tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-287581432024-03-07T19:02:26.834-08:00My blahgEmilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.comBlogger399125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-18470779942828208542014-10-31T16:10:00.002-07:002014-10-31T16:11:24.800-07:00Halloween in New ZealandWe just got back from taking Paisley trick-or-treating here in Auckland! [Well, we were when I wrote this post. Now that I am posting this, it is 1 November here, but still Halloween in the US.]<br />
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We were not really sure what to expect, but here is the report:<br />
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About 1 out of every 4 houses in our neighborhood was passing out candy.<br />
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Houses that are celebrating Halloween usually do something to decorate so that you know to stop at their house: almost all have cobwebs out on the bushes by the sidewalk. Some have skeleton decorations, or fake rodents in the yard. Some people scatter fake limbs around their walkway or the front door. Note: we decorated our door with a big banner and spooky characters on the windows and I think a lot of trick-or-treaters skipped our house because there were no webs on the bushes. I even bought webs, but didn't put them up because I didn't get to it. I didn't realize it was so important.<br />
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Some of the houses did not decorate, and then it seemed like they would come outside so that people knew they could go to those houses.<br />
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A few houses had signs up to let people know they were not participating.<br />
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Most of the houses just had the webs or simple decorations but a couple houses that we went to were more elaborate. One of the houses had a lady open the door as a scary nurse, and she had it so there was a bed with a life-size patient with a fork in his eye and there was a whole little medical scene going on behind her, as if you'd caught her busy with her situation. Another house had a giant face on the front of the house. There were a couple houses where parents were kind of congregating and having drinks together out in the front yard. We didn't participate in that, but as we walked past they invited us to come up so Paisley could trick or treat right there in the front yard and someone brought up a box of candy.<br />
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Kids do say "trick-or-treat!" when they go up to the door here. The interaction is pretty similar to in the United States; they often told Paisley she was cute. A few people correctly identified Paisley as Elsa from Frozen. One person asked if she was a fairy. Some of the people were friendlier than you would normally find in the United States, asking us how we were doing, or having a little conversation with us. <br />
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Almost all of the houses pass out bulk-type candy, and they often let kids take 2 or 3. Paisley got one Twix and a couple Cadburry chocolates, a few suckers, and a bunch of little chewy or hard candies, plus a few unwrapped type candies. To be fair, I think one or two other houses had some "good" candies but they let Paisley pick what she wanted and she chose the bulk-type candies. I saw some kids who had gotten ring pops somewhere and I wished we would have found that house because we were not planning to let Paisley eat many of her candies, but I think she would have enjoyed that. That's okay.<br />
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Of the kids that we saw out trick-or-treating, most were in scary type costumes: skeletons, scary masks, devils, bloody stuff, witches. Some were in other types of costumes: two kids came to our door as Thing 1 and Thing 2, we saw a girl dressed as Pikachu, and there were some kids with bunny ears or animal costumes like that. We saw a little kid that was a Tigger, and one boy that was a ninja turtle. Our biggest surprise was, we saw about 200 kids while we were out and all night we did not see any other Elsa costumes, or even any Frozen costumes at all. Only in New Zealand would you have an evening full of trick-or-treaters and not see any other Elsa costumes at all!<br />
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We had a lot of fun. Paisley got to be pretty good at trick-or-treating. We went to the houses in our cul-de-sac and then part of the street around the corner from us. We watched for "spooky houses" (aka. decorated houses) and then she went up to the front door and kept knocking until they opened. Then she said "trick or treat!" and put candy in her bag and said "thank you" and sometimes said "Happy Halloween!" Some of the people thought she was little to be trick-or-treating, so they thought it was really adorable when she said the right things.<br />
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We decided to let her keep two of her candies to eat. She was fine with that. At first she was choosing the bulk-type candies, so I pointed out that she did have chocolate, since I know she loves chocolate and thought she would enjoy having some that was her very own. After I told her she had chocolate, she wanted that. She really enjoyed those and made a big mess of them, dripping all over her clothes.<br />
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Then, when other kids came to our door after we got home she wanted to go trick-or-treating again. She liked standing on the porch and knocking so that I could open and say "Hello?" and she would say "Trick or treat!" and I would hand her a candy, she thanked me, and I would say "Happy Halloween!" and close the door. Then she would knock again and I would open the door and take the candy back, and then she would knock again to repeat the whole thing.<br />
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Happy Halloween!<br />
<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-70027294967847741192014-07-07T23:01:00.000-07:002014-07-07T23:01:06.597-07:00Recently...<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I tend to feel like I can only update if I catch up on everything I’ve missed. That is too much to catch up on, though! Maybe I will get to it in more detail later, but here are some of the things that have happened and are going on now:<br /><br />We left Uruguay. It was winter there.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We went to Canada, stopping in Peru and Dallas along the way.<br /><br />In Peru, Paisley and I went to go see Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. At Machu Picchu Paisley wanted to walk for a lot of it, and she kept announcing "I really love steps!" That made a lot of people around us laugh, since it was warm and there are a ton of steps, so everyone around us was sick of them. For Lake Titicaca, we did a two day tour with a homestay, and we attended (Mormon!) church on the Uros Floating Islands. I'll need to just write about the Peru trip another time.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ocYX9ipSqITyHlDi2Ahcbh3AXC05DKqJ2kI7jqNak8VLEmVk_lZ54rLolWFQdgRdZ_MnNMe-DG_jlEz1ocVKgJpObiZFWBCNGfaMa_DDwxBLnfbbMhppLmdQimTq7w1wgHxy/s1600/DSC_4227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ocYX9ipSqITyHlDi2Ahcbh3AXC05DKqJ2kI7jqNak8VLEmVk_lZ54rLolWFQdgRdZ_MnNMe-DG_jlEz1ocVKgJpObiZFWBCNGfaMa_DDwxBLnfbbMhppLmdQimTq7w1wgHxy/s1600/DSC_4227.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Machu Picchu!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OdeRlIRHuklbfLoZrEQcGyY_eMj2MYfPb5vmjIXRqS0cYXlXKxaGFUtD7kr_jpAB8dbTFGrCLSbR63f5VDh_XFXF6vhLR0pQQzUuR2tb5CepRIJRCwVq6QKbTO-Ly0FBWj3K/s1600/DSC_4479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OdeRlIRHuklbfLoZrEQcGyY_eMj2MYfPb5vmjIXRqS0cYXlXKxaGFUtD7kr_jpAB8dbTFGrCLSbR63f5VDh_XFXF6vhLR0pQQzUuR2tb5CepRIJRCwVq6QKbTO-Ly0FBWj3K/s1600/DSC_4479.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Titicaca, from Taquile Island</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In Dallas, we visited Jessica and Mitch for several days, and celebrated Paisley’s second birthday with them. Paisley had a fun birthday. (Paisley <i>immediately</i> loved "Aunt Jexica" and they were great friends for our whole visit.)</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbMt47PnMEIUlYKWxf___Xh0FGbXUOqEWpNaYI_WMMGO75NXgB_jrOc9YBKJyN-ash9Q_yyVz06tlqACxaoI03q5yBycZTvk6H2ihcGgA7XDyNnVYwRXvg3oWdYSt96Igs99o/s1600/DSC_4538.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbMt47PnMEIUlYKWxf___Xh0FGbXUOqEWpNaYI_WMMGO75NXgB_jrOc9YBKJyN-ash9Q_yyVz06tlqACxaoI03q5yBycZTvk6H2ihcGgA7XDyNnVYwRXvg3oWdYSt96Igs99o/s1600/DSC_4538.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paisley and Aunt Jexica</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeNTxJ57xO83OGBp8vGy6pirxBW9Ekfu6MAq7zOiExY3lfexEUSc1aE2JJptzXrF3aKnOm6dlJEZeTplXSIpJc8ruqaBy3c9Ywn4eVkepXuT_u6Ik-WpQeCJXiznoBfJqa4o6/s1600/DSC_4608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeNTxJ57xO83OGBp8vGy6pirxBW9Ekfu6MAq7zOiExY3lfexEUSc1aE2JJptzXrF3aKnOm6dlJEZeTplXSIpJc8ruqaBy3c9Ywn4eVkepXuT_u6Ik-WpQeCJXiznoBfJqa4o6/s1600/DSC_4608.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our family, with Paisley's Favorite Things poster for this year.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQksyN4CrkqXv9lgOCpHR6sAMN36QpF7LcyQa8QYmzKCi3UrtJyuZxKBNq3TH49W-4fX8TCJxleNh4CKBCvDyeZFvge5R4qx8VSd07NT1x7LZLtLPfqZ0HamBQZqUV7sqNwd3/s1600/DSC_4654.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQksyN4CrkqXv9lgOCpHR6sAMN36QpF7LcyQa8QYmzKCi3UrtJyuZxKBNq3TH49W-4fX8TCJxleNh4CKBCvDyeZFvge5R4qx8VSd07NT1x7LZLtLPfqZ0HamBQZqUV7sqNwd3/s1600/DSC_4654.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pais with her birthday cake. Endless Alphabet/Reader themed.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now that we are in Vancouver, it is really nice to have access to a lot of stuff that we had been missing. (Like, traffic patterns that are easy to navigate, easy conversations in English, and Whole Foods.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
have been spending time each week with my dad's twin, Uncle Rick, who also lives here in
Vancouver. We had him over for dinner a couple weeks ago, and last
week he invited us to celebrate Canada Day with him downtown. We had
fun with that. We enjoy visiting with him.</span></span> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8QiHQAlkX67yc34RYxOYUFOVjMk5w_48hflpo5DumkrcjLOOPXPrfbGMy08-m0FSX601S0ZlMvhE9tA9hO9m7ufLHHDvky8ol_pueKyNL-xj95dDaI4m9dy4DjzAicZ4Mnw7/s1600/20140701_214245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8QiHQAlkX67yc34RYxOYUFOVjMk5w_48hflpo5DumkrcjLOOPXPrfbGMy08-m0FSX601S0ZlMvhE9tA9hO9m7ufLHHDvky8ol_pueKyNL-xj95dDaI4m9dy4DjzAicZ4Mnw7/s1600/20140701_214245.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pais with Uncle Rick on Canada Day! Uncle Rick is a genuine Canadian.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />I switched to eating a paleo diet just before we left Uruguay, and now that we are in Canada that is much easier. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmfmSPjlZaTmU90VqVXSSSBWkOkLBMxL4Pkd6rnvb8czaNwM7YaF02lQuL9BZkZbh8cQwnGMz993mwnBiLziatWC4t4QPphypnwbrSHlg3YC9uDB5B6fVfi8pQgWCClwfRwsV/s1600/20140701_093455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmfmSPjlZaTmU90VqVXSSSBWkOkLBMxL4Pkd6rnvb8czaNwM7YaF02lQuL9BZkZbh8cQwnGMz993mwnBiLziatWC4t4QPphypnwbrSHlg3YC9uDB5B6fVfi8pQgWCClwfRwsV/s1600/20140701_093455.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is my CrossFit box. I love it!!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
week ago I also started CrossFit and I am a little obsessed with
that right now. I really love it! Every time I go, I have the best
workout of my life at least twice. I’m still in my intro phase where
I’m working with a trainer to learn the fundamentals, so I’m not even
into the real group regular CrossFit workouts, but it is intense, and
leaves me feeling tired but good. I can’t remember ever sweating so
much! I think that if I keep going and keep eating the way I’m eating,
I’m going to see some exciting results. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pais
started a summer Kindermusik class and she loves it. Last time we did
Kindermusik she was about 9 months old and it was kind of during her nap
time so she sometimes got fussy and was not very into it. Now, she’s
the kid that runs around to be with the teacher and dig right in to
whatever they’re doing next. She gets so excited about every little
activity they do. It is cute.</span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3CI0CrtZq8y-TQsV44pQq3mO-YRx5s0r-yeuepHB6Tz6vO7UQYtLqesr441WM79MYlJe4ockXiXfPRCM_Zt-KxC2Esey-gvAPw4M3gnVBK2dpLNWE04CHke1rrtZuuz6LHOQ/s1600/20140703_102016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3CI0CrtZq8y-TQsV44pQq3mO-YRx5s0r-yeuepHB6Tz6vO7UQYtLqesr441WM79MYlJe4ockXiXfPRCM_Zt-KxC2Esey-gvAPw4M3gnVBK2dpLNWE04CHke1rrtZuuz6LHOQ/s1600/20140703_102016.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pais sitting with her teacher Phyllis (instead of me!) during Kindermusik.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We got a new (to us) car a few days ago. It is a Honda CRV. </span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYiZOxREDHUHeE1yHjqvo5xJ1pDcMVfGlLYUAGUdlklzU2PHkz-hUbyXYCP6dsKxBFbLONTiAF3wBgfLqOdtBkR1q4Ss5a93TWNLC8cxl-V9OchdHHnKPd9ruplXP9tgrGkEy/s1600/20140704_090016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYiZOxREDHUHeE1yHjqvo5xJ1pDcMVfGlLYUAGUdlklzU2PHkz-hUbyXYCP6dsKxBFbLONTiAF3wBgfLqOdtBkR1q4Ss5a93TWNLC8cxl-V9OchdHHnKPd9ruplXP9tgrGkEy/s1600/20140704_090016.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is our new car. It is fine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I drive to the US regularly for raw milk, because we haven’t found any here yet. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now we are beginning to plan our next adventures.</span></span>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-65487523508762023592014-05-28T11:53:00.002-07:002014-05-28T11:53:27.307-07:00First Aid Kits Around the World: UruguayI have always had a keen fondness for preparedness items. It was a little hard to put all of our preparedness stuff in storage for our travels, because if we're in any kind of emergency, ironically we will likely be under-prepared, despite all of our efforts to be prepared. I thought long and hard about bringing the HAM radio, but ultimately I left it back in Utah.<br />
<br />
It is hard to stay prepared when you can't have much stuff, but we do little things: we have good international medical insurance; I carry a large, well-stocked first aid kit; I brought a water purifier that we have never ever used...those sorts of things.<br />
<br />
First aid kits attract me like a magnet--I can hardly resist! What does another culture think is important, if you just have a few things, to help you in an emergency?<br />
<br />
I bought my first foreign first aid kit also here in Uruguay, from a grocery store. I will have to see if I can find the pictures of it and post another time.<br />
<br />
So, this is actually my second Uruguayan first aid kit. They had a big bin of them at Tienda Inglesa this week, almost as if they're a seasonal item. They cost $699 pesos Uruguayos, which is about $30. Jeff told me we don't need more stuff. I told him it wasn't like we had to take it with us, we could just leave it here in the apartment. He said good, but it looks like more stuff to him, so he wasn't going to pay for it. Whatever. I bought it. It's not like we have to keep it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNq30BItGo2mzAtA0MMJ5MtAvjD1sO-_ceyS2rW4boiMFbRbCB8rdFGU8lpE9oKljCNpL4fDQ7OgjHZGnoEnqAKZdn3Og_6CjjbnaaWWZDPR6PolFx298Phxr4QJRlgk1WdKEW/s1600/DSC_4087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNq30BItGo2mzAtA0MMJ5MtAvjD1sO-_ceyS2rW4boiMFbRbCB8rdFGU8lpE9oKljCNpL4fDQ7OgjHZGnoEnqAKZdn3Og_6CjjbnaaWWZDPR6PolFx298Phxr4QJRlgk1WdKEW/s1600/DSC_4087.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
It says:<br />
<b>MALETIN CON ELEMENTOS</b><br />
<b>DE PREMEROS AUXILIOS Y SEGURIDAD VIAL</b><br />
<b>+</b><br />
<b>911 - POLICIA 108 - CAMINERA 104 - BOMBEROS</b><br />
<br />
Or, in other words, it is a: <br />
CASE WITH SUPPLIES<br />
OF FIRST AID AND ROAD SAFETY [I didn't know VIAL was a road thing, though, I thought it was vital, meaning very necessary.]<br />
+<br />
911 - POLICE 108 - HIGHWAY PATROL [Police here don't do traffic stops, I don't think.] 104 - FIREMEN<br />
<br />
I thought that was a nice touch to have the important numbers on the outside. <br />On the back there is a list of contents, in abbreviated Spanish, so I was able to guess about several items.<br />
<br />
So, opening it up...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6R1huU7BrPGyTnO5hSBiZA6epfFsT2vDJ_z-vp1AmEn9AUVrzTRU1TYyFZjaqEj7hpvwnpxGQv30UGtiksJATETeh7npCm6pwlLCUEc5bWpiuyxyOxpsxv3encoS6sLpsQM1P/s1600/DSC_4090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6R1huU7BrPGyTnO5hSBiZA6epfFsT2vDJ_z-vp1AmEn9AUVrzTRU1TYyFZjaqEj7hpvwnpxGQv30UGtiksJATETeh7npCm6pwlLCUEc5bWpiuyxyOxpsxv3encoS6sLpsQM1P/s1600/DSC_4090.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Q_Jm8zBVt8i8AShLNChddcEmIKe1JXybbiMpgMSNGmn6fYqitlTG7rBr3Sja8DIzYLbIV2xK6g8-d1OwOMC9GN8tx37V4-_YIPBbp8TAYpjrziLcmHrMqn37_U4DAsuiYyxx/s1600/DSC_4091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Q_Jm8zBVt8i8AShLNChddcEmIKe1JXybbiMpgMSNGmn6fYqitlTG7rBr3Sja8DIzYLbIV2xK6g8-d1OwOMC9GN8tx37V4-_YIPBbp8TAYpjrziLcmHrMqn37_U4DAsuiYyxx/s1600/DSC_4091.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's in my Purse: First Aid Kit Edition</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
And here are all of the contents:<br />
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ALL RIGHT! So, starting on the left side...<br />
1) <b>a little LED flash light.</b> But, it requires 3 AAA batteries, so hopefully you've added them before you're in an emergency and you open the plastic on the first aid kit to discover you need them.<br />
2) <b>2 big, very absorbent pads</b>.<br />
3) <b>2 small rolls of loose-weave gauze</b>.<br />
4) <b>2 packages that each have two square pieces of gauze.</b> Possibly sterile, possibly non-stick. Definitely looks like the part you're supposed to put directly on a wound.<br />
5) <b>1 small roll of medical tape.</b> The paper kind.<br />
6) <b>1 small pair of blunt scissors.</b> With centimeter measurements on both sides.<br />
7) <b>1 XL neon orange vest</b>, with reflective tape around it.<br />
8) <b>1 XXL neon yellow vest.</b><br />
9) <b>2 pairs of latex gloves.</b><br />
10) <b>the case</b> it all came in.<br />
11) <b>a red biohazard bag.</b><br />
<br />
Antibiotic ointment? No. Tylenol or asprin? No. Burn cream? No. A band-aid? No.<br /><br />That's it, folks! It puts the "first" in "First Aid" because I don't know of many medical problems that won't require more care than this. But it is something to start with, anyway.<br />
<br />
This is kind of interesting because a couple days ago I saw a couple people stopped on the side of a road, one changing a flat on a scooter, and someone else with a car that had broken down. In both cases, it was starting to get dark on an unlit road. The scooter guy was wearing a reflective vest (I think there is a law here saying that people wearing scooters are required to wear a neon vest). The guy with the broken down car was also wearing a neon vest, and he was popping up a little reflective triangle thing to set in front of his car. That was it. No road flares. No glow sticks. I was happy for him that he had the little reflector, because 20 minutes after I passed, as it got darker, it would have been really tough to see him. People drive fast on those roads.<br />
<br />
It does seem like a weird kit for in a car. Do you know what people need here? Jumper cables. The law says you have to drive with your lights on all the time, so people forget to turn them off, and then you have a dead battery. That happened to us once. We were renting a car at the time, so we called the rental place, and they had us call the automobile club (they had a membership), and someone came out and started it for us. Another time, I saw someone having their car jumped by the police. Interesting. I wouldn't have thought to call the police to jump my car. We bought a cheap set of jumper cables for our car, just in case. <br /><br />So, if you choose to buy the Tienda Inglesa first aid kit, you can basically soak up a bunch of blood from a wound (and dispose of it in a biohazard bag), put a dressing on the wound with maybe-sterile gauze, wrap that with loose, rolled gauze and tape it shut. Then put on a bright vest and hope someone finds you! But hopefully, if you're in Uruguay, you'll find the Devoto first aid kit instead, and use that. It has more useful stuff. And then if you want a vest, you can easily find those at any large store.<br /><br />Maybe later I will update with pictures from our other first aid kit, or tell about our hospital visit. Fun, fun! <br />
<br />
(PS, the first aid kit that we really carry with us for our travels is the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Medical-Kits-World-Travel/dp/B0026MRZSK/ref=pd_sim_hpc_11?ie=UTF8&refRID=0SHKE75R742ZDYH2WH97" target="_blank">Adventure Medical Kits World Travel Kit</a>. It is a little big, but well worth the luggage space.)<br />
Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-44006540393166962022014-05-15T08:15:00.001-07:002014-05-15T08:15:17.354-07:00Trying to get our car washed in UruguayI have been trying to get a car wash here in Uruguay. We want the inside and outside cleaned.<br /><br />Yesterday I went to a car wash place ("lavadero") in a nearby city that I knew washed cars because when we were looking for a laundry place ("lavadero") before, I called and they said they are a car wash ("lavadero DE AUTOS!"). Except it wasn't the same place, because it was actually a laundry service (where were they when we were needing laundry done??). <br /><br />But then I found a sign saying LAVADERO - autos - motos - in 50 meters, so I followed the sign and drove past a man sitting in front of his house with a vacuum and a bucket. Hmm, not what I had in mind. What would we do in a poor little neighborhood while we waited? I couldn't imagine that his vacuum could really have adequate suction to get the inside cleaned like we wanted. I worried that he would have old, very used cleaning materials that would scratch the car. I don't know, maybe it would have been fine. Or, maybe it was fine for all of the old cars in his neighborhood but it wasn't the best option for a new car. <br /><br />I decided to try a gas station, because they offer a service ("complete wash") available for about $15 USD at most (all?) gas stations here, and when I have asked them before they said yes, they can clean the inside and outside. Most of them don't have a drive through car wash, they have a room with some sprayers; it looks like a decent set-up for a car wash done by hand.<br /><br />I had this great idea that I would go shopping at the mall while I waited for the car to be washed at a gas station across the parking lot. Except, they wanted me to wait over 5 hours. Okay, so I will bring the car back 4 pm? No, I had to leave it there, no appointments. Hmmm, okay, Paisley and I can't spend 5 hours at the mall while we just wait for the car to be washed.<br /><br />So I went to another one, because maybe that one is just busy because other people want to shop while their car is washed also.<br /><br />They could do it, it would be ready at 4 pm. And that one was not by any shopping at all! So...5 hours with nothing to do! I started to feel kind of frustrated. I asked him, what, do people take a taxi home? Do they all live within walking distance? He said no, and then I didn't understand the rest, I think you bring your car there and they take you home and then they bring you back to pick up your car when it is done. He asked if I am American. Yes. Oh, yes, it is a very popular service among consulate people, etc. I am about 30% confident that this is the service that he described. But it sounded awkward, like, instead of taking the time to drive me around town twice, could you just use that time to wash my car? And it didn't seem like he was really actually offering me a ride back, and installing Paisley's car seat just for a ride seemed like a pain, so I decided not to attempt that.<br /><br />So I started going to the big store to get car washing supplies so that I could wash it myself, although we don't have a vacuum so I didn't know what I was going to do for that...and I passed another gas station and stopped to ask them. He said he could do it, but that he needed to finish the one he was doing, so I would have to leave the car. It will be ready in an hour and a half. My heart sang! ESTA BIEN! <br /><br />The special thing about that place--aside from the really fast service--is that they are a quick 15 minute walk from our apartment! So we just walked home to wait for the car, and then I will walk back when it is ready. <br /><br />Just another experience of something that is probably easy and no big deal for Uruguayos, and a confusing hassle for us. <br /><br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-70277217674235214562014-03-03T14:37:00.000-08:002014-04-19T09:32:00.492-07:00Endless Alphabet and Reader Characters: Big Blue<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp1_6X-WmwjvY-CTT-uVmfdJ8T3Ht2IDLJOm3nzPZgFSnmwo7fMTtiD31Y-mVrjGZawFu2qa78a0OWfEdFhs47piinOhtxk6PXJ8B7w5jREKXllCLvIBgKctKZbVcYFU8hpTJ0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-02-21+at+6.00.12+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp1_6X-WmwjvY-CTT-uVmfdJ8T3Ht2IDLJOm3nzPZgFSnmwo7fMTtiD31Y-mVrjGZawFu2qa78a0OWfEdFhs47piinOhtxk6PXJ8B7w5jREKXllCLvIBgKctKZbVcYFU8hpTJ0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-02-21+at+6.00.12+PM.png" height="200" width="158" /></a>Big Blue is probably the character from Endless Alphabet / Endless
Reader that appears most often. Big Blue is a male monster who usually behaves responsibly. In Endless Numbers his birthday cake has sixteen candles, so he is approximately 16 years old. My guess is that he is the older brother of two other characters, Little Blue and Bean, because he often
appears with them while performing guardian-type tasks, but this is
never stated, and it is possible that he is modeled after an uncle or
another friendly relationship. [This theory is also not supported by a couple scenes--for example, Big Blue is part of the one big happy monster family, but neither Little Blue nor Bean appear in that movie.] </div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVFaygZkG4UXGc0jWE82PgQusLKn-rHyQUZkY7ZMz1Ebt0QzkorfQ9B3z7W8yZhsKjAo2uLmTc764jqqF6D0FLpVjAZQIi1_1AKFYB2LFF8NjmEQY-_R_1ZL9RaMgXwoqLXmTA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+8.00.52+PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVFaygZkG4UXGc0jWE82PgQusLKn-rHyQUZkY7ZMz1Ebt0QzkorfQ9B3z7W8yZhsKjAo2uLmTc764jqqF6D0FLpVjAZQIi1_1AKFYB2LFF8NjmEQY-_R_1ZL9RaMgXwoqLXmTA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+8.00.52+PM.png" height="200" width="185" /></a>Big Blue is reasonably active. He cannot fly. To go swimming, he wore
an orange mask and fins, although we didn’t see him in the water because
Pistachio was taking up the whole pool. At the park he chooses to
swing, with Pinkerton. When exercising with other monsters, we saw Big
Blue wearing a sweatband and stretching for his toes. We also saw him
ride a bike with Dapper Dandy and Pinkerton.</div>
<br />
<br />
Big
Blue likes to play with a ball—between Endless Alphabet and Endless
Reader I noticed at least three times that he was playing ball; once
alone, once with Little Blue, and once Sam caught his ball. Another
time when Big Blue is on an island, he makes a friend out of a coconut
(reminding us of Tom Hanks’ Wilson in Castaway); Big Blue is lonely by
himself, which may be part of the reason he appears so often with other
monsters.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhPEUOaY-Qgb41Uc3SfIpSSd_mHnpRDNqCWvc_qLxJe39D97iOYPbujDq4Evq2VPJKKYb0_sNeYbQXT45XCIjmehCONfyfoOVqflQYPwtZmagSKhQk8BziklnxRzjDfPm2eFpq/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+7.58.14+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhPEUOaY-Qgb41Uc3SfIpSSd_mHnpRDNqCWvc_qLxJe39D97iOYPbujDq4Evq2VPJKKYb0_sNeYbQXT45XCIjmehCONfyfoOVqflQYPwtZmagSKhQk8BziklnxRzjDfPm2eFpq/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+7.58.14+PM.png" height="200" width="191" /></a>Big Blue plays the banjo, although he had trouble
finding it for one word. His talent with the banjo is not a big
surprise, because those who are familiar with Endless Alphabet already
know that he is a “musician” capable of playing the electric guitar,
since he played in a band with Rod and Cone, Scampi, and Francis. Big
Blue is also a photographer, and he knows how to yodel.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiveMZS4kV1MudNBsrz4P_EE5q9paNl31zBpV4xt-HXo6ks9MzkObjuRrKdaH0n4q6IdlnSbt36EOXpqDJqeoXVPoQ3UltW8hB2C5qUdkQNsq30Lh3m8y3BKg-VFFMB5LOQgtvm/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+7.57.48+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiveMZS4kV1MudNBsrz4P_EE5q9paNl31zBpV4xt-HXo6ks9MzkObjuRrKdaH0n4q6IdlnSbt36EOXpqDJqeoXVPoQ3UltW8hB2C5qUdkQNsq30Lh3m8y3BKg-VFFMB5LOQgtvm/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+7.57.48+PM.png" height="194" width="200" /></a>We often
see Big Blue in the role of an adult. As mentioned above, he swings
with Pinkerton when some of the monsters are at the park, and he also
rides a bicycle with Pinkerton. Big Blue is often seen with Little
Blue—helping him reach cookies, watching clouds or bouncing a ball
together, and celebrating various events. Big Blue expected Sherbert to
say please when she wanted some cupcake and then he shared half with
her. Big Blue occasionally feeds Bean—he fed Bean when Bean was very
hungry because he hadn’t eaten breakfast, another time he let Bean have
cake if he ate dinner, and another time he gives Bean broccoli when Bean
wants a cupcake.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDufDEIzHOyTsOaWUPcH7jqcJpy7Oou7EJYbM33K8Dk_IoppF5g59TE58TZDwY1taJEQLhPSVOtkebPzMpsdGMQ-_-l15otjz2G719iJoNceJzCUOl8Vpeko9JOi5YwpfXfLQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+8.01.43+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnDufDEIzHOyTsOaWUPcH7jqcJpy7Oou7EJYbM33K8Dk_IoppF5g59TE58TZDwY1taJEQLhPSVOtkebPzMpsdGMQ-_-l15otjz2G719iJoNceJzCUOl8Vpeko9JOi5YwpfXfLQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+8.01.43+PM.png" height="155" width="320" /></a></div>
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Big Blue is a popular guest at monster festivities. He is part of “one big happy monster family”, he attended a big monster dance party, and he was present at the party to “celebrate” Little Blue’s third birthday. He also eats “scrumptious” cake with Little Blue and Rocky to celebrate the one year anniversary of Endless Alphabet. This suggests that Big Blue and Little Blue may be the most original characters from the cast of EA characters. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2NGpQOcSB3VHOFcMsyEulYewue53WZXNj-fBJ4nYgyFwuhf0BtBY1flmeuyE-N96u9ZH9kKkq6HDdR54V3ACLNNXaW-0Tk889SNexSGisOuoknzc0D4unLuQTB7emC0CoAc2/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+7.59.23+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2NGpQOcSB3VHOFcMsyEulYewue53WZXNj-fBJ4nYgyFwuhf0BtBY1flmeuyE-N96u9ZH9kKkq6HDdR54V3ACLNNXaW-0Tk889SNexSGisOuoknzc0D4unLuQTB7emC0CoAc2/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-03-03+at+7.59.23+PM.png" height="138" width="200" /></a>Big Blue also appears in a few random words that don’t seem to have much to do with anything: he dyed a shirt orange with Eli, drank a potion that made him “gargantuan”, he is overwhelmed by multiplying little green things, and he yawns and falls asleep while reading books.<br />
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Big Blue runs across the screen to scatter letters both with the group, and separately with only Little Blue.<br />
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(For the full list of characters from Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader, <a href="http://michiedo.blogspot.com/2014/03/endless-alphabet-and-reader-characters.html" target="_blank">click here</a>.) Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-53032246873993888802014-03-03T14:24:00.000-08:002014-03-03T14:38:45.393-08:00Endless Alphabet and Reader Characters Biography Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71CNDo4u_o91ZbewEQ4x5wvUQLx6cvOCT9NimmpSfW-1_jPtQSG9BQnkZWl2Rbcsslowz5Ewlyo9V6NtoHAQs2wuP41bGhr0PJAohXjjW3pgbA7VD3FQMODMuVze_3CyvIxxw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-02-15+at+11.18.01+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71CNDo4u_o91ZbewEQ4x5wvUQLx6cvOCT9NimmpSfW-1_jPtQSG9BQnkZWl2Rbcsslowz5Ewlyo9V6NtoHAQs2wuP41bGhr0PJAohXjjW3pgbA7VD3FQMODMuVze_3CyvIxxw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-02-15+at+11.18.01+AM.png" height="124" width="320" /></a></div>
I've decided to make a little series of blog posts about the characters from Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader, because there is nothing about them anywhere on the Internet, aside from blogs and award pages recommending the app. As I have watched Paisley play them I noticed a few cute themes and the researcher in me wanted to see what all we know about the characters and put it somewhere.<br />
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So, I've gone through each of the words in Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader, taken a bunch of screenshots, compiled information about each character, and I am working to turn my notes into little biographies for each character. This is also part of another project that I will blog about later. <br />
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For now, here is the list of characters I have noticed, and I will begin posting information and pictures for each of the characters as I have the chance to turn my outlines into little biographies. Then I will link this post to the pages about the characters.<br />
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(If anyone reads my blog and is not interested in an application for little kids, feel free to skip these posts!)<br />
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List of Characters that Appear in Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader:<br />
(listed in order by approximately how often they appear, from most to least)<br />
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1. <a href="http://michiedo.blogspot.com/2014/03/endless-alphabet-and-reader-characters_3.html" target="_blank">Big Blue</a><br />
2. Little Blue<br />
3. Yoshi<br />
4. Scampi<br />
5. Pinkerton<br />
6. Pistachio<br />
7. Rocky<br />
8. Sherbert<br />
9. Francis<br />
10. Eli<br />
11. Grok <br />
12. Grumpkin<br />
13. Rod and Cone<br />
14. Dapper Dandy<br />
15. Tuttle<br />
16. Sam<br />
17. Sunny<br />
18. Amy<br />
19. Bean<br />
20. Green monster with lots of little legs<br />
21. Purple DJ monster<br />
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Another time I will also discuss the six types of word movie clips I have noticed.<br />
<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-56145652246053797182014-02-22T17:27:00.000-08:002014-02-26T07:16:16.155-08:00Some of our language mistakes. (And some other things about Uruguayan Spanish.)Our Spanish is improving a little bit. We've had a tutor come teach us at our house 4 or 5 days a week for the past few months, so I think we hoped we would have seen more improvement, but oh well. It's something.<br />
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I thought I would just share a few funny Spanish errors that we've made.</div>
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I mentioned the grocery store "Tienda Inglesa" in a previous post. Jeff almost always calls that store "Tienda Iglesia" and it always makes me laugh. (Tienda Inglesa means "English Store", and Tienda Iglesia means "Church Store".)</div>
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When Jeff is talking about things that are old, he very often calls them "viaje" ("trip") instead of "viejo" or "vieja" ("old"). It makes whatever he is talking about sound a lot more exotic because I picture a vacation version of whatever he is talking about. </div>
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My mistakes are usually not as amusing. Or if they are, I don't know it. Occasionally I will feel like I am communicating just GREAT and the person I am talking to will seem confused. Those times I realize I am interjecting some Italian. A lot of times Italian works here (even if it wouldn't work in other Spanish-speaking places) because there are a lot of Italian immigrants, and the dialect occasionally reflects that.</div>
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The Spanish here is not normal Spanish, it is Rio Platense Spanish, so they use a different accent (j and ll sound like "zhu" instead of "yu"), a different tu form (vos), and a lot of different words. People here also often don't pronounce the ends of words. This means my ability to communicate depends a lot on who I am talking to. Sometimes I feel like I speak Spanish quite well, and other times I feel like I don't speak any "Spanish" at all. It really ranges.</div>
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Sometimes I'll get several compliments on my Spanish, and other times the people around me at the store are like "ohhhh, she doesn't speak Spanish" and occasionally people volunteer to help me by translating. Usually (I think!) I am decent and can communicate but sometimes don't know specific words. Other times I feel tongue-tied, I can't think of words I need, and just kind of shrug and smile.</div>
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I have made a couple dumb mistakes at the grocery store lately. (A lot of our Spanish interactions are in grocery stores since we have no friends here.) This one time, I walked up and set my items on the space by the cashier, but she was counting her change. She told me she was done, and I nodded and then I realized I didn't know if she was done working for then or if she was almost done doing stuff with change or what. A cashier a couple lanes down announced that his register was open, and I thought he was telling other people. Then I started to wonder if I was supposed to go to the other line. So I picked up my stuff and went to the lane of the cashier who was available. I was only buying a few things, though, so when I left a few moments later I saw that she was helping someone else. That must have been really weird to tell me that she was just about ready, and then I picked up my stuff and changed lanes.</div>
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Or another time recently a cashier was talking to me about Paisley--everyone loves her--and she asked me how old Paisley was, I thought, but I didn't hear her well, so I said nineteen months...but then by how she responded I realized she had actually asked how long we had been in Uruguay. But it was too tricky to explain that I thought she had said something else (because that's like...past...subjunctive? or some less regular verb tense), so I just went with it. But I felt like an idiot, because I would really hope that if we had been here for close to two years, I hope that my Spanish would be better. How embarrassing! (I think we need more interaction with local people, to practice.)</div>
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When we were in Colonia del Sacramento we were out looking for a place open for breakfast and I asked a waitress if they served "desayuno" (des-eye-oon-oh). She had no idea what I was saying, so I repeated myself a couple times. She was lost until she suddenly figured it out. "Ah! Desayuno!" (des-ah-zhu-no!) YES. THAT. For the longest time I felt almost as if I were making fun of them when I pronounced things their way, since it is not good/real Spanish, and it feels very unnatural to me...but our Spanish teacher has assured us that it doesn't come across as rude, and we agree that it would be nice to be better understood, so I'm working on it. </div>
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But, if I were talking to someone with a Texan accent or a British accent and I suddenly assumed a bad fake accent matching theirs, wouldn't that come across as rude? And that reminds me of something else that I thought was funny...</div>
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Our Spanish teacher speaks English very well. She speaks American English, but tries to teach us in Spanish unless we don't understand or need a more precise clarification or when we relax a little bit and just want to be understood for a moment. I think she's been working with us since November. Somehow, it must have been in mid-January, something came up and I asked her about learning American English (maybe we were talking about how much American TV they get here?) and she admitted that she learned British English in school. I asked her so, when she is with her friends that speak English, does she speak American or British English. British English. She said she actually prefers British English. Whaaaaatt.....? All along I had no idea! She just uses an American accent for while she teaches us. I thought that was very funny. It probably helps.</div>
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Sorry I have no pictures to go along with this! Annnd, Paisley just woke up so I had better post this and go help her.</div>
Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-53279940453726973142014-02-06T14:22:00.000-08:002014-02-06T14:22:28.113-08:00Residency in Uruguay: Adding our Birth Certificates to the Civil RegistryAs we've been working to obtain residency in Uruguay it has been a little bit of a process to figure out what we need and where. There is information online for expats who want residency in Uruguay, but most of it is outdated, so I thought I would post a more recent explanation of what we've been doing, and what they have expected from us. That way if anybody else is looking for information there is something a little more recent.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Registro Civil, at calle Uruguay 933!</td></tr>
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One of the requirements for residency is that we need to be add our birth certificates and marriage certificate to the Uruguay civil registry (Registro Civil). This is one of the parts that takes the longest, so it is good to do as early as possible.<br />
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First of all, you need copies of your birth certificates, marriage certificate (if you're married) and/or divorce decree (if you're divorced). I can only speak about the process from the United States, since that is where we are from, so it may be different for people from other countries. Although we did not originally plan to become residents of Uruguay, I had photocopies of our birth certificates and a real copy of our marriage certificate with us just in case we ever needed them. These copies were useless. Uruguay has joined the Hague Convention, so in order for documents to be accepted, they need Apostille. So, we ordered new documents, and apostilles from the United States. If you know that you're moving to Uruguay, it would be much, much easier to obtain birth certificates and apostilles before you leave the United States! <br />
