Swimming like a fish

MadHatter learned to swim a couple of weeks ago.  I mean, really swim.  We have been waiting for this day for a long time.  We took lessons for awhile, when we lived in the U.S.  And then we moved South and we moved from Spring to Fall and then Winter.  And it wasn't so much the season as it was the fact that we didn't know where to take her for swim lessons.  And then we were spending our time trying to settle, learn a new language and start school.  It kept moving farther and farther down my list of priorities.  Which is funny, since I am such a freak about kids and water.  26% of all unintentional deaths of children under the age of 5 are from drowning.  26%.   That statistic freaks me out.  I have always been super vigilant about my girls in the water.  And now, I am even more vigilant because, a couple of months ago, MadHatter learned to swim.

"More vigilant," you ask, "but she learned to swim".

Yep, because now that she can swim, she doesn't wear floaties.  She thinks she is invincible and I know she is not.  I watch her like a hawk...and she loves that.  She loves it.

I watch her every move.  I watch each jump.  Each stoke.  Each breath.

I don't watch her so much because I think something will go wrong.  I watch her because of everything she has done right.  She did this.  On her own.  Without lessons.  Without us telling her she had to.  She did this because she felt it was time and that she could.

That makes me feel like we have done something right.  That makes my heart smile!

MadHatter - swimming...And she is doing the breast stroke, the freestyle and the doggy paddle!

Bubbilicious...

Today was MadHatter's first lip smacking day.  She decided she was finally ready to chew some gum.  Big day in our house.  Somehow, probably about 4 years ago, I set the rule that children needed to be the big five to chew gum in our house.  She has been talking about that day since she turned 3 1/2.  As we got closer and closer to five, she has gotten more and more excited.  And then, it was upon us.  She was about 10 days out from the moment of truth and she tells me that maybe it's too early.  That maybe she should be six.  Because she didn't think she could remember to not swallow the gum.  That maybe she wouldn't remember not to play, run and jump when she had gum in her mouth.  That maybe, just maybe, she would be more able to remember when she was six.  And I respected her decision, even as I chuckled a bit.  Because my children are sooooo different.  Stinkerbell would never have put this off;  she would have just jumped in head first.  Even though she would have swallowed it within seconds.  My oldest is a thinker.  A processor.  A worrier.

Today she worked through it all.  In her own time.  In her own space.

And I am so proud of her for working through it all for herself.  It's one of the hardest things we do as parents.  Letting our kids grow, and think and make decisions all on their own.  Not on our timeline.  Not based on our thought processes.  Not based on what we think but based on what they, and only they, know to be true about themselves.

Big day.  For both of us, I think.  And I am proud to report, that gum was spit out in my hand just before she headed in to bath time    She told me, "I am done with this first piece Mama.  But that doesn't mean I am always going to be this good at remembering.  I bet I swallow a piece or two but this time, I didn't.  Aren't you proud, Mama?"

Oh, baby girl, ALWAYS.

Baby Love

My girls have been waiting with bated breath for the arrival of the new baby over at www.stronglovegrowshere.com.  We have known the family for about 2 years now.  And became fast friends.  It works that way sometimes when you are expats.  You know you only have a short time that you will be neighbors (at least in this city) so you speed up the getting to know you.  Wasn't difficult in this case, since we both moved to Santiago within weeks of each other, work for the same company, have children in the same age range and funny enough, they had just moved from my hometown.  We almost had to like each other, didn't we?  

When A got pregnant, we were all very excited for them.  But I think my girls took the cake.  Especially in the past couple of weeks.  They were full of questions about the baby, how and when it would be born, and kept touching A's belly (sorry about that A)!  They just couldn't contain themselves.  And I don't blame them.  It was a first for them.  Because even though they have a lot of friends, none of my friends were ever pregnant while they were old enough to be even remotely curious.  This whole thing was new to them and pretty darn exciting.  And totally frustrating too.  They were so upset that no one could tell them the sex of the baby and repeatedly asked anyone who would listen, "Do you know now if it is a boy or a girl?".   So, when I told them that A and G would be having the baby on Tuesday night and they would finally be able to know if it was a baby girl or a baby boy they jumped.  Literally, they jumped for joy.  They were both hoping for a girl...

And they got their wish (thanks A and G for having that work out for us).  And they were super happy to know that they were going to finally going to get to meet the new baby.  They were so excited Friday morning when they picked out their outfits (yep, totally chosen by my 5 year old, and then copied by her 3 1/2 year old sister...yep, they have better style sense than I do...).  They hounded me all morning about going to take my shower so we could go.  I think I delayed it longer than I had to because it was just so cute seeing them so excited.

We headed out to get them some fresh flowers.  Those were for A.  The dark chocolate was for G.  I made them sit for this picture...

They were not so happy that I made them wait even longer.  You can tell by the forced smiles they gave me with impatient eyes, pleading with me to hurry up.  They just couldn't take it any more.  I took pity on them and we headed down the hall and walked in to this...

 

They wouldn't get any closer.  They would walk away, then walk back.  Sneak up on the baby like she was going to suddenly move and yell boo.  They were shy and a bit in awe of how tiny she was.  Even though both of them were that size once.  Stinkerbell was much smaller even.

And then they got a bit braver and wanted to hold the baby.  So we made MadHatter practice with a doll...

And Stinkerbell was just checking out to see what she could get away with now...

All while an unsuspecting baby slept.

And finally we let the Nana take the baby and hold her.  Close enough so the girls could touch and just get used to her outside of the bassinet.  They were super gentle (that takes a lot of concentration for Stinkerbell) and really sweet.  Baby got a bunch of kisses that day from her newest friends.

