This Week...

Dickens
He started school today. He found a new mission that will give him room and board. Let's hope he stays with it. I'll see him on Sunday.

Swahili
Kayla and I started Swahili lessons today. A great teacher. He teaches French, German English, Swahili and a local language called daluo. I gave him a ride home from class and we spent the time talking about his time in India studying Hindu philosophy.

Peter
Our friend Peter arrived over the weekend from Atlanta to do some work at the CDC field station. He brought lots of goodies (thanks Becky) with him; Annies pasta's, M&M's, stickers, but the biggest thing was the Cheerios. Breakfast has been very quite around here since the Cheerios arrived on the scene.

Rafiki
She sat in my lap purring tonight! Remarkable. She still won't have much to do with the kids yet. It must be terrifying to her when she see's these two running toward her (wanting to play) and screaming with delight. She heads for the hill when she see's them coming. There's also this claw thing she does on the furniture. I hope she doesn't shred the sofa before I can buy a squirt bottle or something.....

Max
Just great. Really settled here. He seems so grown up to me. Starting to use his Swahili in a matter of fact way, like it's always been a part of him. We are finding that he is at his best when he is giving responsibility for something. He told me tonight that his two most favorite things are chap stick and phones. He's so curious. The questions never stop.

Esther
Today's my mom's (her name was Esther) birthday. She would have been 82. Little Esther did something that seems so like my mom recently. Little Esther's vocabulary has take a bit of a leap forward lately, no telling what she'll say next. We were walking finger in hand down the hall in the house and she stretched her neck up to look at me and said 'happy? daddy happy?'. Still a little shocked I said ' yes boo boo I am. are you happy?' and she shakes her head and says yes with a big 's' at the end. She's asked a couple times now and I choose to believe she really knows what she is saying, not just repeating something someone has said to her or something she is hearing. But it is so sweet that it chokes me up a little.