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After we had our documents and apostilles, I took them to the Ministry of External Relations to be legalized and they just kind of smiled and me and politely assured me that I didn't need anything from them, I just needed to deposit them at the Civil Registry.<br />
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I knew they would need to be translated, though. So, we did that.<br />
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Then, we used the translated birth certificates to get our cedulas (identity cards).<br />
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Today I took all of our birth certificates to the civil registry. They told me they will be ready in a month.<br />
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So, for those who are looking for more specific details, here is what we did:<br />
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1. <b>Obtain documents from the United States.</b><br />
- We ordered all of our documents online, using VitalChek. In order for the orders to be processed, each state requires something different for identification: Arizona wanted a copy of Jeff's driver's license and his signature. At the time that I placed my order, Utah asked me a few questions to verify my identity (the questions were like when you order a credit report). California was the worst--they required a notarized statement from me saying that I was authorized to request it. In Montevideo the only place that I know of that offers a United States Notary Public is the US Embassy. The US Embassy offers notary services only on Tuesday afternoons, only with an appointment, and it costs $50 per document. They are able to do an ink stamp along with the seal so that it shows up for the scan. At first this seemed like a huge rip-off, because I am used to getting things notarized for free at my credit union in Utah, but when I compared the cost of using an escribana and apostille from here, it was going to take a couple weeks and cost a few hundred dollars, so then the US Embassy sounded like a bargain. When you order copies of your certificates, be sure to state that it is for "Apostille" because it needs to be the long form of the certificate, not a short version. Some states only want to send copies TO the person on the certificate, but that was okay for us because we were using Jeff's parents' address anyway.<br />
- After my in-laws received our certificates, they put them in the mail to send them with Apostille Request forms for each state. Each state does their own apostilles. If I remember right, Arizona's cost $3 per apostille, Utah was $15 per apostille, and California was $20 per apostille. You have to send the original birth certificates with the form and payment to the Secretary of State for the state where the document is from. Then we had all of the documents with apostilles sent back to my in-laws and they put them in a UPS mailer and sent them to us.<br />
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2. <b>Documents DO NOT need to go the the Uruguayan Consulate in the United States.</b> They used to need to be "legalized" in the US at the Uruguayan Consulate, but now that Uruguay accepts apostilles, documents DO NOT need to be legalized in the United States, <b>and they DO NOT need to be legalized in Uruguay at the ministry of exterior relations (MREE)</b>.<br />
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3. <b>Have the documents translated into Spanish by an official public translator.</b> It has to be an official translator because they need to be able to stamp it with their special stamp. I had a lot of trouble knowing how to find a public translator. I have since heard that it is possible to get a list of public translators at the national identity office, but I don't know whether that is true or not. I eventually found Nelida Kreer who is a public translator that lives in the Pocitos area. She even has a <a href="http://www.traducciones-montevideo.com/" target="_blank">website</a>, which is kind of unusual for business people here. I was very, very happy with her. After I e-mailed her about translation, she replied quickly, and she was able to have my translations done within 24 hours after she received them. She prefers to work from originals, but since I don't live near Pocitos, she was willing to work off of scans. After I met with her to pick them up, I could understand why originals would be much better for her--the translations are VERY detailed, including descriptions of borders and colors of seals, impressions that are not visible on scans, etc. She charged us $695 (in pesos, which is about $35 USD per document) for the translations, plus $120 pesos each for the official stamp (the official sticker is about $6 USD). When I came to pick them up, I had to bring the originals, and we went through and she read and explained the whole thing to me. It was important for them to be totally accurate, since you can have problems if something is translated incorrectly. Her English was very good, which I guess you would expect from an official translator, but it made me feel very comfortable talking with her about it all. I had my daughter with me for the whole thing--which ended up being kind of a lengthy meeting, since she had to make a few minor corrections since she had been working with scans and I didn't know to tell her about some things that mattered--and anyway, she was awesome about letting Paisley wander around and check stuff out, and play with marbles, etc. She also showed me at the end, she just wanted me to know that she was giving me a good price, so she showed me the "official" price list was from 2012, and she was giving a lower price even though they were kind of long translations, etc. Anyway, I believe her, and once I saw what I huge job it was, I feel like she more than earned what we paid. I highly recommend her, and we will definitely have her do any other official translations that we need in the future. She is fantastic. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copies nearby! I paid 40 pesos ($2 USD), 3 big sets and a pen.</td></tr>
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4. <b>Make complete photocopies of each document. </b> So, we had the apostille on top, the certificate next, and a few pages of translation beneath. All of it gets photocopied, double-sided, and stapled together. I didn't know to do this ahead of time so I spent a little while searching around the Civil Registry for a place that did photocopies. I found one. It is just down the street a block from the Civil Registry, at Uruguay 891.<br />
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5. <b>Take your whole packet to the <a href="http://www.mec.gub.uy/innovaportal/v/301/9/mecweb/registro_civil?leftmenuid=301" target="_blank">Civil Registry</a></b>, at calle Uruguay 933 in Montevideo. They are open from 10:15 am to 3:30 pm, BUT the last time to take a number is 3:00 pm, and it really takes a bit longer than that anyway, so it is probably best to try to arrive by 2:45 pm at the latest. No appointment necessary. We arrived at about 3:00 pm but without photocopies, and when we came back with copies several minutes later a guard was standing in front and told me they close at 3:00 pm, and he wasn't going to let me back in. I told him I thought they closed at 3:30, and he said no, 3:00 pm, and when he saw me standing there unsure what to do next he told me okay, I could go back in, but to hurry up. I was grateful to him for that, because it saved us a drive back to Montevideo!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The desk for adding foreign certificates to the civil registry.</td></tr>
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When you arrive at the Civil Registry, it is kind of hard to know where you're supposed to go. Walk past the cash registers in front, walk past the staircases on your right side, all the way to the back of the building, where you can turn to the right. If you turn to the right you will see a long desk, with a bunch of books and maybe film, and then to the right of that there is the desk where foreigners can add their certificates to the registry. There is a thing for you to take a number on the right wall. Take a number.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To the right are the numbers to take for a turn.</td></tr>
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After they call your number, you hand them your stack of documents, and they will look them over to make sure you have official translations, and to make sure you have a set of photocopies. Then they will give you a cover sheet (no photocopy of that necessary!) and tell you how to fill it out. You put your name, local address, cedula number, and phone number at the top. My phone had died and we recently changed numbers so I left the phone number blank, and she didn't like that, she wanted a phone number ("but, what if we need to reach you to ask you about something during processing???"), but I showed her that my phone was dead and volunteered my e-mail address, and she said to go ahead and put that. I had just picked up our cedulas so I was able to put cedulas for me and Jeff, but Paisley doesn't have a cedula yet so I left hers blank there, and that didn't bother them. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xbJwY-PNix_EJxb1jpaEBiLeMXrWLp5Zqjm5EUsojZGHKWW764TJymx_R69TJThdZtYI7HcPabF8vKR23MXFnLRlt6_1UmSAy9obLUAcPOk5SIZdcvCuJ_tVx77dfP-jFqRB/s1600/IMG_9018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xbJwY-PNix_EJxb1jpaEBiLeMXrWLp5Zqjm5EUsojZGHKWW764TJymx_R69TJThdZtYI7HcPabF8vKR23MXFnLRlt6_1UmSAy9obLUAcPOk5SIZdcvCuJ_tVx77dfP-jFqRB/s1600/IMG_9018.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the cover page you fill out.</td></tr>
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On the bottom of the form you write your first name, last name, the country the person was born in, and the date of the birth, and then you sign the form at the bottom. I did the forms for all three of us, and Jeff didn't come. I had called ahead to make sure they would be fine with him not coming, and they said that was okay.<br />
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So, <b>once your form is filled out, you go to the cashier to pay</b>. The cost to be added to the registry is $513 pesos (about $25 USD). When you pay the cashier she uses the cash register to print onto the apostille page (I think it was that page?), so they know you've paid. <b> </b><br />
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<b>Then you take the whole stack back to the foreign section. </b> They accepted it, and asked me to take a seat. Probably about 10 minutes later, the lady gave me my photocopied sets of documents back, with a little receipt type thing stapled to them. She said we can come back in a month and they'll be added to the civil registry.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkgdao-tKsxE3f0uSYKeMPw6674_cFYavWHm1UFbteqFIN17B3O_LTUmmuYcH5_FYBPV_gRQpXZJebSNKnlnED0NVrlLo6vt4BDNU7BtVEm3jR3xADUZO_Mm4VHWrNTJWm3Qa/s1600/IMG_9038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkgdao-tKsxE3f0uSYKeMPw6674_cFYavWHm1UFbteqFIN17B3O_LTUmmuYcH5_FYBPV_gRQpXZJebSNKnlnED0NVrlLo6vt4BDNU7BtVEm3jR3xADUZO_Mm4VHWrNTJWm3Qa/s1600/IMG_9038.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what you get in the end.</td></tr>
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So, that's where we are at this point, waiting for a month. After that, we will need to get copies of our birth certificates and marriage certificate (Uruguay versions) and take them to immigrations to be added to our file. Or at least the marriage certificate; that is what they specifically requested, but I have read elsewhere that we needed the birth certificates to be in the registry, and I believe that when we go back to renew our cedulas having our birth certificates in the registry makes it so that we can have cedulas that don't have to be renewed as often (our current cedulas are only good for one year).<br />
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An interesting note about birth certificates is that I was kind of confused about one of the stipulations from immigrations, that they wanted a copy of the marriage certificate (the Uruguayan one, after it is in the registry) that was less than 30 days old. I asked our Spanish teacher about that this morning and she said that here in Uruguay you don't get a permanent birth certificate. They expire pretty quickly. So the reason our marriage certificate needs to be less than 30 days old is because they don't want an expired copy. How about that!<br />
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Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-28476830423075807352014-02-01T12:25:00.000-08:002014-02-01T16:15:17.197-08:00All About Grocery Stores in Uruguay!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBxK8AoPDXDe86nU2mFPMUW44RHEREpx3BLcgUodXLOpEvkiF2jVRLbjz0e1ns6rcLG5NX9EPPabNKrpj8OVMnC9R4NjliSufkDb6dEQyWJsPrW2OiwG7SOo8gLMi6gNXapBQn/s1600/IMG_8963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBxK8AoPDXDe86nU2mFPMUW44RHEREpx3BLcgUodXLOpEvkiF2jVRLbjz0e1ns6rcLG5NX9EPPabNKrpj8OVMnC9R4NjliSufkDb6dEQyWJsPrW2OiwG7SOo8gLMi6gNXapBQn/s1600/IMG_8963.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>Grocery stores in Uruguay are pretty good.<br />
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If you don't have anything specific that you're looking for, they seem quite a bit like grocery stores in the United States. The big stores are usually air conditioned. Little stores might not be.</div>
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The produce section is pretty good. They don't have as many items as our stores did in the US, but they do have a lot of stuff, and it is all fresh. I rarely see fruits that are way too underripe or overripe. Stuff tends to be seasonal. So, sometimes there are no strawberries or blueberries. There are a few items that are organic (like, some of the fresh herbs), but most items don't say. I had heard before that a lot of stuff is organic and just not labeled but at a cooking class with other "foodies" they said no, most of it is not organic. It is tough for farms to qualify as organic, so if they meet the requirements, they will usually label it. They said though that a lot of the meat (beef, particularly) may be close to organic because cows are usually grass-fed.</div>
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When you buy produce at grocery stores in Uruguay, you put it in a bag yourself, and then take it to an attendant in the produce department who weighs the item and prints a price and barcode sticker to put on your bag. If you get up to the front without the sticker they can't weigh it there, so someone has to go back to the produce department for the sticker.</div>
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There are a TON of meats and cheeses in the deli section. Many of the cheeses are not refrigerated. They seem to love ham here. There are pre-packed (refrigerated!) sections for meat and cheese, but it is popular to use the deli services where they package stuff fresh for you. Cheeses seem to be hit-and-miss for us. Mostly, we just miss good cheddar. They have some "American" type cheese but we can't really eat that.</div>
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Uruguayan grocery stores do not have a large selection of imported products. Many (most?) products say INDUSTRIO URUGUAYO, or they are from Argentina. There are a few exceptions, but not a ton. Whatever you're buying, there are usually only a couple choices for brands. For example, if you're buying Ziploc type bags in the United States, there are like four brands, plus a store brand, and each kind has a few varieties, and several package sizes. Here, you usually have three choices: Uruguay gallon zip bags that are pretty thin and have a seal that is tough to close, gallon Ziploc brand bags in a package of 9 bags? I think?, or I usually buy a variety pack by Ziploc that has 3 sandwich bags, 3 quart bags, and 3 gallon bags all with zip tops. If you want brown sugar, there is one brand (bella union) and it isn't very brown (I may post more about that another time). If you want molasses, too bad. Vanilla is made by two brands, and they taste the same, or you can buy one (hard?!) vanilla bean at a time in a spice jar, from the same brand. </div>
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They do have Heinz ketchup, A1 steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce and a few other things like that. Devoto and Tienda Inglesa carry more import products than some of the other little stores. Imported products are expensive. When I buy Toblerones they are usually $80 pesos for 100 gram or $130 for 200 gram packages--that's like $4 for the small one or $6 for the large one. When Jeff buys Haagen Dazs the tiny individual serving is about $2.50 in US dollars, and the pint size of Haagen Dazs is about $10 US dollars. Ground beef is usually available in three kinds; I get the best one and it is $180 pesos per kilo (about $9 US dollars per kilo). I think the cheapest ground beef is usually about $120 or $130 per kilo (about $6 US dollars per kilo). Blueberries in season were $34 pesos for the tiny containers and now they are usually $49 pesos ($1.50-2.50). For peanut butter there is only one kind and it has hydrogenated oil so we don't buy it. Fresh salmon ranges from moderately to very expensive; at Devoto we usually pay $399 pesos per kilo (about $20 per kilo) and sometimes it is a few dollars more. They do sell Nutella. They have m&ms some places, and Oreos. There is usually only one brand of pretzels and it has ingredients that we don't like.</div>
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The things we miss the most are our special "short ingredient list" brands in the United States. Hydrogenated oils are still a big thing here. Sodium benzoate is popular as a preservative. A lady we know here desperately misses Karo corn syrup. There isn't corn syrup here. You can see a lot of the products that they carry on the stores' websites.</div>
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Personal care products are fairly limited. They have a decent selection, but the products are very similar. We definitely have not been able to find organic shampoo, aluminum-free deodorant, or fluoride-free toothpaste. That stuff isn't a thing here yet.</div>
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Milk comes in bags, and it is almost always ultra-pasteurized, or UHT long-life treated. Jeff can't drink it and I choose not to, so we buy fresh milk from a local dairy. Raw milk is technically illegal here. At grocery stores we have been able to find good cream that is just pasteurized regularly and doesn't have additives. Boxed juices usually have sugar added (why, why, why?) but there are some "fresh" brands that don't, and they are yummy.</div>
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They do have a "healthy living" type section in many stores. Our Devoto has a few organic ingredients there (flour and sugar), but it is mostly a sugar free/gluten free/salt free section. The products are mostly full of other additives that we avoid, so there is little that we like from that section. They do have rice flour and a bunch of rice products and some gluten free mixes so if someone doesn't care about additives and is just avoiding gluten, there is some stuff for that. There are a couple stores that carry organic stuff...one is Ecotiendas, in Montevideo centro, and another is called Mercado Verde (I think?) and it is near Arocena shopping. They have another location in Punta del Este on the peninsula.</div>
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Some stores offer loyalty cards, but I don't think you need to use them to get the sale prices. I think they are just for earning points towards reward prizes. If you want a loyalty card, you go to the customer service desk, fill out a form with a lot of personal info, and then come back in about a week to pick it up.</div>
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As far as I am aware, there are two main competing grocery store chains in the Montevideo area: <a href="http://www.tinglesa.com.uy/" target="_blank">Tienda Inglesa</a>, and <a href="http://www.devoto.com.uy/aindex.aspx" target="_blank">Devoto</a>/Disco/<a href="http://www.geant.com.uy/" target="_blank">Geant</a>. I have also seen <a href="http://web.tata.com.uy/index_1.html" target="_blank">Tata</a> and <a href="http://www.multiahorro.com.uy/Default.aspx" target="_blank">MultiAhorro</a>, although I haven't really shopped at those.</div>
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<a href="http://www.tinglesa.com.uy/" target="_blank">Tienda Inglesa</a>s really vary in size--there is a huge one at Montevideo Shopping, which is relatively similar to a Walmart, with more food than other items, and another huge one across from Portones Shopping. There is a regular "grocery store" size Tienda Inglesa in the Arocena shopping area, and a very very tiny Tienda Inglesa in Pocitos. Tienda Inglesa has a customer loyalty card, and they frequently do big giveaways (often for cars) that you can earn entries into with your purchases; with your receipt they give you tickets to fill out and put in a box. Tienda Inglesa does something kind of fun which is that (from what we have seen) they tend to have different around-the-world product themes. So, during Italian Days (or whatever it is called) they have a broader assortment of Italian foods, and even a few little "souvenirs" from Italy. They set up a special section of the store devoted to the theme, and sometimes some of the employees are dressed up to match the theme. I saw them do this for Italy, Spain, and maybe Germany, but I don't remember well, and I haven't paid close attention, because I don't usually shop there. One thing we do buy at Tienda Inglesa is soap. They have a laundry soap that is a bar of soap that is just very plain coconut oil soap with no extra ingredients, and Jeff likes to use this. </div>
