Concert Season

As December approaches, our calendar is filling up with holiday festivities and year-end events.  We've had the privilege of attending two concerts where Aden has participated.  While Grandma was here, Aden's school had a concert.  The Grade One and Grade Two classes each presented a poem, and the higher grades performed a new, interesting version of The Three Little Pigs.  For weeks, Aden talked about the concert and wanted to make sure we would all be in attendance.  With Emma's due date just a few days before the concert, we were unsure at first if we could all make it, but since she arrived early, the school concert was one of her first outings at just one and a half weeks old.  (Her first outing was a Saturday trip to Rebel Market.) 

Aden really wanted everyone he knows at Wilro to be in attendance, but we only had room for so many in our car, so we limited the invitations to Grandma and Aunt Sarah Arni.  We already knew Aden's part, since he had practiced some at home, and we were quite impressed with how well he stayed in character.  The class filed in to "shark music" (two alternating low notes on the piano), walking in two lines, wearing shark hats and "waving" their "fins" (hands) from side to side.  Apparently they were told to look mean, like a shark; Aden took this instruction quite seriously, not even breaking a smile when he caught a glimpse of his family.  He said his line perfectly ("A shark is a pet that you don't want to get") - and to our surprise, in a South African accent!  

Aden is on the far right

While the shark poem was only a small part of the evening, it made a huge impression on all three boys.  In the days and weeks following the concert, we often witnessed them re-enacting the whole thing, and within just a few days all three boys had the entire poem memorized just as Aden had taught them - accent and all.  In fact, if anyone goes to the keyboard and plays the two low notes, Noah immediately responds to the cue - he goes to his place "backstage" (the bathroom) and soon emerges waving his shark fin as he walks to the stage (the stairs).  They stand in formation and pass around a toy mic as they say all the lines, often remembering to wave at their parents when they are done.

Aden's piano lesson

Also while Grandma Karen was here, she was able to go to Aden's piano lessons with us.  His lessons are at a church on a large property, so we often go as a family and enjoy walking around the property, kicking a ball, watching the geese and chasing the guinea fowl before and during Aden's lesson.  In October, his teacher told us there would be a concert in November for all of the music students and asked if Aden would be participating.  We weren't sure we should commit - after all, we'd have a new baby, and the concert wasn't close by, so would mean a long Saturday evening for our family . . . not to mention how shy Aden is in front of people, and we didn't think he would want to do it.  But he proved us wrong - as it approached, Aden decided he did want to participate, and even wrote his own song to play and sing!  Not wanting to squelch his enthusiasm, we decided to make it a family event.  We encouraged him to practice and his teacher was thrilled that he would be a part, impressed by his gusto and vibrato as he sang.

On the evening of the concert, as the venue filled up with students and their families, we weren't surprised that he began to get cold feet.  We tried to encourage him, reminding him that he had said his line in the school concert in front of a larger crowd; it would be over soon and he would be so glad that he had done it.  He couldn't back out when his teacher took his hand and led him to the front of the church, but was probably thankful that his teacher joined him on the piano bench, and that he was small enough to hide almost completely behind the keyboard and music stand.  However, when it was all done, he was beaming with pride, and we rewarded his valiant performance with a late dinner at McDonald's.  The next morning at church, we overheard Aden telling about it like a fish story - in his version, he "wasn't scared at all."  Then, after telling his whole class at school about the piano concert, his teacher asked if he would play the song for the entire school at their assembly - and Aden agreed!  We were quite shocked, knowing how intimidated he had been at the piano concert, and Mommy gently reminded him "You'll have to sing, too."  But Aden quickly replied, "I don't care.  I've said a line in front of more people than that" (referencing the shark poem at the school concert).  And from what he told us about the assembly, he had no trouble at all.  He played and sang for the whole school; then for just his class, he played and a classmate joined him in singing.

We are amazed at how much Aden has burst out of his shy little shell during the last year he's been at school! 

