Beautiful girl

When I was out of the house, Maya and her daddy played dress up. Here are the photos he took.

Beautiful Ethiopian braids

Tiberh did Maya's hair yesterday in seriously beautiful traditional braids. They are absolutely gorgeous! I had asked her a couple weeks ago if she could do a traditional hairstyle for Maya, but I was not expecting it yesterday!

I was jaw droppingly awed by Maya's hair yesterday. I wonder if I will ever be able to do braids this beautiful. Here are some pictures of Maya eating pomegranate this morning with her new hairstyle.

We are all Ethiopian!?!?!

Tonight when we were putting Maya to bed, we read a book about a little girl from Ethiopia. So I asked Maya where she was from. Conversation as follows:

Me: Where are you from, Maya?
Maya: 'Opia
Me: Right! What about Tibby? Is she from Ethiopia too?
Maya: Yes!
Me: What about mommy. Is mommy from Ethiopia?
Maya: Yes!
Me: What about daddy. Is he from Ethiopia?
Maya: Yes!
Me: What about S. (her friend)
Maya: 'Opia!!

So I guess we have a little learning still to do...

Hair Brag!!

OK, so I am very proud of myself for doing Maya's hair in a cool new cornrow style. These are the smallest rows I have ever made, and I did them in a very cool sunburst style. Maya was very happy with her braids as well.

This afternoon, we took my parents over to Teberh's house for a pre-Christmas meal of Misir Wat (lentils), Doro Wat and collard greens over injera. Yummy! We dressed Maya up very nicely and I had her practice saying: "Mommy did it". (You know, so she could tell Teberh and her roommates who did her hair). Of course, when we got there and I asked Maya what she was supposed to tell Teberh, she just said: "Hello". Oh well, I tried...

Maya had a terrific time at Teberh's. She even tried a cup of Ethiopian coffee, or buna. At first, she gave a horrific grimace after trying the coffee and spit it out. But then later she tried again and decided she liked it.

Here are some pictures of Maya from today, with her braids in and dressed up in a very nice dress for dinner at Teberh's.