This is a post just for me.

Marking a moment in time,

and thinking of B.

Now we are Four.

So much to learn and catch up on, not least the English language.  Heather taught us that in Amharic, “sock” is “carte” .  George is teaching us many words but our favorite might be “woosha” for “dog”.  Buddy will go to him on hearing “Wooooossshhhhhaaaaaa”.

George’s hyperactivity from all the newness is starting to subside and he’s beginning to enquire about the names of things.  He likes to go through these flashcards and he’s pointing and asking “mentenawt” (sounds like “maintenant” in French) which means “what’s that?”.  Mentenawt, mentanawt, mentanawt.

We know from past experience not to expect him to speak English any time soon but we can already see he is understanding what we say quite often, even things like “pull your pants up” (they are always falling down).

This morning when he came through to our room, I asked him “where is Daddy?” and he answered “Daddy kitchen”.  He got lot’s of “‘Gobehz’ George’s” for that.  He is a smart boy and very inquisitive.  He spends most of his time looking at cause and effect; in other words, if I flick this switch, the light will go on, or, if I smear avacado all over my face, mummy will wipe it off again.

One day while playing outside we heard some dogs howling off in the distance.  They were probably coy dogs and he came close to me and whispered “Mentenawt?”  I shrugged and motioned it was okay.  He leaned in closer and said with a worried expression “Chew Chow”.  I don’t know what he meant, but I’m guessing he meant hyenas which are common in the Ethiopian countryside.

Other words George is teaching us include “konjo”.  Konjo is beautiful.  I’ll say “George konjo” and he’ll say “Mummy konjo, Heather konjo, Daddy konjo”.  He’s called his clothes konjo, even his underwear is konjo, bananas are konjo, the “machina” (car) is konjo.  So much of George’s new world is “konjo”.

When it’s time for bed we’ll tell him “mata mata” (night night) and start to pull him up the stairs.  All the while him saying “mata mata, no no no”.

Home 3 weeks today, I think he’s doing well.

I lurve that top picture of Heather.  …and look at Buddy’s sweet back bunny-paws!

Sunday was a hot day (seems like a long time ago but I just don’t get to my puter much these days).

The kids are really bonding to each other.  Buddy and George are pretty close too.

The days are getting easier, I can really feel it, for the most part.  I know we are all making progress, no matter how hard it feels sometimes.

The days start very quickly, and always too early, usually with George standing by my side of the bed making drooling noises and calling “mummy” a little too loud.   Once he has me awake he demands a banana and so starts the day.  Thank goodness for nice weather so I can send both him and Heather outside to play while I catch a quick shower.

Have you noticed my last few posts have had photos of the sky?  Makes me think of Annie.  Thank you Annie for making me look up, when I am all too tempted to only look in front of my feet.  …and have you noticed how the sky has gotten better over the last few posts?  The weather has got better and better.  The sky matches our progress as a family of four (although we are no-where near the cloudless blue sky of Sunday).

Okay time for a funny story courtesy of my beloved Jay.  He decided to take the kids swimming at our local swimming center (isn’t he brave).   George needed swimming shorts so they stopped along the way at JC Penny’s to find him a pair.  Once found he went to pay and the lady serving him was at least one hundred years old (so he says).  She asked Jay if he was taking the kids swimming, and he said yes.  She asked, are you going to the er0tic center?  Jay blinked a couple of times, and given her age, decided to just say yes, even though he realized she meant “aquatic” center.  Giggle.

When my sister was visiting us last Summer from Scotland she put Twitter on my phone.  I never used it, nor even looked at it.  So why, oh why, did I decide to have a look now, when all around is bedlam, and I barely have a moment to myself?  I think the answer to that is that it’s quick and it’s on my phone (which I had surgically attached to me).  So now I’m on twitter, tweeting about laundry and taxes and the most mundane stuff that happens in between blog posts.  I kinda like it.  So if you feel inclined to hear more bletherings from the homefront, then please follow @farfromharmfarm and I’ll be sure to follow you too.