more friends...

Avery really was like a movie star around town. So many people loved her and loved that they could speak a bit of Arabic with the "jena blastic" that is a plastic child (think more like a baby doll) Here is a picture of Avery and some more friends who came to say good-bye on our last evening in Malakal.

Friends

Here are a few last pics we took of Avery and some of her biggest fans! She is awfully fond of them too. We will miss being right next door to Stephanie and Andrew. They gave mama many breaks by playing with Avery, investigating strange bugs with her, or taking a quick trip to our corner dukan for some bread or sugar.

Just because she is the cutest thing EVER...

Here are a few pics of Avery being Avery from the last month or so. One day Andrew gave her a little ride around the compound, something she has been wanting forever! Don't worry they were going VERY slow. :)

The three brides

The is a family Stephanie came to know really well. We went and visited there often. Most of the women of the family left for Khartoum before the rainy season. Three brides and their husbands moved in and so we had new friends to visit. There was a little boy (it is usual occurrence to have a little boy or girl from your extended family be given to you after marriage to help with things) that Avery loved to play with. Not quite sure how to write his name in English, it would be similar to Khati. One of the brides, Afafe and I did henna one day. They typically do this once a week as a beauty treatment. Once you are married you can put henna on the bottoms of your feet to symbolize your marriage. It is also a great way to get some rest as once the henna is on you have to let it drive for a few hours. Since they do their feet and hands it typically means a great time to chat and to catch a little nap!

Everything can be a toy!

Avery enjoyed helping us with last minute preparations of moving, such as de-thawing our fridge/freezer. She made the little baskets that sit on the ledge into fun chairs. She is just too cute so we each had to get a picture with her in her latest "toy".

Last time to the material "shop"

One of our last days in Malakal we went with Stephanie to her friend Adam's material shop. There is the same place in an earlier picture of Avery standing infront of colorful bolts of material on our second day in Malakal so it was a bittersweet time of good-byes. She handled it like a pro, she even handled the price negotiations. They gave Stephanie the material for free! And as usual she got a good nap on mama's back on the way home.

My heart melted...

A few weeks ago Avery came over to me tapped me on the shoulder gave me a hug and then said what sounded like love you! I just melted right then and there. She is just the sweetest little thing ever! She is also a very good little mommy. She loves to take care of her little dolls or stuffed animals. The other day I found her sitting down with her dolly in her lap. She was looking sweetly at the dolly and then leaned over and kissed her on the head! She also makes sure all her animals get food and water which sometimes can be a bit messy. And on another random Avery update note, she actually put a dress on by herself today! She got on one shoe by herself as well, even though it was on the wrong foot. And these are very hard shoes for me to put on her! Such a smarty!

Little climber

Due to our lack of "normal" furniture and constant moving around Avery has never really taken to climbing furniture...until now. She is finally just tall enough to climb up on our plastic chairs. Since she discovered that she always is trying to step or climb on anything, even Dad's camera case. She loves to climb and lay down on a trunk in our living area and must have her blanket spread over here when she does. She also figured out that she can get on our bed whenever we have a trunk half-way pulled out from under it to use as a step.

Sunday best

Here is a pic of a recent Sunday morning with Avery all dolled up and ready for church. She is growing so big and talking so much now. She loves to choose which dress to wear and likes to pick out her shoes and hat as well!

Loves her daddy

This is one of my current fav pics of these two!