¡Feliz Día Papi!

To our ready, sure, and steady in the midst of the wackadoo of life.

To the one who will hold us tight, but always go on our adventures.

 To a silly spirit

 

























 

To the one who has our back, whether we realize it or not.

To our quiet but constant cheerleader.

Kick back and relax Papi...

 

It's your special day!

We love you!

Birthday Baptism Bash - Part 1

Birthday 1 - The Actual Day

It started with a crown.

My mom, heretofore known as Abuelita, came the day before in order to be with Peanut on her birthday start to finish. As soon as she heard Peanut's stirrings, she ran in to sing Happy Birthday and so the celebrations began. Allowing her to finish her breakfast, in short order Abuelita had pulled this lovely topper out of her bag and Peanut went straight to royalty. 

Now I didn't think it would last. 

We can put a hat on Peanut's head to protect her from the sun, and if she is not immediately distracted that hat is off within .25 seconds. In fact, we can barely comb the girl's hair without her reaching up and grabbing to use the comb herself (which, perhaps deeply surprisingly, rarely results in combed hair). So I figured this crown, made of curly ribbon and wiry stars was a fun gesture on Abuelita's part, but one that would require some lightening fast fingers on the shutter of my camera to catch an actual photo of it on her head.

I could not have been more wrong. Peanut kept that thing on allllll day.

Sometimes she would toy with it... 

 

And once in a while she would lend it to someone else...

But by and large the girl kept that thing on all day - fascinated I tell you.

Most of the morning and early afternoon were spent doofing around (in a crown), waiting for Papi to get back from Cartagena with Nanny and Grandad. When looking at herself in the mirror got old, climbing in and out of and on top of Abuelita's suitcase became the order of the day. Because Abuelita's bedroom is also called the living room, there was not a lot of space for her to be private, but the upside was that she got to introduce Peanut to the wonders of make-up brushes.

Since Peanut's mom does not actually know what to do with a makeup brush, 

someone was going to have to step in at some point. 

 

 I will note that it is possible the lesson did not fully take as 

"brush-cap-as-musical-instrument" was an equally popular choice.

Once Nanny and Grandad arrived, we deemed it time to celebrate. And what better to celebrate with? 

Why, Cheerwine, of course. 

She looks like she just loves it, right?

 

We talked a lot about what happened a year ago on the 22nd, and noted that Peanut was way to big to return from whence she came, hard as she might try.

And even though the official party was scheduled for the 25th, no one wanted to miss out on this special day. 

We donned the birthday girl shirt and obviously requisite tutu and invited over the rest of the family. 

 So with Tía Jacky (also fondly, and very appropriately known as Tía Mala...), 

Abuelo Alex and Abuela Fanny, we cheered for the birthday bean.

Papi made a scrumptious flan, we sang, we clapped, and we laughed and laughed and laughed. 

Though the prize was well worth it, I am giving September 22, 2011 significantly higher marks than 2010.

But it ain't over yet folks. It ain't over yet.

4 - Words

Peanut talks a lot. Every day she looks out our window and jabbers and waves (sometimes to people, sometimes to buses, sometimes to dogs, sometimes to the city itself). Sometimes she speaks with great forcefulness such that while I have no idea what she is trying to say, I am clear that she believes very strongly in what she is telling me. Language acquisition is always a bit of a tough thing to chart, but I think it can be even more challenging initially for kids in a bilingual environment. We talk to Peanut most of the time in Spanish, but we talk to each other most of the time in English. Others in Barranquilla talk to her in Spanish, but everyone on the computer (yeah for skype!) talks to her in English. It is bound to be a little confusing.

Still, we have sussed out four words that we think she says pretty clearly and regularly. 

1. Mama

Now, this would warm my heart a little more if the word Mama referred only to me. However it seems to refer to photographs of any sort (regardless of whether I am in them), and it is a general filler word in between other currently indeterminable phrases. Funnier yet is that it often gets put fairly close together with a word that sounds  a lot like Mamie, so then it comes out Mama Mamie. As if the kid had another Mama...(or as if I would let her get away with calling me Mamie). 

Still, when I get a Mama that is clearly about me - well, there ain't nothin' better.

 

2. Papa

This has some eerie similarities to the usage of Mama. Not that she gets us confused; Papa definitely refers to Richard, but it can be other bright, shiny objects as well. 

