Family Portraits with Amy

3 Months... and growing

Gross Motor - she can sit wobbly in a supported position (boppy pillow or against my torso with her hands on my thighs); hasn't been rolling much this month; pivots in a sort of armless Army crawl using her knees and feet to face a different direction when on her tummy; keeps her head up when on tummy with her hands to her sides elevated like Superman; just started bounce-squatting when her feet are flat on my legs and I'm holding her in a standing position.

Fine motor- finger sucking at the expert level, grasping her own hands in front of her, pulling her hair bow down from her forehead, grasping the mosquito net from above her head down over her torso when in the changing basin, grasping Mommy's hair.

Social/Emotional- knows there's a difference between her parents and all others, prefers parents to anyone else, calms when returned to parents, anxious at times with others.

Language- awesomely loud sucking sounds, conversational cooing primarily with parents and her own reflection, intense smiling at her own reflection, smiles and coos at grandparents on video chat, use of the consonant "m" ("MEH MEH"), can pronounce her own name, "E-MAH!" accidentally does this.

Off to the palace!

Today, we visited the Old City and went to the palace of the Nizams. It was 100F outside when we left, so Emma and I were dripping with sweat and our clothes were drenched in sweat. The royals lived in very lovely architecture, but very hot surroundings. I feel more like a princess at home under fans and A/C!

Afterward, we went to Pearl City Cafe and Emma had a dance party with Aunt Amy! Pictures/Video of this will come later, as they are on Matt's camera.

Out on the town

Some pictures from taking Emma's Aunt Amy around the malls and coffee shops in town today.

Oh! Emma got her first ever car seat yesterday, so there are some pictures of her in it, too.

Moms' afternoon out

Friday, I got together with another mom here and we went to the mall. Sounds simple, but this trip was without our babies. Our husbands stayed together with the four kiddos- her three and Emma.

This is the first time I've left Matt with Emma and I also missed her so much that it really distracted my time with my friend. Add to this the fact that I don't get out much and so I had a list of things to find at the mall. We are going to have to have a mom outing do-over so we can get some quality conversation in addition to shopping. Maybe next time I will also be less scatterbrained about how Emma is doing.

Matt's Daddy-daughter time went okay. Unfortunately she wouldn't take the bottles I had pumped for her and cried for 20 minutes or so before taking an hour nap. Matt said that at one point the two pre-K girls were laughing to make Emma smile and she was trying to laugh with them. Doesn't get much sweeter than that!

Trying to be homely

In South Asia, it is a good thing to have a homely wife. Here, you can be good-looking and homely at the same time because homely means "awesome homemaker" or "domestic bombshell". Think of Betty Crocker and the gal from Extreme Home Makeover put together and then you have a homely wife in the South Asian sense.

My homely task of the day was hanging pictures. I'm not the homeliest wife... Especially now that I'm in a new environment. So, eight months after moving into our apartment, I hung pictures. My New Years resolution should involve becoming homelier... Something inside me thinks it has been that for a few years and just hasn't stuck so much.

Anyway... Here are the arrangements:

Anyone up for chess?

Matt had an awkward moment in studying the language this week. His helper listened to Matt and guided him as he was telling a random story about a boy playing chess. After gathering some gaming vocabulary, Matt asked his helper if he played chess. The man said he would not because as a Shi'a Musl'm, they do not play it. This is because after Hussein, whose teachings they follow, was murdered, his murderers went home and played chess. How awkward! Matt then apologized for any awkwardness that this discourse about chess may have caused.

Weird, huh? You never know what faux paux you might stumble upon in South Asia!

Safe napping

Emma actually slept two hours tonight under her mosquito-free parasol dome! We attempted to kill three mosquitoes as she slept, but only zapped two. :)

Baby's first mosquito bite(s)

Unfortunately, we were ambushed last night. Matt was left unscathed, but Emma and I were wounded in battle. Four mosquitoes were killed and one or more are still at large. I was bitten 12 times. Poor Emma, thrice. She hasn't swelled and seems no worse for wear. One mosquito met his maker in pursuit of Emma... But he was trapped in the mosquito net, then killed with the mosquito racket (an electric tennis racket that electrocutes them to death).

