Kieren Update!

Today Kieren turns 9 months old and I wanted to share what is going on in her world! She continues to get both longer and wider :) but is overall loving her new life in South Africa. Since we have been on-the-go every day here trying to get our lives settled here, Kieren has been taking naps often in strollers and cars, but she handles it all very well. There have been many new people for Kieren to meet here and she loves them all. A couple of her favorites are our friend Mike Jenkins (who is starting Ubuntu Sports with Casey) who we have been spending a great deal of time with. Mike has become her 'snuggle buddy' which has made Casey very jealous! Kieren never snuggles but somehow loves to do it with 'Jenks' – that girl is such a flirt! Also, friends of ours Bijou and Mel have a daughter, Lana, who is 2 years old and they are already fast friends.

Kieren did break through her first tooth this week (as captured by the photo in our previous blog) and is about to break through another. Both are on the bottom and so we get to see them every time she smiles or shouts! Proving to be very 'American,' Kieren is continuing to babble more and more and has lots to share about. Another noteworthy piece is that she really enjoys playing in our new 'lounge' (what they call the family room, and is entertained there with her toys for long periods of time. She also feels at home already! She is still sleeping in a 'pack-n-play' that we are borrowing from our friends Evan and Kerryn Torrance, but we hope to borrow a REAL crib sometime soon – she has never had one of those yet! Big things ahead!

To answer your questions, she is not crawling yet, but is learning to do her own scoot. She gets on one knee and then pushes herself with the other foot to move around and get to where she needs to be. It is so cute! She also loves to pull herself up and stand holding anything around. Really, she is just loving life and continues to live out her middle name - Joy!

There have been moments as we are running around this city, in and out of stores, driving everywhere, where I think of how it might be easier to get some of this done if we didn't have a child. However, having Kieren here enriches every friend we reunite with and brings us so much joy and laughter. It is going to be a beautiful new life here with Kieren because she is a BLAST to be around! I can't wait until she is leading her pack of friends all over town – because you KNOW she is going to be boss :)

Lots of love,
Sarah