"weha"

today the three of us set out on another walk.  we enjoyed it so much yesterday that we decided to go again today. fascinating in endless ways.  we clearly stand out.  all eyes on us, which takes some getting used to.  however, there is so much to take in and the culture and busy city life on the streets never gets boring.  we set off to find a certain restaurant that we loved on our last trip.  we remembered it being tricky to find with our driver, so we tried our luck with a taxi on the street and not surprisingly he didn't know where it was located. so, the amazing oven-baked pizza idea was abandoned and we decided to walk to a restaurant nearby instead.  we arrived at Kaldi's, the Ethiopian version of Starbucks (right down to the sign and font and uniforms) and were delighted to see they served dinner as well.  we settled on fresh strawberry juice smoothies and jeff ordered a burger, i had a club sandwich (not at all like a club sandwich, but still very good) and AJ had the egg sandwich (because at this point all we know for sure is that he likes eggs and warm milk~ oh, and injera pieces with goat's meat.....yep, true...) it was a delightful meal~ just sitting there with AJ between us.  the place was hopping busy and the servers were unable to stop staring and engaging AJ in conversation. after our meal was finished we decided to order a chai latte for the walk back to the guesthouse.  the sweet waitress was taking our order and then said to us "he wants water"...we responded "no, he's fine, he had milk".  she said "no, you didn't hear him, he just told me in Amharic 'weha', that means water" she said....we all laughed, to think that he so quietly snuck in an order, schmoozing the waitresses and sneaking one by his new parents.  it was cute. needless to say, he got his weha...after all, this kid is so "accident free" and the toilet training is all done for us! we trekked back to the guesthouse without spraining an ankle~ so that was a successful outing.  AJ is still quite nervous in public, so he is completely cuddly while we walk anywhere with him.  he likes to wrap his arms right around Jeff's neck and point to the stray dogs and large trucks with people riding atop whatever the truck contains.  he is taking it all in.  it is quite the thing to see this child, so fully Ethiopian, yet so out of sorts in his own surroundings.  for so long already he's been in the confines of a walled compound, venturing out only for an immigration medical, and that's it. again, we had another amazing day connecting with AJ. day three, and classic textbook style, he is testing boundaries more and more.  he has the most adorable "ticked off" face, and he puts his hand up to jeff and kind of disses him with the way he whips his head around away from daddy.  we've been very intentional and affectionate today (that comes easy!:)), careful to balance boundaries with reassurance and our constant presence.  in time he will learn that we are "it", his parents forever, but still in charge...that's really tough for a child that has no memory of family structure in his life. add to that another child arriving at the guesthouse today, forever with her family.  the two know eachother from the transition home and it's the most adorable thing to hear them speak Amharic together.  anyway, he's never "shared" a toy.  toys he played with at the transition home and orphanage would have been obtained by force, or lost, for that matter, by force greater than his.  so, that was tricky for him today when a spunky girl his age showed up and certain toys had to be surrendered at certain times...poor fella...but he settled in his crib tonight and already shows that bits and pieces are sinking in.  he is so precious, and we're thankful for these days to start training before we land in another new place.  so, consider yourself warned if you "hear" AJ in a grocery store or during a church service.  he just needs time.... he's right on track and doing great... will try to update once more before we leave tomorrow evening, but no promises... lots of love from this amazingly warm and always sunny country (sorry, but the temperature is....well, pure perfection!) i waited to share that until after you all dug out from the snow.  wasn't that considerate of me?!  i thought so....