21 November 2017

Iddy, you are doing so well with our time in the States. You have become so good at conversing with people. You meet new people almost daily and you cary yourself so well, carrying on a great conversation and making a great impression on people. You are kind, loving, and caring. You love your family. The other day we were in the car and you said, "I just love my family so much. I feel totally comfortable when I am with you guys." I couldn't agree more. You are learning more and more about American culture. You went to an Auburn football game and watched a Falcon's game on TV. You are good at sports and can pick up and play anything you want to. You went to the fall retreat with CVC youth group and I think you had a good time, although I know it really pushed you. You were so nervous to go and apprehensive about it, but you pushed yourself anyway and I am so incredibly proud of you. The other day you told me that Pitch Perfect 3 was coming out and you wanted to go and see it with me. That made me feel so good. You and I went to see the new Thor movie together and had a great time. I love getting to spend some time together just the two of us. You are always quick to help.. doing dishes... folding laundry... anything. You are good about eating anything that people prepare for us and you are really sweet about it. You stayed with Cody and Olivia for a couple of days while Papa and I spent some time with some of our friends. You went to Athens with Cody to go to some of his meetings with him. I think you enjoyed spending that time with Cody. Tomorrow we head to Alabama to be with my family for your first Thanksgiving in the United States. I really hope it's a good one for you.

I love you so much and I just hope that I am doing a good job of communicating to you that you truly matter to me, your opinion matters, your life matters, your words and thoughts and emotions matter and they are worth expressing and worth hearing by others. Never doubt your impact on the world and never doubt that you have a voice that can and should be heard loud and clear.

15 November 2017

Sweet, precious Ruth Michael. I feel like I can see straight through you into your heart. Maybe because you are so much like me. You are careful and sensitive, loving and kind, deliberate and precise. I have been homeschooling you now for about a month. It has been pretty tough, but we are in a better groove. I found a system that I like and you seem to be responding well. I have to push you  a little, but not too much. I remember when I was in school, if there was something I couldn’t understand I would panic and shut down. I think you may be the same way, so I’m trying to do a lot of review and make sure I give you lots of positive reinforcement. Of course, you are only a young five-year-old, so your attention span doesn’t go on forever... and I forget that somethimes. You know your sounds very well and you are learning letter names. We are really working on numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. You are very good at blending sounds together and deciphering the word. I think they worked a lot with you on that at Light Academy. You love to do crafts so today we made a turkey and on each feather we wrote something you were thankful for.

You love to take a bath, put on fresh clothes, and go out for dinner. You are Kenyan through and through. You don’t like having to wear lots of clothes in winter because you are not used to winter. You are constantly taking off your shoes and socks because you say that your feet are hot. We went shopping for shoes and you seemed to think the shoe on display was the only size available. You aren’t used to how things are done here. Yesterday we were talking about the news and how there are so many sad stories in the news. You said, “In the country where I was born there are lots of dangerous things.” You even said that there are a lot of people fighting with each other there. You were playing houses with baby dolls with Mimimo yesterday and there was one mama and her baby that didn’t have a house. You said “this mama and baby need a house” and you made sure you found them one.

You are an excellent big sister and love to take care of AJ. She adores you. You adore Iddy and, after me and Papa, he is your sense of security. He wrestles with you and you love it. You also love to do crafts and to play with toys. You are very good on your power wing scooter. You will listen to anyone read books to you for ages. You always want to choose your own clothes and you have an adorable sense of style. You love your family, Joyce and Neha, and Jen and Anyango. You are JUST the little girl I wanted!

21 November 2017- Today we were talking about a boy we know named Yann. You said, "Yann isn't a name, it's a thing, like a ball of 'yan'." I thought that was a really cute evidence of your Kenyan accent. Also today you asked about all the stuff in Nakumat. "I know they buy stuff from other people, and those people buy it from other people, but where does the stuff actually come from?" You call Starbucks "Java" and you call Publix "Nakumat."

14 November 2017

My darling Abby Jones, you are so much fun. I can’t believe you are almost three. You love to laugh and have fun. Tonight me, Mimimo, Bepops, and Ruth Michael were playing Bible story charades. You watched although you weren’t quite sure what we were doing. After a little while you looked at me with a big smile on your face and said, “what are we doing?” As if you didn’t really care one way or the other because you knew it was fun but you were just curious. It tickled me so I laughed and you LOVE to make me laugh, so of course you kept asking me the question again hoping I would keep laughing. I laughed every time because it was such a fun game for you.

You still love to hold my hand, mostly my pinky. You have hated being in the car seat since we arrived in the States. You always want me to reach my hand back to you so you can hold it while we drive. If you ask me something and I say “no” you say, “no, I mean LATA” (later). When we were walking from church to Baumhauer’s in Tuscaloosa we passed a fire hydrant and you asked what it was. You don’t see many of these in Kenya. Two times now you have noticed the fluorescent lit-up EXIT signs in a building and asked me what it says. Last time it was in church so I tried to whisper “exit” to you. You said, “eggs and toast??!!” We were at a shoe store and you asked why none of the shoes matched (they only put out one of each pair for display:). Your sleeves must always “pull down” and your pants legs must always “pull down” and they cannot be pulled up too high at the waist, either. The tongue on your shoe must be pulled out properly. You hate wearing jammies, but I make you now because it is so cold. You don’t like any type of pants other than leggings and say they are “distabing” (disturbing) you. You love to eat “cholocolate” (chocolate). You mix up potatoes and tomatoes. You say you don’t like potatoes but it is actually tomatoes that you don’t like. You love for me to cuddle you at nap time and at night. When I leave you to sleep at night you always yell “check on us!!!” You love to do school with me and “Kikal.”

Overall, I think you are an amazing kid. You are two, almost three, and we are dragging you all over this country, sleeping in different beds, eating different foods, meeting different people, and taking lots of long car rides. You behave really well and mostly get along with others, but you also stand up for yourself when something is happening that you don’t feel good about... not always in the best way. When we were at James and Caroline Crownover’s house I think you head-butted their daughter, Lilly, in the nose... I don’t know exactly why... but she really cried so it must have been forceful. Sometimes I see a little fire come out of your eyes when you are upset or I am punishing you, but you are always quick to say, “sorry, mama” and then you want to love on me and make sure we are okay.

You love your family. You say and do everything that Kikal does. We went to Tuscaloosa while Iddy went on the fall retreat, and you said, “where is Iddy? Why did we leave him?” You hate for me and Papa to leave you but you are okay if you have Kikal and Iddy. You like to say “I’m not a baby, I’m a big gal” and when I ask if you are a baby you say, “No, I’m Abby Jones!”

21 November 2017- I was wearing a pair of cowboy boots and you said, "I wish I had shoes like you that make noise when I wear them." (My boots click when I walk:)

Song from school:

Pop pop pop
Pop the balloon
Pop it loud everyone to hear
How many do you have?
2, 2, 2
That's the number of my "yaz"

You miss Malindi so much and ask to go back there all the time. You love to go to Flat Rock Park at Mimimo and Bepops' house and you call it "Flat Wok Kauk."