Birds of a feather

(I tried to post this last night, but no internet…)

It is understandable when it comes down to genetics and nurture, but today was the first day when I got the real sense that this little unrelated person might cosmically be meant to be part of our family.  Today we got out and went shopping. It felt great to leave the compound and see the world a bit.  First on our agenda was to purchase a few more toys (distractions and/or learning tools) so Hamza took us to a store called "Game", which is pretty much like an African Walmart except there are armed guards and you get wanded down upon entry.  They have just a little of everything there.  We were later told that this store is in fact part of the Walmart corporation.  (Yay for capitalistic convenience!)  Since our little man comes from a remote village, we're pretty sure he’d never seen anything like this before in his entire life.  He's an observer at heart and so he walked slowly down each aisle taking it in, slightly wide-eyed and serious.  He loves to help out and/or mimic what we're doing so he helped me push the cart and put things in it but wasn't grabby and thinking that whatever he saw he could have.  Hopefully that quality will stick for a while.  :)

Next up was the grocery store.  This is where I started to see myself in this little guy.

One idiosyncrasy you should know about him is that he smells everything, especially things he puts in his mouth.  But really, he picks up something new – whether it's a toy, food or a piece of clothing – and no matter what he smells it. Apparently we’ve both been blessed (or cursed?) with a keen olfactory sense. Anyway, he smelled every single item before it went in the shopping cart. Almost everything passed his smell test, except for some corn and a piece of fruit that turned out to have mold on it. As he walked up and down the aisles, touching and smelling different items as we passed by, Molly said, "It's just like watching you at the grocery store."

Also you should see this kid eat.  With his hands.  While he can work a fork and spoon pretty well, he mainly eats with his hands (no matter if it's soup or ketchup or rice) and can really pack it in.  This country may end up with a banana shortage if we stay here too long.

He also really likes to clean and have order. If there's a spill that needs to be wiped up, he's on it. We suspect he may even be peeing on the toilet rim on purpose, just so he can clean it up. One night I found him organizing all the shoes that everyone in the house leaves by the front door.

And I know this sounds weird, but you should see him bathe himself.  His use of water with his hands is masterful.

Well, another whole day has passed since I first started this post, but it's getting late so we'll try to update more tomorrow.  Sula bulungi!