Welbi ‘Round the World

School…Day 1

I don’t know if today could have gone any smoother.

Todd and I debated what time we needed to set our alarm.  First of all, we haven’t set one since Riley was born (that 3 years and 8 months for those that are counting) because a kid always woke us up in plenty of time to get ready for school.  We finally decided on 5:30am.  We both doubled checked to make sure the alarm was set correctly (all of the buttons are in Japanese).  We woke up with no problem, we both showered and got dressed before Tess woke up.  Then Todd made breakfast while I made the kid’s lunches.  Then Todd dressed Tess while I finished packing their backpacks.  Finally, we had to wake Riley up at 7:30 because we had to leave for school at 7:45.  Riley was up and dressed in 10 minutes.  We took some photos, and we were out the of the door at 7:50.

Our walk to school is ridiculous, we cross the street.  So we crossed the street with two kids, two backpacks, two water bottles, two lunches, two computers, one purse, and a bag full of stuff for school.

We dropped the girls off (and no one cried) in the same room that Tess will have her two year program.  Right now it is technically before the school, so Peter Pan, the company that is running the two year program, is running day care for all kids that need it under the age of 7.

So Riley and Tess went to the same room and played in the same room all day.  They apparently had a great day.  The teachers said that Tess cried twice but for a very short time.   They said that she ate all of her lunch and some of her sister’s.  She also took her nap at the exact time I said she would, 1 pm.  She slept until 3:15. Tess was the youngest one there, and I think the only one to nap, but Jon walked by and saw a bunch of the older girls doing her hair, and she loved it for the most part.

Riley played with play doh, colored and read lots of books.  She said she had a great time with Andrew.  She said they played a lot, but she said she was really tired.  The feedback that we received on Riley is that she is well prepared for school.

So Todd and I are incredibly pleased.  I am eager to see what tomorrow will bring.

In other parenting milestones – Todd and I have given up the late night dinners without the kids.  We have officially started family dinner.  The first family dinner was pasta with red sauce and eggplant parmesan.  Tess ate a ton, and we even convinced Riley to eat the eggplant.  She finally agreed with some help from bribes.  She now thinks eggplant is yummy.

Tonight was family dinner #2.  The girls took a little more work to get them to the table, but the did finally eat the paella.  Todd and I ate directly from the pan, Tess ate the rice willingly, and Riley struggled with it because of the color, but finally she ate some and proclaimed it yummy.  Todd and I are definitely not as relaxed as we used to be eating dinner, but the rule is that we both must have an alcoholic beverage with dinner.  This rule helps us deal with the mess and stress of eating while trying to get your kids to eat.

It is 8:30.  I am beat.  The house is a mess.  I think I am going to vote for bed because Joanne comes tomorrow to clean the house.  Yay!

Tess can hear!

Well, we went to the doctor.  After too much explaining about the test, he said that hears in normal range.  Since the end of May, she has made progress in her speaking and understanding, so we are going to sit tight for the summer and hope that she keeps making more and more progress.  When she turns two in September, we will talk to the pediatrician again.

It’s is a gorgeous afternoon here, so I am off to back our swimming bag, and we are off to the river.  Hopefully, we will remember to take the camera and take some pictures.

Deepest, Darkest Peru

From Monday, the 21st, to Friday, the 26th, I chaperoned 26 members of the 11th grade on their science research trip to the jungle.  It took us 2 full days to get to our destination.  We flew to Puerto Moldanado via Cusco.  Then we traveled by bus and canoe (7 hours) to finally reach our destination deep within the Tambopata National Park.  We were staying at the Tambopata Research Center on the Tambopata River (which flows into the Madre de Dios river which flows into the Madera river which flows into the Amazon River).  The kids collected and crunched their data and in between explored the wilds of the jungle.  I saw three species of monkeys, 30 bird species including 6 species of parrots, capybara (giant rodent), tayra (giant weasel), agouti (giant guinea pig), and several caimen (small alligators).

The kids were fabulous.  I missed my kids (and my husband) terribly, but I am so glad that I got to experience the jungles of Peru.  I can now leave Peru with no regrets.

Here are the photos.

Caught Up

It took me six months, but I have finally caught up with all of the pictures. I am now just missing 5 videos which I will start tomorrow.

I would like to blame having two small children, lack of sleep, traveling, and work, but the real culprit is my new found love of Young Adult literature. If you haven't read Maniac Magee – go out right now and buy a copy and read it. Wow!