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The Devoto/Disco/Geant chain is what we use most often. When we were downtown in the Montevideo centro, we shopped at Disco and really liked it. They kind of advertised having low prices, I think. But the stuff there was fine. Now, we mostly shop at <a href="http://www.devoto.com.uy/aindex.aspx" target="_blank">Devoto</a>. Devoto is very very similar to grocery stores from the United States. <a href="http://www.geant.com.uy/" target="_blank">Geant</a> is the biggest store in the area, the most similar to Walmart, in Parque Roosevelt (although I believe they just opened another one on Artigas in a new shopping center). I should probably write more about Geant separately sometime. Devoto/Disco/Geant also offers a HiperCard where you can earn points to buy prizes. We do have one of those. Unlike stores in the US, they ask you at the beginning of every transaction if you have your store card and if you don't give it to them at the beginning then you can't use it. Of anywhere, Geant's prices are the best. Devoto sometimes does giveaways (I remember one for a trip to New York), but they don't do them as often as Tienda Inglesa.</div>
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Our Devoto that we usually go to offers five separate shopping cart options:</div>
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1) regular shopping carts like in the US;</div>
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2) regular shopping carts like in the US, with a simple baby seat attached, for laying down infants (there are usually 2-3 of these per store);</div>
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3) large(-ish) plastic baskets that you can pull, and they have wheels;</div>
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4) another model of the large(-ish) plastic baskets that can be pulled OR they have a handle so you can carry them, they're a bit smaller than the others;</div>
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5) baskets just for carrying, like in the US.</div>
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Even when stores are busy, it is usually pretty quick to get through lines. Stores usually have enough check-out lines open so that you don't have to wait for more than 1-2 people, and often you can just walk right up to check out. There is often a line for people with 10 items or fewer, and many times there are signs saying that pregnant ladies get priority. I have never seen a self-check out machine here. When you pay, they often accept Uruguayan pesos or American dollars. Sometimes if you want to pay with dollars the total has to be above a certain amount. </div>
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They do give you plastic bags at the grocery store, and they are not the ultra-thin save-the-environment kind, they are good. They don't charge extra for them. But, they are also starting to encourage people to use reusable bags, and each store has their own reusable bags that you can buy up by the cash registers. Some of them at our local store say "Yo no contamino." ("I don't contaminate") large on the outside.</div>
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At Tienda Inglesa they don't offer money changing services but they told me they -kind of- do, because you can pay with dollars and they will accept them and give you change in Uruguayan pesos. At our Devoto they have a cambio (money changing booth) up at the front of the store. Stores often have little independent stores attached or in front across from where you check-out; our regular grocery store has that cambio, plus a small dry-cleaners, a locksmith/lock store, a 24 hour pharmacy with separate and shared entrances, and an Abitab (payment place) with a separate entrance but as part of the same building. This type of layout is very common for grocery stores. The Devoto itself also has a DVD rental place that is inside the store but I think it has its own check-out spot separate from the main check-out lines.</div>
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Most grocery stores have sufficient parking lots, especially when you're not in downtown Montevideo. Some have underground parking, and some have large parking lots. Our grocery store that we usually go to seldom has a parking problem, and most of the parking has little roofs to cover the cars. During evening hours (when people get off work) it is a little more crowded. Almost always, the parking lots have a worker or guard or two that stay in the parking lot all the time. They often do friendly things, like help you carry groceries to your car if you're wrangling a squirmy toddler, or come up to you to take your cart so that you don't have to take it back. They seem genuinely friendly. At the Tienda Inglesa that is in the Arocena area, there is usually someone managing traffic in the parking lot, and helping people into and out of parking spots. </div>
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Stores seem to be fairly worried about theft. All of the normal-size grocery stores have self-service lockers (where it has a large number attached to a key) so that you can store any bags at the front, and they're kind of strict about it. The Portones Devoto is attached to the mall, and if you walk into Devoto and forget to put other mall purchases in a locker, someone will come up and tell you you need to use a locker, and insist that you do so before you go into the store. </div>
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There is also a procedure when you buy more expensive items, like electronics. (It is the same experience that we had when we bought our GPS in Argentina.) When I bought a printer at Geant, I pulled it off the shelf myself and took it up to the front with the rest of my stuff like I would have done at a Walmart in the United States. No, they told me, I couldn't do that. The process is this:</div>
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1. Talk to someone in the electronics department, and have them get you an order ticket with your name and info on it.</div>
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2. Take the printed order ticket to the customer service desk (like, the place you would go for returns in the US...I don't know whether they do returns here or not) and pay for it.</div>
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3. Take the PAID order ticket and receipt to a "pick up" type desk located at the exit of the store. For Geant it is outside the store, but still in the shopping center. </div>
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4. Someone at the desk reads your order ticket and looks at the items that are waiting to be picked up, to find your item.</div>
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5. They open the box, and pull everything out of the box, to make sure everything that is supposed to be included is included. They put everything back in, and tape it shut.</div>
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6. Maybe they have you sign acknowledging that you picked it up, and they sign confirming that they checked it? I think this happens on some paper, but I don't remember which.</div>
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7. You can take your stuff.</div>
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It is very disappointing! I love the excitement of opening something new that I've just bought and pulling items out of the box to discover it all and enjoy it. Watching someone else open your fun thing is no fun. I feel kind of jealous, because I want the experience for myself, and a little irritated, because I don't want them touching my stuff, and because it seems like a waste of time. It seems like it must be a fun job when new cool things come out...can you imagine being the one to get to handle all the new iPhones before anyone else gets to touch them? Maybe it gets boring to them.</div>
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Anyhow, that is about all I can think of to tell you about our grocery stores here! If you have questions, feel free to ask. Sorry this is so long and without pictures. I will try to add some pictures later, if I remember. The stores are clean and usually relatively modern looking. </div>
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Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-14607260444226060192014-01-20T19:24:00.000-08:002014-01-20T19:24:11.861-08:00Nineteen months!Today Paisley is 19 months old! I feel like she has grown up so much over the past few months. It looks like the last time I blogged a monthly post for Paisley was when she was five months old! It is hard to believe how much has changed since then.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVcwK2Pa7poNfyR1DBXFPKlYvTPLWOZR6kyNQg-CdANNbyRqTZOH5RJ2RvlII70F1GykVgppsqI4xpGzjo-9pxWbyY8x9J9XpGEaK2HSf5a185IrW_8-MlnNld4LktzdssfMa/s1600/DSC_3403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVcwK2Pa7poNfyR1DBXFPKlYvTPLWOZR6kyNQg-CdANNbyRqTZOH5RJ2RvlII70F1GykVgppsqI4xpGzjo-9pxWbyY8x9J9XpGEaK2HSf5a185IrW_8-MlnNld4LktzdssfMa/s1600/DSC_3403.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a>This morning she weighed about 20.5 lbs on our bathroom scale, and I have no idea how tall she is. She is still really little compared to kids her age in the United States, but in South America she seems about the same size as a lot of other kids her age. Her third canine tooth came through this past week, so we have one more of those and then we should get a little break before the next set of molars come in, I think.<br />
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Where do I even begin to describe our fun little girl?<br />
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Paisley is a chatterbox! All day long she talks and talks and talks to me, mostly in phrases. For a while I kept track of how many words she knew, by adding to a list whenever she started using a new word correctly. I gave that up several months ago, after she had around 800 words and the list became too difficult to maintain. Now, she has a lot more than that! She knows plurals, possessives, and gerunds (-ing words), plus shapes and colors. She knows a lot of letters and letter sounds, and she is very interested in numbers but she only knows 1, 2, 3, and 5. (Usually she just counts "1, 2, 1, 2...many!") When she drops things she says "oopsie daisy" and it is adorable every time. I kind of want to record everything she says for a day, so that we remember what she is like right now!<br />
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She also knows some words in Spanish: hola, gracias, chau, que rico, mañana, vamos, casa, papa, nado, agua, ducha, linda, and probably a few others that I am forgetting. She is constantly making friends with people around us, partially because she is blonde, and partially because she grins at people and then they melt when they hear her say "hola" or "gracias". People are always stopping to tell her how pretty she is, or touch her, and she is usually tolerant and friendly. <br />
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Paisley loves to "draw" and "write" which both mean 'to scribble'. If she sees me writing something she suddenly desperately wants the pen I'm using so that she can draw or write. She also enjoys coloring, with crayons or ColorWonder markers. And she loves to paint, especially when she can make handprints. She really likes handprints, or if we're not painting then she likes to have me trace her hand.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJBKDMvqsL0yjNXBmI8cNl7_Ui2PSOSrx_ZXTai9qRVxgoI8STpNtP-Y-ENakYG6EAZ_zv1vU7hqiRXvFd1YGVryyG7T0lTxNSHj6fKNDNGiSfE-eZI3vIZ7vFNhb3IbSKXL9/s1600/DSC_3375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJBKDMvqsL0yjNXBmI8cNl7_Ui2PSOSrx_ZXTai9qRVxgoI8STpNtP-Y-ENakYG6EAZ_zv1vU7hqiRXvFd1YGVryyG7T0lTxNSHj6fKNDNGiSfE-eZI3vIZ7vFNhb3IbSKXL9/s1600/DSC_3375.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><br />
Paisley also loves to swim! Uruguay has been colder than we expected, so we haven't done much swimming since we left Panama, until about a week ago. She is so delighted when we go swimming--she keeps a huge grin on her face, and she squeals with excitement! She is good at kicking, and not very good at scooping anymore. We will keep practicing.<br />
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Paisley loves her iPad mini that we gave her for Christmas. Her favorite games are Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader.<br />
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Paisley still loves dogs.<br />
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Her favorite foods are: Nana (which is nursing), cheese, fruit leather, pretzels, and goat milk. She also loves chocolate, cookie dough, and ice cream when we eat them.<br />
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She really wants to learn how to jump, but hasn't quite got it yet. <br />
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She likes to help (usually by carrying bags or cleaning up stuff she has dropped, or helping carry laundry outside, or by mixing things in the kitchen), and also likes to be with me. Actually, she loves to be with me.<br />
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She also loves when I read to her, and she likes to pretend to read books. <br />
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Paisley loves to be gotten, which is where I say "I'mmmm going to get you!" and then I start to creep towards her, and she squeals and runs to me.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaRGUHtNVMOFgHAZx9724Mvv0wXH7vG5j7bc67BLF97b5Or8A8YnFFkIbIIzVxIVrHcez7OHgVpcZ8ncljxkRnan71CnHm7X5lE9szcLpsks7VqkufP3-6UtqnRD81wzse00_/s1600/DSC_3423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaRGUHtNVMOFgHAZx9724Mvv0wXH7vG5j7bc67BLF97b5Or8A8YnFFkIbIIzVxIVrHcez7OHgVpcZ8ncljxkRnan71CnHm7X5lE9szcLpsks7VqkufP3-6UtqnRD81wzse00_/s1600/DSC_3423.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a><br />
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She loves using the remote to open our front gate. She likes taking lids off of things and putting them back on. She likes checking the kitchen trash to see if we have added anything interesting. She loves to crack eggs. She loves colored baths, although we don't have a tub here, so that was mostly just a treat on our vacation to the US.<br />
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Paisley is also very sweet. She used to very very sweetly say "Love!" and hug me. Now she says "love you" or sometimes even "I love you"... but I noticed this weekend it almost always precedes her asking for something, which is disappointing, although I guess it just means she is smart if she is making kind of clever attempts to manipulate me. "Love you. Nana? Ookkaaayy." Or, "I love you too. Up? Ookkkkaaayyy!" She asks for things and then says "Oookkaaayyy!" or "All riiiight" just like I do for the times that I do agree to what she wants. That's kind of funny. <br />
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Paisley is such a funny kid! We are enjoying her very, very much.<br />
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<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-24036609639334045592014-01-02T22:24:00.001-08:002014-01-02T22:24:12.431-08:00Photography by Paisley, age 1<div style="text-align: left;">
Especially when I scroll through pictures on my phone, I sometimes think baby photography--meaning, photos taken by babies--is an interesting (and under-appreciated) art. Paisley absolutely loves cameras. When I scroll through the pictures she has taken, they are always from an unusual perspective, usually accidental, and sometimes beautiful.</div>
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One of the reasons we decided to get her an iPad mini for Christmas was because we wanted to encourage her in her love of cameras, in a toddler-proof way. I have already noticed her playing with the camera a couple times, so it will be fun to see how her little hobby develops as she gets a little older, more coordinated, and has appropriate tools at her fingertips.</div>
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Here is some of her art that I have on my computer already (so these ones were taken on our Canon PowerShot A1200). I will have to post some of the ones from my phone another time.</div>
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Paisley also loves to change the camera's settings to inspire creativity for others.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11/3/2013 - Self portrait.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11/3/2013 - The ceiling.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRCmB5l7R4Cq5-h7GuCLpBsLZ7fIc859XZ3TFMqevwybt9BjqQ1Ek4K6y6x29BKlGppNAwyj0DAL4xl5CLtEAwSAD1S4wmSh1TBCBq3I1MeKN0wM4CZf9pa3fQCJsnSXSdByr/s1600/Carrasco+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLRCmB5l7R4Cq5-h7GuCLpBsLZ7fIc859XZ3TFMqevwybt9BjqQ1Ek4K6y6x29BKlGppNAwyj0DAL4xl5CLtEAwSAD1S4wmSh1TBCBq3I1MeKN0wM4CZf9pa3fQCJsnSXSdByr/s320/Carrasco+009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11/3/2013 - Self portrait.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbYqZS1bOY3239P8Hh5b3SC6GyK8mH52Fsj7V_8rHlo4coMSikvNz2lJmGSSet5h2H2zhbeg3PKWsPBHbpRCKIrnllQSg0DiRNd7OyqjCff6BbZs1In-RSdeH2GPM-PNiDkjc/s1600/Carrasco+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbYqZS1bOY3239P8Hh5b3SC6GyK8mH52Fsj7V_8rHlo4coMSikvNz2lJmGSSet5h2H2zhbeg3PKWsPBHbpRCKIrnllQSg0DiRNd7OyqjCff6BbZs1In-RSdeH2GPM-PNiDkjc/s320/Carrasco+004.JPG" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11/10/2013 - Self portrait after chocolate</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: 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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11/10/2013 - Self portrait.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJzzi-aUVKYbnBU15E-5-z00ZDOTDzfLvCH4LgigpYtpUVaFVChbwFCrbc8Vih8JDKZk1skP9CDEa5cW0EhbgbiJlQV9SNufCdCGOj9Co_s-s5Ain7K5Zh0KONhiPdKqrae3s/s1600/carrasco+and+car+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJzzi-aUVKYbnBU15E-5-z00ZDOTDzfLvCH4LgigpYtpUVaFVChbwFCrbc8Vih8JDKZk1skP9CDEa5cW0EhbgbiJlQV9SNufCdCGOj9Co_s-s5Ain7K5Zh0KONhiPdKqrae3s/s320/carrasco+and+car+024.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11/15/2013 - Waiting for Mom to assemble my slide.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdmsLMjjt9P5R-qx1ifTJl1w0VNAGL1dokHbOxGbICQyrNlzGoztZNs0CyFAg4IycvLnYfSvLR8x7FK2wLyJW01O78FA5yvpswGx1w7VwN9pZImdvnFT1hpSxcqzmsjY2Hki1/s1600/Carrasco+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdmsLMjjt9P5R-qx1ifTJl1w0VNAGL1dokHbOxGbICQyrNlzGoztZNs0CyFAg4IycvLnYfSvLR8x7FK2wLyJW01O78FA5yvpswGx1w7VwN9pZImdvnFT1hpSxcqzmsjY2Hki1/s320/Carrasco+003.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12/15/2013 - Self portrait.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgn0h0IRtCgtwVCsJ2w8GwRTBK2z9NqYX4MjedH-f_sPP-Zz3KebDCN0ACve2pgm6EzQ5dVTJYByrOUt9VMZ-UaI8rc9DnAgVKXcioL-RgXpeiHBfe8rux-Iu0kBfKd5Ga_nQD/s1600/Carrasco+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgn0h0IRtCgtwVCsJ2w8GwRTBK2z9NqYX4MjedH-f_sPP-Zz3KebDCN0ACve2pgm6EzQ5dVTJYByrOUt9VMZ-UaI8rc9DnAgVKXcioL-RgXpeiHBfe8rux-Iu0kBfKd5Ga_nQD/s320/Carrasco+006.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12/15/2013 - Mom's purse. She also calls it my diaper bag, so that means it is "Paisley's", and it is full of things to entertain me at any moment (like when she is carrying me on the same side as her purse and I can reach in to grab something).</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qXavvFMQahU0Ewy4tfLnZ8nqgAeFHJeX_Vk2jCrSPC1dL82ZdlniTtz8aqThNt4xPPF9NT-hg_9xl3VjRLQSK5QDxbz6tJ7dIK-07vSbH3_gZTvEId7G_K7C24zY7F2IyqbC/s1600/Carrasco+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qXavvFMQahU0Ewy4tfLnZ8nqgAeFHJeX_Vk2jCrSPC1dL82ZdlniTtz8aqThNt4xPPF9NT-hg_9xl3VjRLQSK5QDxbz6tJ7dIK-07vSbH3_gZTvEId7G_K7C24zY7F2IyqbC/s320/Carrasco+007.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12/15/2013 - Self portrait. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavH96Ft3GLPSIU9lEXJ_HX90-vZp5OToj3T7_6rcv1NangR_Tr1j9EyGViIR4LxYBMRtONgJbu8e3phHV-IMngug0pihPae59G8614wizL31nYCwMmAR6L1ryClqp3sumEVIj/s1600/Carrasco+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavH96Ft3GLPSIU9lEXJ_HX90-vZp5OToj3T7_6rcv1NangR_Tr1j9EyGViIR4LxYBMRtONgJbu8e3phHV-IMngug0pihPae59G8614wizL31nYCwMmAR6L1ryClqp3sumEVIj/s320/Carrasco+010.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12/15/2013 - Sitting behind Mom. This is the space between us. I hate that space.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_O2upmMUutRc-rlRanI6QGMa3PeTBuMpI748RdzqO7G2I0wn1HOhetZRSsj6lGWs47vqQnwM_pm5v6lo3wmAIgbx4US3v0gGV8U78CNwbxsKnsCI_PFuvGagFkeAApBIOiv3b/s1600/Utah+056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_O2upmMUutRc-rlRanI6QGMa3PeTBuMpI748RdzqO7G2I0wn1HOhetZRSsj6lGWs47vqQnwM_pm5v6lo3wmAIgbx4US3v0gGV8U78CNwbxsKnsCI_PFuvGagFkeAApBIOiv3b/s320/Utah+056.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1/2/2014 - Side view from below a table, with three packs of labels. I cannot resist giving that doily a good tug sometimes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9HveJ0sYKefEkM_aeYrRg9wACY574gz2TXhh0uqwRBvjHXc_4QEssVaGP_4qv6UGKEQxTaK1JfabSW1wTPU16474r2oe8Fzli4s-0UhEr-dwQXWZOaV-9A05boYsvMMRfPbys/s1600/carrasco+and+car+024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-56182630666912290782014-01-02T21:29:00.002-08:002014-01-02T21:29:24.210-08:00The Future of Privacy (or lack thereof)
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lately, I have been confused about what
to do with my blog.
