She crawled!!!

Before we even had the possibility to move here, I remember crying while talking to Matt. Part of the reason that I cried was because I knew we would have our children overseas and our parents would miss their great milestones. 

God answered one of my biggest prayers today when Emma crawled for the first time ever and both sets of grandparents, her daddy and I were here to see it! My parents saw via Skype, and Matt's parents were here on a visit. I was holding my phone in front of me with the camera on Emma... So she was crawling toward both me and my parents (on the video screen) as Matt and his parents watched. She took a couple of sitting breaks, but in all went about ten feet. 

We have almost spent a week with Matt's parents and his sister spent a week with us in April. Our parents have seen Emma's first smiles, sitting, and crawling. We can Skype as easily as a planned phone call. 

Yes, God provides. His grace covers over all the miles between we and our loved ones... So seamlessly! My God is so big and so generous to show me that He can bring our family together for the treasured moments! 

There are many praises, Jesus, and all of them are for You! I'm so unworthy of such faithful love. He is so good to us!

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Today was a momentous occasion: Emma's first rice!  We videoed the whole ordeal and there are some shots here. 

She has been wanting to eat for a while now so she was so excited to get to sit in her new high chair and eat with her new spoon.  We were all so excited to watch her gum down her bites, and she glowed with enthusiasm.  Each of us gave her bites (Granddad, Grandmama, Mama, and Dada).  She at one point grabbed for the cup of rice and poured some out on her tray, dipping her hands and shoving them in her mouth, Deccani style eating!  So sweet!  

She's growing up... (tear... tear...) ...(grin).

Good news!

We're so excited! Our language reviewer, without our knowing it, decided to have Matt's language test re-graded by a different grader to see if his recording would pass since it was only a few points away from advanced level. The grader rated him as advanced-mid! Matt has met the language requirement! Woot!

Also, we've been given a few contacts through nationals here that might be great partners. One seems especially team-oriented and attuned to our focus-group here! His wife is actually Venezuelan, so I would even be able to communicate with her in her first language, my second. How amazing is that?! :)

Mommy & Me

Such sweet matching shoes were given to us in the mail by my sister, Melody! Mommy & baby are matchin' and stylin' today!

Lernen to Talk

Man! If I only hadn't been pregnant and had been more technologically savvy and had had more of a sense of humor, I could have made a funny video about language learning like this guy did:

https://vimeo.com/68707719

I've currently been learning Urdu for 9.5 months (as this began on Sept 29, 2013). 

Unlike the man in the video who moved to Germany to learn German, and likely had to converse in German and blended in better with Germans physically, my experience is different.  

In our city, English is the business language, and Telugu is the dominant mother tongue.  There aren't too many Urdu speakers in our part of the city.  I would have to move to the Old City in order to get an immersion experience like this man had language-wise, but even then people may address me in English because I'm fair-skinned like English-speakers.

Our experience is complicated by a lack of direct access to the language we are learning. Much like trying to learn Spanish would be complicated in the States because most people don't only hear Spanish when they walk out their front door.  You have to find Latinos to talk to and beg them to address you in Spanish because they want so much to learn English and your Spanish is so bad that they understand you better when you use English.

This is my experience, but I'm thankful to say that I can understand more than half of what even strangers are saying and probably 60-70% of what my language helper says on the phone to other Urdu speakers. When she talks to me, I understand 90-100% of what she says because we can clarify misunderstandings and nuances of language that I haven't learned yet.

I'm very thankful to have grown so much in my comprehension and use of Urdu in just under a year of time!

Home visiting with Emma

Separation Anxiety... Emma readily recognizes any distance between she and her parents. Sometimes passing her to a friend or leaving the room can throw her into hysterics. 

Visiting the neighbor is usually interesting because passing her off to other people usually takes a few attempts. At the end of the visit, though, she seems to be okay with being passed off to be hugged/held.

Visits will be interesting now that Ramzan has begun. Our friends are fasting during the day, but in a desire to be hospitable will continue to serve us tea and snacks... While they refuse to eat or drink until evening. I'm curious about whether upkeep of relationships could actually bring tension as a result. We will see.

Language - movin' on up!

July 27th amendment: Matt actually tested out of his language study with advanced-mid status! Praise the Lord!!!

So, we've moved into a new arena of language learning now. Matt has conversations with his tutor and they also read Bible stories from a children's book and watch short Pixar films and describe what happened in them. 

I have moved into drawing event stories from my life with stick figures, describing what is happening in the pictures to my tutor in the present tense and then she retells my story in the past tense. This is an example of what we will talk about today: my grandparents.

