A Day In The Life

The days are running one into the next here. There is a new couple from Holland who are nice and we went to lunch with them and the Swedes today. We went to Crepes and Waffles again. It's kid friendly, something I never was concerned with until now. Mariana wouldn't sit still today. Normally she just sits quietly or sleeps through the meal. I know the time is coming soon if not already upon us where we she won't tolerate being left in the stroller while we eat.

Our typical day.

Only the most ardent Brooklynvernis readers and perhaps my Mother and Mother in law may get all the way through this post. I won't blame you.

If we have nothing planned, which is usually, this is how a common day goes by.

630- 730am- Mariana starts to make some noises in her crib and Hilary and I whisper to each other not to get up yet. "See if she'll sleep some more" "Oh yeah, ok" "But she's so cute, I want to pick her up" "No, let her sleep" "

730 - 8am- Mariana signals she's awake now with more tossing and turning, lets out a few gurgles and grunts from the exertion of proping herself up with her arms. By this time we're up and the first one to sit up is rewarded with one of the best smiles of the day. Mariana grins from ear to ear and often follows that up with the head crashing back down on the matress. A moment later she props up again and smiles broadly again. Then she'll flip onto her back and stare up at you with her arms out and a "I'm ready to be picked up now" look on her face says. A little "get to know you again" and then time for a bottle.

8- Whoever didn't get up for the baby makes the morning bottle and then we debate who will feed her. Her first bottle sometimes goes down without a fight. It can be a nice time with her as she is still waking up and is calm enough to focus on the task at hand. On days where she's got other ideas, the hands swat the bottle away without a seconds notice, usually leaving a trail of formula across her face in the process. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 tries to get all the formula in. We have to pin one arm against our body and hold the other one with our free hand and virtually force her mouth open while she tries to squirm out of it or maybe even a cry lets out. Crying means the mouth is open and we can plop the bottle in there. Once it's in, she chills out and drinks some more. Now, why were you fighting me?

830- Morning diaper change and off to breakfast. We park Mariana in a high chair and help ourselves to the morning buffet of fresh fruit, fruit juice, toast, eggs and cereal. Hilary has been having arepas with fruit in the morning. We buy, they grill them up for her. Mariana is usually content at breakfast. We put her into the highchair with a few toys and she doesn't usually get bored with them for 10-15 minutes. Once the toys are not occasionaly but constantly dropped on the floor for her servants to pick up it's time to start giving her bread to make into gooey little lumps. Blanca or Nancy or Luz will often buy us a few minutes by coming over and cooing to her in Spanish. The other children can also be a welcome distraction for her. But eventually the arms go out and the whimpering begins and we can't take not looking at her cuteness anymore and breakfast is over.

9-11 We play on the bed, check email and stare at each other a little. Perhaps a dookie change? Perhaps a quick nap? I'll often write while the girls nap. My girls love their sleep.

11 - Another bottle. This one is less interesting than the first so it may take 4 tries to get 1/2 of it down. Then we try to feed her some solid food. She balks, we coax, she tries a little, we cajole, she tries some more. We get 1/2 a jar in and we know it's time to quit when she takes the food in her mouth, looks at us, and spits it back out at us with flapping lips. Yeah!! Eating is a game!

11-1 Some more play time on the floor or maybe outside if it's at all decent weather. We sit out in the garden with the rocker swing or maybe use the jumping swing. She's a little small for the latter but enjoys it nonetheless. Perhaps do some laundry? This must be fascinating for those of you at home I know.

1-2pm- Lunch. They ring a bell in the main lobby for all meals here and like the good little Pavlovian doggies we are we report to the mess hall for our slop, excuse me food. I've mentioned here before that the food is fine but I'm used to much more variety in my diet. We're getting REALLY tired of the menu here. It took us much longer to get to this point in China. We could get whatever we wanted. Here you sit down and they bring you food. It's nice not to have to think about it but what if you're thinking about a salad and they bring you a hot dog casserole? (true story) I hate to even complain because the staff is so nice and I'm sure they try. Blanca even knows me well enough that she'll put aside all my salads now with no dressing. Nice, no condiments!

2-4 Some more napping. some more playing on the bed, some more writing. Maybe if we're feeling wild we'll go to Carulla, the grocery store a block away. Maybe.

4-6pm - Another bottle, another diaper. Usually it's gray, and raining.

6-625 - The sun comes out for 5 minutes and we gather our stuff together to try and catch a few moments. We hurriedly get the diaper bag together, wallet, keys, ok baby needs another layer, did you get the camera?

625-630pm - We go for a nice walk around the corner and back into the hotel for dinner

6-30 - 730pm - Dinner at the Halifax. Overcooked meat, boiled vegetables, boiled potatoes (or fried if they're feeling wacky) Dessert? In a word: gelatin. We never knew so many types of gelatin existed until we came here. Green limey taste. Coffee gelatin poured in a bundt ring and sliced. Yellow gelatin with meringue. Gelatin with cake. Gelatin with ice cream. We chat with our European counterparts and exchange "how long have you been/will be here" stories. I'm already tired of hearing myself tell the same stories again and again.

730- 8 BATHTIME! This is almost always fun. However Mariana gets super excited for bathtime, making herself overtired and screechy. She clutches her little rubber blocks in the tub and licks the soap. Mmm soapy. Hilary and I take turns holding her and washing bits of cheese and fuzz from the various folds. One day we even found a 1/2 eaten slice of pizza. We employ different tricks to make her look up to clean the goo from under her chin. She loves to splash and squeel.

8-830 - Final bottle and bedtime. She calms down a bit after getting dressed and may take an ounce or 2 from Daddy. At this point she prefers to take the bottle from Mommy. Daddy is the preferred burper. She lets fly these burps right in my face. Picture if you will the smell that emanates from a milk carton that's been in the recyling bin when you squeeze the air out it. So then drink, extra layer of clothes, into the crib, roll around a bit, and Mariana's day is done.

830-9 or 10pm if we're lucky - Stare at each other some more. I write some more. Hilary reads some more. We unplugged the TV on the first night in the room to charge the ipod and have not bothered to plug it back in. We'll watch TV again when we get home I'm sure but right now neither of us is interested.

And that's all folks. We manage to sqeeze in some days of going places but those days tend to really mess up Mariana's schedule so we're realizing more and more that she us to do.. well.. not much other than hang out with her and take take of her every need.