A Day of Rivers - Part 1

There is so much to look at here at the banana hacienda.

Tia Mari and cousin Kati are on the other shore waiting for us to finish swimming.


But I don't want to go. I am having too much fun!!!!

I LOVE it when Papi swishes me through the water.


I LOVE it when I get to roll on my back and let the water rush past my ears.


I LOVE how the water cools me off.


I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the water!!!!!

I'm not so sure about these two terremotos. I know they are my cousins, but they are crazy. Really, the nickname earthquake and hurricane fits.

Yes, that's better. Just float in the water next to me. I can handle that.

The Colonel

Does this look like anyone you know?

Natalia keeps pointing to it and saying, "Opa, Opa!!!"

I guess it's the glasses (because it certainly isn't the apron).

There Was a Little Girl

Who had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead . . .

So Fresh and So Clean

Don't I look wonderful?

This Sure Isn't Ama's

No Thanksgiving is complete without pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie may be Thanksgiving if you are in a country like Ecuador where simply thinking of standing in an unair-conditioned kitchen cooking all day makes you start to melt and break out in a heat rash.

We didn't make pumpkin pie last year, but it wasn't a big deal. Three reasons:

(1) Ama is the one who makes the pumpkin pies and she wasn't with us last year. She is the pie girl, I am the bread girl, Nana is the turkey lady, and Opa is the potato man. That is just the way it is. If Ama doesn't make it, I'm not sure if I want to eat it.

(2) Natalia and I were flying home from Ecuador to be with Nana and Opa on Thanksgiving. We started out the trip home at 10:00 pm the night before. Having already done this trip alone with a baby I knew that, while pumpkin pie rocks my world, my bed would rock my world more.

(3) Natalia wasn't eating solid food yet, so I wasn't depriving her of anything.

"Ama's the pie girl" excuse doesn't quite hold this year. We aren't traveling and Natalia eats solid food (though you wouldn't know that since we arrived in Ecuador - I'm used to her nursing a bit more when we are here, but seriously child, EAT SOME FOOD!!!)

So I decided to make pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin pie is not that hard to make when living in the US. Simply open a can of pumpkin, open some cans of evaporated milk, mix in sugar, eggs, spices and pour into crust. Bake. Viola - pumpkin pie.

Not so much here. Geovanny assured me that they have pumpkins here. But these are no North American pumpkins. The may be orange on the inside, but they are green and white and warty on the outside. And they are shaped like teardrops. And they take 4 hours in the oven to soften. Add a couple hours to cool before scooping out and Thanksgiving day is pretty much shot. I could have had a large turkey ready before this "pumpkin".

Now it is Black Friday. We still don't have a pumpkin pie. We MUST have pumpkin pie. So Natalia and I start scooping out the pumpkin.

Then we mash it by hand

I finally get it all mixed together and stick it in the oven. But our oven doesn't have any indication of the temperature it is at. Just a knob with the words "OFF" and "Min". They don't even tell me where "Max" is. SERIOUSLY!!!! So I wing it, just like I've been winging the whole thing.

Magically, it seems like it works. The knife in the middle comes out clean. The pie smells good. I set it down to cool.

Now if I could only find Cool Whip . . .

I'm Gonna Catch You

Laurie Berkner. Those of you unfortunate enough to not have watched her videos 5,000 times on YouTube may be wondering who this person is. She is mentioned often with regard to Natalia's listening preferences on this blog, so I feel as though I should explain who she is.

I have no memory of how I found out about the Laurie Berkner Band, or why I decided to go to YouTube to try and listen to one of her songs. It was probably instigated by Danielle asking me if we hand any "kids music" in the car for Ava and Natalia to listen to on our ride wherever we were going. Alas, I had generally been playing Paul Simon (Natalia is particular to "Live from Africa" songs with LadySmith Black Mambazo) or a mix that Ama made for us. Anyway, for whatever reason, I decided to look this Laurie Berkner up.

The very first song I ever listed to was "I'm Gonna Catch You". I had the same reaction as Aunt Izzy. Who was this woman running around in orange pants, a yellow shirt, and a green tank top? Why did she want to catch me? And was listening to this really going to be good for my child?

But then, as always happens, Natalia came in the room.

And she looked at the computer screen.

And she started dancing.

She was shaking her butt. She was bouncing up and down. She was turning in circles.

