Eva Joy Cole

Eva just turned 18 months!!! 

She is growing at lightening speed and learning Lao so fast I'm trying hard to keep up. The other day, I heard our house helper (who only speaks Lao) ask Eva if she'd like her hair done and then told Eva to go get her hair bands. Eva immediately ran off and when she returned, she had the hair bands in hand!

Eva is adjusting to life without a pacifier. Last week, we had an emergency with her one and only pacifier and had to throw it out. We searched high and low in our local markets but couldn't find a replacement, and so Eva had to grow up quickly and adjust to life without it. By the end of the week, she was once again sleeping peacefully but this time without her pacifier. And without her morning naps... I think her morning naps are gone forever!! 

Eva loves animals. A couple weeks ago, we were driving through Thailand on the way to a conference, and I pulled out a Curious George book to keep her busy (18 hours there, 18 hours back). So i began teaching her about monkeys... and what do you know, we begin to pass signs for wild monkeys. A few minutes later, while we were parked on the side of the road, wild monkeys began to run towards our truck!! And not small ones either... the leader was a few feet tall! We took off fast leaving monkeys swinging in the trees and running along the road. Who needs a zoo??? 

Here's a picture of Eva from this morning. Her hair is almost long enough to pull back in a ponytail, which will help keep her cool. So does not wearing any clothes, which I let her do this morning. So our little girl is growing up before my eyes... playing with cow patties, watching the rainy season downpours, running from wild monkeys, listening and learning two different languages, waving at all the women in the market who call out to their friends to see the little foreign "doll". She loves life here and watching her thrive in this culture is such a joy.