Gio now rolls over from his tummy to his back and vice versa with ease.
I wanted to go for a run, but my wife asked me if I could sit with Gio for a while. I agreed.
I was lying on my back on the living room carpet with Gio nearby.
He placed his hands on my body and proceeded to raise himself to a standing position.
That was worth missing the run for. 🙂
(Can you tell what the buzzing sound in the video is?)
Went for dinner with my sister and a friend of hers. Gio was quite calm and co-operative.
At some point, he was seated on a high chair with the table to his left. He picked a table napkin from the table with his left hand, transferred it to his right hand and threw it on the floor.
My sister was very amused. I was too. (It looked funnier than it sounds when described).
Morning reached faster than anticipated. We were meant to be in town by 9:30 a.m. We said our goodbyes and off we went.
The journey back was a replica of the first day. Telo was easy. Need I repeat? – eat, play, sleep…
We reached Nairobi before 6:00 p.m.
We were glad to be back because of Telo’s heat rash, which would probably have turned worse.
Gio has a rash on his face. It seems full-blown today. Fortunately, we will be traveling back to Nairobi tomorrow.
Today we visit my cousin Ruth, husband Nick and pretty daughter Salama.
I asked the nanny whether she would go with us to visit or my sister can take her to the beach since we were leaving the next day back to Nairobi, wonder why I asked 🙂
We were received warmly, with lots of goodies, and as with the coastal tradition, Telo had to touch the said goodies to say he has received them.
Uncle Nick was kind enough to show Telo the ropes of how to ride a bike trike(?).
Telo, in turn, was kind enough to leave one of his musical toys to cousin Salama who had been listening non stop to it since we arrived.
Last but not least, I was given a whole bowl full of chicken to eat on behalf of Telo. I counted at least 6 big pieces that went into my mouth before I lost count 🙂 Motherhood can be very sweet 🙂
We went to visit my dad, Telo’s grandpa, in Msambweni.We’ve always wondered about Telo’s shape of the head but it seems the mystery has been cracked; Telo’s head is a replica of my dad’s.
A walk to the beach is a must since the beach is 5 minutes walk from my dad’s house.
Came back home to Likoni and went for dinner at my sister’s place, of course Telo was the central attraction of the visit and he loved the attention.
Heat, heat and more heat, that was the story of our life.
I had to change Telo twice in the night and twice this morning.
And there were strange faces (to Telo). For the first time, Telo became very clingy, didn’t want to be carried by strangers and started closing his eyes while crying.
We went visiting just around the hood, grandmas
and my childhood friends.
Day 1
Day started well.
Two big bags for Telo? Check.
One small bag for Mama? Check
Even smaller bag for nanny? Check.
Not forgetting hand luggage for Telo with his stainless steel sufuria (saucepan) and feeding utensils.
This journey to Mombasa was proving to be all Telo.
So we got to the bus (yes, the bus), with a bit of drama – bus left us and we had to get it at a smaller stop along Mombasa Road – but we made it in.
Lady checking tickets at the door, Telo was being carried by his dad:
(Translation follows)
“Msichana mzuri,” she said.
“Wewe msichana mzuri.” she repeated
“Ni mvulana,” dad said.
“Kweli? Mbona amesongwa?”
“Nywele inakuwa hivyo yenyewe.”
“Kweli ni mvulana. Anashikilia kwa nguvu.”
Translation:
“Good/pretty/cute girl!”
“You are a good/pretty/cute girl!”
“It’s a boy”
“Really? How come his hair is plaited?”
“It became like that by itself.”
“Indeed it’s a boy. He has such a firm grip.”
We said our goodbyes to daddy and off we went.
8 hours in a bus with Telo. No one knew what to expect.
In the bus, we were all strapped except for Telo :-(, meaning he had to be held firmly.
I must say I became a true helicopter mother (overprotective and always watching over the child)
Cue helicopter soundtrack dududududududududu 🙂
I didn’t trust the nanny to hold Telo firmly enough, kept thinking, if the driver brakes, or swerves…
All these thoughts were replaying in HD video in my mind, so ended up carring Telo all by myself to Mombasa.
The nanny had never been to the coast, so she was highly distracted by the scenery, video being shown in the bus, snacks being served by the bus company (later she told me she had been scared that she would be charged for the snacks).
I must say Telo was such a sport, didn’t cry, just played, ate, slept, played again, ate, slept until we reached. We changed his diaper at Mtito Andei when guys had gone for lunch. Didn’t want drama with the food at Mtito (ati dog meat* etc) so we had carried some lunch.
Reached Mombasa around 7pm, it was soooo hot, by that time, Telo was down to a vest and diaper. All the clothes had been slowly peeled as we kept approaching Mombasa.
My cousin Nick (God bless him) picked us and took us home, home is Likoni so we had to cross the ferry. Found an awesome reception (read food) anyways, everyone was all over Telo. He looked overwhelmed and only agreed to be carried by my mum.
People say I look like my mum so I assume Telo thought it was me. After a few minutes of scrutinizing my mum he started crying, like ‘Oops, not my mum this one!’ 🙂
The food was awesome! So nice to be home 🙂 The day was ending quite well . . . well, not so fast . . .
Telo refused to sleep, it was like he was on something, so hyper and all over, sweating so much as well, whole time I kept fanning him, shooing away mosquitoes. (The paediatrician told me she doesn’t want to prescribe anti-malaria drugs so I should make sure he sleeps under a net).
I finally pinned him down and rocked him. He cried for a bit then slept.
——
* From time to time, there are rumours in various parts of Kenya that meat being passed off as beef or goat meat is actually dog, donkey or game meat
This was the day of the Westgate mall attack. We heard of the events while at a wedding.
22nd September 2013
We went to visit my dad.
23rd September 2013
Gio is 8 months old today!
24th September 2013
25th September 2013
Gio rocks back and forth when he is seated.
26th September 2013
First you eat…
…then you play with Mama…
…then what is this now?
27th September 2013
28th September 2013
Standing briefly while supported
29th September 2013
As we prepared to go to Church, my wife said
“I normally don’t carry bibs such as this one.” She indicated a pinkish bib “because people think Gio is a girl”
“She is so cute.” she mimicked.
“It’s a he.”
I said something like it doesn’t matter if people think he is a girl.
Do I really look like a girl?
We went to Church.
As we were standing around after the service, a lady came up and was looking at Gio.
A conversation like the following took place:
“She is so pretty!” said the lady.
“It’s a boy,” I said.
“Ooh! Such beauty,” she said.
“Don’t worry, many people think he is a girl,” I told her.
I said to a friend that maybe we should dress Gio in blue clothes with words like “Mummy’s Boy” written boldly on them.
I wanted to go for a run, but my wife asked me if I could sit with Gio for a while. I agreed.
The Giovanni Chronicles 