Brad and Olivia

I guiltily realize that Brad (and sometimes Olivia) get less airtime than the rest of us. So here is a post dedicated to them (and they will still be significantly behind at the end of it). The reasons as I can see them are: 1) Kaitlyn and Samantha are just obviously the busiest of us all and have a lot of stories to tell and 2) I am me, and I have millions of thoughts and ideas a day that just spill out as I tell you all our stories, and 3) Brad is at work during the week (obviously) and he doesn't like to talk about work at home. If you email him and ask him, he will probably update you with all you'd like to know. But, as far as my information is concerned, I don't know much about work due to the pure fact that he doesn't want to "be at work" at home. So , please know that it is not out of a disinterest on my part, but because we like to make the most of our home time.

As for what I know.....Brad is staying busy. He has traveled a lot since we have been back. He was in Eastern Province for a couple of weeks, Southern province a couple of weeks, and now he is in South Africa for a week. His travels to the provinces are to teach medical or clinical officers (the ones responsible for primary care of pts across Zambia in the many clinics -closest comparison would be a nurse practitioner). He is training in both care and mentoring. The clinical officers are learning how to train others something like interns/residents in the states. He is reminded on each of these trips, what a difference he can make here. He says that when they go out to these areas, they save hundreds of lives in a couple weeks.

This week, he has been in South Africa at an international conference for some of the research studies his company is involved in. He is in beautiful Cape Town and since I was unable to accompany him, here's hoping he's doing some strategic shopping :) What are the chances? :) (Low, I would say). He will be back tomorrow (his 4 girls can't wait).

......An aside: We have a loose fan belt, so the van squeals embarrassingly loudly at times. Evidently, many Zambians also have loose fan belts----So every time a squealing car passes the house (and we live on a busy road), Olivia's head snaps up and her eyes light up and she says, "Da-dy! Da-dy!" Then I have to say nooooo, that's someone else, and she dejectedly goes back to whatever she was doing......

He will be home for a few weeks and then will be headed stateside early-mid November to take his Pediatric Infectious Disease Boards (soooooo glad it's him and not me-all prayers are appreciated). It will be a quick trip to one of the Carolinas (see.... I don't know details) for the test and then a day or two in the Waverly area and then back here. Kaitlyn feels this is particularly unfair--she wishes it was herself coming to visit everyone .

Olivia is growing like a weed. Her look has changed so much to me in such a short time. She looks so tall to me. The same skirts she was wearing a few months ago and you only saw her ankles, now show an entire ankle and calf. I only wish her vocabulary grew as quickly as her little legs. She has a couple new sounds...yes sounds....not words. We now have:
Wa Wa...........water
ease................please
"pu"..................please, up
"u"....................up
"owww"(accompanied by a hand gesture sternly pointing to the ground)..................down
"ya"..................yes
No, no. No, no. Noooooooooo................can you guess?
Then there's the ever popular "more" signing that means more of any type of food.

Aside from that, she coos, giggles and whines depending on the time of day--but the coos are new so we are hoping for language some day! My favorite new thing she does, is when she gets "tickled" about something, she throws her head back and giggles. Then she looks at you and does it again to make sure you understood she thinks that's funny. So needless to say.....I gobble her up multiple times a day. :)

Ok---well, it has suddenly become absolutely necessary for me to go find refuge in my mosquito net. I hope you all are well and not freezing too badly. (It's 80's and beautiful here this week-a little warm without AC). Have a great weekend! We'll be having daddy time!

Love,
Zookeeper