8 months

Eek! That is 2/3 of a year old! So hard to believe...but then again I say that every month. So this past month Zoe has really started to get on the move. She is doing the army crawl and can get just about anywhere...still no sign of getting up on her knees...maybe she never will. But she makes her away across our nasty floors pretty well and by the time she is done and I pick her up, her belly is filthy. I know "poor baby" right? But she is happy as a clam and doesn't mind getting dirty at all. We have had to move all our stuff from lower shelves up high. The "easy days" of her just laying around and playing in one spot are so over.

She also has figured out her little scooter seat (I'm not really sure what they are called.) But she flies around the house in that thing with no concern for what is in her path...toys, our feet, or Chester. Poor Chester hates that chair and avoids it at all costs...she will seriously charge at him with it! She loves to roll up to the mirror and really gets a kick out of herself. Here is another video of her in her chair:

I'm still making all her food...carrots, avocados, bananas, potatoes, butternut squash, zucchini. We have tried giving her a little bit of french fry and she is not a fan. She better learn to love them though, because we have eaten more "chips" in the past 2 years than I have eaten in my entire life! She is getting her bottom 2 teeth. She has been a little fussy at night, but all in all, she is handling it really well. She can say "dada", "mama", "baba" (swahili for daddy), and she is starting with the "t" sound...it's sweet because she says it like a whisper. She still sleeps like a champ and we are sooo grateful for that! She has the attention span of Nate so nothing holds her attention longer than a few seconds. She actually gets everything from Nate...including her good looks!

what im loving: catching zoe sleeping

Ok, I promise I'm not just going to post only on Wednesday for the rest of my life. It just seems like I always remember today. Oh well...

So on Sunday we go to church and then usually come home for a little bit and let Zoe take a nap before we go out for our usual Sunday lunch. This past Sunday, she was sooo sleepy we had to wake her up to go eat. I can count the number of times we have seen Zoe asleep..most of them were when she was a tiny baby. We usually lay her down in her crib and she will fuss or cry for a little bit and then put herself to sleep and we almost never wake her up and if we do, the door is so loud it wakes her up as soon as we walk in. So it's a rare occasion to see her sleep. But this Sunday she must have been super sleepy and she didn't even hear us come in to her room. And we found her sleeping in the most precious position. Nobody probably cares to watch this video except us and maybe grandparents :)

what i'm loving: making baby food

Let me first just say...it is not an easy or quick task, but I am loving making all Zoe's baby food. I also cannot lie and say it's purely motivated by my love, or by trying to make sure it's all organic...if we lived in America right now, I most probably would not be doing this. But to my dismay, when we walked in the grocery in Dar-es-Salaam to pick up some solid baby food jars, they were going to cost around $3 a pop! For those little tiny jars...unbelievable. Fresh fruits and veggies are so cheap here...I couldn't force myself to pay that much. So that is how it happened. But I do love it, I know it's healthy and organic and all that...but it sure does take a huge chunk of my time. This is what I do...

First, I wash everything in water mixed with potasium permanganate (it's what gives the water the purplish color).

Then I peel (if needed) and either boil or steam:

Then I mash it all up in the blender:

And put it in little containers to stick in the fridge:

I usually do it once or twice a week. I wish I could do it less often and just stick everything in the freezer, however our freezer is tiny (did you know the rest of the world makes fun of americans for the size of their refrigerators?? they do) and even if we had something bigger, our power is not reliable enough for me to defrost it in the microwave when Zoe gets hungry. Anyway, it's hard work but I like it, and so does this little girl...

what i'm loving wednesday!

Ok...so I'm going to start participating in....

Every Wednesday I will try my best to post about things I'm loving. I say "try my best" because life in Africa with a baby sometimes puts a kink in my plans. Anyhow, this week there is one thing I am seriously LOVING! It's Pinterest....if you haven't heard of it, you need to. Although-- beware! It's seriously addicting. Basically it's a way to "pin" or bookmark things you love (crafts, ideas, recipes, clothes, shoes, stuff you want to buy, anything you could possible think of!) And you "follow" other people on what they are into at the moment and you can "repin" things that they have pinned. Also, on the toolbar of your web browser, you can make a button that says "pin it" and if you are on some random website and love what you see, all you have to do is click that button and it gets pinned to you. Amazing. It's great for putting everything you love into one place. Just yesterday I saw this adorable jewelry organizer and it is currently en route to my parents house so hopefully they can mail it out in a christmas package!! Here it is...

Here are just a few other of my Pinterest finds....I love it!

family rules

oreo rice krispie treats

amazing shoes

kama kawa...

That's Swahili for "as usual." We had a wonderful trip to Dar this past weekend and before visiting the University of Dar-es-Salaam, we went to the mall to grab a bite to eat. We've learned in the past 2 years that you always ask what is available before you order, because chances are they don't have what you want. The conversation that took place sums up pretty much every tanzanian restaurant experience.

Nate: "je, kila kitu katika menu kinapatikana leo?" (is everything on the menu available today?)
waitress: "ndiyo, kila kitu." (yep, everything)
Lindsey: "naomba chicken spring roll mbili." ( i would like 2 chicken spring rolls)
waitress: "pole chicken spring roll hazipatikana." (sorry, chicken spring rolls aren't available)
<<Nate laughing behind his menu>>
Lindsey: "sawa...naomba sambusa mbili" (ok...i'll have 2 sambusas)
waitness: "hamna shida" (no problem)

...5 minutes later, the waitress returns...
waitress: "pole, lakini sambusa zimekwisha" (sorry, but there are no more sambusas)