Long overdue first post of the year

Hello blurt, I hope 2023 is treating you all well. This post is long overdue and I have not posted since middle of December when I reached my 500k bp goal. A lot has been going on in my world and this is very much the high season at the resort that I manage.

The last life and personal update blog I gave was in November after my son was born. And let me tell you a lot has happened since then and time is even more of a premium now with the little one around.

At the time my son was born, my mother in law was with us as is customary in Ghana so she can help take care of my wife post birth and also her duty is to give the child his first baths. She stayed on for about another 5 days after that. Within a week an a half my mother came to visit from the US. She stayed for about 3 week. Right before this I had to fire the accountant and second in command of the hotel I am working at and so I took many of these duties on myself. When my mother was here in the end of November and beginning of December is when business really started to pick up in the hotel and I started to get more busy.

My wife is an early sleeper and I am a night owl and so I would often be the one to take care of our little guy at night and try to get him to sleep. I still am not as good at this as I do not carry boobs which really helps him to get to sleep if he is snacking. But I would still do my best. This is usually the time I would spend on blurt. I have not been able to really write or post but I tried to at least hold my presence with the curation of the #blurtafrica community and also voting across the platform generally.

In the middle of November is when my mom came around. Bjorn was just a few weeks old then but it was still great that they got some time together.

She made an amazing quilt for Bjorn with animals and a lot of great colors and patterns. Sometimes he will lay in his crib and just look at it and study it.

She also brought us an amazing gift in the form of cotton diapers and water proof covers for them. This really helps us cut down on the amount of waste we produce and the cost of constantly using disposable diapers. Sadly though sometimes it is more work for my wife as she needs to do more washing.

The middle of December came around an my mothers trip came to an end. We dropped her off at the airport in Accra and had a little time to ourselves. We stayed with a friend in Accra and snapped this picture and the one below in the elevator.

Within 5 days my dad flew in, he was visiting some friends in Australia and then Vietnam. By this point Bjorn was about 5 weeks old and was beginning to really open his eyes and smile and become playful. Just in time to meet his grandpa.

Grandpa is a natural with babies having some experience with my sisters niece. He never would have imagined but he has really found part of his calling in being a grandparent. Each afternoon he would take Bjorn down to the beach and they would take a nap together under the palm trees. Bjorn has found a kindred spirit in the palm trees. Initially he just liked to look up in the leaves and enjoy their contrast with the bright blue sky beyond. But now he likes to get up close to the trunks, talk to them and even touch them. They always help to calm the boy.

Grandpa also came with a lot of great gifts. He came with these toys from my sister, a lot of clothes from a friend in Australia. And also the baby carrier that my sister picked out. I like it because it is simple to use, not too many straps, a cool light weight material for Bjorn, and it doesn't look like you are going to war when you wear it.

Christmas came around and we had some fully booked weekends at the resort and I was very busy. Dzigbordi has been recovering nicely from the birth and pregnancy as you can see and got in the spirit.

Grandpa really got to see Bjorn develop as he was with us when he got to two months old a the turn of the year. He enjoyed playing music for him, reading him books, playing with him. And of course their naps at the beach.

My dad got to spend a full month with us and left in the middle of January. It was tough saying good bye because we know we would miss him along with Bjorn.

Before going though we got to try some new craft beers in Accra by Tale. This was a Hibiscus IPA, we also tried a Ginger Triple and a Farm House Ale. I think my favorite was the Ginger Triple. This was a nice break from the simple English style Lagers that we normally have here.

After my Fathers departure, @dzigbordi's sister came to Ghana from Germany with her German husband and 2 kids. They went and visited family in the North of Ghana and eventually made it down to the resort where we had a birthday party for her first child who lives in Ghana.

We had an amazing spread of food, lobster, chicken, beef kebab, fried plantain, french fries, jollof rice, fried rice, tilapia, banku and more. They soon set off back to Germany. This has been our first full week alone with our son since he was born I think with all the coming and going of family. It has been rewarding but also exhausting with my work schedule also. Things continue to be busy on the weekends at the resort. Tomorrow is another busy Sunday so I better wrap up this post.

I plan to write again soon about some of the other activities we did when my dad was in town, a gallery visit, and a nice walk on the beach in the tidal pools at low tide. I also want to address #blurtafrica curation and some criticism I have received and I hope to seek some feedback from the community and see about the best way forward as we move through 2023.