Week 4 - Part 1

Q. What do you get when you combine a week of continual challenges of parenting 2 busy children with inconsistent Internet access?
A. A whole week of no blog posts!

So, here I sit at 3:00pm on Saturday, still not sure if the Internet will cooperate to post this, but taking advantage of good nap times to write a week’s worth of updates. The Internet has been sporadic this week. The TelMex tech came yesterday to fix it, and it’s mostly better. At least the phone to the US is working again! I’ll start with last weekend and make my way to the present.

Because both kids are well-rested, our best pics usually are first thing in the morning – before anyone is dressed!


Esteban is a great big brother
Esteban is growing into his role as a big brother! He loves Isabella and is (usually) very careful around her. He gives her random kisses, brings her toys to distract her and cheer her, reads his favorite books to her, entertains her when she’s getting her diaper changed. When he takes things away from her (like his toys and books), he says, “That’s not for you, Missy” in a very sweet voice. He has even been known to give her a little caress on the cheek – while passing her on the way to be mad at me.

He only calls the fire department (on a pretend phone) about once a week to take Isabella (or me, or Grandma Dawn) away.



Week 2 photos
After much wrangling with the Internet, photos from week 2 are finally posted here. There are about 85 because it was a very busy week with ICBF, Esteban’s birthday, grandparents and several day trips. Working on Week 3 now.


Last Weekend
Last weekend was really fun! On Saturday afternoon we went with a friend of a friend to her house “in the country.” She and her family live in Bogotá and have a house about 40km north of the city in Sopó. We went for lunch, Colombian style, which means that she picked us up a little after noon and we arrived at about 1:00pm. We sat outside and munched on empanadas (some of the best I’ve ever had!), enjoying the sun and visiting and watching Esteban play in the sandbox. About 2:00pm, after her kids (ages 9-15) had all arrived from their various lessons in the city that morning, we had ajiaco (delicious Colombian soup with potatoes and chicken) and obleas (think of very thin wafer cookies, about the size of a medium tortilla, with heavy caramel sauce spread in the middle – so yummy!).


There were more blocks than Esteban could fathom, and he built and destroyed several castles after lunch. Then we went outside, visited the horses and cows, and then rolled down the hill. By then the kids were about to melt down from lack of naps, so we headed home (around 4:15). It was a delightful way to spend an afternoon – gracious, interesting people, good food and a beautiful setting that was quiet and away from the city.

On Sunday, we walked for Ciclovia. We got a late start, and headed for Park 93 – about 40 long blocks. It was a healthy walk! We got to the park in time to play a little before it started to rain. We took refuge in the Juan Valdez coffee shop until the shower ended, and then played a little more at the (now empty) park. As we were heading toward a main street to get a taxi home, we ran into a delightful couple who are now staying at the Halifax who have 7 month old twin girls. So cute! It started to pour just as we hailed a taxi.

The Rainy Season
We’re finding that most days now start out not raining – not always sunny, though sometimes it is, but not raining – and then the rain starts by about 1:00pm and continues intermittently through the evening and sometimes overnight. We are trying to get out and about in the morning to take advantage of non-rainy times to go to the park, etc. As I understand it, October is the rainiest, and we should gradually see more sun and less rain as we get into November.


It has taken me all day to get this uploaded - between Internet issues with the attachments and expected child/life interruptions.