Big Boy

I'm constantly amazed at how quickly Eli changes and grows and on the one hand it makes me so excited each day to see what he's capable of doing and on the other hand I get fleeting feelings of sadness as I realize that I have to part with the tiny fragile infant that he once was. Part of this realization comes each day when I dress him in the morning and come to find out what he once fit into now either is skin tight on him or doesn't fit at all. And last night I realized that his tears which arrived when I tried to get his pajamas on might have been because I was trying to squeeze him into pj's that were just meant for a smaller baby...and I exclaimed to Alan, "but we only just bought these and they are so cute and he's only worn them once!" I hung my head and went to the drawer and pulled a 9-monther out which fit him just perfectly.

Each day he's looking more snug in his carseat which worries us because I don't think we want to buy the next stage of carseat in Ghana, as you can imagine.


Each day he looks bigger and bigger on his changing table.


We weighed him on our scale at home and he's 18.5 lbs!! We then quickly ran to the computer to look up average weights for 3- month old babies and the average ends at 16 lbs.

The Bumbo which once left him perplexed, is now fully mastered, as he's seen here flipping the table off the seat. Instead of playing with the assortment of toys laid before him, he chooses to grab ahold of the sides of the table and pull it off.


But of course part of the fun of Eli getting bigger is watching his personality come alive. His laughter has gotten more regular and really cracks us up. I finally caught it on video but now this website can't seem to load it. I'll keep trying and hope to get it loaded in another blog later. I'll substitute it with this blurry action shot of Eli's mouthful of drool.

Standing strong on his two feet comes easier and easier now and well, nap time, it just remains the same.

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Eli's New Home

Eli can now call Ghana his new home. After a 12 hour flight during which Eli was a champ, sleeping and eating and barely no crying, we began to assimilate back into Ghana life. This began with the chaos at the airport including long immigration lines, total madness at baggage claim which was made worse by the fact that we had 11 bags to find, and then loading it all and us into our car and Frank's taxi. We were all exhausted but so excited to be together again. Alan was especially happy to have his son back in his arms!






We managed to convert our apartment into Eli's playroom pretty quickly with the help of my dad who in no time put together some of Eli's toys. Eli was most fascinated by our colorful artwork and red flowered curtains. He would just stare at them and laugh.








We didn't waste much time before showing my parents around Accra despite the exhaustion from the trip. We headed to Alan's boss' house the Sunday afternoon we arrived for a South African Brai (or BBQ as we know it). And then when Alan headed to work on Monday, I got busy touring Accra with my folks and Eli. They had never seen anything like Accra and I don't think you can adequately prepare anyone for the experience. I think they spent the first days and hours in awe and just stared out the window of our car taking it all in.




We went fabric shopping at my favorite batik shop - Esther's Batiks - where my mom practically bought out the shop. It's so hard to resist since her fabrics are so amazing.



We went basket shopping at my favorite basket weaver's shop. This is James and his daughter with their baskets. He was happy to see me after 6 months of being away and I got a big hug. James has a developmental disability of some sort but it's amazing to see how he's created a business for himself and functions so well.


I took them for a traditional West African lunch.



They came to the center where I have been volunteering that works with street children and got a tour both of the center and the surrounding neighborhood by staff from the organization.





We went out to a few of our favorite spots for dinner with friends and showed my parents one of our main evening activities here - eating out. And for two days they headed off with Frank to the coastal town of Cape Coast where the slave trade was centered in Ghana. They also went to a nearby rainforest and went on a jungle walk which my father loved and my mother cursed, as they went off the trail and were trudging through raw forest cover and trying to avoid biting red ants!



Now my parents have left for a 12-day excursion to South Africa and I'm busy training Rita, our house helper, to care for Eli, as she'll help me when I have to go out. We quickly learned that driving around Accra with a 3-month old is not so easy. We've gotten pretty good at backseat diaper changes but the worst is when we're stuck in traffic, Eli's crying with hunger, and there is no way to pull over. Thank goodness for our lullaby CD's! Rita has been wonderful though so far and has quickly taken to Eli and Eli to her. She's even managed to make my parents a local dish I like called Red Red and taught me some techniques as well.



It's wonderful to be back here and I'm excited to show Eli around his new home. It's quite an adjustment though from Athens, GA where I got used to the ease of life. Now quick grocery store runs have turned into half-day excursions and walks around the tree shaded neighborhood in Athens have turned into sunny walks around our compound. But nothing could beat being together as a family again!

New Toys

As I prepare to head back to Ghana in a week, I'm prioritizing all the baby paraphernalia because there is no way to bring it all. I already have 6 huge suitcases packed mostly with baby clothes, bottles, toys, lotions, and anything I could think of that I might need in the next 6 months that I cannot find over in Ghana.

And to make matters more complicated, Eli doesn't stay interested in the same things for too long before he's ready to explore something new, so I'll need a lot of toys and distractions to keep him entertained. We recently tried out this swing for him but he wasn't interested and in fact detested it.

He's getting better at grabbing onto things so this plastic thing seemed to entertain him for a second when he got it in his mouth but then he dropped it and couldn't find it and got frustrated.


And anything that goes round and round is a pretty sure bet.

So, although I really shouldn't be adding to the huge piles of baby stuff, I couldn't resist getting the Bumbo. I was clueless about the Bumbo chair up until 2 days ago when a friend of my mom's, also a grandma, said it was a must have. At first I was skeptical but now that little Eli has had some time in his new foam chair, I'm sold.


It's coming with us one way or another. It's perfect because he cannot yet sit on his own and I am pretty sure he's bored of just laying in a reclining position all the time so this gives him a new vantage point. His neck muscles are not quite strong enough to sit upright for too long and about 7-10 minutes is his threshold before the wailing begins, but I think it's only going to get more fun for him as he builds strength. I've also discovered that on a smooth floor surface it glides really easily and I can drag him in the chair around in circles which he gets a kick out of.