just the three of us

It is hard to get a family photo of all three of us, considering it is typical for me or Dexter to have the camera. On Sunday, we were all dressed up and looking good for church, and since Jenny was coming by I seized the moment and had her snap a few pictures of the three of us.  I think the last family photo was in August, so it was time!

It was a bright and sunny morning (thankfully! it has been non-stop rain around here lately) so we're all a bit squinty, but we got a couple of good ones.

 {squinty}

{October 30, 2011}

And look how (unintentionally) color-coordinated we are!  And our wedding colors to boot.  Score.

baby model

My mom thinks that we should put Kyalo and his good looks to work to help us pay for school.  Sounds like a good plan to me!  Here he is in a (enormous) 3-6 month Gap sweater, which was handed down from a friend (thanks, Brooke!).

What do you think?  Should we put the boy to work? I think it is about time he start pulling his weight in this family. . .

picture stories

Seems time to update this blog with some photos!  Here's a random assortment of what's been going on in Kijabe the last few days.

Obviously, the most significant thing is the fact that we're heading to New Jersey in March (exact date TBD, but we think school will start the first week of April...) so Dexter wanted to do a fun little announcement:

{it is really happening...might take a while for that to sink in}

Kyalo spends a lot of time on our floor. Usually he's sitting happily on a blanket and this little "tummy time" mat.  But now that he can roll over I have to watch him more carefully because rolling is apparently a good form of locomotion!  The other day I looked over to find him like this:

{hello!} 

(note the clothes pin, always close at hand...)

I've mentioned before that we're giving Baby Led Weaning a try as we introduce solid foods to Kyalo.  It has been a fun - but also slow - process.  I must admit, sometimes it is easier, faster, cleaner to breastfeed.  But Kyalo likes to gnaw on the various things we've given him, and it becomes a nice activity for him as well.  Recently, he had his first sips of water (he was reaching for my cup of chai which is a no-no, so I did a quick switch on him and gave him water. He was none the wiser.), and I think he liked it.

Sure, most of it ended up dribbled down his shirt, but he liked it! 

Yesterday, he had his first taste of spaghetti.  This was a hit as well.

Look at that face of happiness! He really does enjoy tasting new foods.  And we still give him rice cereal from time to time. He generally takes the spoon from me so that ends up as a huge mess...but it is all about learning how to eat and use utensils, so I'll go with it for now.

exciting things ahead

Things are happening at breakneck speed around here.  Dexter returned on Friday night to Kenya, after his two days of interviews and exams and two days recovering at my parents' house in Essex.  After the interview on Monday he felt so good.  The interviewer was from a town about 30 minutes from Essex, so they had that to bond over, and he said he felt relaxed and comfortable the whole time, not nervous or on edge.  Tuesday was the clinical which meant doing a filling and preparing a crown.  He did not leave that time feeling very confident; he struggled with the filling of all things!  He even told one of the examiners that he wished he'd done better!  So, he didn't really know what to expect or think.

He was told that he would hear within two weeks about his results, and so we planned on waiting until the end of the month to make any life decisions.  But then, on Friday night, just hours after landing back in Kenya, he got word that:

He has been accepted to New Jersey!

WHOA.

In my previous post I had said we would go to Buffalo regardless of the results of the NJ interview.  Well, we've scratched that and have just decided to go to NJ.  Any program that he gets into will offer what he needs:  a refinement of his skills, and the ability to be licensed in the US, and since Buffalo is double the costs of NJ, we decided that being less in debt is probably the way to go.  Plus, we have extended family in New Jersey, friends Matt & Erica will be in Long Island for the first few months we're there, and my parents will be a 45-minute plane ride away.  I really can't get over that -- that's the closest we'll be since I moved to Oakland in 2000.

We're so excited. . .and overwhelmed. 

The funny thing is that Dexter decided at the last minute to apply to New Jersey, and then we were so close to even losing his interview spot. Clearly, God's hand is upon us!  And we know that it will continue to be in the months and years to come.  Lots of decisions ahead.