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPAp_a4gMEtGBmPyqtGrUMjwZntthDEedwVk5kt5ykDaRQabSxSei1xwDPEvWM5MeZGAW05N38vvTxfmkhUba5dwrQG1KOV2cux5G64og-LmUWXknvNi7dqV_MLMtZ8aQG6mu/s1600/Utah+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPAp_a4gMEtGBmPyqtGrUMjwZntthDEedwVk5kt5ykDaRQabSxSei1xwDPEvWM5MeZGAW05N38vvTxfmkhUba5dwrQG1KOV2cux5G64og-LmUWXknvNi7dqV_MLMtZ8aQG6mu/s320/Utah+030.JPG" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have had some interesting ideas about
the future—things are changing very quickly. I think facial
recognition technology is fairly advanced; if you think about Google
Glass, and about Facebook grid search, and the progress in voice
recognition, transcription, and translation...I can imagine a world
where strangers who meet me in the street can instantly review and
sort all of my Facebook comments, my pictures, and my blog posts;
they could search for specific things, or they could make
generalizations, or they could chart trends (I'm thinking of the
little programs that will already analyze our Facebook profiles or
blogs and tell us detailed things about ourselves). Even information
that is private now—such as e-mails I've sent, or things I have
typed in and then deleted without posting it or sending it or saving
it anywhere—this information is in databases somewhere, and who is
to say that those databases could not eventually become public on
purpose or because someone or everyone decides they must be...and I
just wonder, of course, I am human, and what if I blog something that
offends someone, or is accidentally factually incorrect, or who knows
what, and then that information is there for interpretation in
contexts that I don't even understand yet. It seems like everyone
knowing everything is bound to happen sooner or later, and I think of
the math question about how fast a stadium can be filled with water,
and I can see that technology is advancing very rapidly. That makes
me think I should delete everything and never post anything, in the
spirit of “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than
to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And then I think, by the time everyone
knows everything about everyone, silly attempts to conceal human
weakness will be irrelevant at best or deceptive at worst, and most
likely, nobody will care, because it turns out everything is just
about math, and once we have enough of the code figured out, solving
x will be obvious, and it will be hard to judge anyone for anything,
because it's just math. You would never look at a forest and judge
one of the trees harshly, because it just really doesn't matter if
one tree is a little taller than another tree, because they're just
all growing towards the light, and a crooked tree is strong in its
own way because it is kind of amazing that the tree was able to take
advantage of different opportunities to reach light in a place where
there wasn't much.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am also a little afraid to blog
because I could be wrong about things and be embarrassed later. Or,
I could accidentally offend someone, and later cause someone to be
angry. On the Internet it is impossible to take anything back after
it is said, or even after it is “thought”.
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I can just imagine going for a job
interview and having someone present me with things I said that were
not thought through well enough, or “evidence” that I wouldn't
do the job well based on something I admitted or did poorly years
before. But after that kind of paradigm shift, maybe everyone will
have things like that.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And, if I am earnestly trying to be a
good person—which I think I am trying to do—maybe that kind of
record is a positive thing.
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Last Sunday in Sunday School they were
talking about the ten virgins, and I had the thought that the story
totally matches my idea of what is coming. Once everything is known,
it will be too late; what we will have done will already be done, and
it will be available for full review, and it will be too late to
revise and add new “drops” of oil or become “good” (whatever
that means).
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span>
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9sgPue0U-qTU3fsNtw1Goivh8Namc2qp2iiQV0xQ8d1fyniyK_XztoIRTiDH3fS2-lYxBw9j0neJ3xosCofPkXj9pdZ_XOe-FsmcLEY9Jox1GRPZtCIIELVCahEDeozYa-oN/s1600/Utah+054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9sgPue0U-qTU3fsNtw1Goivh8Namc2qp2iiQV0xQ8d1fyniyK_XztoIRTiDH3fS2-lYxBw9j0neJ3xosCofPkXj9pdZ_XOe-FsmcLEY9Jox1GRPZtCIIELVCahEDeozYa-oN/s320/Utah+054.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by Paisley, Jan 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My ideas about technology are very
interesting to me as I think about religion and the gospel. Think
about this: if everyone knew everything about you, how would you want
to be? If people could use micro-drones to kill anyone, or pass
whatever judgment they felt was just...how would you prepare for
that, if you knew that it was coming? You would love your brother as
yourself, <i>for sure</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. The best
you can do is to love others as much as yourself, and if you've loved
them that much, how can anyone expect more, because that was the best
you could do? Or, if you wanted to get specific, to prepare for that
kind of world where everyone knows everything you wouldn't steal,
lie, or commit adultery. And if you had a history of that kind of
stuff when things changed, everyone would suddenly know, and it would
become a problem for you.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">My big
ideas about technology and the future have me increasingly convinced
that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are true. I used to feel like
there was a conflict between religion and technology (or “logic”),
and then I started to feel like they must blend </span><i>somehow</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
but over the past few months I've figured it out. I've had a
paradigm shift, and everything makes so much sense. Technology is
truth, the gospel is truth, and comments about advances in technology
being “for” the gospel totally miss the mark. The Internet is
not just to help people do family history or watch movies about
Jesus, although those things are nice; it is much, much, much bigger
than that: technology is how the gospel happens. I may write more
about this later. Now that I understand, I am very interested to
read the scriptures again because I think I will come away with some
really amazing insights that will help me understand what is coming
and know how to prepare for it.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Anyway,
back to my original topic, I feel some anxiety about how online
sharing will affect my future. I think I will continue to write anyway.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-8216350115399820102013-12-06T12:33:00.002-08:002013-12-06T12:33:24.919-08:00Training the Neighbors' Guard DogsAll day--every day--Paisley and I talk about one thing: dogs.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3MNDCsbALt5TVCa_XrCH1IlPcu7OKF8CiM6POMxMDaCAdXdB-U2Lwv1D65Sok60XxTgKOC2VOOfJkH3v6P6tb5bPt6zfxbhdgAwN09fG8f48HTqr4rhcCg_Gmwt8oaz62e5m/s1600/Carrasco+057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3MNDCsbALt5TVCa_XrCH1IlPcu7OKF8CiM6POMxMDaCAdXdB-U2Lwv1D65Sok60XxTgKOC2VOOfJkH3v6P6tb5bPt6zfxbhdgAwN09fG8f48HTqr4rhcCg_Gmwt8oaz62e5m/s320/Carrasco+057.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Since we left the United States, there have always been a lot of dogs around: both in Panama and Uruguay there have been a ton of dogs. <br />
<br />
In Panama the dogs were randomly very relaxed. They did not bark or chase cars, but they were quietly relaxing everywhere. I remember the first time I came across a dog in the middle of the road. I started to feel sad, but then as our car got closer, maybe 30 feet away, it got up and moved out of the way. No big deal! Just relaxing in the middle of the road! That happened a few times. <br />
<br />
In Uruguay the dogs also everywhere, but they are uptight and noisy. They don't wander around in public as much as the dogs in Panama, they are usually with people or guarding houses. For our first month in Uruguay there was a dog out on a balcony diagonal from our apartment, and he barked cooonnnnstantly. It about drove me crazy. I would just about have Paisley asleep and he would bark some more and Paisley would sit up in bed, totally alert, and say "Dog?! Woof woof? Dog! Dog!"<br />
<br />
Now we are in a neighborhood and almost all of the neighbors have a guard dog (or five). Paisley's vocabulary has also grown, so a couple months ago we started to have this conversation several times each day, whenever we hear (or walk past) a dog:<br />
<br />
Paisley: "DOG?! Bark! Woof woof! Tail. Wag. Dog. TOUCH! TOUCH!" (She wants to touch every dog.) <br />
Me: "Nope, we can't touch it." <br />
Paisley: "LOOK. See it. Look. Look. Pass. Dog."<br />
<br />
After a while of her asking to touch every dog, about a month ago I explained to her why we couldn't touch all of the guard dogs, at a simplified level that I hoped she would understand. I explained that the dogs are mad. The dogs bark because they are protecting their house and if we try to touch them they could bite us. We need to ask the owners before we touch dogs. So that is why even though we pass a lot of dogs we usually cannot touch them.<br />
<br />
She did understand. <br />
<br />
After that, we still talked about dogs a ton. She still asked to touch them. Something changed, though. Now when we pass by dogs, she doesn't run to try to touch them. Instead, she wants to be held instead of walking, and she clings close to me, curled up tightly into me. She shudders when they bark. Now, when she talks to me about dogs our conversations are different.<br />
<br />
"DOG! Bark! Mad. Bite. Scared! Afraid! See it. Touch. Mad."<br />
<br />
She begs to go see dogs, but once we get to them she is afraid!<br />
<br />
It's kind of sad to me.<br />
<br />
But it had to happen eventually, right? She had to know eventually that it is not safe to touch every dog, because it can be dangerous. <br />
<br />
Even when she sees friendly, happy dogs she says "DOG! Mad. Bite." So I started telling her that some dogs are HAPPY! Some dogs are FRIENDLY! Not all dogs are mad, and most dogs are only mad sometimes. And they're behind gates, so we're safe.<br />
<br />
Pais doesn't really get it, though. And every day several dogs bark at us viciously as we walk past, so that doesn't help her to be less afraid. We can't <i>not</i> walk past, so that is just how it is. <br />
<br />
Then I had an idea...<br />
<br />
I remembered that goat kids become friendly if you feed them raisins when you interact with them. I remembered that when we had Chalcy she was very trainable.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLv-5NuOB9mJ77QplCqvUZ0K78HBAmp3kZXd30IbyIn7AEukN_OsjpAvQ1eSApeImBu7tJIXh0-cmFuInGLMsU7ZwMQbXm23ERuoXzdy-xW-OVU2iVLCVF7aDduMLe9dDC3eFV/s1600/Carrasco+056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLv-5NuOB9mJ77QplCqvUZ0K78HBAmp3kZXd30IbyIn7AEukN_OsjpAvQ1eSApeImBu7tJIXh0-cmFuInGLMsU7ZwMQbXm23ERuoXzdy-xW-OVU2iVLCVF7aDduMLe9dDC3eFV/s320/Carrasco+056.JPG" width="240" /></a>I wondered, what if we bought some dog treats (even though we don't have a dog) and carried some with us so that whenever we pass a scary dog we can toss a treat at the dog and it will disrupt the barking and make the dog like us. <br />
<br />
I wasn't sure if it was ethical or not, because if I had a scary guard dog I wouldn't want a lady and her baby to make it not a scary dog. And, I have very strong feelings about what I consume and what people feed to Paisley, and some people might object to me feeding their dogs anything.<br />
<br />
I decided to do it though, because:<br />
1) The dogs don't just bark if we are threatening their territory. If a dog were only barking if we stopped outside their house, or trespassed, that would be one thing--and some dogs are that way--but that is not the case with most dogs.<br />
2) The value of having dogs on full alert for us is not worth the cost of my baby really believing that all dogs are mad, and that is what is being reinforced when they are so vicious. <br />
3) We do not actually pose a threat to the houses--whether or not the owners know that--so if dogs are friendly to us it does not raise the risk of burglary or harm to the people.<br />
4) We are feeding very generic dog biscuits, in small quantities, so it is unlikely to make anybody's dog fat or have some kind of dietary problem. <br />
5) If the owners ask us not to, we will stop.<br />
<br />
So I bought a bag of dog biscuits, and started to toss half a dog biscuit to any dog that barks at us.<br />
<br />
The first few times I threw dog biscuits it took everybody by surprise. The dogs abruptly stopped barking to look for treats. Paisley was surprised by the unexpected change, too, and she laughed and laughed!<br />
<br />
We've been doing that for about a week and a half, just whenever we see the dogs. <br />
<br />
It's working!<br />
<br />
We've seen the most improvement with the very scary, extremely barky dogs that live two doors away from us. They still run across the yard to meet us when they see us, but they don't bark at all. Instead, they wag their tails and wait patiently on the other side of the gate, hoping that I will toss treats in. And I do. <br />
<br />
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<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-78368373675609545742013-10-31T18:51:00.001-07:002013-10-31T18:51:48.903-07:00Rental Cars in Uruguay are Dangerous!Today I was supposed to let our rental car guy know whether we are keeping this car for the next five months or whether we are returning it to him tomorrow. I told him we would like a bigger car, with airbags, and still with air conditioning. He actually laughed at me. He said, "You will never find a rental car here with airbags!" I thought he was exaggerating, because I know he wants us to rent from him for our long rental, and his cars don't have them. <br />
It looks like he was not exaggerating! I kept looking, and I think airbags are really not common here. That was kind of a surprise. I was comparing other vehicles that are available for us to rent, and it seems like rental cars are usually Chinese cars--we've already noticed that our current car (despite being brand new) is far lower quality than cars sold in the United States--but it seems like the same types of cars are also somewhat more common here in general. Maybe, since cars are so expensive to import, people import cheaper cars.<br />
<br />
So, anyhow, we were comparing some of the other vehicles available through other rental companies, and a couple things happened. First, when we were Googling to see pictures of the types of cars offered to us we found the Wikipedia page about the Chery QQ (which is very common, especially among rental cars). I noticed this sentence on the Wikipedia page: "Upon impact, the QQ driver will most likely suffer severe (possibly fatal) head trauma, and trauma to the neck and chest areas." Whoa...notice the words "most likely"? So, if you're in an accident in that car, you're done, thanks for playing. That sounds really dangerous. And, I would be really surprised if the car we're currently renting is any safer. That's kind of scary.<br />
<br />
It is interesting that cars are available that wouldn't be available in the United States, but at the same time, it seems like an unnecessary, stupid risk to take for us to drive something so unsafe.<br />
<br />
So, that led to us looking on mercadolibre (the classifieds here) for information about another car that looked a little better from the pictures but lacked specific info about the car on the Wikipedia page about it. As we were looking there, we realized, gosh, we're thinking about paying a minimum of about $5000USD to rent a car for five months, and the same cars sell (brand new, including the taxes) for about $10,000USD. And then, the interesting thing is, if you look at the same cars that are used and a few years old, they're selling for $8,700USD. So, they really don't lose much value at all. <br />
<br />
We had talked before about buying a car instead of renting one, but now we're thinking more seriously about that. There will be the hassle of selling it when we're ready to; selling used cars is a bigger project here because financial stuff follows the car instead of the owner, so buyers have to make sure that there are not loans or unpaid fines, etc, still owing on the car...but financially, it seems like it is a pretty compelling option. And then we can have our air bags, and space for Paisley's car seat, and so on.<br />
<br />
We'll see.<br />
<br />
We told our car rental guy that we want to keep this car for another week, so that we have some time to shop for a car. Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-5064328918470469252013-10-31T17:52:00.001-07:002013-10-31T18:52:27.824-07:00Halloween in Carrasco, Uruguay!Today is Halloween, and here in Uruguay we were not really sure what to expect.<br />
<br />
At first, we just assumed that Halloween was basically an American thing so it wouldn't really be happening here, or if it did happen here it would be very limited.<br />
<br />
Then we started seeing Halloween stuff at stores. Mainly, just at grocery stores. The bigger the grocery store, the bigger the Halloween section, buuuut it's still almost nothing. So, the giant superstore (called, of course, Geant) had a few islands in the middle of the store with about 5 or 6 very cheap costumes in assorted sizes, some fake fangs maybe, and a couple islands with what appeared to be Halloween candy. Regular grocery stores carry less than that. Everywhere else, it seems as if Halloween doesn't exist.<br />
<br />
I haven't noticed any pumpkins or jack-o-lanterns. I was thinking about that, though, and I wonder if it may have to do with the difference of seasons. In the United States, Halloween occurs in the fall, right after summer, when things (like pumpkins) are being harvested. Here in Uruguay, this is spring. Instead of a nice warm summer for growing pumpkins, we've just come through winter, which (as far as I know) is not suitable for growing pumpkins. So, I think if they wanted to carve pumpkins here, the pumpkins would have to be imported from somewhere in the northern hemisphere, or <i>at least</i> somewhere closer to the equator below the equator. Imports are expensive here--most imports are taxed at about 60%--so particularly with pumpkins (which are heavy, so the freight charges would be more)--they would be expensive to get to Uruguay for Halloween. Maybe they could at least have pumpkin shaped plastic stuff, though? I haven't really noticed any.<br />
<br />
Halloween decorations in general have been almost nowhere, and when we have seen them (I think maybe at a grocery store sometime) they are always minimal and isolated to a tiny spot (such as one sign that says HALLOWEEN! or something). I have not seen any decorated houses.<br />
<br />