I've never enjoyed killing bugs before becoming their prey here in South Asia! Now, I harness my hatred of them and use it as adrenaline fuel to slay any and all who enter our home. Don't mess with the mama, and especially not with her little one!

Emma's new friend

Emma got to meet the little girl who was born six days after her today at church. The pastor's wife and I had the same February 8th due date, but little Sarishtha was born right on time and Emma came six days early. Naviya, her mother, had been with her family in the village until a few days ago (as it is customary for women to stay with their mothers from the 7th month until the baby is 2 or so months old).

It was so fun watching Emma and Sarishtha 'dancing' together and looking at each other. Sarishtha means "precious" in Telugu. Here are some pictures of us in the nursery together.

Baby in the mirror

One of our favorite things to do these days (Emma and I) is to play with the baby in the mirror. We talk to her. Emma competes with her to see who can suck her hand the loudest. I tell Emma about the baby's cute cheeks, eyes, yummy hands, happy feet, etc. Without exception, these times lead to the three of us laughing (3rd party being Emma's reflection).

This game had been done in the mirror, but we started playing the game on the iPhone with the camera reversed so we could see our own reflections. She LOVES IT! It's less distracting than a full-sized mirror because all she can see is her own face. This, like Skyping with her grandparents, makes her get chatty and smiley. I have pictures and videos of our fun times. Below is just one play session from today! Love my baby girl!

Refreshment

Yesterday, Emma and I got out on our own for the first time without her daddy!  We went to a moms group at a local church with one of my friends. It was fabulous! There is a coffee shop in the bottom of the church where this group meets every Wednesday. It was so nice to get to meet the other moms--nationals and expats alike--to talk together and pray for each others needs. This might become a weekly time of refreshment for me as I've really been longing for some sense of community here. Two of the gals have babies within a week to 3 weeks of Emma's age. It was also nice to have a frappuccino that is icy and thick since most shake-drinks here are milk with flavoring in it and they call it a shake even though it is just flavored milk.

When we got back to our apartment, I decided to walk one lap around our buildings and ran into a family I've been trying to reconnect with since their daughter got married in December and moved with her husband to DC. They had their daughter long distance on the phone and let me talk to her as we walked to their apartment. She then got on Skype and was able to meet Emma. Unfortunately, Emma was exhausted from the moms outing so our visit was cut short by the savage need for feeding and bedtime, but my friend's mom was very understanding. I'm so thankful for great neighbors like this family!

It was a very refreshing day!

A few blessings

 PEOPLE WHO LOVE OUR EMMA

SWEET MOMENTS WITH OLD BUDDIES

DON'T THOSE LITTLE FACES JUST WARM YOUR HEART?!

Reflections

Today, I spent a little bit of time reflecting on why we left home in the first place.  Thoughts that turn homeward are usually sad times of homesickness for me, especially now that we have our little Emma.  I want to get down these thoughts just so they aren't lost.

Why did I leave home? ...and how did it feel to leave?

• I did not leave home so that I could be blessed, but so that I and my family could be a blessing.  This is very important for me to remember because it is VERY hard to live away from home, especially in a foreign culture.  
• I did not happily leave home with great anticipation of how cool it would be to live in South Asia.  I was scared then of what weird encounters we would have, bad illnesses we may contract, and insane cultural moments that would drive us crazy.  
• I grieved the thought of my family not being around for the births of my children, and that we would have no pictures with grandparents and aunts and uncles throughout our childrens' lives as a result of this move.  
• We prayerfully left the normal and usual and entered the unknown and unusual.

What is it like now... one year later?