Thank you, again, for your prayers and words of encouragement, and for being with us in this journey, even from so far away.  I'll post more details when we have them.

Now, who can tell us anything about Newark, New Jersey?

one down, one to go

Dexter is now finished with his interview and clinical exam in NJ and is relaxing in MA at my parents' house {lucky guy}.  From the sounds of things, they went well.  Of course, he thinks the clinical was tough, but that's what it was supposed to be. The first day was the interview/tour/information day of the two days. His interviewer was a woman from Marblehead, MA, about 30 minutes from my hometown! That was a nice connection for him to make.  We should know, I think, by the end of the month the results of his time there.

Chances are good that, even if accepted at UMDNJ, we will still go to Buffalo in November for the interview there {and so we can be home for Thanksgiving}.  Might as well keep the options open, I guess. The problem with Buffalo is that it is $175,000 for the first year.  We'll be accepting donations of kidneys, partial livers, cash, etc, if we do end up deciding to go there! Geesh, we can't quite figure out why it is so expensive.

I should explain that Dexter is applying to the Internationally Trained Dentist program at all of these schools. This means that he enters dental school in the third year, not the first, so it is an accelerated program.  Going to dental school in the US is a requirement if he wants to be licensed to practice in the US at any point, and it will make getting into an orthodontic program (preferably a paid residency) sometime down the line easier {we think}. 

Things on the home front are generally good. I was hoping to get Kyalo back into a bit of a routine while Dexter was gone but that is not working.  I have not successfully figured out a way to get him to sleep without either nursing or letting him fall asleep in my arms.  We used to be able to do that, but then went to the US and somehow lost it all.  I don't like letting him scream because he doesn't just scream, he screeches and hollers and flails around.  The Ferber method (from what I hear) says to go in and pat the baby on the back to calm him down. This does NOT work for Kyalo.  He is crying now as I write this, as I'm trying to see what happens in five or ten minutes.  But he does not calm down or relax, he has spit the pacifier out, and when I go in he won't be any happier to see me.  Perhaps I've just put myself in a bad situation, and I need to be stronger than I seem to be about it.  But it is just SO HARD to listen to him cry. . . If someone would like to come and Ferberize him, or do something else to get him to sleep, you are most welcome. You do that, I'll take a nap.

Otherwise, things are good.  I don't like being alone, but we had to do it.  I look forward to having Dexter home on Saturday.  We'll have lots of decisions to work through in the coming days!!  More adventures ahead of us, I think.

random things

It is a little after 7 in the morning in the US, and Dexter will be heading shortly to UMDNJ to start his day of touring, exploring, interviewing, learning, etc. at UMDNJ.  I feel so very far away and removed from this momentous event, and so I need to distract myself.  I've got monster cookies baking in the oven for a game night tomorrow night {another distraction} and I figured while they bake, I could post some random pictures that haven't yet been seen.

In no particular order. . .

This elephant quilt was made by a friend and given to me at my shower in November.  My mom and I looked for a rod to hang it from when she was here, but the cheapest we could find was for $100, so we opted to wait. She found this rod at Bed Bath and Beyond, and I brought it back with me.  We finally hung it in September. I love it.  Kyalo loves it too, as he's always grabbing for it. {Perhaps we hung it too low}.  And, if you look closely in the corner of the changing table there are some wooden animals that were my brother's when he was a baby.  30+ years old!

You may remember that the borrowed Johnny Jump Up was a huge hit while I was home, so Mom insisted I take one back with me.  This, too, took a while to hang.  We don't have moulding over the doorways, so needed to be creative: Dexter had to chisel into the door frame itself.  It has been up about a month now and has been a great place to plop Kyalo. He's recently learned how to walk as far back as possible and let go and swiiiiiiing.  Not a bad $20.00.

