Limber Baby - Olympic Gymnist?

I've got no idea how she can be this limber.

Thankful

Isabelle has been babbling like a big girl for 3 days now. It happened all of a sudden, and then there it was. Finally yesterday Robert got to hear her, and it sounds like "da da da da". I'm telling Robert that she's telling him she wants to see him soon (which she will, since he's going to be here next Wednesday). She really sounds like she is talking to you, and she looks at you when she does it.

Things have gone extremely well while I've been down here. We've beaten the scabies (yes, that was what Isabelle had, and it went away when we all used the Permethrin Robert brought down when he visited). We've beaten the bronchitis (that went away about a 10 days ago). 3 weeks ago I got a bite on my thigh (inside my pants) that I didn't feel at the time, but there was a bump and then purple bruising all around it. Since earlier in the year one of the babies in this house had to be taken to the hospital for a bite from a brown recluse spider, I was a teeny bit concerned. But, it all went away just fine; just faded over about a week. I haven't had to throw up since the first week I got here. Once we started using the mosquito netting on our beds, we haven't been bitten except once or twice. Isabelle is sleeping all the way through the night, from 7:30 pm until 6 or 7 am.

Alba is teaching Isabelle how to play soccer. She carries her around the lawn area inside the house, helping her kick the big beach ball. Isabelle loves it. Alba is amazing!

Our case breezed through PGN and through the US embassy, and we're going home in 1 1/2 weeks. We are not caught up in all the worry now, when our government is saying that if you aren't through PGN by January 1, there will be long (months to years) delays. Anyone who is still in PGN right now (or hasn't gotten in yet) is very nervous, and understandably so. Amanda, who is one of my house mates, has two daughters. One, Aleya, is 6 months old and her adoption is finalized. But one, Maya, is a year old and they have been with her for almost a year but her biological mother stopped going to appointments, etc, so it became a case of abandonment, which takes longer. And, her lawyers here are not returning her calls. I think she's coping extremely well considering everything that's going on, including taking care of two very young children on her own in a foreign country. The women (and men) who come down here to foster are just awesome.

The Dog Project

I have lost my heart in Guatemala, again.

This time it's to a young street dog with hereditary mange. I saw her several time at La Merced (where she hung out most of the day, every day) and just decided I couldn't stand it and I took her to vet (who is holding her in this picture). She's been fixed and had her first mange treatment. And the gash around her neck (where someone had her on a wire) is begining to heal.

Cooking Lesson

We made chicken and rice soup and potato salad. Very good.

Cooking lessons taken care of

We're doing cooking lessons tomorrow from Virginia.

Embassy Doctor Appointment

Isabelle made it through her last medical appointment with flying colors.

The News is Starting to Sink In

It's starting to sink in that Isabelle will be coming back with us in a little more than 2 weeks. After so many dissapointments and so many delays, it really still doesn't seem possible.

It is really nice to be in the house here in Antigua and I will miss it. It's like having college room-mates where you're all doing the same thing, have the same goals, and talk about the same things. We order pizza together and often share food. We talk about babies and the adoption process.

Today Terry and I asked Ishmael (Chocotanango) to give us Guatemalan cooking lessons, but he says he doesn't do that type of cooking; his is more French and Italian. I want to learn how to make tamales and plantains.

I went out early this afternoon and bought Isabelle a quilt for her bed that is gorgeous. I also got her a couple of shirts and a stuffed elephant.

Isabelle has been eating a lot of solid food over the last couple of days. It's as though she now knows what it is and is really excited about it. She eats rice, oatmeal, chicken with mixed vegies, mango, apple, banana, peas, yams, avacado, and bits of what I'm eating (like tamale or noodes).

Lake Atitlan

Very pretty lake.

The House is Hopping

Terry is moving upstairs with Tommy and Amanda, Perry, Maya and Aleya are moving downstairs. The house manager came in with a worker to see how bad the damage was to the closet upstairs with the mold, and how to fix it. Alba was here with Camila giving me my lesson and taking care of Isabelle. Robert called

Terry Got Pink!!

Terry, one of our house-mates (see picture on previous day) got her pink slip today (appointment for the embassy, the last thing you need to do before you can take your baby home). She has been out of PGN for 6 1/2 weeks, when it usually takes only 2 or 3 weeks. She kept getting the run-around from the US embassy, not telling her what the problem was and a bunch of other stuff (you can read about it on her blog, link on the left). We are all so excited for her. We went out to dinner at Cafe Sky and I had French onion soup and barbecued ribs - very yummy, and discussed what Terry needed to do with her 2 weeks.