My heart melted. A little chase song couldn't hurt, right? And with other songs like "Pig on Her head" and "Song in My Tummy" how could I say no. There is a song about two guys who like Tabasco on their spaghetti. And it rhymes. What's not to like?

Really, "I'm Gonna Catch You" isn't that bad. I mean, I grew up with a song about a rhinoceros chasing me down a hall and I only go to therapy once a month. She'll be fine.

Cranky Day

Natalia woke up cranky. Nothing makes her happy today. Not Paul Simon, not Laurie Berknern, not Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, not ohh la la shoes, not mama's boob.

I'm cranky too. Blogger won't let me upload photos, so I can't show you how cute she was yesterday hiding in one of the cabinets.

We are going to go for a walk. Leaving the house will do us both some good. Maybe when we get back everything will be better. Fresh air, sun, and humidity always does it for me. You?

The Best $2.50 I Ever Spent

This little plastic potty is the best thing ever.

(If you aren't grossed out by poop stories, read on. If grossed out, just enjoy the photo and know that tomorrow you will get a picture of the baby girl).


Geovanny and I got it two days ago. I figured that now would be a great time to start potty training since we are staying in an apartment with tile floors and no rugs. Natalia has been going "potty in the potty" every morning and after every nap for some time now, but I have not been consistent with any other type of training. Seeing as it is HOT down here, naked time is all the time. Perfect time for potty training because you don't have to take anything off. Just sit down and go.

(no she is not going in the chair, just enjoying naked time)

So we were having naked time for the 5th time that day. I was washing the dishes and Natalia brought the yet unused potty into the kitchen. I didn't pay much attention because so far she had only used the potty as a hat and a chair.

But this time she sat down with purpose.

She got a look of concentration on her face.

And she kept sitting.

Her eyes started watering a bit and her cheaks got red.

After a while she got up and we both looked in the potty. THERE WAS POOP!!!

Oh my gosh, there was poop. I was so happy (in part because she hadn't pooped in two days and who feels good after going days without pooping.)
I kissed her all over her face.
We jumped up and down.
YAY!!!!
Then we went and dumped it in the toilet and said "bye bye".
Cleaned out the little blue potty and went back into the kitchen.

I resumed my cleaning. Natalia sat back down on the potty. I think she was so excited about my response that she wanted to do it again. So she got to trying to poop again. This time the sitting was accompanied by grunting. She'd sit for a while, grunt, push, get up look to see if there was anything, get a disappointed and determined look on her face, turn around and start the whole process over again.

Sit

Grunt

Look

Repeat

It was hilarious!!! Lasted a good 5 minutes. No, she's not stubborn. Not at all.

Bouncy Castle

We didn't get to the park yesterday until it was already dark out. I had been trying to get us there all day, but it was just one of those days where nothing happens quite how you want it to. Not that it was bad, in fact we had a great day, it just wasn't what I was thinking it would be like. (But really, isn't that usually how life works?)

Getting to the park after dark wasn't a problem because it was Saturday night. Everyone was out, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone. I think all of Guayaquil leaves their house on Saturday night. Needless to say, the park was packed. All the play structures were lit up, there was a bouncy castle, and a kiddy train.

Here in Ecuador there are kiddy trains everywhere. I remember first seeing one when we were in Galapagos. They are ALWAYS blaring music and have flashing lights - kind of like a disco on wheels for kids. They are also generally pulled by some stinky old motor. Ours was actually smoking out the front (kind of like a fog machine, but I assure you this was not caused by water and dry ice). I could barely fit in it with my legs splayed but Natalia had a great time so it was worth it.




After the train we went to the bouncy castle. Natalia was the only one in the whole thing. Geovanny and I had to stay on the outside (only for kids under 10) but we tried to reach through the sides and bounce it up and down for her.


She had a great time sitting in the middle taking her shoes on and off.


After a while she decided it was time to go, so out she came.



And that was our night.

Natalia had picked out her entire outfit by the way. Put her shoes on all by herself. They were even on the right feet. I was so proud!!!

Look Mom . . .

I put on my shoes all by myself

We Have A Connection

YAY!!!!!

Someone around here has Wi-Fi that I am able to use. Natalia can have her Laurie Berkner and Elmo, I can have Pushing Daisies and House, and you can have your updates.

I didn't realize how addicted I had become to blogging about Natalia, but I was really quite stressed by the thought that I wouldn't be able to until we got home. Now all we have to do is pray that the kind people who are unknowingly giving us internet don't turn it off.

