The best day E.V.E.R.
The Tuesday of my trip was definitely the best day. Ever. I woke up and Ingrid was still sleeping. (The room had two beds, and I had planned on each of us sleeping in a separate bed. I thought she'd love having a nice big bed all to herself, and I knew that at home her bedroom already had the same full size bed, and I was still going back-and-forth about keeping that bed in her room or getting a trundle bed for her. She wanted to cuddle, but that was before she decided not to sleep, so eventually after I rocked her to sleep, I did sleep in the separate bed.) While she slept, I wrote a little in my journal. (By the way, I haven't looked at the journal since my trip home. All of this is completely from my memory. I know I'll cry too much looking at the actual journal.)
She woke up slowly and smiled at me, and I went over to her and she let me pick her up for a big hug. Then, with her head still on my shoulder and in her little sleepy voice, she said, "Quiero ir al bano" (I want to go to the bathroom). Then she took her morning bath (bath #3 of her stay), and she colored while I took a shower. Then we went down for breakfast. The waiters were so nice to her, they brought her a booster seat. She wanted a fried egg and two pieces of bread. After a while, the waitress offered to bring her some fruit and her eyes just lit up at all of that beautiful fruit!
After breakfast we went back to the room to get ready for our outing with the fosters. We waited for them outside the hotel for quite a while, singing every song I knew she knew (only three songs! that she had sung for me on the agency videos and I had memorized so I could sing with her). The fosters showed up when we were taking pictures in her Princess Chair (these big chairs outside the Marriott that look like thrones). I think the foster mom was surprised that Ingrid didn't jump out of the chair to run to her, instead she just finished her little photo shoot and then said hello. By today the foster sister was more comfortable with me and gave me hugs and kisses, so I got lots of fun pictures for her family, too. (By the way, she's still not home either. Previo #5.)
We went to the zoo. It was kind of strange, because Ingrid didn't know who was taking care of her, me or the foster mom. I guess we each took turns with Ingrid, and the dad took care of the foster sister mostly. The best part for Ingrid was the Zaboomafoo animals, you know from the Discovery Kids program? I knew all about the Kroft brothers from Jenna, it's one of her favorite shows also. (The Kroft brothers are speaking in NYC next month, and I was going to go to that conference just to see them, but then I knew I already committed to do another presentation and since Ingrid will never even see the pictures of me with the Zaboomafoo guys it didn't seem to matter as much.)
After the zoo, we met up with the younger bio-daughter and we all went to Pollo Campero. Ingrid could not wait to play in their playground! I watched the way she interacted with the other kids and I thought about how much fun she'd have on the local playgrounds with Lexi and Jenna. And the indoor playground places that are now all popular up here (especially with Jenna, so Resa can read a magazine while Jenna plays dress-up all she wants). During lunch we talked some more about Ingrid's new life in America. I invited the family to her Bat Mitzvah (after I explained what it was), and the foster mother was crying because she was so happy I wanted her to be a part of Ingrid's life. The fosters loved the idea that Ingrid would learn to read Hebrew! I reminded them that Ingrid will always be a Spanish-speaker, she will grow up in a bilingual home with lots of books in both languages, and she'll be able to read (but not converse in) Hebrew. The bio-daughter asked me if I would be coming back for another visit, and I said that the next trip would be to bring her home, and the bio-daughter didn't want to hear any more because she was getting too upset at the idea of Ingrid leaving. This family truly loves Ingrid and her foster sister.
After lunch, we went on a little sight-seeing tour in the city. We went to the Presidential Palace, which the foster mom explained was the site of many protests. Apparently earlier that day there had been a protest of local teachers! (The mom was also a former teacher!) We went to the mercado where I got some Guatemala souvenirs (for my classroom and for Ingrid's room), I got each of the girls a doll, and I got Doug some coffee. Back to the plaza by the Palace so that the girls could try and catch a pigeon. This kind of grossed me out, because in Manhattan the pigeons are considered flying rats, but the mom explained that it's good luck if you catch a pigeon. The bio-daughter even caught one when she was little! I got some great pictures of Ingrid chasing after the pigeons. I figured that would be one of the pictures on her Bat Mitzvah video, imagining 9 years down the road when she was a typical Jewish American Princess, seeing herself chasing these flying rats.
The foster sister fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel, which was good because she had extreme separation anxiety. Ingrid and I tried to get out of the car very quietly, but she woke up and started to cry again when she realized Ingrid was leaving with me. Ingrid just waved and took my hand to walk back to our room. She kept calling it "nuestro apartamento" (our apartment). We ordered room service that night because it took a long time to get table service the night before, and I really wanted to have a more peaceful night so Ingrid could get better sleep than the previous night. She wanted a grilled cheese sandwich with fruit, and I got molletes (rolls with refried beans, that's served with pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole). She put ketchup on her grilled cheese, and even wanted to dunk her fruit in the ketchup! I said that was gross and made a face, which just cracked her up like the previous night's open-mouth trick. I think she regretted putting ketchup on the fruit, but ate it anyway. :-) She asked if the green stuff on my plate was avocado and I said yes, but as I was starting to tell her it was mixed with other spices she took a big spoonful and put it in her mouth and realized it was not plain avocado. Spat it up right in my hand. See, who says you don't get to experience all those things when you adopt an older child???