Priceless Artwork

One day Mommy was extra-tired at nap time and just couldn't keep her eyes open.  So she gave the boys temporary unlimited access to an old ream of dot-matrix printer paper to keep them occupied; she changed Emma's diaper and left her on the floor while she closed her eyes for a little while . . . When she woke up, she found that Emma had fallen asleep on her changing mat . . .

. . . and had become a part of the art gallery the boys created on the living room floor:

Sleeping Arrangements

We took our time getting ready for Emma's arrival.  In fact, until just a week or two before her birth, just by looking around our house, you would never have known we had a baby coming (unless Mommy's profile was blocking your view, of course).  We really didn't have a nursery set up, or any baby paraphernalia lying around.  That soon changed, however.  With a new baby in the house, and Grandma's visit, we had to get creative about our sleeping arrangements.  A couple days before Grandma arrived, Daddy got to work in the boys' room and after an hour or so unveiled a surprise for them . . .

His creation from turning the twin beds on their sides, with the mattresses on the floor between the frames, allowed enough sleeping space for all three boys.  They were thrilled and quickly nicknamed it "The Cabin Bed."

We didn't have space to set up a crib and also have a bed for Grandma, and knew that Emma wouldn't need the space of a crib for a while, so we hoped to find an African basket-bassinet for her to use.  But we had trouble finding one here in Jo'burg and ended up ordering one to be made in Mozambique.  While we waited for the basket to be ready, Grandma Karen helped convert a dresser drawer into a baby bed.

And right away we also put to good use the baby bilum Aunt Gail Dooley had sent from PNG.

A peek inside the bilum

When Emma was about two weeks old, her basket was ready! 

Grandma Karen

Here she comes!  (Being licked by a giraffe)

Almost as exciting as welcoming a new baby into our home was having Grandma Karen come to visit for three weeks.  She arrived on Sunday evening the 14th of October, just in time to help watch the boys while Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital Monday morning for Emma's delivery. 

Little hands helping pull Grandma's luggage

A first look at Baby Emma

Grandma helped with EVERYTHING around the house - cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, taking care of the boys . . .  She got Wiley started on a new chore of washing the breakfast dishes.  There were almost daily walks to the grocery store around the corner to make sure we always had enough bread and whatever else was needed. 

Sorting laundry with Grandma

Walking to Spar

She took the boys to the tennis court, and dug in the dirt with them.  In fact, together they planted a flower garden for Emma.  Each of the boys picked seedlings to plant and Grandma taught them how to get the dirt ready and carefully plant and water the flowers in the prepared bed.

Cuddling with Emma at Papachinos

While Grandma was content simply to be a part of our daily routine, we were able to do a few special things together, too.  The boys insisted on taking Grandma on safari to Pilanesburg, giving Mommy and Emma a quiet, restful day at home.  They also insisted that we show Grandma our favorite second-hand bookshop, just a "hole in the wall" but one of their favorite places.  Grandma treated us to dinner at our favorite restaurant - Papachinos - twice!!  She joined us for Aden's concert at school and enjoyed hearing his piano lesson, getting a sample of what he would play at the piano concert after she was gone (blog post coming soon).  Grandma got in as many cuddles as she could with Baby Emma, particularly in the night.  She shared a room with Emma, so when Emma woke up, Grandma brought her to Mommy to be fed; then when Emma was done, Grandma stayed up and burped her and changed her if needed, while Mommy went back to sleep.

Last goodbyes at the airport

In short, she spoiled us rotten!  It was a bit surreal when we said goodbye at the airport.  Daddy and Mommy looked at each other and said, "Well, here we go.  A family of six.  On our own."  The boys spent the next 48 hours tracking Grandma's path across the ocean and back to Ohio, and Noah kept asking when she would come back.  He wasn't completely satisfied with our answer until we promised him that we would also get a turn to go on the airplane and visit Grandma at her house.