I'm Learning to Walk

LOOK AT ME!!!

Pulling up

Today I learned how to pull myself all the way up to standing all by myself.  I've been able to stand holding on to something for a while now, but someone has always needed to help me get there.  I've ony been able to get to a kneeling position.  And, it has sure been frustrating for me.  I've gotten awfully mad and frustrated at the world about this.  But, finally today, I figured out how to get all the way up, all by myself!  And, oh my goodness am I proud of myself. 

My First Thanksgiving

I was still in the hospital, only a week old last year, so this is my first Thanksgiving celebration.  I like family days.  Mommy, Aki, Uncle Gogo and I hung out today to decorate the house for the holidays and make preparations for our big Thanksgiving dinner.  Then, in the evening, some friends came over to celebrate.  I was up to start the evening, but when dinner time came, Uncle Gogo fed me a bit of the Thanksgiving feast and they swifly put me down to sleep.  I was ok with that, as the evening was late and I was tired.  But, oh, what a fun day it was.

Big Girls Do Big Things

A few months ago Mommy could not feed me in a high chair because I was so unstable I would flop all over the place and flail around.  Now, I can sit in a big chair AND hold my own bottle of milk for myself.

Wow....being one comes with a LOT of responsibility, at least that's what Mommy keeps telling me.  This growing up thing is hard work!!

I am a Big Stander

I stand and stand and stand all day long. Better not try to put me down to sit...I'll scream and scream and scream some more....cause I am a BIG stander!

It's my party and I'll laugh if I want to....

I turned one today!  I know that this is a big milestone and I'm prepared.  I've been working very hard in the past few weeks to do really big girl things.  I'm standing (with help) and talking (uh, oh, uh oh, uh oh.....), and playing with my toys and telling people what I like and don't like. 

Today we had a very special day.  We went to Kigongoni Lodge today to meet our good friends here in Arusha for lunch, swimming and cake.  It was so fun!  Did you know that when you have a birthday, everyone comes to celebrate it with you...and they pay all kinds of attention to you.  AND, you get to have birthday cake....AND people give you presents.  Oh, my how much fun!!!!  I wish you ALL could have been there. 

Kneeling

I used to be quite satisfied with kneeling.  If you had asked me two weeks about kneeling, I would have said it was the bees knees! 

Now, it's not quite as satisfying as it once was.  I can sort of reach things, but I know if I could just get up there a little bit further, I could wreak havoc.  Hmmmm.....

I'm still kneeling and not quite pulling myself up to a standing position, but I'm close.  And, when people help me to stand up, I take full advantage of the situation and stand holding on to something for minutes and minutes upon end.  But, for now.....I'm still kneeling!

Retraction

OK...Mommy measured my height a bit wrong the other day, and my last post got it wrong.  At the doctor they don't have any device to measure height (don't get me started on how weird it is that a doctor's office can't measure height), so we did it at home.  Mommy measure me at 25 inches, but got worried when the kids percentile chart showed me as being so low (off the chart).  She re-measured tonight and came up with 26 3/4.  That measurement puts me at the 2 percentile on the charts.  Obviously that makes me still very very small....but it's a lot better than that false measurement that Mommy took before.  I took a photo of it, just to be sure that everyone sees....I'm not cheating, I really am 26 and 3/4ths.  C'mon Mommy, get it together!

Going to the Doctor

It was sort of not fun for anyone.  Mommy looked overwhelmed and frazzled and I could tell she was struggling to hold it together and not loose the plot in front of the entire hospital staff.  I was very very cranky.  Evey time Mommy takes me to that building they stick me with multiple needles in a very unfriendly manner.  At least Mommy seemed pleased with the results of the torment.  We have a clean bill of health. 

Mommy had a lot of lab work done on both myself and my brother, just to be sure that when we go to our U.S. embassy physicals in Nairobi to see if they will let us in the country, that we are healthy and no surprises pop up to ruin our immigration.  She was a little nervous for me for both the test for HIV and for anemia.  When I was first born I tested postive for HIV, but that was not because I had actually contracted the disease, but because my biological Mom (Esther)'s antibodies were still floating around in my blood.  A few months later, I got the proper test done again and it came back negative.  However, Mommy has secretly harboured a fear that the second test wasn't done correctly (not a stretch of the imagination in Tanzania).  So, it was a relief for us all to hear today that the results were correct, I am HIV free!  Plus, last time I was in the doctor's office he said I was borderline anemic, so Mommy was happy to hear that we have solved that problem and that I am a very happy healthy little girl. 

