Happy New Year!

In honor of Enkutatash (Ethiopian New Year), which was celebrated last week, Chuck, Mihret, and I took a trip to Little Ethiopia in Los Angeles. We ate some delicious food at an Ethiopian restaurant called Messob and attended the New Year's street festival and parade.

Getting ready to eat at Messob

Mihret LOVED the injera, which is the traditional bread served with Ethiopian food. For a while she was stuffing it into her mouth with both hands. The following picture is not the greatest because of the lighting, but it shows her eagerness for another bite.

Must...have...injera...

Mihret enjoyed watching the parade - especially when the elephant came by.

And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street...

Most importantly, though, attending the festival was a first attempt to keep Mihret connected in some way with her country of origin. One website I read said that Enkutatash "is a time to express hopes and dreams for the future." We hope that as Mihret grows up, she will take pride in her Ethiopian heritage and that she will want to give back to the country that gave her life.

On a less serious note, we think she is already working towards emulating Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele, the Ethiopian distance runners who both won gold medals in the 5000 and 10,000 meter races in the 2008 Olympics. She started training when we were in Oregon in August visiting Grandma and Grandpa Shike.




We're still working on the "distance" part, but she's got the "start" down!

Taking Inventory

Mihret hasn't been sleeping well lately. Last night was particularly un-restful. After laying down with her for several hours to no avail, I decided to try rocking her in our rocking chair. I very rarely engage in conversation with Mihret in the middle of the night because: a) I'm half-asleep; and b) I want to make it as boring as possible so that she will go back to sleep. Last night around 4 am, though, a very awake Mihret initiated the following conversation while I was trying to rock her to sleep:

Mihret: "Dada?"

Me: "Dada is asleep. It is sleepy time. Everyone is sleeping right now."

(Rock, rock, rock...Mihret wide awake and thinking...)

Mihret: "Abby G?"

Me: "Yes, Abby Jane is sleeping."

(Rock, rock, rock...)

Mihret: "Emma? Emma? Emma?"

Me: "Yes, Ms. Emily (Abby Jane's mommy) is sleeping."

Mihret: "Take?"

(Rock, rock, rock...trying not to respond so that she will go to sleep...)

Mihret: "Take? Take? Take? Take?"

Me (giving up): "Yes, Mr. Jake (Abby Jane's daddy) is sleeping."

Mihret: "Baby?" (Baby is how she refers to herself.)

Me : "No honey, you are not sleeping. But it is sleepy time. Time to go to sleep."

Mihret (looking up at me with a sweet smile): "Mama?"

Aughhh!!!

Me (as calmly as possible): "No, Mama wants very much to be asleep. But Mama is awake because you are awake."

Mihret: "Poot? Poot? Poot?" (Translation: "Okay...since we're both awake, let's read some books!")