Mahmoud

Mahmoud (my host brother) and I didn't get off to the best start. Nezha had to go to the souk (market) and Mahmoud was sleeping, so he stayed in with me. Of course, right after she left, he woke up, and found himself alone with a stranger. At first he just sat there looking at me. I realized that I really hadn't been around 18 month year olds much. I knew that for babies you held them and sang to them and they were happy, and for older kids, talk to them, play with them, etc. So I tried holding him, that made him cry, so I set him down and tried playing with toys. For a while he would be happy, and then he'd get uncomfortable again and start crying.
For all that bad introduction, he is so cute. He can run around and say about 4 words, mama, baba, mimi, and nini. The first and second are mama and papa, the third is his word for food and the fourth is his word for sleep. He runs around and plays with his toys which are mostly small plastic ones. I was very confused by this until I realized that his dad works at McDonald's and most of the toys are from there. Interestingly absent are baby books and kid plates and silverware. When he eats food, he just uses a normal teaspoon and drinks out of a normal cup (although he has a bottle for milk). One of the only toys that is not from McDonald's is a toy violin which he loves, and I'm sure he's going to be a musician like his father. It's strange watching how Nezha interacts with him, since it's quite different than how my siblings interact with their kids. For instance, when he does something bad, she usually softly slaps him. She also doesn't seem to keep quite as vigilant a watch on him as I'm used to, and isn't quite as wary of small objects. I hope that soon he considers me part of the family... even now he smiles at me and my heart melts.