Growing in the first year - me and Charlie!

Babies grow and learn so much in the first year!!  I too have grown and learned a lot in my first year teaching overseas.  And neither of us have completed our full first year yet!

Obviously she loves milk as much as I do!!  and I miss it soooooo much!  I tried the boxed milk for about 4 months and gave up.  A guy in my building says there is a place we can order cow's milk from that is pasteurized so we don't have to boil it.  We are looking into it!

Charlotte Grace Stiers was born about 10 days after I moved to India.  I have never met her in person.  We skype though.  I have seen her smile, make cute noises, sit up, army crawl, clap, wave, and play peek- a- boo!  I am certain she will recognize my voice when she meets me and will love her aunt Bob!!!

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She cried a lot this year.  So did I!  Ha!  Moving to a new country is hard.  Adapting to a new school is hard. Trying to make friends when you know no one is hard.

She learned how to eat.  I have learned how to be very picky about what I eat and drink so I don't get sick.

She learned to move.  She isn't walking yet, but is army crawling.  I lad to learn to move in Mumbai.  To watch every step I take so I don't fall in a pit, trip over a street person, trip over a street dog, step in some kind of poop, or get hit by some kind of vehicle.

She's learning how to "talk" .  I have had to learn to communicate with people who speak very little English.

She's learning what a lot of things are - grass, snow, the cats, etc.  I am leaning Haiku, Prezi, Google Docs, Cam studio and other technology things!  I have also learned about of words and phrases connected to international teaching.  I am also learning a lot of words and food products from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France, India, Israel, the UK, Korea, Japan,  etc.  I think my learning is a lot harder!  When I first got here, every third word people said to me was foreign even though it was in English.  I felt like a 2nd grader trying to operate in an 8th grade world!  Now I feel like I'm a 5th grader in an 8th grade world.  I am still confused a lot, but gaining ground :)

It will be exciting to meet this goober in just a couple of months!  Both of our learning will continue during our second year :)