Take Your Son to Work Day

Today I officially declared "Take Your Son to Work Day." Liam and I went to the hospital at 10:30 this morning to "take chai" with Daddy. The hospital, and the rest of the compound, comes to a screeching halt at chai time. We had chai (which is tea leaves brewed in boiled milk) and mandazis (similar to a donut that is not sweet.) We passed Liam back and forth between us. Logan told him all about what he was seeing around him at the hospital. We sat outside of the little cafeteria they have. It is for patients' families, doctors, or even the patients themselves.

Liam was enthralled by a little boy at the next table. He was probably 2 or 3. The boy kept saying "Toto, toto?" which is swahili for baby or child. Liam soon wandered off and headed straight to the Peds ward. He drew quite a crowd as he walked through Tenwek like he owns the place.




He waved to everyone he saw! The kids loved seeing him. They laughed and laughed! Logan scooped him up and carried him through the wards and proudly told his patients that this is his son. Liam brought some smiles if just for the few minutes he was there.


We even took the opportunity to weigh him Kenyan style! He weighs 9.8 kilos. (multiply by 2.2 to get the lb conversion).









This was not his "official" 12 month doctor's visit, but we have a doctor living right in our home, and he assures me that Liam is doing great! Still "tall and thin" but walking forward, backwards, and sideways (when he chooses to be shy.) We counted about 24 words that he says. The most common are "Mama" and "No, No." A new one is "belt". He loves to play with Logan's belt.

Some people have asked us, "Is it hard being in the third world with a baby?" I would say it would be so much harder without Liam. He is a breath of fresh air, not only to us, but also to all the nationals he sees. Their eyes always light up and they grin when they see Liam. He's loved all over the world!