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Super Monica and Super Kelly!

I do this thing in the pool called “Super Monica/Kelly”. Basically we’re flying through the air like superman!

What’s so funny is Kelly keeps saying “Super MacKelly”. I think the “mac” comes from supermercado:).

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El Supermercado

We basically live in a supermercado.

There are two of almost equal distance away from our hotel. One has a jungle gym for the girls to go crazy on. The other is more like a walmart – food and random stuff.

We got to the supermercado usually 3 times a day. The most important time is lunch. The girls play (while Ren watches) while I do some strategic cafeteria shopping (oh how I miss fresh vegetables) and create plates of food for the girls. Everyone knows us as the gringos who are adopting 2 girls. Some even know us by name. Everyone is really happy for us.

I know the Spanish names for most of the P&G products here. For example, Tide is called Ace. How’s that for a weird fact.

It’s even sort of calming. Being in control of our food in a place that’s sorta like home.

Today has been a petulant day. We’re not really sure why. Both girls have had a number of melt downs. Fortunately they’re becoming very short. I think we’re getting better at handling them. Kelly really can’t cry for longer than 60 seconds…then she just starts giggling. Monica, I think, gets worse when she feels that she’s loosing control. Giving her options definitely helps. And just running through why she’s freaking out. We’re all starting to understand each other!

They both love giving hugs and kisses. Even after meltdowns.

We’re very much hoping (we’ve heard whispers) that we might only have 1 more week here (assuming no Court 4). That would be awesome! Not that I don’t love Colombia. We really want to come back here and explore some time! It’s just you feel a bit caged as you try and keep some kind of normal schedule for the girls. We’ll hopefully have a better idea this afternoon!

Oh – and we finally found the good fried junk food place. Last night we pigged out on grease!  Fried balls of something with meat and rice inside and Colombian empanadas! Monica loves Ketchup. You can put Ketchup on anything and she’ll eat it.

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Thank you for the comments

Renee and I basically sneak out of the room when the girls fall asleep (either in the afternoon or evening) to write a quick post and read comments. I know we haven’t been able to respond individually to any – but we did want to say THANK YOU for them. They REALLY HELP us – giving us positive boosts. Not that things are going bad – it’s just we really miss everyone back home (and can’t wait to introduce you to the girls).

Particular thanks to all the parents (adoptive or otherwise). We’re so grateful for your advice and prayers!

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Just some notes on being papi

I wanted to make a fun cross post here on some interesting things I’ve noticed about becoming a father. Nothing particular to adoption – and certainly noted by many before me – but (slightly) comical (at least I think so).

There’s nothing better than the laughter of my daughters. This doesn’t surprise me too much because before having daughters I would say there’s nothing better than the laughter of my wife. I love my family’s laughter.

Things just don’t gross me out as much. This has to be a survival strategy. Poop, snot, you name it you got to get over it. When they’re yours, you can.

On a similar note, I never knew how much fatherhood revolves around a toilet.

You have to eat fast. In fact, eating is an adventure. Our first eating experiences with Monica and Kelly were a whirlwind. We’ve now learned to tell them ahead of time “you have to give mami and papi some time to actually chew their food.” We’ve added a full 90 seconds to our dinning time!

Backrubs and head massages go a long way in helping to calm freak out moments.

I love incessant chattering. Both Monica and Kelly will have massive conversations with the air. Very fast, very light, and I really can’t understand a word of it (but I get the tone). It makes me happy.

Oh my gosh I am sore. Before getting on the plane my sister-in-law made a comment about coming home with some “guns” for arms. I thought she was joking. Nope. From the very first moment of waking up to an hour before bed I am holding, playing, hugging, swinging, piggyback hosting, dancing, jumping, chasing, diving, and running. For the first 3 days my muscles were screaming.

As this picture no doubt demonstrates. This is Papi trying to give a piggyback and piggyfront ride.

From January 16
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Pop the Ballon