Anyway, back to the pictures. I added a Houston album in January 2007. I created a new album, Lima Summer 07, and filled it with pics. Finally, there is a new album in our Travel main album called Mancora. We just went for the long weekend of April 27th to May 1st.

Other updates:

Todd's rehearsals for his show, The Real Inspector Hound, are in full swing and the play goes up in one month.

Riley is having a great time at Nido, and says everything we do – and not always what we want her to say.

Tess is incredible. She is standing now and we don't think it will be long before she walks. She is not quite 8 months.

I am enjoying these last months with 2 full time nannies. We are beginning full moving mode. We have sold most of our possessions, and now we are taking every Saturday to clean out our crap so we move as little as possible.

Enjoy the photos!

Florida is Warm!

The family headed to Florida to visit my mom and Maurizio.  To sweeten the pot my aunt and her boyfriend were also there.  Riley had yet another Christmas and yet another birthday.  The kid is going to think that she receives presents every time she flies.  

Todd made gumbo, Riley ordered everyone around, and people could not stop cuddling Tess.  So everyone enjoyed themselves.

Here are some fabulous photos of the festivities, some swimming, and our trip to the Seaquarium.

Riley’s Special Week

I know you are all probably thinking that Christmas week and Riley's birthday (the 31st) would be her special week. Well, you are wrong.

Her special week was November 20 – 24. That week was all about Riley at Nido. I made three posters of all things Riley: her family, her likes, and her life. Most people just bring one poster, but I am a supreme over achiever, and I was on maternity leave with not much else to do. In addition to having posters up of her, Todd and I went in on Thursday, Thanksgiving, and brought frames for all of the students to paint and give to their family as gifts.

Here are some photos from her special week (and a couple of cute photos from November). Here are some videos from her special week: playing and painting.

More videos and photos soon, Rachel!

SAHM?

My time as a stay at home mom is almost at an end. I return back to work a week from Wednesday.

I am not sure how I feel about that. I never thought I would make it this far without the stimulus and excitement that work brings (I do ACTUALLY enjoy my job). Luckily I have had to go in to help in lessons, field trips and meetings, so I haven't been completely isolated from adult English conversation.

I enjoy being at home with the girls, especially with the help of two nannies/housekeepers. I know I will miss the amount of time with them, but not going back to work sounds like a death sentence (for me – and I in no way criticize those who choose not to continue with work).

My main concern is how difficult breastfeeding becomes when you return to work. So far it has been an enjoyable experience with little to no stress. Shortly I will have to pump, feed her formula, or race home several times a day. Luckily I get an hour off each day to pump or return home and living only a five minute walk away makes that remotely possible – but still stressful.

I cannot believe how fast the time has flown and how quickly the girls have grown up in that time. Tess is HUGE!! Almost 15 pounds and long. She is holding her up and doing baby push ups! She is trying to roll over and pushes her legs out to crawl!! Riley is a little chatterbox and we can usually understand about half of her words. Her favorite word right now is cae (which means "it falls") everything falls (or really more like Riley drops or throws everything).

I have FIVE new videos. Wow!! I know. We have had a lot for awhile now and I just needed to sit down and render them into a usable size. First up is Riley in our front garden in her Halloween costume as a Texas A&M Cheerleader. Next up is a video showing off Tess incredible neck strength. Then there is a short clip from our latest visit to the Zoo. The final two videos are from this past weekend when Riley and Tess were playing in Riley's room. The first in the series is DJ REW which was immediately followed by Sitting and Smiling.

In addition to this wonderful array of video clips, there are also new photos in the November 2006 album. There are photos of Riley playing at school, Tess sleeping, Riley playing with her color while wearing a winter vest and her gloves, and Riley jumping on a trampoline at a friend's second birthday party.

Enjoy!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

I am completely convinced that Peru gives 3 months maternity leave not to let moms breastfeed, but to give moms time to take care of all of the paperwork that is necessary.

I have had to:

- register the birth

- return three days later to pick up multiple copies of the birth certificate

- get a Peruvian passport

- get a Consular Report of Foreign Birth

- get a US passport

Each of these has their own time restrictions and mountains of mandatory paperwork.

Some funny stories…

- When I registered Tess's birth I did not have Todd with me. The man at the office told me I needed him. Not to be dissuaded, I called our personnel head and she convinced him (in better Spanish than mine) that I, in fact, did not need my husband there to sign for her birth.

