Guess who's sick today?

Maya is sick. Poor baby. I think this is the first time she has had anything more than a morning of sniffles since we arrived in Cairo well over a year ago. She woke up about 6 a.m. gagging, and then threw up in the bathroom. Afterward she told me: "Mommy, I cough". I thought that was very cute, but a bit pitiful.

After vomiting, she then proceeded to go back to sleep until 10 a.m. Mike went in to work a little late because Maya, before falling asleep, said she wanted us to stay with her. Anyway, at about 10 a.m. she woke up and wanted to play and had some yoghurt and a banana. So Tiberh came and Mike went to work. But apparently Maya still didn't feel well and slept on and off all day and had a couple small vomits during the day. I wonder if she got a bit of food poisoning, as she doesn't seem to have a fever.

When I came home at 4:30 p.m. she was still sleeping. I hope she feels better tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Well, we have been really harried and crazy recently but in between we managed to have a pretty nice Thanksgiving with our friends. There is a secret though, to two working parents having a succesful Thanksgiving with a just-turned-2-year-old. That secret is called: Catering, catering, catering.

This was the first year Mike and I have not cooked a full Thanksgiving for ourselves. Somehow, we were able to do it last year when Maya was but a little one-year-old and we were visiting friends in Israel who had a fantabulous kitchen.

But this year we really felt we would not be able to pull it off. First of all, we have a really dinky little oven that surely would not have fit a Thanksgiving-sized Turkey. Second, our kitchen itself is tiny. Third, there is that little toddler running around. Fourth, my work is INSANE right now and I ended up not being able to leave the office on Thanksgiving Day until 4:30 p.m., which left me more than a little grumpy, especially as I had to work all day Friday as well. But today I am finally off.

Anyway, we ordered a catered Thanksgiving dinner for 8-10 people from the Marriott. And the prices were super reasonable. Just $100, which is surely not really any more than we would have spent if we got all the ingredients ourselves and cooked. It turned out really well, though of course we did not have our own traditional recipes. But we did have what mattered -- a Turkey, mashed potatoes, a pumpkin pie, a cooked vegetable salad, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes. And Mike made his traditional Apple crumble and a green salad. So we were happy.

Maya self portrait

Well, I haven't had time in my crazy working mom schedule to take any new pictures of Maya. But Maya apparently has found the time. When I turned on my camera the other day I found about 30 snapshots on it -- of little fingers, toes, a few shots of the belly button, an armpit, and two very clear face shots of the cute little culprit who took the pictures when mommy and daddy weren't looking. Here she is! Don't you think she has a natural talent and a potential career in photography?!?!?

Stress, stress, stress

OK, I think my mental breakdown is coming soon. I am SOOOO stressed out! I have no time to finish anything. I can't answer e-mails, I don't have enough time in the workday to finish my work, we NEVER have any food in the house anymore, the laundry is constantly overflowing, and I never have a spare moment alone until after at least 9 p.m. when Maya finally falls asleep even though we start the bedtime process at 7 p.m.

Plus Mike is travelling AGAIN in a couple days. And, to top it all of, I just found out I will have to work on Thanksgiving day due to short staffing despite the fact that I requested it off weeks ago and we are planning a big dinner. I just want to scream!

Clever Mike

Mike did something very clever this morning. We wanted to put Maya in jeans because it was cold out today, for like the first time since last winter. But her two pairs of jeans were both dirty and in the wash, as were her jean overalls. First, he pulled out a pair of capri jeans from last season -- a very generous pair of 18-month cuffed capris that still fit on Maya with space to spare -- and put those on. But we felt she might be a little too cold with her legs bare.

So while I was in the shower, Mike cut off the string holding the cuffs in place and folded them down. And, voila, a new pair of blue jeans! Good thinking Mike.

Maya has been pretty funny recently. She absolutely loves one of our bowabs (doormen) whose name is Amr, and she yells "Hi Amr" every time she seems him, and he yells: "Hi Maya". It is very cute. But what makes it cuter is that Maya can't quite pronounce his name right, so she is actually yelling "Hi Hummer" every time we go downstairs.

Lastly, western stores are arriving like crazy in Cairo. Ok, so I still remember being here in 1995 and not being able to even get a Diet Coke. Yesterday, we went to the City Stars mall in Heliopolis and what did we find? A newly opened Carvel ice cream parlor. Wow! Maya got a nice treat. And right upstairs from Carvel, a Johnny Rockets burger joint is about to open up. Plus, we saw that our pharmacist stocks Flintstones sour gummy vitamins! So what is the point, materially at least, of going on home leave any more???

Well, I guess we are still waiting for the Gap to come in. And of course, cloth-like Pampers...

Nighttime scaries!

Maya has started to have some real fears at nighttime. Before Mike set off on his current business trip, she made him remove all items from the wall facing her bed. The first to go was the big Ethiopian flag on it because, well, as Maya put it: "Lion roar, scary".

Then we had to remove the little stuffed animals from that side of the room, plus her yellow diaper holder, plus her sticker reward chart. All of these items were scary. So they had to go.

Next, Mike had to have a little talk with the imaginary "people" in the corner behind Maya's dresser. Because, after all, the "people" were annoying her and making her scared. After Mike left, all the scary items were gone. But that doesn't mean we still haven't had to deal with the "people" in the corner every night.

So last night, Maya told me to "talk" to the "people". I went over and started gesticulating and talking to them. I told them not to bother Maya. But apparently they didn't listen because I was sent back to talk to them again. This time, I told them to turn around and face the wall, and to not even look at Maya. But those naughty people still didn't listen. So I picked them up by the scruffs of their necks and tossed them in the closet and shut the door. That took care of those people. In fact, they are still in the closet, or so I am told.

However, after I threw those people in the closet, some new people came and took their place. Naturally I couldn't just put the newcomers in the closet because, well, the old guys might escape. So instead, I very cleverly put them on "time out until daytime". So far it is working.

Funny Story

This morning, Maya was examining her yellow floaty ducky in the bathroom while I was getting ready for work. She pulled at its tail and said: "Look mommy, buckle."

OK, I can understand why she thought it was a buckle, because it is just a little yellow cloth flap on the duck's behind.

So I said: "Oh, yes, I can see why you would think that. It sort of looks like a buckle. But it's actually the duck's tail. It's where the duck goes potty."

So then I turn around to brushing my hair or whatever it is that I was doing. I can't recall exactly. And I hear this voice behind me saying: "Duck. Potty. Duck, make potty."

I turn back to look at Maya and see that she has put the duck in her little toddler potty -- yes in the actual bowl of the potty -- and is standing over it giving it instructions to go potty and hovering to see the result. I totally laughed my head off!