March 12th
Last night the power went off as soon as we finished dinner,
and of course we were super bummed; however, about a half a hour later it
turned back on. The millisecond it came
back on my face lit up in excitement. My
mom later said it looked like I had won the million dollar lottery. But before I could even blink or close my
mouth my mom shouts in a panic state, “Don’t get too excited!!!!!” After we got really good laugh over it my mom
asked, “Should we attempt to try moving the fan tonight?” The night before the power went back off the
second she turned on the fan after moving it to the living room. Gratefully, the power stayed on all night and
we all slept much better. It’s
incredible the difference a fan can make.
In between feedings, baths and diaper changes, we spent the
day telling stories, talking under the tree, giving Zane a million kisses, and
watching a few episodes of “Downton Abbey”.
I'd call that a great day!
If I haven’t already said it, I am so grateful to have my
mom here! And from a lot of your emails
responses I know you’re relieved for my sanity. My attitude has changed significantly and
now everything seems a more tolerable, pleasant, and laughable. My confidence has also taken a new level and
the stares and comments don’t mean as much anymore.
Napping on the sofa
Before bath time
Talking to Dr. Patrick in our front yard
March 13th
Thursday marks five weeks of me being here. Wow.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Now that Jessica is gone, Fred is our new helper. (Fred was the one who reminded me that
bathing babies is women’s work in Africa when I asked him to hold Zane in the
tub.) He mostly helps us by washing the
floors, doing our laundry, and going to the market for us.
So now Fred sleeps in a room (actually more like a closet)
next to our room. He asks every morning,
“How is baby?” (This is the number one question anyone asks us.) I usually
respond, “He is good!” And he usually
follows with “I heard him cry.”
I swear African babies don’t cry unless they are sick, and
Fred often reminds me that his little one (who is a few weeks younger than
Zane) doesn’t cry and sleeps through the night. You see, moms here nurse their little ones
at any peep. And I suspect because of
the moms’ simple diet that babies don’t have much gas/acid reflux/hiccups that
formula babies (or even American nursing moms) often wrestle with. So, when Fred or any other African sees Zane
“fuss” (even if it’s just for a little bit), I’m sure people think we’re
torturing the poor soul or that he has to be sick.
The fact is, Zane is doing great! Tomorrow he will turn seven week old! He’s growing nicely. All the Africans like to poke or flick at his
checks, so I’d say that’s a good sign he’s getting a little meat on his bones,
and a chubby baby equals a healthy baby.
One thing I know for sure is that my mom, Isaac and I are totally in
love with this adorable boy!
He does have some gas that upsets his tummy, which can make
him fussy, but we have ways we try to manage it. We’ve switched formulas a little bit, but
I’ve come to realize that he is just a little dude that is developing and this
will most likely pass. I also think this
is a common issue for newborns, especially for his size. Of course you know I still don’t know how
much he weighs, but he is still wearing “newborn” clothes. My sisters and I (and I’m sure many American
babies) grew out of newborn clothes before we were even born.
So now we’re just waiting for 1) the social worker to show
up to do her final home visit and 2) for our attorney to turn in the paperwork
to the High Court so we can get a court date.
As soon as we have a court date then Isaac will book his ticket.
When/if we pass court with “legal guardianship” then we’ll
move to Kampala and deal with getting a US Visa at the US Embassy. Like all the parts of this journey, we have
no idea how long this part of the process will take. It can take days or it can take months.
March 14th
Part 1
The power was out for 12 hours yesterday (from 8am to 8pm),
so I was unable to send my update out yesterday. Then, this morning, I came to the office to
send the updates and as soon as I was about to “send” the power went back
off. Then, an hour or so later the power
came back on so I hurried over to the office only to find someone “browsing”
the Internet, and unfortunately, only ONE person can be on the Internet at a
time. So, I waited… patiently... then,
had a melt down (but I don't want to tell you about that). The simplest of
things can be so difficult here.
Before bath
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