(written Oct. 6th)



My name is Pray and that is my mama.

Music to my ears! This little one is quite the character, but that’s not news to me. :) We had some rough patches the first few days and I can’t imagine how parents adopting a child they just met must feel when the child tells them, “I want to go back to the children.” “You are not my mama.” “I don’t love you. I love Bibi only.” Luckily these moods didn’t last long and have stopped since Saturday. I knew to expect it—thank goodness! How he must be grieving for the kids he has lived with his whole life. The familiarity of his bed, the food, and the routine—all lost. How confused he must be to be sad so yet so happy to be with his Amy (he still calls me Amy, but some “Mama wangu”s have slipped the past few days). He still mentions the kids every once in awhile and we pray for them every night. Today he said Huseni went on safari and then asked where Huseni’s elephant was. I just picked one. :)

Right now we are sitting at the kitchen table eating pb&j sandwiches and carrots. He is telling me I’m scared of carrots and I pretend to cry as he feeds them to me. :) Lala time has been a bit of a struggle, mainly because a certain little boy does not lay still! He’s fallen off the bed twice and I have woken up to him at the foot of the bed countless times. We finally found a little mattress that will fit in his car tent, but he napped in there twice and had enough of it. Did I mention he wakes up at 6:29 every morning? Exact time every single morning. Sometimes he will play while I go back to sleep and other mornings he will sleep again, too. We solved the nighttime pee issue by buying $20 Pull Ups. They only had princess ones, but he likes to point out Amy, Heath, and Liza on his “chupa kwa lala” (underwear for sleep).

We had fun at the nearby playground on Sunday, but went again last night with Heath and Neema and they charged us 3,000tsh per kid! About $2.30 for 30 minutes of playing! Crazy. We will play on our own from now on. :) Speaking of Neema, those two are TOO cute together. Talk about ornery! I’d love to know what they say all day long. If you haven’t seen the pictures I linked below, they’re a must. According to the compatibility predictor iPhone application, Pray and Neema are a 100% match! Heath and I are already planning the wedding. :)

Pray’s most consistent English words are flush and booty. He asks what everything is and apparently loves the sound of booty! Followed by the cutest giggle ever, of course. He’s always been enthralled with flushing toilets, so that’s not new, just the word. “I love you, mama wangu” is my favorite. The other night, he was watching me do dishes and Heath’s friend starting laughing. Pray was telling me, in Swahili, “That is dangerous. Oh, but you are touching it anyway!” Duh, Amy!

Well, it’s naptime here, just about 6 am eastern time. After nap we will go to Impala to post this and video chat with Bibi and Alena! Oh and just now I refused to give him candy and he no longer loves me. Such a three year old!

Hi Reid and Sawyer! I miss you! I hope you are having fun and learning a lot in school. We have been in the gari a lot and Pray loves it. We see lots of piki pikis near our apartment, too. Next month is Thanksgiving and Baby Catherine! I’m so excited for you! Will you email me pictures of her once she is born? You’ll both be great big cousins. Pray and I love you!