8-Month-Old Zechariah

It has been a few days since Zach turned 8 months old. He is such a fun baby! Zechariah loves to play with people and with his toys. He's close to crawling, but hasn't quite figured it out yet. With his four sharp teeth he eats a lot of finger foods (pumpkin, bread, broccoli, puff cereal, carrots, banana). He still nurses a lot too, and usually gets up once a night to nurse (I feel lucky that he does well sleeping...though I'm usually up at least once with Ariella or Zoe each night too). He enjoys rides in the stroller, being held by lots of people, and grabbing everything including hair, eyes, nose, and ears.

Big toothy smile

He has just started clapping his hands and is very proud of himself.

Ariella helping Zach hold his sippy cup.

Zechariah is still quite big, weighing 21.3 pounds. I love you so much, darling little big baby! Thank you for your smiles and snuggles and the ways you "talk" to me!

Zach is 7 months old!

This adorable guy is 7 months old! He loves to smile and interact with people, and to bite things with his two bottom teeth. Although he puts everything in his mouth, he does not enjoy solid food (yet).

Zach weighs 20 pounds and has just started wearing 18 month clothes.

Ewww, what are you feeding me?

How I get veggies and fruit

As a mom of little people, still getting adjusted back to life where fresh fruit and veggies are sold in open markets, I find getting out to shop to be difficult. Here in Wamena I am so very blessed to have two ladies come by on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and sell me fresh food right on my porch! I never know exactly what they will bring (though there are pretty much always pineapples). In that way this is a bit like a farm share... My sister learned lots of new way to cook greens and started drinking green smoothies when she had a farm share because she received all kinds of veggies that she had never bought at a store. Similarly, it is fun to buy whatever these ladies bring and then think about ways to use them.

Here is a photo of all the food that I purchased on Tuesday, after I washed it:

If you are interested, here is a list of the veggies and fruit and of what I paid for each item:
wortel (carrots) $4.50
ketimun (cucumber) $1.50
salada (lettuce) $0.75
nenas (pineapple) $0.75
tomat (tomatoes) $1.85
pisang (bananas) $8.15
kol bunga (cauliflower) $3.70
alpokat (avocado) $0.75
jeruk manis (oranges that are green on the outside) $1.50
mulberries (the lady picks them from bushes at her house and calls them blue berry, but I know that they're not blueberries. my girls gobble them up!) $1.50
markisa --free because Ariella is so cute and asked for some
green onions $0.75
papaya $2.25
total: less than $30.

We eat the fruit plain and in smoothies. Yum! Pineapples here are very ripe and sweet. The cherry tomatoes are not from the usual fruit ladies, but are from the garden of Hosanna, the woman who helps me to clean my house. Here is a photo of her with Zach (who adores her):

I am so very grateful for these strong and resourceful women and for their help in feeding my family!

Eight Months

Ariella was eight months old while we were in MA visiting my parents last month! What a lovely little girl she is!

This was taken 2 days after her 8 month birthday...her first time eating corn on the cob! Yum!