Things have been a little thrown off with the medical team around; the toddlers don’t have school since their “classroom” tent is being used as an exam room and there are suddenly an extra twenty mouths to feed. Yesterday I began giving the toddlers a tour of all the excitement going on throughout the site in hopes that their curiosity would be eased a bit and they might be less inclined to run out of the house and into the makeshift medical ward unaccompanied. But since Mum Jane was busy taking baby Hope through the medical exam herself, I went off to watch babies Jacob and Joy for a bit. They must be somewhere near the cutest things on the planet.

Joy’s gotten to the stage of repeating everything she hears, in her own version of Swahili/baby talk, of course. She’s constantly moving around and if you don’t keep an eye on her, she’ll sneak her way around the living room’s couch barrier and dash for the kitchen or the door.

Jacob has a smile that makes me melt, and it’s always accompanied by a nearly constant stream of drool dripping from his lip. He’s not quite talking yet, but he loves to imitate Mum Jane singing “Aaaaaamen!” Even more than Joy, Jacob’s constantly on the move. He can’t seem to sit still ever! I was just being told the other day how he, now about 15 months, arrived at IAA at only 2 pounds.

Hope is the youngest of the babies, they think she’s just over a year – but like Jacob, she was tiny when she arrived and she’s still so small for her age. She’s much more quiet than the other two, and she hasn’t quite gotten the hang of walking, but it definitely won’t be long!

In the evening I helped Terrecia and Johnny with some math homework before bed time. The big kids coming home is definitely one of the highlights of my day. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the babies and toddlers, but the older company definitely helps to keep my sanity, even if it does mean revisiting my junior high math days.

Today we made another visit to the market, and it was exhausting. (Bartering isn’t always as easy as it sounds!) And as fun as it was, I was relieved to make it home to the kids. Not long after dinner, I had just gotten into a card game with the girls when the power went out (not an uncommon occurrence here). There was plenty of screaming, tackling , and pillow throwing. George finally found a flashlight and it didn’t take long before he and a few others huddled around and helped Lucy finish her homework. As cute as it was, it didn’t last for too long and the playing in the dark continued.

By the time the lights came back on and we were getting the toddlers ready for bed, everyone seemed exhausted and most of them were in tears. But it was a fun night, and something a bit out of the ordinary. The kids didn’t have as much homework as usual (of course, they still do have school tomorrow…) and playing is always more fun than homework – duh.