"Mamamamamamama." -Moses Khumbo

Moses sounds like a little dare devil. I'm told he's going to be the kind of child who's constantly moving, getting into something, and hurting himself. Dustin says that he's a lot of work. He can't crawl yet but he can scoot. Margaret says he moves "like a snake." Apparently he can get from one side of the room to the other. We have a lot to do to babyproof our house here. He just moves constantly, from sun-up to sun-down. Dustin jokingly said that he's worried Moses will suffer brain damage. He often falls off people's laps and onto his head - on the concrete floors of our house in Malawi.

Dustin is getting to know his role as father. I gather that it's a difficult transition for both him and Margaret. Dustin said that when Moses cries the Malawian women come and take the baby from him, assuming that it's not the father's job to comfort the child. Right now Moses sleeps with Dustin, and spits up on him, and is fed by him. But Margaret is still bathing him and comforting him when he cries. Moses can say "mama." Usually it's "mamamamamamamama." It's the most adorable thing I've ever heard and yet it's bittersweet because I want to hear those words directed toward me. Whatever grief I have in not being there is overcome with gratitude that he does have a woman in his life whom he sees as "mama." Margaret is an amazing woman. And there's nothing that I could ever do or say to convey my appreciation for the way she's taken care of this little boy.

Dustin, John, Moses, Margaret, and Johanna (his birth mother) have an appointment to see the Social Welfare Officer in Blantyre. It takes 2 hours of travel time to get to the city by bus. Plus there are the hours waiting for the bus to fill up... I haven't been keeping up with the news very well, but apparently Malawian immigrants in South Africa are having to flee due to violence. As strange as it may sound, this may affect our adoption. The Social Welfare Dept. is overseeing the return of these victims of violence to Malawi. The officer conveyed that he's going to be very busy in the coming weeks, dealing with this situation. I'm hoping we'll find some hidden blessing in this...

That's all for tonight. I'm looking forward to hearing what comes of the meeting on Tuesday.