But then we heard that they celebrate Halloween here similarly to how it is celebrated in the United States. Huh. What would that mean? Do kids dress up in costumes for school? Could they actually go trick-or-treating? Security is a little intense here--every house in our area is gated, most houses have well marked security systems, lots of houses have multiple barky guard dogs, some houses have on-site security guards...anyway, it's not like kids could just come up and ring your doorbell to go trick-or-treating. Or, they could, but they would be doing it out at the street, not right at your door. When we were living in Centro (in downtown Montevideo) the situation was similar. There, people had apartments instead of houses, but the apartments typically have guards or at least a doorman, so I don't know how that would work for trick-or-treaters. Do they trick-or-treat just by ringing doorbells down at the street? (Is it cheating if you ring 20 people at once and say "trick-or-treat" to all of them at the same time??) So the logistics were really unclear to us.<br />
<br />
We were looking at the little Halloween islands at Geant earlier this week and I asked a lady (in my best Spanish, lacking Halloween vocabulary) if kids go to houses for candy in this country. She grinned and said they do. So we decided to buy candy just in case.<br />
<br />
The choices for Halloween candy were:<br />
- large pastel-colored marshmallows in a twisty shape (not individually packaged)<br />
- large pastel-colored marshmallows in a flower shape (not individually packaged)<br />
- candies that look like they might be fruit flavored and chewy (individually wrapped!)<br />
- suckers (individually wrapped!)<br />
<br />
There were TONS of marshmallows! We felt a little funny about giving kids unwrapped treats, so we grabbed a bag of maybe-fruit-chew candies and then also a bag of the suckers. Jeff was like, "Oh, no, Em, if we get these aren't they going to not like the candy from our house? What about the fun-size good candies like Snickers?" and I said, "Uhhhh, this is all they have. They don't <i>have</i> fun-size Snickers or Twix or any of that stuff! Look around, this is all there is. So...if they only have this, do you think they'll just like it anyway, because that's all anyone has to give them?" We decided it would have to do. The maybe-fruit-chew candies came packaged with a special collector edition cup shaped like a werewolf, but we also could have chosen one with a skull cup or one of a couple other options.<br />
<br />
Would we have anyone to give our Halloween candy to?<br />
<br />
Then I started feeling a little bad that Paisley is not having much of a Halloween experience this year, even though it is a year where she could really understand a little bit about it and enjoy participating. I taught her how to say "Trick or Treat" (and she says it, if you ask her for each word). I decided to look for a simple costume at a grocery store--last minute--in case we could take her somewhere nearby to trick-or-treat at a couple houses. (I ended up just finding a little witch hat. "GREEN!") Tonight we painted with some Halloween colors.<br />
<br />
I started to wonder if maybe Halloween was celebrated as Day of the Dead or All Souls Day or something else, in the next couple days.<br />
<br />
Then, early this evening we had our first group of trick-or-treaters! There were four kids. One of the kids was probably about 3 years old and he was wrapped up as a mummy. His eyes had dark make-up on them, and his costume looked quite good. The other kids had kind of lame costumes, like the typical grocery store collection: a vampire cape or witch hat here or there. I don't remember the specifics because they were not very memorable.<br />
<br />
I wondered what they would say. Do they say "trick-or-treat" here? Probably not, since it isn't Spanish.<br />
<br />
Nothing. They said nothing at all.<br />
<br />
So, I gave them each a few suckers. The parents nearby called out "Gracias!" and I said "Gracias!" right back to them. Then I immediately felt kind of dumb because what was I thanking them for, coming to get candy? It was one of those silly things like when someone tells you to have a good trip and without thinking about it you say, "You too!" even though of course that doesn't make any sense.<br />
<br />
So they were candied-up, and they left.<br />
<br />
We had one more set of trick-or-treaters a couple hours later, as I was in the middle of putting Paisley to bed. Instead, I took her down to pass out candy with me. That time, it was a little Spiderman (in a full costume including mask) and a bloody ghost, with their dad. Also silent. So I gave them each a few suckers. I should have given them a whole bag of candy each, because that was the end of our trick-or-treaters. <br />
<br />
I didn't take Paisley anywhere with her little witch hat, because I never did figure out what we were supposed to say, or if much of anywhere would even be expecting us.<br />
<br />
Happy Halloween!<br />
<br />
(Hopefully soon I will start to take pictures to go along with posts.)Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-12892247758893719352013-10-26T18:29:00.001-07:002013-10-26T18:34:58.678-07:00Rear-facing Car Seats in UruguayWe rented our fourth car in Uruguay today. <br />
<br />
We brought Paisley's car seat along for our travels; it is a Diono Radian RXT, which is supposed to be awesome for travel because it folds up, but is actually <i>not</i> awesome for travel because it weighs as much as a car. (Almost.) I do feel like it is a very safe car seat, though, which is an important consideration when you're choosing a child <i>safety</i> seat.<br />
<br />
Our first car we rented from Alamo when we first arrived, in mid-September. I may write more about that experience another time, but for now I will just address the issue of car seats.<br />
<br />
We had trouble getting in touch with the Alamo office because their number was published wrong online, so we decided just to walk downtown and hopefully figure car rental stuff out in person. Since it was kind of a long walk, we didn't take Paisley's car seat with us to the rental place. I halfway forgot to bring it, and halfway didn't want to think about it, because it is so heavy that it is no fun to move. If I knew for sure that it would be a one-way w alk we probably would have sucked it up and taken the car seat with us along for the walk, but I remember confessing to Jeff halfway there that I guessed it was probably a 50/50 probability as to whether they would actually be there and rent us a car or not. They were there, and they did rent us a car, as it turned out.<br />
<br />
They asked us if we also wanted to rent a car seat for Paisley, for $7/day (I think that was the rate, anyway). We assured them that we had brought hers even though it wasn't with us for the walk. They wanted to show us theirs. It was a forward-facing toddler seat, recommended for kids ages 3 and older. Yikes! No, and, absolutely not! It did look very nice, though, and if I had, say, a 5 year old kid that was going to be forward-facing anyway, and needed that kind of seat, it would have been totally fine.<br />
<br />
Our second car was also from Alamo, a few days later, because we traded for an automatic transmission instead of the manual one we started out with.<br />
<br />
Our third car we rented from Avis when we returned to Uruguay a week ago. I think they may have asked us if we had a car seat for her, and we said that we did, and it was actually with us because it went with us to Argentina. (Which is another story; sometime I should write about car seats on airplanes...or lack thereof.) Anyway, no car seat rental from Avis.<br />
<br />
Today we rented from a guy who has a small local car rental company. When I talked to him ahead of time he said he had two types of car seats for kids and that we could look at them when we went to pick up the car, and use one if we wanted (and I think that would have been at no additional cost).<br />
<br />
We liked the idea of using another car seat because Paisley's seat is so large that without a Radian angle adjuster (which we do not have) it is sometimes very difficult to install properly, and I typically end up sitting in the glove compartment because the passenger seat has to be moved so far forward. Rear-facing is still an absolute requirement, though, because Paisley is still too small to be forward-facing, even by the most lenient standards. In the US, babies need to be at least 1 year old AND 20 lbs to be forward-facing, but it is recommended that they be at least 2 (according to our pediatrician). Paisley is not close to 2, and, the last time we weighed her she was about 18.5 lbs, so she is still well below that guideline.<br />
<br />
Anyhow, the guy didn't have two car seats for us to see, he had one. It looked a little shabby, but I tried not to act like I was better than them or something. "Can this be put rear-facing?" I asked. He reassured me that it could. Doubting his response, I rephrased the question: "This can go backwards in the car?" "Yes, yes." Huh.<br />
<br />
Well, it <i>was</i> smaller. It wasn't an infant seat or anything, but the angles and the difference in size meant that I could probably sit in the front seat with only a minor adjustment, if any.<br />
<br />
"You prove it. You put her in it." He invited me to try putting Paisley in the seat in his living room. So I did.<br />
<br />
Then I noticed the straps were folded over instead of flat. Hm.<br />
<br />
Then I noticed that there was no chest buckle harness thing. At all.<br />
<br />
You just put the two little metal pieces from the sides into the crotch buckle, and the kid is supposed to be good to go, even though it kind of looks like they're just wearing suspenders.<br />
<br />
I couldn't do it.<br />
<br />
"I think it is not that much smaller than ours. I think we should just use ours." Jeff and I have talked a lot about how much we don't like Paisley's car seat for our trip, so I knew he wanted whatever it was going to be to work great, but he said the same thing. "That's not much smaller than hers."<br />
<br />
So it was decided that we would just use Paisley's own car seat, which was folded up in the car seat bag.<br />
<br />
We did our paperwork for renting the car, and then we went outside to see the new car--which was in this case really a brand-new car, with only 40 kilometers on it.<br />
<br />
I started to install Paisley's car seat, and the car rental guy was surprised by how large it is. "I know. I want her to be very safe, but it is not good for traveling..."<br />
<br />
He became confused when I started to install the (convertible) seat rear facing. "In all of my years, I have never seen this. Are you sure this is okay?" My eyes widened. OH MY! His whole specialty is cars...he has traveled pretty extensively, including some international trips which had come up during our conversations. I said, "Oh, yes, it is much safer." His English and my Spanish were not great enough for me to explain crash testing,s o I just said, "I will have to show you a video on YouTube." And I will have to show him. [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIeExpDLDA" target="_blank">This is the video</a> I'm thinking of.] Several times he expressed surprise and some concern about me putting the car seat in backwards. Then he told me her car seat is like the Mercedes Benz of car seats. That made me laugh. Yeah, it kind of is, but we just really want her to be safe.<br />
<br />
I don't know any other people with babies yet, so I don't know how common car seats actually are, or if they really don't rear-face, or if they just don't rear-face convertible seats, or what, but it was a surprising interaction anyway.<br />
<br />
It occurred to me later that he must have thought I was asking him whether his car seat could go in the back seat. It was definitely a forward-facing seat! <br />
<br />
Car seat shopping would be fairly easy here, if you are not picky. Travel systems (meaning, the car seat that pops onto a stroller) are very common here; when I was shopping for used stroller I thought about half of the strollers were actually travel systems that came with an infant seat. There are some baby stores here--I'm thinking of one that I used to walk past in centro all the time, and there are a couple other stores like that in our local mall--and they each have 10-15 types of car seats, mostly made by bebesit and a couple other brands. I have not looked at them really closely, but I have noticed that there is not a great variety of brands. I have no idea what the limits are for forward-facing or rear-facing, although now I am curious.<br />
<br />
None of the cars we have seen here have a LATCH system. It kind of seems silly; I realize it's cheaper to save a dollar on metal and plastic, or whatever, but it is strange to me that they wouldn't make such a minor change for the sake of saving kids' lives.<br />
<br />
As of right now, I am planning to swap car seats the next time we're in the US, and pick up a Combi Cocorro. We'll see, though, depending on when we're actually back, and how Paisley is growing at that point.<br />
<br />
<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-56502614613265314982013-10-26T17:10:00.003-07:002013-10-26T17:10:55.569-07:00TravelingWe've been traveling for several months now.<br />
<br />
I keep thinking I should just start a blog about our travels, and maybe I will, but I keep having experiences that I want to share. So, I think I'll start sharing them anyway, and if I decide to migrate some posts to another blog later, that's fine.<br />
<br />
And in the meantime, if anybody doesn't want to read about travel topics, feel free to skip topics that are not interesting to you.<br />
<br />
We started our trip in Panama. Then we went to Uruguay. We felt really comfortable in Uruguay, randomly, so we decided we want to stay longer. We went to Argentina for a little vacation, and now we're back in Uruguay for the next 5 months; we're still planning to visit other places, but we'll have our house here as a home base. <br />
<br />
So, that's what we're doing.Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-37163680645426410042013-02-12T22:50:00.000-08:002013-02-12T22:50:42.565-08:00General update<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Life has been really busy lately.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I find that I post more on Facebook and less on my blog,
probably because that is faster. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are some of the things that have happened lately:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I pretty much quit doing property management
(except for our own properties).</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We lived half at our house and half at Jeff’s
parents’ house for a while, and then half at our house and half at a motel for
a while.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">A couple weeks ago we moved into an apartment,
and we bought a bunch of new furniture (including a real kitchen table, real
couches, and a real bedroom set).</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We are “simplifying” as we move into the
apartment, which means the apartment is usually completely clean and organized,
but I frequently don’t have things when I need them because they are still at
the other house.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I am making Paisley’s new bedroom a
Montessori-style bedroom, which doesn’t mean a whole lot yet, because I don’t
have the time/money to do what I want to with it.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">So far she has a mattress on the floor, and I
am planning to sell our nursery furniture instead of moving it over here.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I feel like I should sell the dresser with
the matching changing table and crib, though, so I need to find some sort of
replacement for that.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We were careful to choose an apartment that
allows Danes, paid a bunch extra to bring Chalcy, and so far it isn’t working
out very well.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The cat, goats, and
chickens are still at our other house.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We are looking for a new house to buy, but we
can’t agree on what type of house we want.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">My grandpa passed away last week, and this past
weekend I took Paisley with me to southern Utah for a graveside service and a
weekend with my family.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I started a parent support group for parents
practicing Attachment Parenting, and it has been extremely successful.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">(Today my meetup.com group has 41 members,
and my Facebook page has 36.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There is
some overlap, but actually not that much.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">We have had two monthly support meetings, and I think six playgroup
meetings. I have found other moms who are interested in helping lead the group
and they have run all of the playgroup meetings.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I have been working on becoming a Leader and
officially starting a chapter with Attachment Parenting International.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I’ve been reading a bunch of parenting and
communication books (and watching DVDs) and reviewing them as part of the
leader accreditation process.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I have felt depressed a lot lately.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Partly because of property management ending,
partly because of the move and displacement when we were living multiple places,
partly because I’m the mom of a baby that has been teething like crazy for a
long time, and partly because I consistently don’t get enough sleep (among
other things).</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Exercise helps.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Making new friends with my parenting group
helps.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Sleep helps.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I have developed a little bit of an addiction to
The Chocolate (dessert café) which is between our new apartment and the gym.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I am trying to learn to be Very Organized.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Organization does not come naturally to me,
but I am finding inspiration on YouTube and the blogs of organized people.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I am one of the moderators for the “Nutritional
Wisdom Book Club” on Facebook, and I lead 1/3 of our discussions.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I’ve been doing that for several months now,
and sometimes it is interesting to me and sometimes it isn’t.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Right now we’re reading “Wheat Belly”.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Jeff and I took a mini-vacation to St. George at
the end/beginning of the year.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It was
really nice.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I really like being a mom, and I think Paisley
is fantastic.</span></li>
</ul>
I’m probably missing some big
things, but those are the things that come to mind.
