Baby's first costume

This is Emma's first DIY costume. Her daddy will be running a half marathon in December, so it seemed fitting. The number is her birthdate and the medal says "#1 WALKER 8 months". I'm thinking about putting "26.2ft or bust" on the back... Still haven't made up my mind. Oh, those purple things are sweatbands made out of duct taped washcloth pieces. :)

More pix to come tonight at the party!

"Aa chu-chu?!"

"Aa chu-chu ya bait, daalna kha, pani pi, burr burr burr!" A kind of pat-a-cake song here that translates to: "Come birdie sit here, eat food, drink water, (the sound of the wings of the bird flying away)!" Emma beckons the birdie pointing to her hand whenever my friend comes to visit or anyone visiting who dresses like my friend does for that matter. Her first baby sign!!! She also mimicked us saying "aa chu-chu," "my baby," and "bye-bye" today... And it was her first true bye-bye wave today! She is getting so big!! 

Birthday and Emma's first proposal

We were invited to the home of a couple we haven't seen since April. They didn't  communicate clearly that it was to celebrate their daughter's first birthday party, which was October 11th. They did mention sacrificing a goat, though. 

Apparently, I should've dressed to the hilt in my best dress, bangles, etc. They almost made me change out of my traditional Hindustani apparel into a family member's dress.

The function was a belated thanksgiving offering to Allah for the birth of a baby. This party is called [ah-KHI-kha] and is to be celebrated seven days after a baby is born. If you have a son, you sacrifice two goats, and if you have a daughter, you just sacrifice one goat. This function can be delayed for poorer families until two days before that son or daughter's wedding. In South Asia, that goat becomes an addition to biriyani (rice dish) and the function/party lasts most of the day. For us it went from 5-10pm. 

The auntie above was in her own little heaven holding sleeping Emma as I ate biriyani.

Emma made friends with a 13-month-old boy named Imahdaht, whose nickname is Immo. She stood up and took a step toward him and held the pack of tissues in his hand. Immo put his hand on top of Emma's and both smiled. 

From that moment on, the joke was that we should start arranging their marriage. Immo could instantly become American and move to the USA with his white bride and an amazing dowry no doubt from his American inlaws. And Emma could be a true Hindustani lady with a proper wedding and volima/receptions. I told them we won't talk (or even think) about weddings until Emma's 25 and out of school. 

Bakra Eid

Yesterday (Oct 16) was the sacrifice festival that our neighbors have annually. They sacrifice a goat, or in some cases a cow or even a camel and it is slightly like the Old Testament in that they believe this sacrifice is for the remission of the previous year of sins. 

My language tutor said that it is written in their rel.gious text that passing your sins onto the animal and then sacrificing it will take you to heaven quick as lightening. However, one goat covers only one man's sin and a goat costs around 7000Rs ($113). Our neighbors are poor, so, if anything, this is another reflection of how impossible it is for us to cleanse ourselves, let alone our entire family, of the sins of a lifetime... Or even just one year. Also, what if you were to sin immediately after this sacrifice and become unfit for God's presence again? It is so hard to explain that there is only one Sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. 

We visited some new friends yesterday. We met these girls and their family for the first time at a bazaar when our friends Todd and Daniel came to visit. We initially thought the girls were being flirty with Todd, but they only wanted him to take a picture of them with Emma. 

They invited us to celebrate Bakra Eid with them. Matt and the men had a discussion about Genesis 22, the sacrifice of Isaac, because their festival is loosely based on this Scripture... except their text changes the story to be about the sacrifice of Ishmael. I got to know the ladies in the meanwhile and managed Emma's stranger anxiety outbreaks. There are two families in this home. The first has three daughters and this man's brother and that man's wife have no children. Several neighbors of theirs also visited with us.

They served us chai and then after some visiting time gave us lots of chicken biriyani, chicken curry with chappathis, and sheerkhorma for dessert. In other words, they pulled out all the stops. 

Hospitality is of great value here and theirs was the biggest example. They couldn't afford to do a goat sacrifice, but they offered themselves to each other, their neighbors, and us--the new friends. We hope and pray they will have open hearts and minds to what we shared with them and to more sharing of Truth in the future.

Standing independently!

Guess who can stand up completely unassisted now?! Today during the service she was holding a toy and doing exaggerated squats to stand up completely by herself. She stood there chewing her toy for an entire stanza of music - and was not a bit wobbly!

Finding nature

Seeing simple plants through eight month old eyes... So sweet!

Eight months old

Emma crawls speedily like a pro, cruises the furniture, and can now stand by herself while playing with a toy.

She claps to music and when we clap with her. She also claps to celebrate her own achievements. 

Emma can do the pincer grasp, but we aren't giving her finger foods yet because she has no willpower and wants to swallow really big handfuls.

Speaking of food, these are her favorites: peas, carrots, watermelon, oats, pumpkin, sweet potatoes (thanks to Gerber because we don't have yams here), and she is still nursing. 

Emma is in the height of both stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. She throws a fit when passed to acquaintances or non-parents. However, when with Mommy and Daddy, she is happy.

She gives hugs, and loves to be tickled. Emma also likes to attack Daddy and play rough with him. She only plays like this with Daddy.

Emma is beginning to babble. "Mmmm" means "I want ____," and she crawls toward the object she wants simultaneously. She claps to indicate "more", generally between bites of food when really hungry. She turns her head or covers her mouth to indicate she's finished eating. She can now blow lots of raspberries!

Now when she says "Mama", she means Mama and knows who that is. 

Her favorite things: attacking Daddy's beard with both hands, being with Mommy, Skype with Grandparents; playing with the baby in the mirror, her rattles, the bumpy ball; exploring and cruising around new areas, swimming/crawling through shallow water; bobbing and weaving to the music.

Childproofing woes

Okay, so gates don't exist here and putting her in her crib is equivalent to bunches of screaming. So, I tried to fashion a temporary gate out of the kitchen chairs so I could go around the rest of the house to duct tape the outlets without Emma grabbing dirt and leaves out of and off of the decrepit house plants. This was the result: the best cruising station Emma has ever known, and a raspberry blown at me upon discovering her cruising around this new perimeter. I had to take the perimeter down as she took it upon herself to discover any possible dangerous way to scale the perimeter. Fortunately, I foiled all of her attempts! We opted out of all injuries during this stunt, thankfully!

Emma and her besties (from 9/25/2013)

This shot captures some of the personality of these little buddies:

Mommies and the babies:

Here is where Emma started to tap out a bit:

It was impossible to keep our hands out of their pictures... 

Anne Geddes, how do you do it??

Fever and recovery

10/1: So far the handsome man is literally the last man standing. I had a high fever yesterday and this morning. I haven't had a fever for six hours! Emma is steadily recovering and her spots are starting to shrink! Praise the Lord!

10/2: I'm not outta the woods yet, as it turns out, my throat is swollen and painful and the fever came back two hours after the previous paragraph was written. Today I will see a doctor.