Extreme Torture - I'm About to Crack

I now understand how effective sleep deprivation is on prisoners. That and noise torture. I am about to crack. At 4am this morning we were up and hungry, then we had medicine at 6am. There was screaming involved here (from Isabelle, not me. I haven't quite gotten to that point yet.) Then the guys next door start working on the new house at 7am. In the morning, whatever they are doing involves really loud, resonant banging. Really loud. It's like a version of water torture using noise.

My Baby Carrot

Today I dressed Isabelle in one of her new outfits, the one with bright green pants and bright orange top. When Alba and I were out looking for CD's and she was holding a sleeping Isabelle, she looked at me and said "I'm holding a little carrot". It was so funny, and I don't know how she thinks of these things but once she said it I could see how true it was and kept seeing that image.

We are full of accomplishments this week. Isabelle can scooch backwards on her behind, undo her diaper, make noises from further back in her throat (like practicing Klingon) and can do the splits while sitting, reach forward and stick her face on the floor, and lift herself back up to a sitting position. I see a gymnist in our future.

Guatemalan Rap and Rock Concert in the Park

It was great fun.

Independence Day

Today was Indepence Day for Guatemala, so I dressed Isabelle in one of her new outfits and headed off to town to watch the parade. She already knows she is a little princess, so I decided to dress her appropriately.

Antigua, the Party Place

Mosquito netting is good for pictures, too!

Today is the day before Independence and everyone is out of school and off work. All the streets are crowded and the square is a mad house (which, of course, I love. There's this huge energy to the place). There are various bands of children/students running through the streets with the front runner holding a torch. I think all of Antigua and the surrounding area is in around the main square. (By the way, I LOVE having a main square. They have them all over Europe and probably every place else, but you don't see it much in America. It's really too bad because it's fun to have a place where everyone goes to hang out.)

It's Officially Bronchitis

Isabelle has bronchitis. Poor baby. Last night right before bed time she coughed so hard she spit up the formula she'd just drunk. She did the same thing again later in the night. At 1 am she had a temperature of 102 F. Tommy, Terry's son, had had the same thing several days ago and so I used the medicine she'd used to bring the temperature down. This morning I took her so see Dr. Juarez. He listened to her lungs and could hear fluid so he had me get an x-ray at Hospital Reina de Los Angeles, which is right next door to his office. After I got the x-ray, he looked at it by holding it up to the window (no reason to have those x-ray readers with light from behind) and said her lungs looked clear so it was just bronchitis. That's bad enough, but not as bad an pneumonia.

She still looks and acts active, which is a good sign. If you look closely, though, you can see the snot. It's pretty much permanent now, and is all over my clothes and anything she touches. I feel like I should be more grossed out than I actually am.
This is her superman pose.


This is Dr. Juarez's waiting room, as well as for 2 other doctors. The receptionist takes your name on a small slip of paper and tells you how many people are in front of you waiting for the doctor. The doctor's office/examining room has both a desk and an examining table, as well as his books and the medications. He wears a blue tooth head-set at all times and sometimes takes calls in the middle of the consultation. When he is finished with your child, he tells you how much the visit is (usually $25) and you pay him, in cash.

This is the intake desk for the hospital.

These pictures are all from the garden in the middle of the hospital. It is beautiful.

Feeling Better

We both felt good enough today to go for a cookie run to Cookies Etc, a store with fabulous cookies for about 25 cents each. They have all the best types, from peanut butter to chocolate chocolate. We stopped in an art studio with some gorgeous art, and the woman at the front desk proved that art dealers here are as snooty as the ones in the states. I may still get one of the unframed pieces because I like it. My rule is to see if I'm still thinking about it in 2 days, because then I know I really want it.



"Comida Rapida" literally translates to "Fast Food".
And here is another way to have fast food. people set up their "restaurant" out on the street. Some, like this woman, bring their own chairs for their patrons and use small plastc stools as tables. Others just have a single basket that they pull all the food out of.

This is the way road work is done here. Lots of simple materials and workers, fairly slow work. Never any machinery.




Now that Isabelle can sit up for as long as she wants, she doesn't like to lie down. I think she now thinks that lying down is only for babies, and of course she's too big for that. Here she is with Tommy sitting on the couch.

She wants bites of what I have when I eat. Mushed tomatoes, papayas, and bits of tamale seem to work fine. She also seems to be better at putting herself to sleep than I am. I've tried holding her and rocking her when I know she's tired but doesn't want to sleep, and she just gets more upset. If I put her down in the play 'n pack, she'll fuss or cry for a few minutes, then fall asleep. I wish I knew the secret formula; I'd like to be able to help her. Sometimes, if she's hungry when she's tired, she'll drink some milk and fall asleep in my arms. That's very sweet, and often I'll just hold her for a while in my arms because it is so sweet and she looks so angelic.