After dinner Ingrid wanted to take another bath. By this time it was already about 9 PM. I said that was OK as long as she promised to go to sleep right after the bath. And she did! After the bath, she put on her pajamas, we read a book, and she got into bed! Now I'm sure that was more the result of a full day on less than a full night's sleep rather than my awesome parenting skills, but it was pretty cool at the time that it worked!
Woke up with Ingrid. Fell asleep with Ingrid. Only day in my life.
She woke up slowly and smiled at me, and I went over to her and she let me pick her up for a big hug. Then, with her head still on my shoulder and in her little sleepy voice, she said, "Quiero ir al bano" (I want to go to the bathroom). Then she took her morning bath (bath #3 of her stay), and she colored while I took a shower. Then we went down for breakfast. The waiters were so nice to her, they brought her a booster seat. She wanted a fried egg and two pieces of bread. After a while, the waitress offered to bring her some fruit and her eyes just lit up at all of that beautiful fruit!
After breakfast we went back to the room to get ready for our outing with the fosters. We waited for them outside the hotel for quite a while, singing every song I knew she knew (only three songs! that she had sung for me on the agency videos and I had memorized so I could sing with her). The fosters showed up when we were taking pictures in her Princess Chair (these big chairs outside the Marriott that look like thrones). I think the foster mom was surprised that Ingrid didn't jump out of the chair to run to her, instead she just finished her little photo shoot and then said hello. By today the foster sister was more comfortable with me and gave me hugs and kisses, so I got lots of fun pictures for her family, too. (By the way, she's still not home either. Previo #5.)
We went to the zoo. It was kind of strange, because Ingrid didn't know who was taking care of her, me or the foster mom. I guess we each took turns with Ingrid, and the dad took care of the foster sister mostly. The best part for Ingrid was the Zaboomafoo animals, you know from the Discovery Kids program? I knew all about the Kroft brothers from Jenna, it's one of her favorite shows also. (The Kroft brothers are speaking in NYC next month, and I was going to go to that conference just to see them, but then I knew I already committed to do another presentation and since Ingrid will never even see the pictures of me with the Zaboomafoo guys it didn't seem to matter as much.)
After the zoo, we met up with the younger bio-daughter and we all went to Pollo Campero. Ingrid could not wait to play in their playground! I watched the way she interacted with the other kids and I thought about how much fun she'd have on the local playgrounds with Lexi and Jenna. And the indoor playground places that are now all popular up here (especially with Jenna, so Resa can read a magazine while Jenna plays dress-up all she wants). During lunch we talked some more about Ingrid's new life in America. I invited the family to her Bat Mitzvah (after I explained what it was), and the foster mother was crying because she was so happy I wanted her to be a part of Ingrid's life. The fosters loved the idea that Ingrid would learn to read Hebrew! I reminded them that Ingrid will always be a Spanish-speaker, she will grow up in a bilingual home with lots of books in both languages, and she'll be able to read (but not converse in) Hebrew. The bio-daughter asked me if I would be coming back for another visit, and I said that the next trip would be to bring her home, and the bio-daughter didn't want to hear any more because she was getting too upset at the idea of Ingrid leaving. This family truly loves Ingrid and her foster sister.
After lunch, we went on a little sight-seeing tour in the city. We went to the Presidential Palace, which the foster mom explained was the site of many protests. Apparently earlier that day there had been a protest of local teachers! (The mom was also a former teacher!) We went to the mercado where I got some Guatemala souvenirs (for my classroom and for Ingrid's room), I got each of the girls a doll, and I got Doug some coffee. Back to the plaza by the Palace so that the girls could try and catch a pigeon. This kind of grossed me out, because in Manhattan the pigeons are considered flying rats, but the mom explained that it's good luck if you catch a pigeon. The bio-daughter even caught one when she was little! I got some great pictures of Ingrid chasing after the pigeons. I figured that would be one of the pictures on her Bat Mitzvah video, imagining 9 years down the road when she was a typical Jewish American Princess, seeing herself chasing these flying rats.
The foster sister fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel, which was good because she had extreme separation anxiety. Ingrid and I tried to get out of the car very quietly, but she woke up and started to cry again when she realized Ingrid was leaving with me. Ingrid just waved and took my hand to walk back to our room. She kept calling it "nuestro apartamento" (our apartment). We ordered room service that night because it took a long time to get table service the night before, and I really wanted to have a more peaceful night so Ingrid could get better sleep than the previous night. She wanted a grilled cheese sandwich with fruit, and I got molletes (rolls with refried beans, that's served with pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole). She put ketchup on her grilled cheese, and even wanted to dunk her fruit in the ketchup! I said that was gross and made a face, which just cracked her up like the previous night's open-mouth trick. I think she regretted putting ketchup on the fruit, but ate it anyway. :-) She asked if the green stuff on my plate was avocado and I said yes, but as I was starting to tell her it was mixed with other spices she took a big spoonful and put it in her mouth and realized it was not plain avocado. Spat it up right in my hand. See, who says you don't get to experience all those things when you adopt an older child???
After dinner Ingrid wanted to take another bath. By this time it was already about 9 PM. I said that was OK as long as she promised to go to sleep right after the bath. And she did! After the bath, she put on her pajamas, we read a book, and she got into bed! Now I'm sure that was more the result of a full day on less than a full night's sleep rather than my awesome parenting skills, but it was pretty cool at the time that it worked!
Woke up with Ingrid. Fell asleep with Ingrid. Only day in my life.
posted by Stacy @ 10:28 AM
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