Time for bed. <br />
<br />
Maybe another time I can catch up on Paisley’s
monthly updates.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-67685642464924285972012-11-25T22:21:00.004-08:002012-11-25T22:21:57.648-08:00Five months!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqTs1ex7KjdY8izJ3Gi8JVp_fd_vI4R2OaS3rrONa5b9dgwnjzjSF0a8Xvfb7fXREKHdjB8t55rbRyhWVfgRHknu2W8vWRmeLDmhERcKY57ixtoW-1vM1d4ZLDNRt1gzYEPJv/s1600/IMG_3763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqTs1ex7KjdY8izJ3Gi8JVp_fd_vI4R2OaS3rrONa5b9dgwnjzjSF0a8Xvfb7fXREKHdjB8t55rbRyhWVfgRHknu2W8vWRmeLDmhERcKY57ixtoW-1vM1d4ZLDNRt1gzYEPJv/s1600/IMG_3763.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few days ago Paisley turned 5 months old!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She loves:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Grabbing at stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Especially my hair.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Putting things in her mouth.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Mirrors.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Standing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(With help.)</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>To be held.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Rolling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She rolls from her back to her tummy anytime I put her down on her back,
including when I change her diapers.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This past month we mostly read: My First Thanksgiving and The First
Thanksgiving, When Snowflakes Fall, Winter, and Goodnight Moon (we read that
one every night as part of our bedtime routine).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Paisley has started to think more things are funny—a while
ago she thought it was funny when I used the lint roller on her; a few days ago
she laughed and laughed as I popped packing bubbles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes she laughs if we toss her up (we
don’t let go).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_l7ptA9bkmRqykli7E5QatjeFhdb36FPjvVKxr-z1lM5eELilNaVz2v28Fpx3fEvN_3bN-DTQbAGHDpAD9pSAovGMYxafuRi__ZDGtwMt_f8DynDDaJivbP_ssKjUNXkPBYGg/s1600/Paisley+Kerby+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_l7ptA9bkmRqykli7E5QatjeFhdb36FPjvVKxr-z1lM5eELilNaVz2v28Fpx3fEvN_3bN-DTQbAGHDpAD9pSAovGMYxafuRi__ZDGtwMt_f8DynDDaJivbP_ssKjUNXkPBYGg/s1600/Paisley+Kerby+(4).JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Swimming is going really well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We go every Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The past couple weeks have been the best so
far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two weeks ago Paisley got the hang
of going underwater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Previously she
really didn’t like it; she didn’t cry much or anything, but sometimes it seemed
like she might.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple weeks ago she
realized that you shouldn’t breathe in when you go underwater and now going
underwater is no big deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, since
class ended early that day, I decided to have us try doing underwater
pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got a couple pretty good
ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last week Paisley still was good
about going underwater and she also did better with floating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s fun to see progress.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Paisley’s Souns arrived towards the end of this month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We tried to have them in time for her to
start at 5 months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, we’ve introduced
the letter “o”, which we call “ah” (as in “pot”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We try to interact with it for at least a
couple minutes every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Paisley, do
you want to play with your ‘ah’?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you
putting the ‘ah’ in your mouth?” etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was kind of disappointed to read in the instructions that we’re supposed to
work with only the “o” until she is 11-12 months old (or demonstrates that she
really understands it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Babies are
supposed to spend longer with the first letter because it creates a foundation
for future letters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Well, all right.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3YDWk7TDbiXqZk8qmTGBS90g3QBxF0iFJI9nAqPAA4INhiXehICq7vT25F8V3i4ZG8bngS5l6dGSGvrXetImi9uhyXONFZw9z7hrkxfTlfCVMYy9abIt70GCSFJjhf58qmkw/s1600/IMG_3711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3YDWk7TDbiXqZk8qmTGBS90g3QBxF0iFJI9nAqPAA4INhiXehICq7vT25F8V3i4ZG8bngS5l6dGSGvrXetImi9uhyXONFZw9z7hrkxfTlfCVMYy9abIt70GCSFJjhf58qmkw/s1600/IMG_3711.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We tried a Kindermusik class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t go so well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were offering it at the same place where
we go swimming, and it was supposed to be an introduction class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We thought we were signing up for a Village
class (0-18 months), but it turned out they had more kids that were 18 months
to 3 years, so they put them in the time that was supposed to be the baby class
and Paisley ended up being the only really little kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The class was full of toddlers, and the
activities were all toddler activities, except for just a couple things that
were for babies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also held at
Paisley’s naptime, so she was a Fussy McFusslepot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The maraca noises made her cry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The songs made her cry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was kind of awkward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had signed up for both of the 2 weeks of
introductory classes (at the office’s suggestion), and even though the office
said the following week would have more babies, we didn’t go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The real classes start in January and we may
go if they have an actual Village class…but I think even if we do Kindermusik
we should probably do one of the groups that is closer to home. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Paisley attended her first funeral, for my Aunt Janice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent most of it in the mother’s lounge,
because she was fussy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It was kind of
weird, actually, because if you think about it, crying is not out of place at a
funeral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But infant crying still
is.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The funeral was very nice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For Halloween, Paisley was a bee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn’t go trick-or-treating, and we didn’t
attend any parties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did pass out
candy to trick-or-treaters, so she was dressed up for that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ts6RAKrCa5Al36p3PpJ-0PGLHw5A0LHstMhgd-fcLUzdKZu74g27SSeS2CBEkLSxbF29F2DR9CbWDMUVlC-KTHPWIIzi70OUPNG-SxY7KvS1cRnTKa-bqX8IBqCH4intHbK1/s1600/IMG_3814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ts6RAKrCa5Al36p3PpJ-0PGLHw5A0LHstMhgd-fcLUzdKZu74g27SSeS2CBEkLSxbF29F2DR9CbWDMUVlC-KTHPWIIzi70OUPNG-SxY7KvS1cRnTKa-bqX8IBqCH4intHbK1/s1600/IMG_3814.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Paisley recognizes people better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She loves her grandma and grandpa (we’re
halfway living with them right now), Jeff, and now she likes Liu (her Chinese
babysitter).</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She is drooling a ton.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We got Paisley a “lovey”—a Sneudel, as recommended in a book
that I started reading (about helping babies sleep better).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paisley does not sleep very well lately, ever
since we started living in two places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Very recently we also stopped swaddling her at night, because we had a
couple times where she rolled while in her swaddle and in her swing, and she
ended up in really uncomfortable positions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Also ever since we started living in two places, elimination
communication is not going so well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Partly I am too tired to pay attention to her bathroom needs, and partly
she is not communicating with me as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We still have a few successes every day, but mainly right now I’m just
not trying much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQeTXTug2poA_t_9MLdKYTf0rAE7NTYlw8yjUoR1sGuC4zya2_FNAOnUhdj6JJsqjIegosfSKLbA8SAEKpspKoU1LljBHuf5pHfAYc5AXj87x6-nRr4fP8iKqS5bEJmanDmcf/s1600/IMG_3585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQeTXTug2poA_t_9MLdKYTf0rAE7NTYlw8yjUoR1sGuC4zya2_FNAOnUhdj6JJsqjIegosfSKLbA8SAEKpspKoU1LljBHuf5pHfAYc5AXj87x6-nRr4fP8iKqS5bEJmanDmcf/s1600/IMG_3585.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe also related to sleeping badly, it seems like every
time is Paisley’s naptime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No matter
when things are scheduled, it seems like Paisley is tired and cranky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has been true of the Kindermusik class,
swim (but we switched times and now that’s better), church, an afternoon house
showing, an evening house showing, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Paisley is rounding out a little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know what she weighs, but she has
chubbier cheeks, a little bit of a tummy, and chunkier thighs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m happy about that.</div>
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<br /></div>
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That’s our Paisley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This last month was kind of a fussy one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s looking like that phase has pretty much ended and now she is
becoming very social.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s a neat
little girl.</div>
Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-66897578087305827032012-10-24T22:59:00.000-07:002012-10-24T22:59:04.097-07:00Our Annual Family Photo!Jeff and I have a little tradition of going on a hike at the beginning of each October and taking our picture in the same place every year. It's kind of neat to see how our family has changed. I mentioned this tradition a couple years ago, but I guess I didn't post it last year. So, here is our sequence:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3y5XIQlTo1_RBuuod7SWAsaoSsavUfcPFpxFCw7f-5GO_TXvJYi-3Ye-wiMvzR7u0OBHxTVOBUWZQWcGNdwYgIROJBh91katQ8mHyWhzaQ0QflmhXQx_6CWSrjPHnx4ZmYm9/s1600/DSCN3128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3y5XIQlTo1_RBuuod7SWAsaoSsavUfcPFpxFCw7f-5GO_TXvJYi-3Ye-wiMvzR7u0OBHxTVOBUWZQWcGNdwYgIROJBh91katQ8mHyWhzaQ0QflmhXQx_6CWSrjPHnx4ZmYm9/s320/DSCN3128.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2009</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihO1Ea5kx_DFx75o7rB0cMUaNDlrjufqwPPuyzFiFzG01e_OlwnnBpjmnI_W83QrFgeGCA59hcNcL2LFIm2XiveF44v5ZvhVqu1U20Us5MdFCHamoE9NOOoK51-Vc-6Jmb38eq/s1600/SANY2632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihO1Ea5kx_DFx75o7rB0cMUaNDlrjufqwPPuyzFiFzG01e_OlwnnBpjmnI_W83QrFgeGCA59hcNcL2LFIm2XiveF44v5ZvhVqu1U20Us5MdFCHamoE9NOOoK51-Vc-6Jmb38eq/s320/SANY2632.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8vMtv3jffW5mEXi2cVTrVIydeagIMpuRE2OawKr_tk7XjD0P14A1QrmPbhroh4FYx_QfPEEEstsCK9PErO_rIq-I-bDLjaSOyCicOKkQZ1WozCfIAe0s2imNQVlRL21HiRT5/s1600/IMG_0480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8vMtv3jffW5mEXi2cVTrVIydeagIMpuRE2OawKr_tk7XjD0P14A1QrmPbhroh4FYx_QfPEEEstsCK9PErO_rIq-I-bDLjaSOyCicOKkQZ1WozCfIAe0s2imNQVlRL21HiRT5/s320/IMG_0480.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIyIKCSVPvBqEVaFgIMv6JfTVJm53Co7fWYXZz0FTMYn-4mdvfEBfrIiR92XVbCpvZ4jQEcWC0ckFQ1EU1p-Yfyq2ZtHau5L5mJtwtVQZkm4RXMYUTILJrFWszfEH_PdrVXwWa/s1600/IMG_3053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIyIKCSVPvBqEVaFgIMv6JfTVJm53Co7fWYXZz0FTMYn-4mdvfEBfrIiR92XVbCpvZ4jQEcWC0ckFQ1EU1p-Yfyq2ZtHau5L5mJtwtVQZkm4RXMYUTILJrFWszfEH_PdrVXwWa/s320/IMG_3053.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-70892007299015572222012-10-24T16:22:00.000-07:002012-10-24T16:24:43.634-07:00Four months!As of this past Saturday, Paisley is four months old!<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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We went for her four month pediatrician appointment a week
early, and at 3 months and 21 days, Paisley weighed 11 lbs 8 oz (16<sup>th</sup>
percentile) and she is 25 inches long (85<sup>th</sup> percentile). We have a long, skinny little girl! Her pediatrician asked me whether Paisley is getting
enough to eat (she is—she eats whenever she wants all day long, and I pump
extra every night), and the pediatrician asked about different milestones: Does
she grab for things? (Oh, yes, she’s been doing that for a while.) Does she
lift her head up when I lay her on her tummy? (Yeah, she’s been doing that for
a while too.) And so on. So, since she is still gaining weight (not
losing), and her length and head circumference are fine, and she’s still
developing properly with milestones, the pediatrician said she’s not
worried. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Partway through this last month we sort-of moved in with
Jeff’s parents. We still spend most of
our daytimes at our house, but we also spend a lot of time over at their
house. So, Paisley is getting to see a
lot of her grandparents lately. At first
she cried for them (because they are not me), but within a couple days she
warmed up, and now she’s very chummy with them.
She especially likes Jeff’s mom, but a couple weeks ago she chewed on
Jeff’s dad’s finger, and he took that to mean that they’re friends now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty baby!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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Paisley is teething. She
has been for at least a month. I don’t
know when she will actually get teeth—who knows, it could still be months away—but
she drools all over, and she is constantly chewing on her fingers. Or chewing on anything else she can get to
her mouth. Jeff got his first tooth when
he was 4 months old. I got my first
tooth several months later. There have
been a few times when it is really obvious that she is hurting, but mostly she’s
just a drool and chomping machine. We
still have her wearing her Baltic amber necklace to help with teething. If I had to guess, I’d say it makes things
about 15-20% better. But I don’t know.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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When I noticed that Paisley really enjoys chewing on the
toys at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, I felt like a little bit of a bad mom for
not getting her any toys. Whoops! Even though I am Jeff’s Realtor now, we are
still friends with <a href="http://www.facebook.com/CarolynCookHomeRealtyNetwork?ref=stream" target="_blank">our awesome Realtor</a> who helped Jeff buy our house and our
fourplex, and she gave Paisley a little bunny soft security blanket thing with
a rattle and knots on the corners. Now
that Paisley is teething, she really loves the bunny. (We take it everywhere.) But, that’s the only toy she had! So I ordered a few toys on Amazon and now she
has another favorite: two wooden triangles.
Best. Toy. Ever. It rattles, and
it is colorful, and it is just perfect for grabbing and for putting in her
mouth. We also bought a couple other
wooden toys by the same company, but Paisley is crazy about the triangles, so
when we go places we take the bunny and the triangles.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Halfway through the month we went for Paisley’s first swim
class. It’s a parent/tot class at a pool
up in Holladay. Paisley liked it! The class had 6 parents and 6 tots, all
younger than 2 years old, so I wondered how much they could possibly do. They did a lot, actually. The idea is that really little kids can learn
to float if they fall in pools or water, and they can just kind of hang out and
call for help instead of drowning. Kids
that are a little bigger learn to swim, float, swim. So they paddle towards the edge, and then
when they get tired they relax and float on their backs until they feel ready
to swim some more, and the pattern repeats until they get to the edge and climb
out! The videos make me cry, and I don’t
really know why. My youngest brother
almost drowned, actually, when he was a baby.
It was pretty intense. We pulled
him out of the bottom of the spa, and I did CPR? (Or something?) while my sister
called 911. My parents weren’t home when
it happened. My mom came home to all of
the emergency vehicles at our house. My
brother started breathing again pretty quickly (I think?), but they still
life-flighted him in a helicopter to a children’s hospital. Miraculously, my brother had no brain damage
or anything, and he is totally fine. I
rarely even think of that story, but maybe it is part of the reason infant
self-rescue classes appeal to me? Not
sure.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paisley meeting her grandpa (Em's dad).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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So, anyhow, about the swim class—it is only a 25 minute
class. Everyone sings a lot. When we first got there they were singing “The
kids in the pool…” to the tune of “The wheels on the bus.” And there are different motions—the kids in
the pool go side to side, in and out, and up and (!) down. We also sang “Row, row, row your boat” while
the babies floated. There were a bunch
of group activities that we did in a circle, a little bit of individual
play-time while the instructor spent a couple minutes with each baby
individually, and then there were more group activities at the end, too. It was very cool. Paisley went under water three times, and
only got a little upset once, although she didn’t actually cry at all. One little boy was sad for most of the class,
but everyone else did just fine. At 3.5
months, Paisley was the youngest participant, but there were a few babies that
were 6 months old. Lately I’ve been too
busy to commit to a weekly class, but I plan for us to start going to a weekly
class soon. I ordered another (reusable)
swim diaper in the tiniest size, plus an infant wetsuit. That was the only problem, I think; Paisley
did seem a little cold partway through.
So, I think that will make it even better next time. (If anyone is curious, you can see some
videos of babies swimming on the website <a href="http://www.infantaquatics.com/infant-survival-swim-videos.htm" target="_blank">HERE</a>.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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This month I also started signing to her. I think it’s still wayyy too early for her to
sign back, so it’s kind of a half-hearted effort, but we do “bye-bye” (or “<span style="background: white; color: #222222;">zài jiàn</span>,” as the
case may be!), and I often sign “milk” when I nurse her. Paisley’s Chinese
babysitter still comes twice a week, and although I am usually home for her
visits, it gives me a perfect opportunity to actually get some things
done!) Last week her babysitter
crocheted a red hat for her (“Red because it is lucky. Chinese believe red brings luck in all
things.”) and this week she crocheted a headband with a flower on it for
Paisley. I think that is just so sweet
when she makes stuff for Paisley. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQ7FIPGHINB4HA-6iZ-bDirz8mGrSgYDzgJJj8sq5kFPfkaxtNnWUuaAq6ljSY88G6kWsxWfu02NvZK3BeJe030X0DfNcOhFEOi-8ASBa8X9gLdSosA5XtkpYPs7tZMoD9_Op/s1600/IMG_3269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQ7FIPGHINB4HA-6iZ-bDirz8mGrSgYDzgJJj8sq5kFPfkaxtNnWUuaAq6ljSY88G6kWsxWfu02NvZK3BeJe030X0DfNcOhFEOi-8ASBa8X9gLdSosA5XtkpYPs7tZMoD9_Op/s1600/IMG_3269.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paisley meeting her great-grandpa (Em's mom's dad).</td></tr>
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My little sister Sarah got married this past weekend, on the
day that Paisley turned four months old.
