Getting Back to Basics

We’ve been home in Harare for around 6 weeks now. Eliza started Early Childhood class (EC1) at HIS, so David takes her and Miles to school together every morning.  Classes start at 7:15. Eliza has Ms. Gayle (Zimbabwean), and Miles is in Grade 1 with Mrs. Breathnach (pronounced Bre-nok, Irish). They are both great teachers, so we feel lucky and relieved to be just at the start of a whole year with them.

I pick up Eliza every day at 11:45 (yes, still the a.m.!). On Thursdays, I take her to swimming lessons after school, but otherwise, she is usually tired and ready to chill at home with a dvd and then play with Panache, Herbert’s 4-year-old son. Miles finishes classes at 2 but has an activity until 3 MWTh. This year he chose clay molding, stone carving and marimba, a local instrument that resembles a xylophone. He is very happy with his activities.

When Miles gets home, he usually heads for the trampoline, the center of life for all the kids: Eliza, Panache, Miles & Shepherd. Miles usually has 45 minutes of homework (!!) which we start promptly at 4:30...and so begins the night-time routine of dinner, bath, books and bed. Eliza crashes as early as 6:45. Miles goes to bed at 7:15. 

Ah, routine.

Miles on the trampoline

Eliza, Shepherd and Panache in front of the Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow flowering bush

Eliza convincing the boys to play dress up

Eliza the Hairstylist

Like a lot of little girls, Eliza had decided to grow her hair long in order to maximize her dressing up options and generally look more princess-like. When we were visiting Sara and her family in Oakland, she got a little trim.

Shortly after we returned to Chattanooga, Eliza decided to cut her hair...twice. This is after the second cut.




So Eliza got to go to another beauty salon, which she really enjoyed. Jennifer, Mom's long-time hair stylist did a great job considering what she had to work with.



We like it!

Cinderella Series

Where's Eliza?

Labor of Love by Daddy

A few more from the Real Life

Miles is soooo powerful that he doesn't even need knights! Or gods.

We will be working on our dance technique in Zimbabwe.

Catching Up

I need to catch up on posting some videos before we relocate to our slow-connection life in Harare!

Expressions of persuasion: Miles and his mother.

Eliza's fairy song:

Fairies. Fairies. The fairies fight a tiger.

The fairies fight it. The fairies do it.

Fairies. Fairies. Fai-ai-ries.

We do the fairies. The fairies kick.

And the tigers gr-scream.

Fai-ai-airies. Fai-ai-airies. Fa-ai-airies.

That's what it's all about.

When I Become a Woman

Me: What do you want to do when you become a woman?
Eliza: I want to reach the lights.
Me: What else?
Eliza: Drink coffee.
Me: And?
Eliza: Go to work.
Me: What do you want to do at work?
Eliza: Make music
Me: What kind of music?
Eliza: Jingle Bells
Me: Do you want to play an instrument?
Eliza: The drums!

Birthday Vids

Eliza's Third Birthday

These were taken at school. I brought cupcakes. Miss Line Leader is all excited it's her special day.

I wish this were in focus. Can you see how she's just eating up all the attention? They were singing to her.

The afternoon party paper-crown-making table.

One of her German friends, Kathi (Andrea's daughter).

Fe did her hair, obviously. (She always curses me when I get it cut.)

This is Caroline and Ben's Emily I blogged about when she was born. She's 7 months now!

Eliza's school friend Rosa (another German) who gave E this uber-girly Hello Kitty dress that she loves! It's very cute.

Opening presents at all her friends' insistence (Oliver, Cleo and Kathi). Normally people don't open birthday gifts at parties here, but the kids had their own way.

It didn't get as pink as I was imagining. I couldn't find any crepe paper streamers. All the little girls had on a touch of pink...boys were in red...so that was cute. And Paige's recommendation for decorating paper crowns was a big hit with boys and girls alike. I regret I didn't get more close-up shots of all of them. We put a table under the olive trees with glitter, stickers, and shiny paper cut into strips and shapes for them to glue on paper crowns. They did that first, so many sported their little masterpieces for the rest of the party.

We tried a pin-the-tail-on-the-pink-pig game...which I'd had my doubts about, and predictably the little ones were not into the blindfold but surprisingly into just sticking the tail on. Eliza got upset that someone was messing with the tail she put on...it was just one of a few melt-downs that day that she's prone to at this stage in her life. Suddenly she'll get an idea of how she wants things to be, and something will prevent it from being that way. Then she'll tuck in her chin, sit on the floor and start howling. It looks to me like textbook toddler behavior. I'm just wondering how long this stubborn waywardness is going to last!

But enough badmouthing the birthday girl! She dressed in her new pink tutu for the party and carried her new big girl doll dressed in a matching tutu. She was happy with the day which she has been looking forward to and imagining for months. (How many times have I stuck candles in her meals and sang happy birthday to her?) She enjoyed it all: the crowns, the friends, the opening of gifts, the giving of party favors, the birthday song and the candles which she blew out with gusto and an apparent feeling of accomplishment.