M'buti, my wife, is a wonderful person. She is also a wonderful wife to me, Roberto, and is a doting mother to our nearly two-year-old son, Jubaki Miguel, who is the apple of her eye.
And mine. He is a delightful little boy with a happy, playful personality.
He is a big boy, as far as babies go; at birth he weighed ALMOST 13 pounds. He was over 2 1/2' long when born, and he sported a headful of curly black hair and had huge, grey eyes (eyes that would, in time, probably turn brown or hazel--or, perhaps, amber, like my wife's eyes--). Now almost two, he is walking and talking up a storm, and he loves hugs and kisses. He loves his toys, and he loves it when we have friends over, because he loves people in general; and people love him because he is so cute and so charming in his ways. He is always doing something cute to make people go "Awww...whatta' cutie!"
Right now, his favorite thing is lying next to mama (M'buti) when she is laying down; he loves to lay right against her thin little body and hug her tight. As long as M'buti is lying down, little Jubaki is usually right there (and then I have to watch him, to make sure he doesn't roll or fall off the bed...). He also loves it when she has her African/Maasai music on; he then tends to bounce up and down to the rhythm of the music, and he pretends to "dance" (although it looks like he is TRYING to attempt the Maasai "jump dance"--also called the "adumu" in Maa).
It is cute to watch him whenever he does this. He looks like a little bitty Maasai warrior-in-training.
"Future Maasai Warrior."
Jubaki also loves vegetables, just as his mom does; and he loves just about anything he is given; but he seems to prefer the vegetable dishes the most. He will eat meat, too. He really isn't that picky of an eater, as far as little kids go. In fact, he is a very good little eater.
Jubaki knows about "Sayidana", but he misses her. He calls the cheetah "Dannah". He is always looking for her, saying "Dannah? Dannah? Where Dannah?? Where Dannah go?" Sometimes he cries because he misses the cheetah so much.
("Sayidana" now stays with my friend, Rob Myerson, who so happens to be a vet and has a license to raise and keep exotic cats. He also has "Sambeke", "Satima", "Kenya", "Tanzania", and the newest "family member", "Nairobi".)
Jubaki doesn't know it yet, but yesterday we just got news that my wife is pregnant. (She has been feeling nauseated lately and has gotten sick the last week when she's gotten up out of bed.)
In other words, he is about to become a big brother.
The new baby is due in March.
If it is a girl, we are naming it Nyala Eshe Louisiana; if it is a boy we are naming it Kubaki Chege' Naiser.
Let this coming of age story of a boy named Bean take you back to a simple time. Set in a small southern town in the 1960's, encircled by a river and gleaming white cotton fields.