 Finally, we asked if MadHatter would like to hold her.  She was beside herself but a bit scared.  When she saw this...

she lost all fear.  She figured if she could handle the one, she could handle the other.  And she did.  Perfectly.

They had so much fun.  They really haven't stopped talking about the new baby.  And I still get a million random questions out of the blue about her.  But that's ok.  As long as one of those questions isn't "Can we have one too?"  Because as much fun as it is to have a newborn around, B and I are perfectly content sharing other people's.

Congratulations A and G and Big Sister L.  Baby E is absolutely perfect and heaven sent.  Thanks for letting my girls and I share the excitement.

Sometimes You Wanna Go...

Hi. My name is E.

I have hijacked Gringa's blog for this post because, well, because I am 5 months old and if I want to get my hands on something, I get my hands on something.  And honestly, because I think I had the most all encompassing view on the goings on for the four days B and Gringa were here.  I hear and see almost everything as I tend to be hanging around at least one of the older people at all times.  It almost feels like they don't trust me to be on my own.  Well, unless of course I am locked in that thing they call a crib (prison), and then it's like they don't want to see me again for hours.  But I digress...

It was 2008,  and my mom and dad {T&L} moved to the same town as MadHatter's mom and dad (and Stinkerbell's, but that was a year down the road still).   Because they worked for the same company, it was almost obligatory that they meet.  The Gringa's family was having a party.  B invited T&L.  And Gringa was not too happy about it at the time.  She told B - "We are hosting a party for friends, do I really have to do the meet and greet with the new people too?  And entertain them the whole day?  This was supposed to be relaxing".  But B insisted.  And was right. It was instantaneous.  They were friends for life before the day was over.

I have evidence of that day...

Oh my...they grow up so fast, don't they? Because this here is not the kid {and her sister} that walked in my door on a random Saturday morning.  No knocking.  No bell.  They walked in like they owned the place and then they are all over MY mom.  Hugging her and kissing her and generally just hogging her time.  Then they were chasing MY puppies, especially that Stinkerbell, whom I find to be aptly named.  And about 3 seconds after that they were somehow doing this in my pool.  

They haven't even let me in my own pool yet, and yet they allow a miniature Russian Synchronized Swimming team to dive in?  Over, and over, and over.  I finally had to go take a nap just so I could get away from the girls constant stream of yelling "L, take my picture".  "L, watch this one".  "L, your didn't see that one...watch me now.  Are you ready?"  Trust me, I saw them all.  All 350 of them.

I joined them after my cat nap and it wasn't much better.  Somehow the girls had gotten a hold of Strawberry Beer (juice boxes) and the moms found a bottle of wine.  I sat with them for awhile while they chatted and then got handed off to Dad because they said something about having to feed some other people in the house.  There are other people in the house with needs???  I spent some time chillin' with my boys and then hey told me they were going to hit the hot tub with the youngling and I got excited!!  Finally, I get to dip these sweet baby toes in nirvana.  Nothing doing.  I misunderstood - they were hitting the hot tub with their Yuengling... apparently the world's oldest beer is pretty good.  I wouldn't know, they wouldn't give me even the tiniest sip.

I can't tell you about the rest of the night.  But apparently, neither can any of the adults.  Something about the Dad's finding 4 empty bottles of wine in the trash and the Dad's spending quite a bit of time with their Yuengling.  {Though Gringa does have to interject here - yes, there were 4 bottles gone and a lot of beer...but it was over the course of almost 12 hours.  That is acceptable, right???}

Next day we headed out.  To the Oldest City in America.  Which was a moment of discussion between B and Gringa because they were a bit confused.  Didn't the Pilgrims land in the North East and begin their New World?  How is a city in Florida the oldest?  They forgot that the fact that the Spanish landed on American soil before it was ever part of America.  Ponce de Leon found the Fountain of Youth here {and yet I am still looking for it says Gringa} in 1513.  I have been here many times before but never like this...

I finally got to sit in my stroller.  No car seat.  No staring at  my beautiful Mama's face.  Not that I don't love that view, but there are so many things to see in the world!  And yet, that seems to be lost on Stinkerbell.  Who slept through most of the trip.

But MadHatter and CareBear had a great time...

 Not sure who is teaching who at the cemetery...

 But I do know this...these two were great friends.  I guess they have known each other since MadHatter was my age and CareBear was MadHatter's age.  Confusing?  Yeah, my math skills aren't so great just yet but Gringa tells me that I'm right.

 And these two...pretty good friends too.  And that's ok with me, Gringa is a Mom too and mom's are always the best...

There was also a pretty cool castle...fortress...place with cannons...

And that MadHatter can be cute sometimes....

 And a wine and tapas bar, where my only job was to look cute.  Because they wouldn't give me any Sangria...

And then the rest of the visit was a blur of naps and diaper changes.  Somehow Mr. B ended up wearing a hard hat to lunch the next day {he had the seat in the sun due to children being fussy about where they sat}

And finally, finally, finally, I got to dip my toes in the pool!  The first time is always an event.  Don't ask me why - I just wanted to get my splash on...

 FINALLY!!!

And then things went back to normal.  I took a nap, the girls jumped from the side of the pool, and the big kids did what the big kids do when the kids are taken care of for a minute...they relax.  Funny enough - no more wine was drunk and the beer was still half full when I woke up the day my life returned to normal.  I guess my big kids have grown!!!

Well, maybe not!

PS. by Gringa - Fun.  Fun.  Fun.  I've really missed the family and seeing the kids grow up.  And maybe even watching the Big Kids grow up too!