Learning

Two year olds suck up information like tiny little people vacuums.  I'm constantly amazed at Baylor's new vocabulary and knowledge.  The other day she counted to six all by herself.  I'm also constantly amused by the funny things she says.

The other day Brett had a conversation with her about the alphabet.

"Baylor, what does apple start with?"

"A."

"What does Baylor start with?"

"B."

"What does cat start with?"

long pause -- "Meow."

Harper isn't quite as funny yet.  But she sure is cute, especially when she stretches.  I'd post pictures, but Brett took his camera with him to Kenya for the week and I forgot the cord that uploads pictures from my camera to the computer.  So you'll have to wait a few more days.

Baylor's First Bike

We decided while we are in Dar, we should take advantage to look for a bike for Baylor.  She's always loved those little bikes with no pedals you just scoot around on, and we figure she will soon be ready to pedal.  There are a couple of places you can buy used bikes from here and this one place happened to have this little purple Trek.  Brett being the bicycle snob that he is, insisted on a good brand, so we were lucky to have found it, as none others came close to his standards for his two year old daughter's bike. She should be able to use it for at least a couple of years before having to move up to a bigger one. Baylor isn't so good at riding it yet, but she still loves trying and I'm sure will be zooming around before we know it.  

The Hospital and Such

We were fortunate this time around to be able to go to the best hospital in Tanzania for Harper's birth.  This was not the case for Baylor's.  The facilities were very nice and the staff was knowledgeable and friendly.  The food was excellent as well.  Brett actually likes to go there just for the breakfast.  They make French toast.  Though things are still never quite the same as home.  For example, one nurse kept trying to make me drink hot tea throughout my labor.  She thought it would give me energy.  When we lived in China people always seemed to think wearing more clothes would solve all physical ailments.  Here, apparently, it's drinking tea. Sorry, I just didn't want any hot tea.  Another time the orderly who brought my food just picked up Harper without asking when she came in.  But still, we were extremely pleased with our experience.

Baylor is enjoying being a big sister.  She always wants to know where Harper is and what she's doing.  She's very concerned when she cries.  She finally decided she wanted to hold Harper, but she still seems pretty scared of her and prefers to just sit next to her.

After the first week of constant eating, Harper has gotten into a more normal schedule and is actually one of the easiest babies I've ever been around.  Hopefully it will stay that way.  She is generally always content and only cries when she's hungry, has gas, or is naked.  She does not enjoy bath time.  She typically only wakes up once a night to eat so we're even getting a fair amount of sleep, which is nice.

All in all, as long as the electricity is on and we aren't dying of heat exhaustion, things are going great and we're one big happy family.

Introducing Harper Mae

I don't know how many of you have ever been pregnant, but if you have, you probably understand why I didn't feel much like blogging recently, being every day more and more past my due date and also in the land of million degree weather here in Dar Es Salaam.  We came here ten days before my due date in order to see the doctor here, make sure everything was in line with the hospital, get somewhat settled into the house we've rented while we're here, and just to be around decent medical facilities in case the baby should come early ( Though I never for a second expected her to come early, as Baylor was two weeks late).  Our doctor here is Dutch and we like her a good deal.  Upon our ultrasound at 39 weeks, we were told that the amniotic fluid was low and there was a good chance we'd need to induce, but that we would at least wait a week and see if there was any change.  The next week (on my due date), we saw that Harper was still growing a little and seemed in no hurry to come out, despite the lack of liquid around her.  Because she was still growing some, we decided to let her bake in there a little longer and see if she came out on her own.  However, she did not, and by 41 weeks, she had stopped growing, so the doctor decided that an induction was indeed necessary.  Oh joy.

So, on Saturday, February 4th, Brett and I headed to the hospital to begin the fun that is birthing a child who doesn't seem to want to come out.  After five hours of labor on pitocin with no pain medication ( I can't say I recommend it), Harper Mae joined us in this world of ours weighing in at 6 lbs, 12 oz, at 20 1/2 inches long.  This whole labor and delivery experience was much better than it was with Baylor, for which we are quite thankful.

Harper and I are both still a little sleepy but are recovering just fine.  We are happy to have her join our family; even Baylor... I think.  Here are some pictures for you gaze at fondly.