The apartment is really very nice. Marble tile floors, two bathrooms, nice dark wood doors and furniture. The downside is that there are only two twin beds right now. It will be like that until Wednesday. Then we have the option of either changing apartments to one floor above (supposedly bigger and better) or the owner will bring the bed down here. I think we will probably change apartments (better view, better breeze through the apartment = less air conditioning = lower electricity bill = happier mommy).

I leave you with a couple of pictures of Natalia playing this morning at the boardwalk close to our hotel.

Bubbles

I just wanted to show you all that Natalia was alive and well. We took advantage of the bathtub in the hotel. A little bit of home. She LOVED it.

Big Fish

Things I love:

- my Nana

- leg warmers

- Big fish in little ponds that I get to watch sleep while the rest of the family eats dinner.

Over The River . . .

. . . and through the woods to Ecuador we go. I will try and update as often as I can. We love you all and can't wait to see you when we get back.

All I Want For Christmas

Dear Santa,

Mama has started telling me about you. She says you are this big, old guy who always wears red and has a white beard. Did you know that my Opa has a white beard. Are you related?

Mama says that you say "ho, ho, ho" and that your belly shakes. She also says that you will bring me presents in the middle of the night if I'm good.

But I'm really confused. Mama says you're one person, but every time she points you out and asks me, "What does Santa say?" you look different. Sometimes you have a big head and no body. Sometimes you have a fat body and skinny legs. Sometimes you are shaped like a triangle. Sometimes you are jolly and roly.

I don't think you're a person. I think that you're an animal. Like a pig. (Man do I love making the snorting noise when asked what a pig says.) Every pig is pink, and they all have these curly tails, and they all snort or say oink. But they all look different. And Momma usually asks me what Santa says after she asks me what a pig says so it must be true. Santa is an animal.

Anyway, Mama said that I could write a letter asking for whatever I wanted and if I was good Santa would give it to me. So here it is:

1. A BIG box

Thank you, Natalia

Big Hugs

Natalia has loved hugging for some time now. She give these great bear hugs that are genearlly accompanied by a "Mmmmmmmm" or an "Ooooohhhhhhhh".

She hugs her Nana and her Opa.

She hugs her stuffed animals.

She hugs me (and often pats my back at the same time).

But no matter how much she loves giving us hugs, she LOVES hugging Odin. Once a spazzy puppy, he as mellowed and allows her to do just about anything. Hug him, kiss him, feed him things.





He has more patience than I do.


But I have better breath.

Pigtails

At some point this afternoon, while Natalia was not paying much attention to me, I was able to wrangle her hair into pigtails. This was quite an accomplishment, seeing as she likes having her hair done just about as much as she likes shoes. They were very haphazard pigtails, with curls falling out all over the place.



Keeping the pigtails in did require a conversation and some bribery. As soon as she felt them in her hair she started pulling at them.

Natalia: Out.


Me: No Pumpkin, let's keep them in.


Natalia: OUT.


Me: Come on baby girl, let's go look in the mirror. You are so 'ooh la la'.


Natalia: OUT!


Me: Look Bug . . . ooh la la


Natalia: OUT!!!


Me: Let's go outside and see Odin


Natalia: Oohhhh-tay





She finally stopped pulling at them, but she did put her hands to her face and say "oh dear" a number of times.





And then the poor baby had to give herself a hug to get over the whole experience.




The things we do for beauty

Happy Birthday Aunt Sarah

Natalia wanted to say Happy Birthday to her Aunt Sarah while wearing the hoodie she gave her.



WE LOVE YOU!!!!

OOOO-DIIEEEEEE

Ooh La La

Natalia has a thing against shoes.

She hates them.

Socks too.

I have been at a total loss about how to keep her warm and comfy. I have tried every kind of slipper, shoe, and sock combo but there is no reasoning with the child. These days putting on shoes generally involves sweating, tears (usually mine), and wrestling moves pilfered from the Rock and Hulk Hogan.


Then Nana busted out some new slippers.






Natalia LOVES them.

She wears them everywhere.


The putting on of the slippers is often accompanied by a trip to the bedroom for time in front of the mirror. She'll look at herself, pose, kiss the mirror, and says, with great emotion:

"Ooh La La"


I don't dress Natalia like a princess. I don't buy her shoes with princesses or flashing lights or feathers.

But Nana sure does. And boy, does Natalia love it.