With Two Feet

That’s right I jumped in with two feet from my first day here. I never knew how exhausting it could be. The first day we spent 5 hours at a hospital getting the three new boys (Kenisha, Melkamu and Matthew) and the new baby (Lily) looked at to see if they were healthy. They were not. They are extremely mal-nourished so bad in fact that their body is eating their muscles. The baby who we thought was only 6 days old is more like 2 weeks old. This hospital has a really good pediatric wing but they don’t have any toys for the kids to play with so 5 hours was a really long time for them. We didn’t think it would take that long so we only brought snacks and not anything for lunch. Luckily Phillipa lives close and got some really good bread for them. That was a long day – I went to bed at 5pm.

There are three nannies and one cook/cleaning lady. Tesfanish is the head nanny and she takes care of three babies (Muna – almost 3 months, Absarah – 3 weeks old and Lily who is a premi and weights only 1.5 kg – Phillipa the Australian nurse and I named her) and eight kids (Mastewal – 6 years old, Eyob – 4 years old, Eyob – 3 years old, Kenisha – 3 years old, Matthew – 2 ½ years old, Daratu – 2 ½ years old, Melkamu – 2 years old and Helina – 18 months old). She is a very busy lady who rarely eats or sleeps. She loves the kids like they were her own. She loves the 3 year old Eyob like her own son. He sleeps with her and calls her Mama. I think it would break her heart if he was adopted. I have been helping her a lot with the older kids when she is here and when she goes to the doctor with one of the kids I am in charge of the babies. They are so tiny and precious.

Hewitt is in charge of three babies as well (Ruth – 3 months old, Equtatash – 3 months old and Meskerem – 6-7 months old) Meskerem is the happiest baby I have ever seen. She is always smiling and laughing even if no one is around her. Hewitt is potty training her. I was impressed that she didn’t go in her diaper all day. I started helping Hewitt in the morning with the three girls, but after I realized Tesfanish needed way more help with the big kids I now help get them dressed and outside.

Zowdie has her hands full with two babies (Domino – 8 months and Henok – 5 months). Domino is the most active baby I have ever been around. She does not like to sit still for one minute. Henok on the other hand is very laid back. He can’t sit up or hold his own head up yet...he is a big guy. Domino keeps Zowdie very very busy.

My days so far are really busy. I get up around 7am and get the big kids dressed and outside or entertained some other way until breakfast. After breakfast we play more until lunch then it is naptime - all while watching at least one baby. After nap we play more until dinner. Then it is bedtime, which is usually around 7:30pm. It is a process getting everyone to bed. I find that I am too tired to even eat dinner. Last night I made myself stay up until 9pm other than that I have been falling asleep around 8pm. The bad thing about that is that I usually wake up at 3am and don’t fall back asleep until 5am when the Muslim call to prayer is over.

Things I hate:
Constantly taking someone to the bathroom.
They don’t use toilet paper here so the kids smell like poop sometimes.
Cloth diapers…they are so nasty. I haven’t gotten the hang of it yet either.
Not having running water all the time.
Having a real mattress but it being hard as rock…seriously.
Constantly telling them not to hit or take other’s toys.
Not having the internet when I need it.

Things I Love:

Melkamu’s smile…he was very shy at first but now he is engaging with everyone. He has a problem with his feet so he either crawls or you have to carry him and he loves to snuggle.

Daratu. I know I’m not supposed to have favorites but she is mine. She is such a sweet girl who smiles with her mouth closed, shoulders scrunched and hands next to her mouth. She sings softly to herself and cries silently when she has to go to the bathroom.

Eyob (3 year old) when he comes over and kisses me randomly. Other than that he is a stinker.

Helina when she runs and gives me a hug which is rare. I am usually telling her to stop hitting everyone else.

Eyob (4 year old) when he tries to help take care of the babies. He is a stinker too who is always taking someone else’s toy.

Matthew when I tickle him he has a very contagious laugh.

Mastewal loves to help. She folds the laundry, helps the kids make their beds and helps Tesfanish or Hewitt with whatever they need.

Kenisha when he looks after his little brother Melkamu. It is so sweet how he plays with him if no one else is. He was the most shy out of the three new boys but finally he has come out of his shell.

I love having my own room.

I love rocking the little babies to sleep or feeding them.

I have been crazy busy but it has been a good busy.

Love,
Emily