For a while Papa seemed to get thrown out in fits of irritation, but that has subsided. I am sure it will return at age 13, but that is for another time. In the here and now we will pretty much take it any way it comes. 

3. Baby // Bebé

This is clearly for another baby. The way Peanut says it is actually sort of a cross between baby (English) and bebé (Spanish). I can't quite explain it to you, so I will let you see it in action. The first book is from Tía Shannan and has lots of good words in it. The second one is from Tía Laura and Tía Jess and is called Global Babies. Peanut loves it because it is chock full of babies (of course). She opens it up, points to a picture, says "beby" and then gives the baby a kiss. Love it.

4. Gato

Okay, this may be a word she actually has, or it may not be. 

Gato is the word for cat in Spanish, and as I mentioned two days ago, Peanut became encantada with Carlotto the Cat while in Bogotá. (Hey, that sounds like a children's book...) Every time she saw him she would squeal with delight, and if we said, "¿Dónde está el gato?" ("Where is the cat?") then she would look toward either of his two favorite spots with eyes wide and hopeful. Since then we have heard a lot of things that sound like "ato", so we have basically just decided she is saying gato and chalking up word number four!

¡Feliz Día Papá!

In honor of Father's Day (better late than never, right?), or Día del Padre aquí en Colombia, Peanut proffers praise photographically (why, oh why does that "p" have to sound like an "f"?)...

Pictures of Papi and Peanut: 

Presenting a panorama of precious parenting practically pouring with passion and pizazz. Please pause to partake of the picture parade para a particularly precious person, pastor and parent we call Papi.
 

¡Feliz Día Papá! from Richard Williams on Vimeo.

Happy Mother's Day

Yes, I know it is late, but hey...I wasn't writing blog posts on Mother's Day! I just wanted to include this as a sort of "final installment" to the barriga pictures of long ago. Same outfit, same room, same Peanut...just easier to see this go around.

Love you Nutter!

Making Possible the Blue Cocoon

Sometimes God puts people directly in your path.

When I wrote to ask her if she might be willing/interested in coming to Barranquilla to help us with the birth of Peanut, I wasn't sure what she would say.  When we met in February I had confided that I was pregnant (mostly to avoid eating too near any provocative smells), and sparkly eyed she had confided that she was sort of a birth nut.  She was available to talk if I needed to do so, and she wished me well in the coming 7 month journey.  It wasn't much to go on, but, following Ed McMahon's logic, I figured "Heck, if you don't enter, you can't win" and the email shot into cyberspace.

Her response was quick, thoughtful, and lengthy - a preview of all the emails and communications to come.  :)

Susanne is here working with the Mennonite Central Committee for three years, and aside from concerns about whether she would be able to take the time away from her work, she and her family were committed to making this crazy request work...all the way from Bogotá.  So she packed a bag (before we did I think), put it by the front door, and faithfully checked email, text messages and voice mails to see if she needed to hop on a plane.

In her words, "I would love to make it to the birth itself, but if circumstances/timing doesn't work out right...I could bring some recipes and cook a little" and "I'll just be there to clean the toilets and do some laundry for you all."  There may be no one who has undersold themselves quite so impressively.

What we did not know (remember?) is that Susanne is actually a child specialist: birth to age three.  So aside from making it to the hospital by 5pm (plenty of time...) and helping convince Dra. Lucia to let me get on that darn ball to help Peanut turn over, she stayed with us for 4 more days and helped us get our sea legs.  Having eaten together twice and spent a total of 6 hours together previously, Susanne saw more of me than most people ever even wanted to - on the surgical table and afterward as I worked to get the hang of breast feeding and hurt in places I wasn't even aware existed.

Besides cooking some of the best food we have had this whole year, doing the laundry and bringing recipes (we did manage to keep her from attacking the toilet), she stayed up through the night with us to help us figure out the first nights with Peanut.  Susanne helped us remember that Peanut's crying was not a personal attack but rather part of the work she was doing to try and get it together in this new place.  She brought a sense of calm to a household that was feeling more of the storm, and she allowed both of us to hole up in the blue cocoon so that we could sleep, cry, smile, and stare in wonder at this new arrival.

In short, she helped us move from people to parents, and for that Tía Susanne, we can never thank you enough.