Horn Boys

It's true what they say: the days are long, but the years go quickly.  I'm usually exhausted at the end of every day of taking care of these boys, but they also fill me up in a way that supersedes the constant exhaustion.  And they're growing so fast!  I find myself asking, "When did Caleb learn how to climb a tree so well?  How does Kai know how to count in Spanish?  How did Asa learn to bop his head along when I sing?"  They amaze me.

And so we're proud parents, especially as we continually watch them explore the world at an exponential rate right now.  We've been teaching Caleb the meaning of the word culture and why it's so applicable to things he's experiencing; we've been watching Kai continually attempt to communicate with his friend who barely speaks English; we've been marveling at Asa's ability to be among people of all stripes and be perfectly content.  All new experiences because we're living in Kenya right now.  These boys are learning and growing much, and being stretched too.  They are living such a unique life, and we are proud of how well they're doing.

Weight Check

Normally, Asa would've had a well-child check at the doctor's office last month, at 9 months old.  But since we're here, and since he's an obviously healthy boy, we opted to forgo anything resembling a real appointment and simply get him weighed for curiosity's sake.  I walked him up to the hospital last week and Eli ushered us into the Peds ward to get Asa weighed.

Here's the scale.  Notice the little hand poking out from the side :)

He weighed in at 11.2 kilos, which is slightly less than 25 pounds, which isn't much more than he weighed when we moved to Kenya a few months ago.  (Yep, that boy was 23.5 pounds at six months old when we came here.)  But he began crawling after we arrived, which accounts for the reduced weight gain.  Still, a 9-month old at nearly 25 pounds is a healthy moose baby :)

And he's an adorable moose baby too!  Big and beautiful.  We'll see if he still fits in the scale when he's a year :)

Zoo Train

Every time we go into Nairobi we get supplies to last however long it might be until we get into "town" again.  It usually means we buy a lot of things because there are a lot of things we can't get near the hospital.  So we buy things in bulk and ask to have everything packed in boxes because we're headed "up country."  So every time we go into Nairobi we come home with a lot of boxes.

After our most recent trip I resolved to do something fun with some of the boxes.  It took me over a week to finally do anything because, well, it seemed like a lot of work.  And it was, but the boys loved watching me cut cardboard and duct tape pieces together and eventually create a train for them to play with.  They dubbed it the Zoo Train and had a blast!

It wasn't as fancy as some of the stuff my dad used to do with old boxes (like the castle he made with a drawbridge and all), but I was proud of my creation.  There'll be plenty more opportunities to get creative again since there'll be plenty more trips to Nairobi for supplies!

Caleb Quotes

Four is an amazing age.  Caleb astonishes us with what he can now comprehend and he asks questions beyond his years, but still has the innocence of a child.  He also makes us laugh because he's legitimately funny.  Half the time he doesn't know he's being clever, but he truly is, and we find ourselves sharing "Do you know what Caleb said today?" stories at the end of the day.

Here are some of our recent favorites:

After teaching the boys Victory Chant (or Hail Jesus as it's often called, the song with the line "Hail, hail Lion of Judah!  How wonderful You are!"), we overheard Caleb singing to himself, "Hail, Hail Spinosaurus!  How spiny you are!"  Well, they earned the name for a reason...

After reading Psalm 148 with the kids and asking them to name some wild animals that praise God, Caleb shouted, "Lemmings!  Musk oxen!  Skuas!"  Because doesn't everyone think of these little-known creatures when asked about wild animals?  Sheesh, what kid even knows what a skua is???

Out of nowhere: "Mom, when Asa grows up I think he's gonna be Kenyan."  Obviously.

Mama: "Are you doing the potty dance?"
Caleb: "No."
Mama: "Are you sure?"
Caleb: "Yeah, I'm doing a different dance.  It's called You Like It."  And we did like it :)


And just for fun I'll throw in this video from the Snake Park in Nairobi.  I took him there for a special Mama-Caleb date, and he was enthralled.  We walked through three times before he was ready to go, and the last time around was just to say goodbye to all the snakes.  How we love this boy!