Life in South Asia this past year has been easier than I had forecast it to be.  That is not to say that my heart isn't aching on a daily basis that we cannot have more access to our family and friends back in our homeland.  It is also not saying that this has been a piece of cake.  Morning sickness was killer those first four months due to the smells here that can make anyone queasy.  Car sickness is a new issue due to the traffic and absence of true traffic laws.  Pollution aggravates my sinuses provoking sinusitis unless I wear a face mask when out near the roads.  Also, the heat is ridiculous and makes cabin fever take on a whole new meaning for this new mama.  However...

• I did not get dengue fever, or any other mosquito-injected illnesses, and neither did Matt nor Emma.  
• We were not in a traffic accident (if you don't count the common fender-benders that rickshaws tend to get themselves into).  
• I had a pregnancy and birth without complications (if you overlook the lady who wouldn't have a medical license if she operated in the States who said my uterus was divided in two sides when there was nothing in an ultrasound to prove what she was saying - this was so she could make me come every two weeks to get re-scanned by her to check for issues in my pregnancy due to deformities).  I did have a very long labor, but a very quick delivery of Emma that also was without incident.  

As I was tearfully going through yet another round of culture shock blended with homesickness, the Lord kindly reminded me that if I will lean on Him for the strength to endure, that He will give it to me.

The Lord reminded me that I'm not a failure and that my role is actually quite important.  I'm raising our daughter, the next generation.  Through this role as Matt's wife and Emma's mommy, He will allow me to make attempts to impact the culture here in a way that would be pleasing in His sight because the culture will get to see how He makes a difference in this simple life we live.  Even though I am a broken person, His power is made perfect in my weakness because when I am weak, He is shown to be strong.

This is the hope He gave me for this next year -- He will fill me if I will empty myself.  He will empower me, if I will run to Him when I'm overwhelmed.  He will light my path, if I will seek His route.  He will be my home, if I will take rest in Him.

The daily grind

So, it is usually between 90-105F here during the day.  This means that it is pretty miserable being out of the house and that drinking water often is a must if you do go out of the house.  Most people here don't bring their infants out much.

EMMA ROLLING ON A QUILT WE JUST RECEIVED IN A CARE PACKAGE

I learned yesterday that women here who say they have a baby could be referring to any child under 10 years of age.  Odd.  This is because a woman told me that she wanted to see my baby and was shocked that I was actually referring to "an infant" as "my baby".  Apparently babies are much older in appearance than infants here.  So strange.  I informed her that, as far as I know, in our culture babies are infants who cannot walk... toddlers are babies who can walk... and that if a toddler is able to run and speak in sentences, we call him or her a child.  Ah, culture!

Our daily grind consists of as much language as we can tolerate; usually home-making tasks of self-care, soul-care, and baby care; and trying to get out into the community to meet people.  Aside from that, we both have audio recordings of our language lessons that we listen to repeatedly to try and make the language stick in our minds.

When we want to have fun, we hang out with friends we have here, go for walks around our complex, go to the local mall, do tummy time games with Emma, and relax between diaper changes and taking care of home duties.  This is our life at this stage -- lots of baby times, some language, a little community.

We are super thankful for the friends we have... and are hoping that Merilee can meet more people in our neighborhood as she takes Emma for walks in the mosquito-net-covered stroller.  Sometimes Merilee can get lonely in the house avoiding the beating down sun with Emma.  It will be awesome once monsoon season hits and we are able to don an umbrella and get out to meet people when the sun is still shining (or behind a cloud, as it were).

Good Friday & Easter

We went to the local contemporary service for both events. It was so awesome getting to worship our Lord with Emma! First of all, she is event-friendly. During the GF service I only got up to change her and then to bounce her. Secondly, Emma LOVES the singing portion. She kept her eyes on her daddy's face as he sang. It was a bit distracting for Matt to be stared and grinned at during the songs. Very sweet, though.

I can't really describe how awesome it was to worship in English and also in Hindi. We could understand lots of the words we were singing since they were transcribed in English text on the screen as we were singing them. So awesome! Here is my favorite of the songs we sang:

Yeshu Masih Tere Jaisa (Hum Gaye Hosanna)

EMMA IN HER EASTER OUTFIT FROM MOMMO TAYLOR