Hugs and Kisses

(Chris is writing)
Today has been a really good day. I think we are starting to understand and tolerate each other better. We went to the country club with Rosario today. It was very nice. There were several pools and a couple of them were heated – that’s where we hung out. Angee does really well when the water is warm. Yesterday, she didn’t even flinch when we got into the water at the hot springs.
Today was spent mostly in the water. Vanesa has taught herself how to swim. She can swim under water and kind of do the breast stroke. She loves getting her hair wet and jumping into the pool. She was experimenting with new ways to jump into the pool. She really doesn’t seem to fear anything.
Manuela did really well too. The pool was just deep enough for her to walk on, so she didn’t have to rely on us. She followed Vani’s lead and loved jumping in and crawling from pool to pool and getting her hair wet.
Angee stuck with mommy most of the day. She was learning to swim too. She would lie on her tummy and kick and paddle her arms. She would put her mouth in the water and didn’t seem to mind getting her hair wet. She likes to splash a little.
All of the girls were very worn out after swimming. They were a little cranky with each other, but after a very short nap in the car they were ready for more silliness.
When I was changing, after swimming, the girls were with Paul and I could hear Angee crying. It was really cool that I could hear it was my daughter crying.
I have been working with Angee on saying Please and Thank You. Today I was coloring with her – she was handing me crayons and she held out on one of them and said, “dice por favor” (“say please”). I didn’t understand what she was saying because no one has ever said that to me in Spanish before. What a nut – it really made me laugh.
In the pool I got bumped or splashed or something and asked for a kiss. Manuela was the brave soul who kissed mommy J J This morning we watched a little t.v. and Vanesa let me hold her and rock her. She does seem to like affection, but never asks for it. She is more than happy to let me fix her hair and sit next to her and rub her back and stuff. She is becoming much more at ease with hugs and affection. None of them were ever opposed to it, they just seemed to tolerate it. After prayers, we always give them hugs and kisses and tell them we love them. Tonight Vani really embraced me and held on for a little bit – what a wonderful feeling to receive love! Tonight after Angee’s bath, I asked for a kiss and I got one right on the lips J (I hope you all know that we certainly don’t expect them to show affection or to show a desire for it right away. It is really exciting when they are open to it. I wouldn’t be very trusting of total strangers either. We are hoping that everything we do is adding up so that they can see that we love them, not just hear it.)
Getting the girls to bed tonight was so easy. I was planning on rocking Angee while Paul read. She was asking for something out of her crib, I thought, but when we got over there she started to put her legs in. She laid down so fast I didn’t even get the blanket moved first. I rocked Manuela and Vanesa helped Paul read. They went right to sleep!
Other stuff:
Thurs. – we were getting into the cold pool at the hotel. I wasn’t going very fast because it was cold. Vanesa said “Mommy despasio” (“Mommy is slooooooow”) She does everything fast!
Jose – Jose is a man who works for Rosario. He is a driver for all the families who stay here. He is so nice. He feels like a friend and it almost seems like we are taking advantage of his kindness even though we are paying him. He goes to all the places tourists want to see. Even though he has been to these places hundreds of times, he still points to things and tells us about them as if it is still interesting to him.
Not everything has been a bed of roses, but I think we have the best of the best. We are in the most beautiful place surrounded by very nice and caring people. Our daughters are so incredibly well behaved. We are just learning how to be a family and there will be a few rough spots. I wouldn’t have it any other way (I didn’t even know it could be this good!)