The Cavalry Has Arrived

Grandma and Grandpa arrived early this morning. It was great to see them. It was so sad to see Ethan and Alan leave but it's nice knowing that G&G will be here for a while. Gusi is of course, ecstatic about having them here. It took him a few hours to warm up but after he did, it was all about G&G. I got lots of "ciao, ciao Mami" which is his way of saying leave me alone mom, I'm busy. I was happy to oblige. G&G live quite far away and he doesn't get to see them too often. So, the three of them are happily reunited.

When we were at play group this morning (G&G needed something to do so they wouldn't give in to the jet-lag) I told Gusi that we had to leave early. He refused at first. Then when I said that Grandpa was tired and had to go do-do, he responded "Gusi go do-do with Grandpa too." So we were able to make an easy exit and return home to take naps.

After Gusi got up from his nap he didn't want his diaper changed. And he definitely needed it changed. He squirmed and started to protest. I told him to hush because G&G were still sleeping. He then managed to cry that he didn't want G&G to sleep anymore. As I succeeded in getting his new diaper on him, he wiggled away and ran down the hall. He saw the guest bedroom door closed, swung it open with a bang and started yelling (in English): WAKE UP! Grandma, Grandpa WAKE UP!!! And finally he was satisfied when he got a response from them and they got out of bed. He didn't want them out of his sight for the rest of the day.

This will be a great month for Gusi and his grandparents. Of that I'm sure. He's so lucky to have them and their love. I don't even want to think about how sad he will be after they leave. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

The First Brave Souls

My friends are getting ready to jump on a plane right now to go back to New York City. They were here for 10 days, traveling and exploring Senegal and hanging out with us. Ethan and Alan (and no, the irony of their name combination is not lost on them--they've heard that joke before) were the first brave souls to come visit us who are not family. I consider the fact that Gusi is the only grandchild to be the main motivating factor for having the grandparents visit us. Not that I'm complaining, but there's more motivation to come to Africa when your only grandchild is living here. Friends, however, are a different story. Many told us they would come visit yet only Ethan and Alan have done so. Perhaps we'll have more guests in the future.

What was so great about having them here was the simplicity with which they approached their trip. They got to sleep in late (how they did it with Gusi getting up at the crack of dawn and wanting to wake the entire household I don't know), have lunch at the beach, get mobbed by vendors, bargain for objets d'art, travel to St. Louis, tour the National Bird Park, visit Lac Rose and be surrogate uncles to Gusi. They took it easy and had a good time.

Tomorrow morning when we wake up the house will surely feel empty. No more talking until 2am about our glory days in college (Ethan and I went to college together) or our travels around the world or politics or religion or history. No more wonderful meals cooked by Alan with his sous-chef Ethan. But I guess that is what is so nice about having had them here, the time we spent together making more memories. Next time we see each other, we will be able to reminisce about this visit. Meanwhile, Gusi and I will have to read his "Good Night New York City" book a bit more often so he knows where his two new uncles live. One day soon, we too will visit them. Good Night Dakar.

Tastes Just Like Pizza

My son is much too clever. Today, our cook had prepared dinner and left it in the oven. She made her specialty: spinach quiche. She makes her own dough and the spinach was fresh from our backyard. She adds some cheese, some eggs, some cream and some nutmeg. It was what I was looking forward to all day. Gusi, well, he's a different story.

Gusi has never been a big fan of quiche since we got to Senegal. He'd eat it back home if we were at a restaurant, but I'm about 0 for 38 in getting him to eat it here. Before we hired Viviane I would make the quiches, but since I've had morning sickness non-stop since the holidays, I consider myself lucky to have her. She makes all of our meals and even though her repertoire leaned towards more French cuisine, with us she's learned how to make sushi, scones and chili with a side of cornbread--a wide range needless to say.

So tonight as we started dinner without PapaGus who was stuck in the office, I pulled out the quiche from the oven and started to slice it. This is what ensued (translated from Spanish).

Gusi: Mami, is that pizza?

Me: Yes Gusi it is. Bold faced lies will get me nowhere with this child.

Gusi: Yumm, Mami, pizza!

Me: Yeah sweetie, a special pizza that Viviane made.

Gusi: Yumm.

As I plate up a slice of the quiche and put his plate in front of him. He eyeball's it carefully.

Gusi: Mami, is it pizza or quiche?

Me: Look Gusi, yummy pizza!

Gusi: Mami? Pizza or quiche?

Me: Pizza! Big smile.

Gusi: No Mami, it's not pizza, it's quiche. Gusi doesn't want any.

Me: Gusi, have a little bit. Oh, look, a crayon! You can color on Papi's newspaper!

Gusi: Crayon, yeah Mami! Color!

I sneak a piece of quiche into his mouth.

Me: Gusi, what a nice picture you're drawing!

As I successfully get a piece into his mouth, he realizes what's happened and looks to make eye contact with me, I look away.

Gusi: Mami, hand. Hand, Mami please.

Me: Huh?

I reach out my hand and Gusi proceeds to spit the quiche into it.

Gusi: No, Mami, it's quiche.

Me: Would you like the last of the grapes Mami brought from London?

Gusi: Yumm, grapes!

And that's how I failed to out smart the boy and he got away with eating only grapes for dinner.