My Stats:
weight 8.2 kilos or 18.1 pounds
height 24 inches and 3/4.

The charts say that I'm in the less than 3rd percentile for both height and weight.  We're trying as hard as we can to catch up...but it's tough.  I'm just a small little girl, that's all there is to it! 

SMALL BUT MIGHTY....you should hear me SCREECH!!!! 

Isn't it a bit HOT for Christmas???

We went to find Father Christmas, some food and shopping.  But, I was too tuckered out from all the heat.  So, I had to do a lot of sleeping.  But, I woke up for the fun part....reading under the shady tent with my brother and uncle.  Not a shabby day! 

oh....except Akira got a gift from Father Christmas....but I never received one.  Does that mean I've been naughty this year?  Back 6 months ago when I was pooping out diarrea while simultaneously puking up all over Mommy she mentioned that she thought I was naughty and would be taking out the trash until I was 16, once I was old enough to do so...but I kinda thought she was kidding.  She wouldn't tell Santa Claus on me, would she?  Actually, Father Christmas was looking a bit....'shabby' shall we say, so maybe the recession has hit him too.  He clearly had no money to splurge on a suit which actually stayed together, so maybe he just didn't have enough gifts to go around.  Well, that's ok.  My big brother is working very hard to become a big sharer, so I bet he'll let me play with his toy too!

Who I am

Akira, my brother, has dedicated his blog today to the tribes that he comes from in Tanzania and so, being that I am at the stage where I want to emulate absolutely everything he does because I think he is the bees knees, I thought I would also dedicate a post to where I come from!

My brother and I both come from the same tribe on our biological mom's side of things.  Thus, I am half Massai warrior! 

The Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa, they are among the most well known of African ethnic groups. They speak Maa, a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer, and are also educated in the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania: Swahili and English. The Maasai population has been variously estimated as 377,089 from the 1989 Census or as 453,000 language speakers in Kenya in 1994 and 430,000 in Tanzania in 1993 with a total estimated as "approaching 900,000" Estimates of the respective Maasai populations in both countries are complicated by the remote locations of many villages, and their semi-nomadic nature.

On my fathers side, I am of the Gogo tribe.  This is sometimes the Ugogo tribe, or the Mgogo tribe...but it is all one and the same originated from the Gogo tribe.  I think it's pretty cool that the nickname Akira and I chose for our Uncle Topher is Uncle Gogo.  We named him my tribe!!  The Gogo people are not from Northern Tanzania and are generally found in the Dodoma area of Tanzania.  In fact, much of my extended family lives there, and when there was a meeting with my family to discuss my adoption, it was held in Dodoma.  There is also a very cool book that Mommy found on the Gogo people...but she has to wait until we get to a place where Amazon.com delivers.  Then, we will have a whole book at my house on the Gogo people.  Very cool! 

So, I am Tanzanian, Massai, Gogo, Norwegian, Mapuga, Bowman, soon to be American and OH SO LOVED! 

Just One of the Girls

Today we went to a party at Linda, Kyle and Aiden's house to celebrate Suchi's birthday and to say goodbye.  She is leaving for Canada tomorrow.  We will really miss her.

I had fun hanging with all the girls today.  Akira was off with his friends being all crazy with trucks and bongos.  But, I was more refined today, choosing to spend my time with all the beautiful woman at the party.  Auntie Aleks mostly spent time with me.  She's cool....and she loves to hold me.  Uncle Gogo had to pry us away from each other at the end of the party. 

Thanks for a fun day, and Bye to Suchi!

Party Girl

We went to a party this afternoon because some friends in Tanzania are moving back to Belgium.  There was a bounce house for the bigger kids like Akira, but since I can't walk yet, the bounce house was out for me.  Mommy did take me over to it and let me sit on the edge for a bit, just to get a taste of the fun to come.  I really thought it was pretty funny and I laughed a lot. 

I also really liked me dress today.  I like to lift it up and let it float in the air.  I thought that was pretty funny too.  Even though I couldn't go in the bounce house, I still had lots of fun.  So many fun people to pay attention to little old me.  How could I possibly not enjoy it??

All I Want for Christmas is My 2 Front Teeth

We have finally accepted the terribly sad fact that we will not be home for Christmas this year. We can all the thank the US Immigration Services for changing the immigration rules for adopted children in the past few months. So, now we will be here for a few months longer.

So....even though we don't get to go home for Christmas, I have already received a Christmas gift early. I got my 2 front teeth today. They've been trying to poke through for a while now, but today, they are officially here! Look at my smile!!!

Family Photo