Now that we're in the eating-real-food stage of life, we whisked out this chair that was given to us by the Riches.  It is great because he sits right next to me while munching on (and making a mess of) the things we give him.  I love that middle photo.  So far, he's eaten:  {baked} sweet potato, broccoli, banana, watermelon (seeds removed, of course), avocado, tomato. I think his favorite thing so far is the apples I let him suck on.  I do give him cereal every now and then, but that doesn't seem to fare any better than the other stuff, so I just stick to the real food as much as I can.

The best toy that we have for him at the moment, is my little basket of clothes pins. He loves to dump them out, play with them, chew on them, etc.  Not a bad toy to have around!  Also next to him is a book "Going on Safari" that we got at Amani Ya Juu, made by women who have survived conflict (Rwanda, Congo, the post-election violence in Kenya, etc). It was a good investment as he likes that, too.

We had a few days last week of many wake up calls in the nights and abbreviated naps, which made Kyalo very fussy all.day.long. After two or three days of this, I was at my wits end, and so Dexter took him out for a bike ride.  They didn't go far (or fast) but it was enough to lull Kyalo to sleep, and to give me a much needed break.  Dexter enjoyed it and will likely do it again, we'll just make sure Kyalo is better bundled up for that.

This was another hand-me-down from the Riches, and it has been sitting in his closet all this time. I was excited to pull it out yesterday, because we really don't have that many toys, and I thought he'd like to see something new...something that lit up and played music.  Boy was I wrong! I think it must have scared him. Twice.  Because both times I gave it to him, I got the same reaction.  Which was this:

Yep, I took pictures of my kid screaming. Is that wrong?  I actually found the whole situation hilarious, if I'm being honest.  I've put the toy away for another day. Maybe it is more of a 9-month-old toy.

8:30 am in NJ now, and Dexter should be getting started!  Kyalo's awake from his nap, and the sun is shining {we've had some much needed rain the last few days, but I'm glad the sun is back}, so we'll go for our afternoon walk. Then I'm home to come up with something other than popcorn for dinner. I'm sorry this is such a long post...but I needed the distraction! 

an escape

Last Saturday, Dexter and I took a little jaunt away from our hectic and somewhat stressful life to Lake Nakuru.  After fighting with the customer service rep for his plane ticket to the US for about 8 hours on Friday, getting away from the computer, the house and civilization was just what the doctor ordered!

Plus, we've been talking forever about how we want to be going places throughout Kenya.  After all, Kenya is a huge tourist destination and we are here already we should be taking advantage of it! Especially if we'll be leaving soon.

Lake Nakuru is closest park to us, and is famous for the millions of greater (I think) Pink Flamingo that dot the shoreline of the lake.  They're my favorite part of the lake, and possibly of the destination spots I've been to in Kenya.  From a high vantage point the edge of the lake looks pink. . .except that there were NONE.  What?  Turns out they travel down to Tanzania to have their babies.  Punks.

We took over 200 pictures from the day.  I'll spare you all of them.  But here are some of the best from the day...



















Kyalo was prepared with his safari outfit and sunhat...looking like a mini Ranger. He was the most prepared for the day.

Well, there was this girl, who was totally prepared for picture taking in a game park.  I mean, seriously.

Yes, we really did take pictures of a stranger and her amazing lens.  And yes, I totally lust after it.  But, maybe I should really learn my camera first.  :)



So, on to the animals.

{rhino...and if you look real close, a bird!}

{Ranger Kyalo checking out the rhino}

 baby buffalo

 giraffe and buffalo

injured buffalo (can you see the wound there by the tail?)

There were no flamingos {cry} but there were lots of pelicans

 impala or antelope or gazelle - I can't remember which

the view from the top

{the guys looking on}

 little guy was into it!

zebra

these are the best pictures from the day, I think.

and yes, we really were that close!

And now for my favorite photo of the day:

love these guys

It was a great -- and much needed -- escape from reality.