SENTENCIA!

We just received a call from Helena that we got our Sentencia today. Tomorrow one of us will go pick it up bring it to the Defender of Minors to sign and then it's just a matter of paperwork before we can bring Mariana home! We have a checklist that we couldn't do until the Sentencia came through: get her Colombian passport, travel visa for going to the USA and then on thursday we can hopefully get her examination by the US Embassy Doctor. Best case scenario is that we can have the travel visa on Friday and we're free to go home as soon as Saturday. If there is a delay in getting an appointment or some other unforseen reason (likely) then it could be next tuesday. Yeahhhh!!!! more to follow...

more pics from Chia

Joaquin Narvaez was nice enough to send me some more photos of our visit and to include some sunny day pics of their beautiful home. We're hoping to see them again soon. Notice the picture of me with the pained expression in the kitchen hoping Myriam won't make me embarrass myself by dancing.


Remember to click on any photo to see it larger.

more on cooking..

I thought I'd expand on the night we made dinner. Cooking was a lot of fun. My normal pot of sauce is usually big enough to make 12 servings for Hilary and I (we freeze it in batches of 2) so I just had to round up a bit. That part was easy. We had to run around a bit to find the right ingredients. The romano cheese I found at the "Cava de Queso" or Cheese Cave, a nice cheese shop we just happened upon while out one day. It cost 23,000 pesos or about $10 for a small piece. It was key though so I had to buy it. The rest was paid for by the hotel. I think the manager really likes Italian food so she was very encouraging. The canned tomatoes were from Carrefour, the only tomatoes I've seen here that are imported from Itly. Hilary's Mom sent us her mother's meatball recipe so we had to buy garlic powder. The rest - breadcrumbs, eggs, etc they keep in stock here at the Halifax and they said we were welcome to use whatever we needed. They have nice olive oil down here but its all from Spain. I suffered through it. There is actually a place 2 blocks away that makes fresh pasta. It's dried but they make it right there. We bought 4lbs. The arugola was from the local grocery believe it or not. I can't even find arugola in Bed Stuy for petes sake. Blanca helped me clean everything and Hilary came in and out with Mariana. She mixed up all the meatball ingredients and I did the frying. Then into the sauce. The actual serving was a bit of a rush job. I've never cooked that much pasta before and trying to dole it into two big platters was challenging. I then took some of the whole garlic cloves that roasted in the sauce, mashed them, smeared it on the baguettes and sprinkled with salt, pepper and a little romano for some nice garlic bread. Hilary dressed the salad and the staff helped us put everything into the approprite platters. They don't usually put all the tables together like in that photo but it was a special occasion. There was lots of toasting and bonding. One of the Swedish couples has a son that didn't want to eat anything while they'd been in Colombia. He had been losing weight. His Mother had told me that his favorite meal was spaghetti and meatballs. Part of the reason we did it that day was because I knew they were leaving the next day. He was well pleased with meal but even more so with the cookies. We packed up a few care packages and gave some to the staff as well.

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.

Home Again Home Again Jiggety Jig

Pictured here is the chef. Blanca made me wear the apron. The meal went very well. All were happy. Hilary's salad, meatballs, and cookies were fantastic. The staff here is so nice and it was fun to hang out with them in the kitchen for the day.
We went to the Salt Cathedral today. It was nice. Now we're back in Bogota and the sky is gray (as usual) the baby doesn't want to nap (again) and my stomach feels like crap (oh joy). Other than that everything is great, just great. I don't really feel like writing today. I want to go home. Can you tell by today's post?

Freakish Gurgling

I love the freakish gurgling noises this child comes up with. It seems like every day she discovers something new. She loves to mimic the sounds of lip smacking blubbering back to her Mommy. Another new feat in the past day or so is that she is showing signs of crawling. She got up on all fours twice today for a just a few seconds but you can see the crawling position forming there. Pretty exciting. She is also almost totally able to sit up on her own without the aid of a pillow sandwich. I had a dream last night that her legs were long and that she could walk. Think I'm getting ahead of myself? She better not start walking too quickly. Our house is not at all baby proofed.

The hotel is starting to empty out again. Most of the folks that have been here the past few weeks have gotten their Sentencia and are leaving in a few days. We did get a call from Helena saying not to make any travel plans to the Carribean just yet. She says there is a chance our Sentencia could come through before Easter because our case is already past step 2 out of 3 steps. We're crossing our fingers and kicking ourselves at the same time for hesitating on the beach trip. We'll see in the next few days if she says it's still possible but obviously we want to be in Bogota when the call comes for the Sentencia.

There is a new Swedish couple who just today brought home a 6 yr old boy and his 3 yr old sister so they'll be here for a while. I can see their wide eyed expressions and I remember just how difficult and exciting that first day was. It's amazing to think of how far we've come in just 3 weeks with Mariana. They are facing an enormous challenge in the years ahead and it makes me realize for the 5 millionth time how lucky we are. Certainly we have huge challenges too but when I look at Mariana it doesn't feel that way. She is so incredibly beautiful and has a way of melting us into 2 little puddles. Only now can I understand how people think their baby is the cutest in the world only in our case it happens to be true.

Now that its a little more quiet we are going to cook dinner tomorrow night for everyone here including the staff. On the menu: Fresh spaghetti with marinara sauce, Grandma Lospinuso's meatballs, a side salad of arugula with pears and shaved parmagiano and for desert Nestle toll house cookies with ice cream. I've never cooked for this many people so it could be an enormous failure but what the hell, I'll give it a shot.

On a side note both KISS and Motorhead are playing here in Bogota in April. If we end up staying here that long those will be 2 consolation prizes. Well, at least for me. Here are also a couple random shots for those of you not on Facebook.

Laugh Attack Part II

We went to the Museo Del Oro, or Museum of Gold today. There are tons of museums to see here. The exhibits were great but it was a small indication of the changes in our lives to me. At least for now there won't be as much strolling in a quiet museum, reading information and pondering ancient civilizations. Mariana slept through some of it but then when she awoke with energy she wanted to shriek for joy. Time for ME now. She's very good and can sit still in the stroller for a while but enough was enough. We took her out and sat on a bench in the lobby and her Mommy made her laugh like never before by making puke noises. see video below:




Mariana developed a bit of diaper rash this week. This was new to us. I have at times thought that we have become servants to this little girl. We feed her, bathe her, carry her around, everything. We are her slaves. Along those lines I had to laugh when I found myself blowing air onto her butt the other day to try to dry things out down there. It's a tag team effort actually with Hilary helping hold the child and spreading the clenched cheeks with me as the wind man. I also thought about how little dignity you receive as a child. Do you think she wants to have this big goofball blowing on her heine?