We had our meeting with the rep. from ICBF today, she arrived while we were eating breakfast. She sat in our room, asked how things were going , asked how the boys were behaving (ironically during this time Luis hit Carlos in the chest with a toy truck), and we asked several questions.
After that was over, we all rode in to town to get documents notarized (because we haven't done that enough...), and it was truly liberating to get out of the hotel, if only for a few hours. Highlights included Luis Angel setting off a car alarm with his head, and then crying his head off.
We gave the pool a try (see photos below), but only Carlos would go in (with water wings and an innertube). Tomorrow we are going to a country club where the owner of our hotel belongs. They supposedly have a wading pool that hopefully will appeal more to the twins.
Dinner was delicious (amazing tacos and nachos), but it soon devolved into a meltdown with all the kids laughing, playing with food, and not listening at all. The others eating in the room with us staring weren't helping either. I know we shouldn't be too sensitive, and that things will like be even worse in the States...but we're new at this, so to be honest, it completely sucked.
We have set forth an every-other-night bath schedule, and Luis Angel still screams the entire way through the bath. Daniel at least waits until his hair needs washed until he melts down.
The kids have been asleep for 2 hours, and Andrea and I have been in the closet talking, sharing our thoughts, and writing this post together. It honestly feels like so much more than 3 days. We are trying to keep things as sunny as possible on the blog, but there have been some serious desperation emails sent out behind the scenes. The language barrier has been rough. We were planning on keeping the kids at home for at least 6 months for time to bond and attach, but we are now looking into school programs at least for Carlos, because with limited communication, bonding will likely be slow going.
That's all for tonight. Enjoy the pics.
much love,
troy and andrea (and the boys)
Mama in a rare sit still moment with Daniel, and then Carlos jumped into the picture. But it is impossible to get all three of them to sit still and when they see the camera they move even faster and want to look at the screen to see themselves.
We finally got to go for a swim today...well we tried. The pool was freezing. This is Carlos Samuel fishing a leaf out of the pool. He is always helping out, cleaning up, clearing the table, etc...He even makes his bed when he first wakes up! We don't even make our bed...ever!
The twins are like night and day. Daniel sat on the side of the pool and was OK there, but Luis wouldn't even really come near until Mama came down and sat on the side too and put her legs in. Oh yes, I was pink within 10 minutes despite the sunblock.
El Cortijo has a nice big box of Megablocks (the boys' love these) downstairs near the pool, so we had a nice afternoon of building tall towers.
Just to prove that Troy is still living...with Daniel and Carlos. Note the as-promised shirt for all my friends in Central PA.
