nap time was possible, we tried to push a nap, but not always with luck.

One afternoon at Nana and Ata's, after a nice lunch, Ata brought Zoe to their bed, and read a few stories to her quietly. He told her that it was a good time for a nap. She denied she needed one. He lay with her quietly for awhile before she started to get a little antsy, then suggested that they take a nap together. No way. Finally, Ata thought he would appeal to her need for cuddling and closeness, as well as her need to take care of others. He told her, "Zoe, I need to take a nap; I'm really tired." They laid together silently for a few minutes, then she slowly and quietly snuck out of bed, left the room, and carefully closed the door, before going downstairs to play with Nana.

So Many Updates

Well, it's been more than a month since the last post, and what a month it's been. We went to Minnesota, saw a lot of people, celebrated both of Andrea's grandmother's lives, celebrated Christmas and New Year's Eve, had a side trip to New Orleans, and came back. Of course, this is the briefest summary possible. I'll try to fill in some gaps as time allows, but let me say for now that it's been a slightly difficult re-entry to normal life, and it may take awhile for things like a blog to catch up.

But I will say that I can honestly tell the difference in Zoe before and Zoe after the trip. I can honestly say I can see her more confident, funny, complicated in her play and in her use of English, and even perhaps a little taller. I've had some difficulties with our photo gathering and editing software on the Mac and so have not been able to post photos, but will when it's easier.

See you soon!

The Lustre of Mid-day

Zoe has really gotten into Christmas in a big way -or as we say around her nanny "le fievre du Noel." I have to confess this malady has grown from seeds I planted, and I have no shame about the harvest. I love this season just about as much as when I was a kid, even understanding all the cynical arguments that it is a corrupted commercial holiday. I completely buy into the mythology of the season, not unlike the main character in "Elf," or Mr. Gailey in "Miracle on 34th Street."

So Zoe has quickly picked up on anything Christmas or -better- Santa-related. Any music of any genre that is quasi-holiday is cool with her, and any resonant male singer is Santa Claus (Bing Crosby, Harry Connick, Jr., Nat King Cole, etc.). She has even begun to ask that we turn off the music and just sing the songs together, with her gettting many of the words to Jingle Bells, Rudolph, Silent Night, The Little Drummer Boy, and even My Favorite Things.

Of course this has spilled over into her taste in books as well. Most of her holiday-themed books are unfortunately out of reach in a Minneapolis storage unit, but we do have a few, most of which are even too sugary sweet for my taste. But we all three can agree that we love Clement C. Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas (known also as Twas the Night Before Christmas)". We have a large-format version illustrated by rococo-cute specialist Mary Englebreit, with lots of little candy-cane and elf details on each page, and Zoe has just flipped for it.

So a few days ago, we were reading another book at nap time, and she noticed that one of the pictures featured a snowscape in the moonlight. She excitedly exclaimed, "Daddy, the moon on the breast of the newfallen snow gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below!" Pretty cool.

Time Warp

While at the Kimironko market awaiting a seamstress to finish the buttons on a new dress for Zoe (really cute, brilliant aqua and black African fabric), I see a Rwandan guy walking out of the covered market stall wearing an Eagan High School t-shirt. Seriously. The suburb I grew up in -and where my siblings graduated from- in Minnesota.

So I stopped him (with my mouth agape) and told him I'm from the place on his shirt. He was surprised to hear it was in the United States, and had never thought about the meaning of the word. Just a shirt. More strangely, while I'm speaking with him, Kenny Rogers' The Gambler is blaring loudly from a nearby stall.

I have seen many t-shirts that seem very strange given the context, and it seems that people think as little about the graphics on them as someone with Abercrombie et al probably does. My favorites are usually Minnesota connections: Randy Moss Vikings jersey, Twins T-shirts, a Gophers sweatshirt. But my favorite (until today) of all has been the guy in his 20s, wearing a pink "ringer" type shirt with pink trim and a colorful 70s-style glittery "Material Girl".

Tis the Season...

For baking?

I've noticed a pattern recently in my life: I seem to be baking a lot. Normally, I consider myself a pretty good cook, and like to get a little creative in the kitchen. But I don't think much of my skills as a baker. But then I found a recipe on the Cook's Illustrated podcast and website for a nearly no-knead artisanal bread. I've made it two times a week (or more) for almost a month now.

Then, we were asked to bring an apple pie to Thanksgiving. I've never made a pie before; always been a little intimidated by the crust. But I hit it out of the park (luckily), and we really enjoyed it. Thanks to Andrea's mom for inspiration and recipe.

Then we realized we had bought too much bread for the stuffing, and I solved it by making a banana-rum bread pudding (again the first of this category), and it was really good! Next we made Christmas (sugar) cookies as a family. This is a real consistent pattern of good bakery stuff. We're talking real trouble for the waistlines, and the holiday season isn't even all the way here. I'd better step up my running and biking for this last week in Kigali.

On a related note, I should announce that Zoe and I fly out of here on Sunday the 13th, arriving in the Twin Cities the following day. Then Andrea arrives four days later. We hope to go to New Orleans as a family on or around the 1st of the new year, for about 5 days. Then we all fly back to Africa, leaving on the 10th of January, and arriving the 12th.

Photos at last, but don't get used to it yet.

The iPhoto software has been out of commission on our main computer, and still is, but I've borrowed Andrea's work computer to post a few of our zillions of backlogged pics. So without further ado, here you go.







The first two are while in Amboseli Game Preserve in Kenya, on a lookout point, where we were able to see a family of 5 elephants being led by the mother, several zebras, giraffes, a few warthogs, and many birds. There were some crocodiles not far away, though we didn't know it at the time.
The next one is at a rest stop while en route to our final game park, Tsavo West. We got out to look at the lava fields from the most recent eruption, hundreds of years ago, and still barren and formidable. Interestingly, the volcanic soil is sometimes credited with the reason behind the fertility of the land, and sometimes blamed for nothing growing in the desert near there. Zoe enjoyed throwing volcano rocks.
The next is Zoe proudly showing off her pigtails, and then Andrea and Zoe after finishing reading her bedtime stories.

She's been more into cuddling and has a new habit of grabbing us by the neck, and pulling us into her for hugs and kisses. I'm really into that. Unfortunately, she's simultaneously making serious strides in the art of whining. Oh well.

Deja vu

Some times it's scary how you can read something that seems like it must have been written by a total stranger about your life. Probably the first ever blog I read with any regularity is Sweet Juniper, written by Dutch, about his wife Wood, and their adventures in life with their children Juniper and Gram, and their dog Wendell. They were young hipsters living in San Francisco when they became parents, and struggled to balance all of this. Then they moved back to the Midwest, to the middle of Detroit, and Dutch stopped working to become a full-time dad and blogger. He's a fantastic photographer and I really enjoy his writing, though I wish he'd write more about the kids (there is a backstory to why this changed) like he used to do.

Anyway, I found this post today and felt as though it was something I could have written if only I had the forethought and talent.