Happy news: we each went up one level in language learning! Me to intermediate-mid and Matt to intermediate-high. The man is just a few points shy of the coveted advanced level we are striving to attain! So proud of him!!!

Teeth wars

Goodness teeth take a long time to descend! Poor Emma is gnawing her hands and toys to help those first two lower teeth, but they are at a standstill it seems. 

Tombs and an old film

Today we went to see some of the first sultans' tombs and then had dinner with friends afterward... And watched an early '90s Bollywood film (well, half of it).

Lets say it with firecrackers!!!

"I'm singin' a song of freedom for all people who cry out to be free..." -Bing Crosby, Holiday Inn

It is quite strange to celebrate the Fourth of July abroad. Grandmother's recipe for apple pie with Mary's crust is in the oven and I just looked up my two favorite clips for the Fourth on YouTube and watched them with Emma. Both clips are from Holiday Inn - Lets Say It With Firecrackers sung by the Bingster (as Dad calls him) and the reprise in tap dance form by Fred Astaire as he drops firecrackers. We will have a shindig later this evening comprised of a potluck and yard games. 

Party time!

Daddy n Emma in red, white n blue

Emma n "Aunt B"

Emma and her BFF 

In other news... 

It is strange that today one year ago we all three arrived in South Asia! Emma was a stomach stowaway. It makes sense, then to reflect a dash on this year in South Asia in light of it being our anniversary.

Some things I love about South Asians:

1. Genuine respect for the elderly - I've seen such beautiful grandparent-grandchild relationships here. They care for each other. Being really old is revered here. 

2. Honor of parents - This can get sketchy because your parents actually program your life here by choosing your spouse and vocational training, but they set you up for success as best they can if you submit to their authority. If you are male this could work really well for you. If you are female, though, it is a toss up whether marriage and studies will be for your good or not because you truly have no say in them. Regardless, submission is an amazing thing to observe here.

3. Respect for the sanctity of marriage - divorce isn't super-prevalent here because marriage is about commitment more than it is about the likeability of your partner. The first marriage question I get here is, "did you have a love marriage?" This is a request for juicy gossip about a loose foreigner who dated and likely slept with the person she married before making a commitment. I always tell them that God, our families, and our friends arranged our marriage and once the commitment was made at engagement, we fell in love with each other. Marriage is very respected here - so much so that private investigators are hired to check out whether your fiancé/fiancée is honorable or not. It is shameful to divorce here, whereas it has become all too convenient back home.

4. Unashamed of what they believe... Regardless of how odd it sounds when they try to explain it. They make no apologies. They allow their god to be weird and unusual, capable of anything. I shouldn't care what people think of Christ's death and resurrection or of the Trinity when I talk about it. 

5. God is allowed to be mysterious in South Asia and to do whatever He wants without losing love from His followers. People don't demand God to unveil His mystery in order to be able to easily explain all that He is.

6. Women aren't looked down on for being homemakers.

7. Women aren't looked down on for being workers.

We survived the first year!!! Now, lets learn to truly thrive here... Lotsa prayer and trust/faith. All people cry out to be free, and we are learning the language so we can sing the song of freedom. 

Happy 5 months, Emma!

Our baby is growing so much! It won't be long before she is crossing a room on her own and eating with a spoon. Thankfully, she has a bit of time before that stage, though. 

Here are her stats:

Height: 26.5"

Weight: 17lbs 13oz

Clothing size: 6, 9, or 12 month onesies. The 6 month ones are getting quite tight, though! The 9 month ones fit comfortably and the 12 month ones look about 1" too long, but she fills them out!

Gross Motor: beginning to creep along the ground Army style, sits briefly but loses balance if looking around the room, squatting hops when supported in standing position, kicking and smacking at things, achieves true crawling position with much exertion (hands and knees pose).

Fine Motor: thumb or finger chewing (she's still working on getting those two lower teeth to come through the gums), puts either foot in her mouth when on her back, found her ears and hair, rakes with her fingers to grasp something small, brings all objects to her mouth, clapping her hands (soundless, not true palm clapping).

Social/Emotional: prefers Mommy when inconsolably upset, happy dances when Daddy comes home (flailing hands and feet with wide smile), imitates faces (scrunching nose, sticking out tongue, raising eyebrows).

Language: says "mama" when fussing tired/hungry, chatters to her reflection in the mirror, "mm" sound, started the "b" sound but doesn't make it much.

Hobbies: rougher games involving being hoisted in the air and brought nose-to-nose with the one hoisting her up, sitting in Daddy's lap, watching parents eat and trying to grab their food, creeping to grasp toys, chucking toys ahead of her to creep and grasp them, FaceTime or Skype with family, tickle songs like "where are the bees?"