- During this same visit the person and I argued about her name. Peruvians have two last names their paternal and their maternal. Tess is officially Tess Olivia Welbes Welbes. When I told him that was not correct, she should only have one last name. He informed that Tess was Peruvian and Peruvians have two last names.

- When I returned to get copies of her birth certificate, I was the stupid foreigner. Todd and I had decided to get 20 copies – hopefully enough for the rest of her life. We figured that it was much easier for us to get them now than for Tess to get them in 20 years. However, the system is not prepared for people like me – stupid foreigner. I asked the cashier for 20 copies, she looked at me in horror and spent the next 20 minutes printing out receipts (20 of them to be exact). This process took so long the line behind me soon extended out the door. Why? Stupid foreigner.

- Tess's Peruvian passport was no less interesting. I found out the passport office is underground underneath a huge traffic circle. I went with a person from school, a nanny, and Tess. Again, stupid foreigner. Babies get special treatment and don't have to wait in line, but I was not assertive enough (can you imagine?) and ended up waiting an extra 20 minutes because I didn't want to piss off the gate keeper. It was only when Marlene (Tess's nanny) dragged me to the front that we moved forward in line.

- Finally, the US passport was pretty straight forward mainly because we have done it before and it being our native tongue and all. The most hideous part of this errand was the preparation. We had to document all of the time we were in the states and abroad since BIRTH! That was not easy.

Oh well, it is almost over. All I have left to do is pick up her US passport on or after November 29th. Then once I get home we will get her a social security card.

In between my errands I have also been taking pictures. Here are some of Tess around the house, us at the zoo, and Tess's headshots for her passport. Enjoy.

Busy, busy, busy

Todd and I are enjoying our break from work. Dan and Vicky came down to enjoy the Lima winter and Machu Picchu for 10 days.

Todd is taking an online course to teach him how mesh face-to-face teaching with online programs. I have been pulling together our resumes and getting Tess’s room ready for occupancy.

We went to see our second movie since Riley was born, Superman Returns.

We have new videos (Goes Walking and The Flirt) and photos in three different albums (Dan and Vicky Visit, Zoo II, July 2006). Enjoy!

This is the kind of busy that I could get used to.

June is finally upon us

In the states June means heat and summer vacation.

Here in the Welbes household June has other meanings.

• elections
• birthdays
• still in school!
• winter
• despedidas
• visitors

Elections:

All Peru is voting once again. Word on the street is that there could be protests depending on the outcome. School is still on for Monday, so life goes on for us. No alcohol for sale, though, Friday through Monday. Not that it really matters to me.

Birthdays:

Todd and I celebrate our 30ths this year. So far neither of us has had much time to think about the change in decade.

STILL IN SCHOOL!:

Our last day for school is June 28th, but really we finish up this Friday with next week being review, the week after is finals, and then a half week to close up shop.

Winter:

The weather in Lima is always temperate, but we have a “summer” and a “winter”. Summer is from Mid November to Mid May and then winter is Mid May to Mid November. In summer everyday is sunny and warm. In winter everyday is gray and misty. When the “seasons” change you get days like it has been – gray and misty in the morning, and then sunny and warm in the afternoon. This sounds nice, but when it is gray and misty, you put on pants, socks, and sweaters. Then when it reaches the mid 80s by 3pm, and you are boiling.

Despedidas:

June is the month of good-byes (despedida) at international schools. We have approximately 12 people leaving the high school, and three people leaving the middle school. Neither Todd or I work in elementary so we have no idea. Some of these are people that we barely know, and some of them are our good friends. So June tends to be a rather sad month, full of tearful good-byes.

Visitors:

Finally, our favorite part of June. I don’t know why, but most people who visit come in June. June/July is the best time to see Machu Picchu because it is the “dry” season (it still rained on us). This year Vicky and Dan, Todd’s mom and stepdad, will be visiting us from the 27th of June through the 8th of July. In the middle they will head to Machu Picchu because it rivals Riley in amazing sights of Peru.

In other news, the my evaluation visit went well, and we will know the outcome in 2-3 months. Todd’s play is coming together and goes up this Wednesday. And finally, Riley is honest to goodness, really walking – almost exactly at 17 months. Todd and I are both enjoying her hilarious gait. Here are some photos and video of her practicing her new skill. Also this is a picture of me last week – 24 weeks pregnant.