Worms and More

Our family has seemed to be a little bit sick for a long time.  There has hardly been a time in the last several months when all of us have been well.  Last week I was treated for worms and Brett for giardia the week before that.  But we've still had lingering problems and Baylor has been complaining of a tummy-ache so we decided to just all go get tested for anything that could be found.  The results: Baylor has worms, I have an amoeba and Brett has both an amoeba and bilharzia.  My teammate Alicia said maybe we should all start eating lint off the floor as it seems to have worked for Harper. Ha. 

We have all our medicine now so things should be improving.  I was reading through the accompanying information for my medicine last night and among the list of 20 or so side effects were listed "furry tongue" and "anorexia."  I am left to wonder whether I might actually grow fur on my tongue or if I will just feel like I have fur on my tongue.  I feel this incredibly technical medical term is a little vague.  And anorexia?  Can a medicine I take for 5 days really do that?  I'm going to assume they really mean loss of appetite and just lost something in the translation.  I always find lists of side effects a little humorous.  

So that's what's going on with us lately -- that and Brett ran the Kilimanjaro marathon this past weekend despite the amoeba, bilharzia, and a cold on top of it all.  He has more stick-to-it-ness than I do.  Way to go Brett!

Harper's First Birthday

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Harper's first birthday.  Our team came over and we had sesame street themed party complete with a Big Bird head cake.  Sorry Big Bird looks a little scary. He was made in the in the morning and by the time we ate him that evening, his eyes had mostly melted off.  But Harper didn't mind.  That girl loves to eat and cake is no exception.

Harper is her own little person, and she continues to show us more of her personality every day.  Except for the past few weeks when she's battled a cough, a cold, and teething, she is typically a pretty calm, even keeled sort of person.  She does like her mama, though.  Sometimes a little too much.  No one can make her smile and laugh like her big sister, Baylor.

Harper's favorite current activities are riding on her little blue car, playing peek-a-boo, and rolling a ball back and forth.  She also truly loves to eat, despite only have 4 teeth. She often out-eats me and she always eats more than Baylor.

This past week she has started walking a little.  She can stand up well on her own, and today took 6 fairly steady steps, a new record.  She likes to clap and wave bye-bye and draw with chalk on our back porch.

We are so happy Harper is part of our family, even Baylor, despite her grumpy words when Harper knocks down her block towers.  We'll try to take some better pictures sometime soon.

Ahhh, Bumps

Today while driving down the paved road, Harper (who has been exceedingly grumpy lately, due to a cold) would not stop crying.  She cried for about 20 minutes straight until we turned on to a dirt road.  A very bumpy dirt road.  The crying immediately stopped.  Our children can be so Tanzanian.  I imagine she let out a sigh of contentment as we bounced our way home.

I Should Have Known

Living in Tanzania, we eat a lot of beans and rice.  The girls and I eat it almost every day for lunch.  It's cheap, easy, and pretty tasty.  Over the last month, though, with visitors and holidays around every corner, we've had a lot more variety.  I suppose Baylor has gotten used to that variety and so yesterday when I served her beans and rice for the third day in a row, she sat down, looked at her bowl, and said,

"I should have known you were going to do this to me."

Pretty funny.