18 Months

A week ago Eli turned 18 months. A year and a half. Sometimes it seems like he is older. I think he is entering his terrible twos early. He is becoming a bit naughty - not listening and obeying, being stubborn, throwing tantrums, etc. I think it's all normal. He is great most of the time, but when he is tired, his naughty side comes out. Fortunately, we are consistent and he gets over things quickly. Despite the few challenges he is now bringing, he really is a delight and I love him more and more as he grows.

He is talking up a storm. Every day he surprises us with the new words he knows. One word he says all the time is "sweets." That is what they call candy here. There is a small duka by our house that sells lollipops. We have walked there a few times to buy one for him. (Thanks to the December team, he discovered Tootsie Roll Pops and knows what sweets are.) Whenever we pass it, he points and says "weets, weets." He is now connecting two or more words. In the morning he says "Nala... pee pee" meaning we need to let know outside to go to the bathroom. He says a few things in Kiswahili too. Mtoto is the word for baby or child. When he sees a kid, he points and says "toto." At church on Sunday, when one of the kids weht to the bathroom, he said "toto... pee pee." As you can see, he is very aware of bodily functions!


Lately, here are his likes:

Cleaning - he loves to sweep, mop, and wipe surfaces with cloths.

Rain - When it rains, it is so exciting to him. He shouts "Wain!"



(Watching the rain)

Cars and Dinosaurs - He is all boy.



(Dancing in his new Dinosaur slippers from Grandma)

Climbing - On everything!



Playing outside - bringing him in usually results in tears

Drumming - He is OBSESSED with singing and drumming. We bought him a little drum and he uses sticks from trees as drum sticks. Right now, his favorite song is a Swahili song from church. It says " Ni wewe, Ni wewe bwana, Ni wewe, Ni wewe bwana." Often he can be heard playing his drum on the patio singing "wewe.... wewe....." It's adorable. Last Sunday, he went to sit next to Glory at church who was playing the drum (the only instrument) during hymns. When she got up to help sing the faster songs with pre-recorded music, Eli thought he would get to play the drum. When the music started, he looked up and burst into tears, absolutely devastated that he wasn't providing the drum music. It wasn't a tantrum, he just was crushed! Poor guy. He went full on silent crying. You know it's bad when they go silent. George took him outside and when they came back in, Eli looked at the drum and started crying again.

Eli is still super friendly. I call him the mayor of Moshi because he is constantly waving to people. Some he knows, others are strangers. Everywhere we go, people know him. They don't know our names, but they know his. If I go somewhere without him, people ask... "where is Eli?"

Fun month!

Our camera batteries died a while ago so I haven't been able to take many photos this past month.