Spring!!

Seriously, so much fun.

I am finally seeing the light of day, now that I have to wait for the next Twilight book. I'm a little stunned at my need to read these books. I mean, they were written for teenage girls and I'm... a little beyond that. They are, however, incredibly addictive and dangerously easy to read. I finished the second book in less than 24 hours. Luckily, I'm borrowing them from a friend and she didn't obsess about the third book as much as I obsessed about the second book... so she's not done with it yet. That means I'm forced to take a break. And, after 2 days of gloomy weather, (perfect for reading unaccountably appealing books) we spent all day after Mer's nap outside. We drew pictures, went for a walk, picked some flowers for her hair, practiced sitting on the step (well, I was pretty good at this one before, but M. practiced backing into it and sitting down) and hit things with sticks. I'm so excited for summer!

Three! In one day?!

Yup, three posts in one day, because I am not good at delayed gratification and want to show off the kid NOW! Plus, I've found I have very little time for blogging now, and since Meron is currently content sitting on the dog, I figured I'd do it all now!

My girl

First, a sleep update. After getting advice from several different kind people, we decided on a strategy to get Meron to be a better sleeper. First, we cut down on naps. She likes to take two naps a day, and still begs for a nap about 9:30 or so, but now 9:30 is 'go outside and play time.' She is falling asleep MUCH faster, and that helps a lot. We put her crib mattress on the floor next to our bed and have been putting her down to sleep on that.
The first night was kind of traumatic. We showed her the mattress and had her practice sleeping on it. I laid down on my bed and showed her how close I would be. Mer was fine with that. When she woke up in the middle of the night, however, she was really upset. Nathan put her on the bed next to me, and she crawled on top of me and laid down, whimpering, with her cheek on mine. Then, she took one of my hands and wrapped it around her body. She took my other hand and put it on her face, spreading it and smoothing it like a balm before making me stroke her hair. For about two hours, if I moved either hand from it's position she would wake, whimper and put it back. It made me so sad. She hasn't needed to sleep on top of me like that for months, although she used to want to. Every night, though, it has gotten better. Last night she slept in her bed until 4:30, then just stood up and patted me on the shoulder until I picked her up and brought her into our bed. I'm so hopeful!
I love my girl. She is... sweetness. All sweetness and sass. I'm so glad that she is beginning to understand that I will be there, and so glad that she cares so much if I am. So lucky to be able to wake up to her patting my cheek and saying "Hi!" every morning. So lucky to be able to play and cuddle in bed for about 10 minutes before she starts signing 'Eat!' I am so lucky that I have a daughter that chose every piece of the sweater/green leggings/tutu outfit above... and was so persistent in bringing me each piece of her ensemble until I put it on her. Later, she added her pink cowboy boots. She tried to put her sparkly shoes on, but sadly, they are now much too small and we had to put them on her doll instead. Lucky she is so clever she can figure out how to take off her own pajamas... and is working on the diaper cover. So lucky that she will sit and let me do silly things to her hair for hours, but she looks gorgeous even covered in peanut butter with crazy bed head. I love my girl- my big, 18 month old girl.

Melkam Fasika!

Fasika (Ge'ez: ፋሲካ, sometimes transliterated Fasica) means Easter in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, the main and longstanding religion has been the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church since the times of Frumentius, and Hebraic religion had previously enjoyed considerable support, traditionally since the Queen of Sheba. In the Tewahido faith, Christ is considered both man and God in relation to the Trinity of God, in that he is one in three, and three in one.

Ethiopian Easter, or Fasika, takes place in Orthodox Churches throughout the country, and follows the eastern method of calculating Easter (see Computus for details), thus tending to fall after Easter in the Western calendar (some years both fall on the same date). Fasika is a much more important festival than Christmas, since the Death and Resurrection of Jesus is more significant in Orthodox theology than his birth. Jesus' crucifixion which led to his death on a Friday, according to Orthodox thought was for the purpose of fulfilling the word of God, and led to the conquest of death and Jesus' resurrection from the tomb after three days, the third day being the Sunday when Ethiopian Easter is celebrated.

Fasika is a climactic celebration. Fasting becomes more intense over the 56-day period of Lent, when no meat or animal products of any kind, including milk and butter, are eaten. Good Friday starts off by church going, and is a day of preparation for the breaking of this long fasting period.

The faithful prostrate themselves in church, bowing down and rising up 101 times. The main religious service takes place with the Paschal Vigil on Saturday night. It is a sombre, sacred occasion with music and dancing until the early hours of the morning. At 3:00 a.m. everyone returns home to break their fast, and a chicken is slaughtered at midnight for the symbolic occasion. In the morning, after a rest, a sheep is slaughtered to commence the feasting on Easter Sunday.

In Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity or the 'Tewahido faith', it is believed the near-sacrifice of Abraham's loved son Isaac (Genesis 22), which was a test of faith from God to Abraham, was interrupted by a voice of an angel from the heavens, and the sending of a Lamb for the sacrifice instead. This Old Testament story is said to be a prophetic foreshadowing of God sending his only beloved son for the world as a sacrifice and the fulfilling of Abraham's promise.

Easter in Ethiopia is a day when people celebrate; there is a release of enjoyment after the long build-up of suffering which has taken place, to represent Christ’s fasting for forty days and forty nights. People often have food and locally-brewed alcohol from fresh honey (tej, tella and katikalla).

Easter

Sleep... or lack there of...

Okay, the hit counter on my blog keeps going up, so I'm going to assume that at least a few people read it (although it might just be my mom checking over and over again). If anyone has any great 'how to get Mer to sleep in her own bed' advice, and 'go to sleep relatively on her own', advice I'd love to hear it. The girl has amazing will power, and I really do believe that she'd stay up all night if we just laid her down. You're thinking, "No, that's crazy! Eventually she'll fall asleep!" but I think you're wrong. She does everything in her power, including hitting herself in the head and pinching her nose to stay awake. I mean, we have to hold her in a certain position (on her left side only - my goodness she is a high maintenance sleeper!) to literally hold her arms, legs and head still for her so that she can't keep herself awake. If we let loose before she is asleep she pops up, says "Hi!" and starts to play. It is actually pretty funny, unless we are really tired, because she is so sweet and happy laying there. She does all of her tricks to try to get us to play with her, including patting my cheek and sighing "Mama!" giving kisses, trying to get us to play itsy bitsy spider and kiss her toes, etc. But if we give in, all is lost and she just tries different tricks for that much longer the next time. She has done this until 2am, when we finally went back to the old 'hold her arms and legs still' method. It is crazy! Plus, I can't let her cry it out. Even if I hadn't read enough books on attachment to know that it could be detrimental to our still forming relationship, I don't have it in me. And, since the other possible methods include staying in the room but not interacting and soothing while not picking up, her arms and legs would be free to do their 'keep Mer awake thing.' So, as I am one tired Mama and would really like to sleep, if you have any brilliant ideas I'd love to hear them! Without further ado I will cease whining about my incredible blessing of a daughter and show you some fabulous pictures. Note the rapt expression on her face? I'll give you one guess as to what she is doing. Yup, watching "Happy Feet." Otherwise known as the movie that makes it possible for my 18 month old to sit for an hour and a half while getting her hair done. Crazy dancing penguins...