After birthday blues

*imagine John Lee Hooker singing in a very low voice*

(Deh neh neh neh neh) woke up this morning
(Deh neh neh neh neh) not my birthday anymore
(Deh neh neh neh neh) crawled out of my bed
(Deh neh neh neh neh) and fell to the floor

(Deh neh neh neh neh) no more gettin' spoiled
(Deh neh neh neh neh) no visitors at my door
(Deh neh neh neh neh) don't think i'll get up
(Deh neh neh neh neh) i'm fine here on the floor

.....Cause I've got the after birthday blues.....

Actually, not at all! Because of the time difference, I woke up this morning with even more wonderful email birthday wishes and another post dedicated to me by my older sister Sarah. I kind of like this whole time difference thing. It feels like it's my birthday today, too!

Lastnight, Dan and I had a wonderful date out at a new restaurant in town. It's actually a hotel. It is located right in Lilongwe, but feels like you are in the jungle because it's surrounded by the only trees in town! It's call the Sanctuary Lodge. Right across the way is the Wild Life Reserve (or the Lilongwe Zoo as we call it). I took my reception kids there last year for a field trip to see all the monkeys, the leopard and the hyena. Anyways, the restaurant was so beautiful and very yummy. Defnitely the best food I've had in Lilongwe.

Auntie Reb watched Eli for us. It was so wonderful to know that Eli was in good hands. However, they seemed to have had a rough time. The electricity went out shortly after we left, so Rebecca was there trying to find a bottle and defrost milk all in the dark without power but with a screaming baby. Hmmm...yeah, I'm glad he was with Rebecca who spent many years in the bush of Uganda with two boys. Although I thought about Eli a little while we were out, I was never worried for him. What a treat!

Oh, and I forgot to mention the fact that Eli ate TWO bottles (8 oz)!!! He continued to eat a lot throughout the night as well. Even though I didn't want to start solids until he is 6 months old, I decided that we would begin today. He just seems so hungry all the time! So, here he is experiencing his first bite of rice cereal & breast milk.



Elijah was pretty interested at first (well, in the spoon). He blew bubbles with the first few bites, then I think he got the hang of it, though he soon fizzled out. Thankfully, he wasn't too bitter towards the experience after I poked him in the eye with the spoon! Well, it wasn't all my fault as he was kind of head banging...anyways, I'll let you decide. Here is a video of his very first 'bites' for those of you who are interested (grandmarmie and grand diddy, grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles and friends...well you know who you are).