Solomon Islands - Nicola and Anthony

We are currently in the Solomon Islands (if you're wondering, that's an island country in the South Pacific - about halfway between Papua New Guinea and Fiji) and soaking up time with my sister, brother-in-law, and our niece and nephew.

Since, we have to admit, the niece and nephew were a major draw to coming through the Solomons (although we definitely wanted to see Megan and Andrew, the kids' parents, as well!), I thought it would be fitting to share what we've learned about this two kiddos.

First, though, some background:

Nicola was 3 months old the first time we met her, and she and her parents visited us on the West Coast for about 3 weeks before they left for their first term in the Solomons.  She was a pretty easy going and interactive infant, then, but she was also still a baby, so we didn't really get to know her that well!

The second time we got to interact with Nicola was when Megan and Andrew came back to the US for the birth of their second child, Anthony, and to attend our younger sister's wedding.  Nicola was just past her 2nd birthday and Anthony was still in utero, so we got to know Nic as a toddler.  She was spunky, talkative, had a huge vocabulary, and loved getting read to and having her nails painted.

We had a third visit with Nicola 6 months later (Anthony was about 3 months old this time) when Megan and Andrew came back through the West Coast heading back to the Solomons.  Anthony was a pretty chilled out little guy (he slept a lot), and Nicola was a bit more talkative and had an even bigger vocabulary.

That was a year and a half ago, so this has been our fourth period of interaction with Nicola and our first time really getting to know Anthony's personality.

Nicola (who turned four in May) is still very interactive, talkative, and quite capable of carrying on long conversations and repeating various Bible stories. I'm amazed at how much theology she already knows! Every evening after dinner, her Dad reads a passage from their "Family Bible" and then asks Nicola a few questions about the reading.  As they progress through the Bible, they periodically review what they've recently read and it's really amazing what she has retained.  And oh, does that little girl love to be read to!  We read books for HOURS.  Books are followed in popularity by dress up and painting her nails and getting her hair done in french braids and tea parties and jumping on the trampoline.  She so badly wants to be the "big girl" but is still just barely four, and as such, definitely still needs her daily nap most of the time!  

Nicola has sparkling blue eyes and wispy blonde hair and a laughter that just bubbles out from her gut. She is very polite (she always says "please") and usually quite agreeable, although getting her to actually finish her food in a semi-timely manner is a bit of a challenge.  She LOVES fruits and vegetables - today she had 2 pieces of watermelon and 4 pieces of cantaloupe as part of her lunch.  I think she would have had more if we'd let her!

Nic has decided that it would be nice if we had a baby soon so she could "have a REAL cousin!  Aunt Dani, all I have is second cousins, and I think I need a real cousin now." I told her I'd consider it, but I didn't give her any timelines!

Anthony (who will be 2 in October) is into food and trucks and boats and trains - pretty much anything that moves. Last night he was feeding himself his pasta and he would hold up a fork full of pasta and make engine noises while "driving" the food toward his open mouth.  It was pretty humorous.  He's not very talkative (He uses two clicks to indicate "Nicola," - he doesn't actually say her name at all. He's like a little African bush baby!), but he has recently learned the word "No," so we get a lot of that, even when we ask him something that he really means "Yes" for in response.  The other day he was reaching for a banana and his Dad asked him, "Anthony, do you want a banana?"  He scowled and said, "No," but continued to reach for it anyhow.  He clearly DID want the banana - but he also wanted to get it HIS way, not have his Dad peel it for him and hand it to him.  So, I guess in all fairness, "no" was partially accurate!

He's also a tough little guy - bumps, bruises, hot sauce, and pretty much anything else doesn't phase him too much. Today he smashed his little finger in a drawer and barely cried.  He's also fallen and bonked his head and again, other than an initial outcry to indicate he's had an accident, he stopped crying and moved on to something else.  This evening he wanted to try to Sriracha sauce that Gabe was using, so I put a TINY amount on his food and warned him it was spicy.  He took a bite and immediately pulled it out of his mouth, reached for his water, and guzzled a whole cup - all without saying a word!  He loves to laugh and communicates a lot through his eyes - they're usually looking a little mischievous.  He knows a lot of his body parts (he'll point or show you the body part when you ask where it is), and he usually doesn't have his sister's problem of getting distracted from his food - although he does have clear opinions about what kinds of food he wants.  When you say the word "lunch," he'll go to the cupboard, pull out the peanut butter and nutella, and bring it to the counter (and then he'll usually bring the several jars of peanut butter from the stash just in case you need it too!) He says "Whoa" with his whole body - eyes wide, mouth in a big O form, and posture held at ready whenever something particularly impresses him.  

And he's SO excited to help with things - washing dishes, tearing up lettuce for salad, setting the table, and anything else we'll let him help with. A few days ago, he tore the lettuce for the entire salad while sitting on the counter as I made dinner around him.  Gabe has been very patient with him "helping" with dishes - Anthony wants to put his red stool RIGHT in front of the sink and he wants to touch the water and the dishes.  Sometimes this slows down the dishes by a good 15 minutes, but Gabe lets him put the dishes in the dish rack anyhow.

Overall, these two kids provide a lot of entertainment and fun. We do have to break up fights every so often, and there's been at least one day that we locked them out on the porch while we were trying to finish up painting a second of wall, but they're very pleasant, enjoyable children the vast majority of the time!  And nothing is quite as sweet as when they're showered, pajama'd, and they run out of their room to come hug us goodnight before being tucked into bed.  It's really a blessing to be an aunt and uncle!