Chocolates to Alba, Baby is Mostly Annoyed

Alba has been sick for more than a week now. I hope it's nothing serious. I bought chocolates for her at Chocotenango (picture at left is of Ishmael and his chocolate shop) and took a tuk tuk to her house. We spent 20 minutes looking for the house (Lot 20-G) and the numbering system was wacky. The guys here, at least the tuk tuk drivers, do stop to ask directions. We had to stop 3 times. The numbering on the houses is as bad here as in the states, maybe worse, and in Alba's town, San Pedro El Panorama, not only are there no street signs, but the streets are not named. I'm amazed we found it at all. Finally, Luis (the tuk tuk driver) went up to one door and found the number (brown numbers on a brown wall - it doesn't work well if you want someone to find you).

Isabelle is still sick, and so am I. I don't dare take her out in public without her hat when she is sick - to the Guatemalans that is child abuse and they will tell you so. Day before yesterday when Terry and I were out walking around, a woman put the hood up on Tommy's jacket, said "Now he's not cold" (in Spanish) and gave Terry a really dirty look. Now, you need to know that the weather here is about 70 degrees F and we have the babies in carriers so they share our body heat. They are not cold. But it's true that during this "cold" time - their winter - they bundle the babies in about 4 layers of clothes and blankets so they really do believe it.

You can see from the picture that Isabelle is still not feeling well, and she makes sure I know that too. She has continued with her latest trick of screaming when we're in the middle of a store and I'm in the middle of buying things. I think when she's sick she doesn't like it when I just stand, like in line at the check-out, but I wish she had a quieter way of showing it. It does make our outings shorter because we only get necessities (and, yes, I do count chocolate from Chocotenango in the necessities category).

I've also discovered the wonderful pastries here - cinnamon rolls and cream horns and bear claws and apple turnovers. And they're about 50 cents each. And then there's Seritas icecream shops, where for $1.50 I get an ice cream cone dipped in chocolate and covered in nuts. And the ice cream is really good. I am no longer losing weight.

These are pictures of our truly wonderful house-keeper, Virginia, and her adorable daughter, Robin. Virginia is one of the hardest working people I know. The house is spotless when she's done, and that's after 4 families with children have spent the evening and day making it a mess. She is kind to me and lets me practice my baby Spanish on her.

Alba is still sick

Alba is still sick today, and I'm really missing my Spanish lessons. I've tried studying on my own, but with Isabelle being sick it is tough.

To make myself feel better, I bought Isabelle some new clothes. I got these cute pants with stitching on the cuff of hearts. They zip up and everything. We're really styling now!

Day 2 without Dad and Election Day

Isabelle officially has a cold. She coughs, she has a constantly runny nose, and she is for sure cranky. Which I totally understand because I hate being sick and get cranky and try to just sleep through it. Of course, she chooses to scream only when we are in a store full of Guatemalans who I'm sure think I just stole her and she is screaming for help. The only way to quiet her down was to shove a bottle in her mouth. And, gosh dang it, I was getting pastries for tomorrow morning so I couldn't just leave.

Elections were today, and it sounds like there were two candidates who took most of the votes, Colom and Perez. I'm betting neither of them got a majority, so there will be a run-off in November. This picture is of a voting booth for children.





This is me getting corn in the Marcado (open market). The corn is very starchy and comes with salt and lemon. I've gotten hooked on it and have it almost every night. Women have little stands with small charcoal grills and you buy it for 3-5 Q (about 50 cents). They sell everything in the Marcado, from razers to clothes to CD's to watches to fresh fruit and vegetables to meat. It's all there.

Daddy is Gone :-(

Robert left at 9:15 this morning. It was hard to let him go.

2nd DNA Test in Guatemala City

We went to Guatemala City today for our 2nd DNA test. Angelo took us. I couldn't believe how much mileage we got out of a balloon in Angelo's car. It's worth hours of fun.

Robert is leaving tomorrow morning. It has been so wonderful to have him around, I'm totally missing him already.

Aren't these the cutest pajamas ever. I get a giggle out of just putting them on Isabelle.

Baby and Daddy

Robert came to Guatemala on Saturday (Hurraayyyy!!) and has been bonding (aka playing) with Isabelle. Isabelle loves having someone who likes to play on the floor with her and swing her around in the air.