Trying to be a good daddy

Princess asked for a sip of my root beer. She is willing to eat or drink just about anything, so I gave her a sip. Conquered by carbonation, she would have staggered backward if she hadn't been locked in her high chair. Want some more?  "Done." Yeah, I'm a good daddy.
The next day she asked for a sip of my Coke.* Figuring this should be over as quick as her last experiment, I gave her a sip. Staggered again, I figured my work was 'done.' Not only did she ask for more with both hands out-stretched, she has taken to raiding the case of cola, pulling out a can, and bringing it to the nearest adult asking "Ookook?" Still a good daddy? Local mothers stare pointedly with raised eyebrows.

-----------

Joy and Prince spent most of the week together at a mother/son training camp. On the first day, one of the first things the camp director said to Prince in order to elicit conversation was, "I'm having something SUPER YUMMY for lunch today...."

Prince asked excitedly, "Is it pancakes?!"

Daddy paid attention. My Mickey pancakes at home must have been a success!

I told him on the way home that there was a restaurant where Pop used to take me for breakfast that specializes in ... pancakes. He had so far managed a personal best 3 days in a row without an accident. I suggested that, if he made it to 4 days in a row, we could go to IHOP**.

He was ecstatic. He started praying to be able to make it 4 days in a row.

Saturday we went to IHOP. Huzzah!

As soon as we were done, he asked what prize he would get for 5 days in a row. Uhoh.

(Only disclaimers below the fold.)

The part of "no" she doesn't understand

Since coming to the States, our little Princess Peanut has really learned some new words, with more coming almost daily. Her favorite was and still is "Dad-DEE!" She chants it as she wanders the house looking for me. Joy adds, "And sometimes starts to scream it, especially if you don't give her your attention. She'll be looking the other direction and start yelling dadDEE! dadDEE!"  Her second favorite is "Down." Down serves both for when it's time to get down off my shoulders and when she wants to get down out of her chair or car seat. Two days ago she added "Go" to her list of commands, usually accompanying a pointing finger to show me where she wishes to be carried.

She asks for specific foods when it's time to "eee" (eat), like "cracker" which sometimes sounds like "cookie". "Grr" is for grapes and "egg" needs no translation. The hardest one to crack was her word for a drink, which is "ook" (rhymes with took, book, crook, look, etc.) It took a lot of pondering before we realized the reason she calls it "ook" is because of the sound she makes when she drinks: ookookookook. A much more faithful bit of onomatopoeia than "glug glug".  Joy adds, "I think it's because of me. You know how I drink water when I'm really downing it, which I usually do before I nurse her. I think it's my fault."

There is one word, however, that most children pick up very quickly but has given her nothing but confusion:



No!

Before she started walking, we had very few occasions to use this magic word on her. Just before coming here, though, we started a brief campaign to teach our children to not pick their noses. We practiced with her, putting her/my finger up her/my nose and saying "No!" then putting the finger next to her nose and saying "yes."



Well, that messed her up. Now almost whenever we tell her No, she puts her finger aside or inside her nose. It's very cute and it does have the bonus of stopping her little hands from whatever else they were doing. Someday I do hope she learns the proper usage, as we urgently need her to figure out that all computers and their cords are off-limits. 


So I know the answer to the question, "What part of No do you not understand?"

New Stake in Abuja

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints created its first stake in northern Nigeria on June 24. The progression from having a district in Abuja to having a stake is a wonderful milestone. It is a recognition of the growth and stability of the faith of the members in and around Abuja. It shifts the burden of area leadership from the mission president to local priesthood leaders and means that the full church program is now available to members there.

The new stake president is Edima Okon Oku-Ukpong, who teaches at the University of Abuja. He is assisted by two counsellors, Akindele Samuel Kayode, a businessman, and Victor Chikezie Eze, a hotel night manager.

When we visited one of the Abuja congregations on our way into Yola, they were very welcoming and spoke with great hope of the day they would become a stake. My personal hope is that it will also enable the Church to investigate sending missionaries to our area as well.

The official announcement - An unofficial source, with a bit more description.