Da-DEE vs. Da-DAY

The first thing you should know about Biruk is that shoes are very important to him. I brought little soft-soled leather slippers to Ethiopia for him, because I didn't know if he had been wearing shoes up to that point. As it turns out, he was wearing these baby flip-flops with a strap around the back of the ankle when we picked him up at the orphanage, and it was very important to him to keep those shoes on all day. However, when I gave him the new slippers that night at our guest house, he then insisted on wearing only those shoes plus socks from then on. I didn't think too much of this at the time, because it was the rainy season in Addis Ababa and somewhat chilly, so I wanted socks and shoes on all the time, too.

But once we got home, Biruk still insisted on wearing both socks and leather slippers all day every day, even though it was hot outside, nobody else in the family was wearing shoes, and we had the wading pool set up on the back deck. Finally, I got a pair of Crocs and convinced Biruk to make the switch. He will still insist on a pair of socks with the Crocs, if he sees any lying around.

The second thing you should know about Biruk is that he is picking up English pretty fast. And even though he is clearly bonding with me (Christine) the most, he frequently calls for Alan, especially when Alan is gone at work. Biruk walks around saying Da-DAY, Da-DAY, Da-DAY. We thought this was very sweet, as well as significant. My feelings were only ever so slightly twinged as yet, once again, I am the primary caregiver, and still my child's first word is da-da and not ma-ma.

So this weekend, Alan, Celie and Joey were gone on a Father-Kid camping trip, and I was home for 24 hours or so with just myself and Biruk. Biruk was wandering around the house saying Da-DAY, Da-DAY, Da-DAY... and picking up shoes. Suddenly it clicked for me. "Da-day" means "shoe" for Biruk.

How funny! This whole time we thought Biruk was calling for Alan, saying "Daddy", but really he was just talking about shoes. Not only that, but this whole time Biruk is probably wondering why we insist on calling Alan "shoe". What have we been saying to him? Maybe "This guy is the Big Shoe in the family," or "Sorry, the rest of us like to go barefoot, but this guy insists that you wear your shoes every day."

Every now and then I imagine that Biruk gives me a look that says something like "You people are just crazy." Maybe it's not my imagination?