So, my family came to town for the wedding, and Paisley finally got to
meet my dad, my sisters, and her cousin that is a month older than she is. I sewed cute little matching baby dresses for
Paisley and her cousin “Ally” (Allyn).
Paisley also met her great-grandpa (my mom’s dad) at the wedding, plus
some of my aunts and uncles. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirA-98A-HtwZ6PJGEWtqKOBkX2dDifKRymc9p_PinaUsgD89rfp513De1-60ofeE4e_dUInEPsF25ztqDoN2SIfl-xO1Rg_v3kwSVCqE1gBy8ujUp3ABRbGQZHaMHGeBIp_BhY/s1600/IMG_3283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirA-98A-HtwZ6PJGEWtqKOBkX2dDifKRymc9p_PinaUsgD89rfp513De1-60ofeE4e_dUInEPsF25ztqDoN2SIfl-xO1Rg_v3kwSVCqE1gBy8ujUp3ABRbGQZHaMHGeBIp_BhY/s1600/IMG_3283.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quick family picture at the wedding.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2Pr1q_f722VMsg6EzYthjv9HDv8U5hAcDiIenD0CaFLZkvX0YGgG7WldJ9LRDtwnpIiYqQHqpr8Q9okNyIvOAzh4fPHTSjdDK4Spd_MqNvPC3MljKb4uHBZmx3gUWJnZjJEV/s1600/IMG_3234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2Pr1q_f722VMsg6EzYthjv9HDv8U5hAcDiIenD0CaFLZkvX0YGgG7WldJ9LRDtwnpIiYqQHqpr8Q9okNyIvOAzh4fPHTSjdDK4Spd_MqNvPC3MljKb4uHBZmx3gUWJnZjJEV/s1600/IMG_3234.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paisley with Ally - during their month photos.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It was pretty funny having Ally at our house for a couple
days. Since Ally is exactly a month
older than Paisley we did their month photos together. Ally weighed 16 lbs when she was four months
old, and now they think she weighs about 18 lbs—almost double Paisley’s weight. Ally is a really relaxed little girl; Paisley
is either grinning or screaming most of the time, but Ally just kind of hangs
out; she doesn’t seem to have such strong emotions. When we were doing photos, though, Ally kept
grabbing the bow out of Paisley’s hair, or grabbing Paisley, etc. Paisley tolerated the attention pretty well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think that’s about it!
I’ll finish this post with a video from this past Sunday. Paisley had been fussy <i>all afternoon and evening</i>.
She cried the whole way home from Jess & Mitch’s house that
night. Then I changed her into jammies
and we discovered this fun game.
Adorable! The game isn’t as funny
anymore, but it sure was that night! So,
I had my dad make a video.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oRE-pCbhoME" width="640"></iframe>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-34196322937331318282012-10-10T22:55:00.000-07:002012-10-10T22:55:04.719-07:00Three months!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfoWsBwIgqseTkyUFmjmyfPzjY8R1xjnCrgjF7cy-8R2xTiHXZVkWsDn8-jKOC1wQ04soJvhYXPQuuMlh-HBU9Rn4hlemzym0dXn99hYphxJFYewTZEapz_qu0WRVxvaIksYTV/s1600/IMG_2777.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfoWsBwIgqseTkyUFmjmyfPzjY8R1xjnCrgjF7cy-8R2xTiHXZVkWsDn8-jKOC1wQ04soJvhYXPQuuMlh-HBU9Rn4hlemzym0dXn99hYphxJFYewTZEapz_qu0WRVxvaIksYTV/s1600/IMG_2777.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Life is very, very busy right now, and Paisley is actually almost four months old, but I still wanted to write about three months anyway. Here is a list of notes that I made a couple weeks ago:<br />
<br />
Paisley likes to reach for things! She is especially interested in my food and my phone. No matter how far away I sit from the table, it seems like she is always able to grab for my plate. She also loves grabbing at my phone when I am texting or using the Internet. And, of course my phone has a touch screen so sometimes she sends things before I mean to, or closes things, etc. It's kind of obnoxious. <br />
<br />
Paisley smiles a lot. She also talks a lot. We enjoy both.<br />
<br />
Paisley has laughed a few times now (while awake). There was one night where it was 1 am, and I had already put her to bed a few times, and I was needing to get up early the next morning, so I was kind of frustrated about being up with her again. I took Paisley into her room and put her on her changing table, and as I was doing whatever I was doing (changing her? dressing her? swaddling? I forget) she thought something was <i>so funny</i>. She laughed and laughed for like 5 minutes, and it sounded like angels dancing, or the most wonderful noise there is. It was <i>the best</i>. (Now when she laughs it doesn't sound quite as beautiful and bubbly as that first time when she was just discovering laughing, but we still love it.) <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMWj1fwiwq0ocIBHARm-EsBCBIgnbNz53ktInyBt5ob4O5KFVs8yNU2FKb6Q9PdjaonJmXkgr3yv8Hf3KzjTwtC0KkqxQtyubbbmo4zLIoqmzG1yxKwu_6OUzs0n5VnIevisr/s1600/IMG_2753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMWj1fwiwq0ocIBHARm-EsBCBIgnbNz53ktInyBt5ob4O5KFVs8yNU2FKb6Q9PdjaonJmXkgr3yv8Hf3KzjTwtC0KkqxQtyubbbmo4zLIoqmzG1yxKwu_6OUzs0n5VnIevisr/s1600/IMG_2753.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>I am Paisley's favorite person, and she is very open about that fact. I'm her first favorite, and second favorite, and third favorite, and fourth favorite, and fifth favorite... Jeff is probably her tenth favorite, and the babysitter is her eleventh favorite. <br />
<br />
Paisley likes to be held all the time. I hold her most of the day every day, lately we've been using our ring sling a lot.<br />
<br />
I found out about <a href="http://www.souns.org/" target="_blank">Souns</a>, and we're looking forward to using them with Paisley! (The age to start them is 5 months, so we'll probably order them in a month or so.) I'm sure I will probably blog about this separately sometime in the future, but basically, Souns are 4" lowercase alphabet letters which are introduced to babies and toddlers one at a time and called by the sound that they make instead of the name of the letter. So, effectively, young children learn to read and "write" before they are coordinated enough to use a pen or pencil. It's really exciting, and I think it makes a lot of sense. So, we're definitely planning to do it. I'm happy that I discovered them when I did, because it seems like they are relatively new and not very widely used yet, and we will be able to use them at the perfect time. That's great!<br />
<br />
Paisley had been sleeping 10-11 hours straight every night until recently. Just lately she has started sleeping poorly--she wakes up every few hours, and lately I have to put her to sleep 3-4 times every night.<br />
<br />
Paisley does <i>not</i> like car rides much anymore. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC7sgFWFqZ82vhgqIcMrnC7Qy-WKDNBOWVXk_1L4kVmNGMvQMcWUE1wQVlO-ATmmEjZybpea8CjegfHoT2NiIHPLWYyKJCoTFg3w0fwpMbpw4mk0JfUKXfavI_ev04gTGtHUff/s1600/IMG_2998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC7sgFWFqZ82vhgqIcMrnC7Qy-WKDNBOWVXk_1L4kVmNGMvQMcWUE1wQVlO-ATmmEjZybpea8CjegfHoT2NiIHPLWYyKJCoTFg3w0fwpMbpw4mk0JfUKXfavI_ev04gTGtHUff/s1600/IMG_2998.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Paisley likes a little game that I read about in the Wonder Weeks book: I sit on the couch with my feet up on something in front of me, to make an incline facing me. Then, I lay Paisley on my lap, facing me. I hold her hands and pull her up into a sitting position. Last month Paisley didn't care for this, so we didn't do it much, but now she likes it a lot.<br />
<br />
We're still doing pretty well with EC. It used to be that I would take her to the bathroom a lot and she would only go once in a while. Now I don't take her very often, but she usually goes when I do take her.<br />
<br />
We love this little girl so much! She is such a sweet baby, and it's fun to see her growing into our own little person. <br />
<br />Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-51907868214672784662012-09-12T23:22:00.002-07:002012-09-12T23:22:39.369-07:00Paisley's New Nickname<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjniXI5qlzFu51U6pLZY8UenPbYAdHUCpL-M7U8YTX2M0JEdXg7RpFQSP3fDGyMyjpCtAuG3kxNX4UL3ajXhv_mdkPnpRDhGgDXfDjkGkSy7sTlfBvrS7Hjrb86ETajJxc9-BBn/s1600/boo+hoo+baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjniXI5qlzFu51U6pLZY8UenPbYAdHUCpL-M7U8YTX2M0JEdXg7RpFQSP3fDGyMyjpCtAuG3kxNX4UL3ajXhv_mdkPnpRDhGgDXfDjkGkSy7sTlfBvrS7Hjrb86ETajJxc9-BBn/s320/boo+hoo+baby.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We have a new nickname for Paisley. We (affectionately) call her “Boo-Hoo Baby”. Here’s how it came about:<o:p></o:p></div>
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I ordered a bunch of bilingual (Chinese/English) kids’ books
for Paisley. We thought it would be a
good idea to have them around so that the Chinese babysitter would have some
inspiration, and so that we could read them to Paisley to reinforce the
language (even though we don’t speak Chinese).
<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the books that we got was the Mantra Lingua version
of a book called <u>What Shall We Do with the Boo-Hoo Baby?</u> For our linguistic purposes, it isn’t great,
because the Chinese is only in traditional characters, and this one didn’t come
with a CD, so only the babysitter will actually be able to read it to Paisley
in Chinese. Aside from that, though, the
book is fantastic! The pictures are
really good, and the story is great.
Basically, it’s a story of a baby that just keeps crying, while a cow, a
duck, a cat, and a dog try to make the baby happy. The animals keep trying different things, and
nothing works until at the end something finally does work. I read the book to Jeff when it first arrived,
and we both really enjoyed it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here’s why: Our baby is <i>fussy</i>. She cries about <i>everything</i>. I like her a
lot, but man, oh, man, she sure is needy!
She cries when she is hungry, when she needs to go to the bathroom, if
she wets a diaper, if she wants to be with us and isn’t, if she is tired, if
she wakes up, if I am holding her but she wants to also be bounced, if I set her
down, if I stop patting her back, etc.
Jeff is a very loud sneezer; he can’t help it. Almost every time Jeff sneezes (which is a
few times every day) it startles Paisley, and she starts to cry. (I think this ought to be a “you break it you
buy it” type thing—if I finally have Paisley happy and Jeff sneezes, I think he
should have to be the one to make her happy again. He doesn’t think so.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sometimes Jeff tells me he thinks our baby cries <i>a lot</i>.
I usually tell him I think maybe she is in the 60<sup>th</sup> percentile
for crying—meaning, she cries more than 60% of all of the babies. Because all babies cry sometimes, I
think. I don’t know, some days I feel
like she’s in the 85<sup>th</sup> percentile.
Anyway, we still like Paisley, but I really hope this is just a long
phase, or something she grows out of.
And next time (if there is a next time), I think I want to put in a
request for a baby that is a little more easy-going.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Paisley doesn’t cry all day long…she just cries kind of a
lot, pretty much about everything, and she usually wants 100% of my attention in
order to calm down, and I often have to keep giving her my full attention and
effort for her to stay calm. For
instance, I carry her in the sling most of every day, but a lot of times being
carried isn’t enough; she also wants to be bounced or for me to walk in really
exaggerated, bouncy steps. (That gets
tiring, but she doesn’t care.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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So, for now, the nickname seems really appropriate. This will go by quickly, though. She’ll only be little for a short time, so I just
need to keep enjoying the fact that she wants <i>me</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-54982054537888530212012-09-05T21:26:00.001-07:002012-09-05T21:28:00.300-07:00Two months!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWLfiL9rAVlYCDipf8cs7v6KEvJKo60gnDoeYvghjfFs1X8rWCEHChGAPVzE2vIJ40YbgwXzanCoXZpFnWiW9uLPARyCY9TikdZk6PrjzwKuSFpJM9rZpLEanB2fLWZ_MOt9r/s1600/IMG_2407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWLfiL9rAVlYCDipf8cs7v6KEvJKo60gnDoeYvghjfFs1X8rWCEHChGAPVzE2vIJ40YbgwXzanCoXZpFnWiW9uLPARyCY9TikdZk6PrjzwKuSFpJM9rZpLEanB2fLWZ_MOt9r/s1600/IMG_2407.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>Paisley is just over two months old. (Actually, today she is 11 weeks old, so she's about two and a half months old.) <o:p></o:p><br />
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I am finally totally in love with her. For the first while, I felt like she was a
little stranger that I was very interested in, and inexplicably compelled to
respond to, and I liked her…but…when I saw people talk online about being “in
love” with their new babies, I didn’t totally relate to that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I do now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am so sweetly, deliciously in love with this little
girl! She is the most wonderful, most
beautiful, amazing creature, and she is the smartest, best baby in the
world. (I must be her mother.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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We’re so <i>lucky</i> to
have her in our family, and to have this great opportunity to be the ones to
help her figure things out as she orients herself on this planet. We’re her <i>mom
and dad</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJACjYPCtOchoypILtNjrLDf41CzwFDV0iwEoKzKv2gC3N6wYX-3OgcM-oDSH8WpbQBlma_xN4uJstURCrCrjXV1Oak00ouQ3rwSP7Ita2_fjvbe0mILK0EsJ1cerPiVamSr0/s1600/IMG_2397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOJACjYPCtOchoypILtNjrLDf41CzwFDV0iwEoKzKv2gC3N6wYX-3OgcM-oDSH8WpbQBlma_xN4uJstURCrCrjXV1Oak00ouQ3rwSP7Ita2_fjvbe0mILK0EsJ1cerPiVamSr0/s1600/IMG_2397.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
I feel like I could just stare at her for days, because it’s
so amazing that she is a real person—a whole person—that we <i>made</i>.
And she has her own thoughts, and her own little personality, which we’re
helping her discover. That’s incredible.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyhow, she’s two months old and she’s lovely.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We went for Paisley’s two month pediatrician visit precisely
on the day that she turned two months old. We found out she’s a
lightweight (I think she is 10 lbs 2 oz now?), and she is very long, and she
has a big head. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Paisley is a champion sleeper. Not long after my last blog post, she started
sleeping about 10 hours straight every night.
At first I was a little worried…are babies younger than 2 months old
supposed to sleep for that long? Didn’t
she need to eat or something? But mostly
I just enjoyed finally getting enough rest!
And, her pediatrician said I don’t need to wake her up to eat; she’ll
make up for it by eating more during the day.
Good baby!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB75L6LGcg_aHn_LTL3TXI0IcUaoNsUZlk7JqciHoq_7RleJZaUhyphenhyphen6PZ4OTjDFINc2aOGgnsxqCKxYopXptINWh505GshZlNzLfGA6_FQl4oFD1QTtKwkbq7mTeWfCjFmKpMDD/s1600/IMG_2481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB75L6LGcg_aHn_LTL3TXI0IcUaoNsUZlk7JqciHoq_7RleJZaUhyphenhyphen6PZ4OTjDFINc2aOGgnsxqCKxYopXptINWh505GshZlNzLfGA6_FQl4oFD1QTtKwkbq7mTeWfCjFmKpMDD/s1600/IMG_2481.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
She is also starting to be a lot more smiley! We play this game where—this will be hard to
describe without it sounding weird—I say “doo doo doo” in increasingly elevated
pitches as I tap her from her belly button up her chest, and then when I get to
her face I tickle her cheeks. She loves
it! And, not only that, it’s obvious she’s
figured the game out, because now I only have to start tapping her belly while
I make the “doo” noises, and long before I tickle her cheeks she starts to get
excited. It’s adorable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another pattern she’s figured out is “being swaddled.” At night I take Paisley to the bathroom, and
then I swaddle her, and I nurse her, and then I pat and bounce her until she is
most of the way asleep, and I put her to bed.
The way the swaddle wrap works is, I lay the wrap out, and I set her in
the middle of it. I tuck her legs into a
leg pocket, and I hold her arms at her sides.
Then I wrap and Velcro the left side closed, so that her left arm is
snugly in place. Then I wrap and Velcro
the right side so her right arm is snugly in place, and she is totally wrapped
like a baby-burrito. WELL, a few days
ago, Paisley figured out the swaddling routine.
Now, as soon as I tuck her legs into the leg pocket, she gets this big
smile on her face, and she straightens both of her arms and plunks both of them
down along her sides so that I can just wrap her right up. It’s kind of fun that she’s figured out what’s
going on some of the time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRanz6IMygSGjm8WtkUG4ZbmYJZpHHfX6fHzMhbeq4ftp_-XlRAryU6M_Zie8toyhxe8wJisKO4jG5KIco21su93iLRUC9euwFmAzQNPOkPLloD6wpzRNHcdM7A5ckg4Rmvmw/s1600/IMG_2630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRanz6IMygSGjm8WtkUG4ZbmYJZpHHfX6fHzMhbeq4ftp_-XlRAryU6M_Zie8toyhxe8wJisKO4jG5KIco21su93iLRUC9euwFmAzQNPOkPLloD6wpzRNHcdM7A5ckg4Rmvmw/s1600/IMG_2630.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At church for Paisley's baby blessing.</td></tr>
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She “chats” with us a lot, too. That’s really cute. And she likes to watch us.</div>
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Jeff blessed Paisley in church last Sunday. That was nice. A bunch of our family members were able to
attend.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A week and a half ago we started to have big successes with
Paisley’s potty training. I think I’ll
post about that separately, though.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We hired a Chinese lady to babysit Paisley for a few hours
at a time, twice each week. Our goal is
for Paisley to grow up speaking English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. We don’t speak any Chinese, but in order for her
to have a native accent herself, Paisley needs face-to-face interaction with
someone who is speaking Chinese to her before she is six months old. We thought hiring a Chinese babysitter would
be a good way to do that. So, finding a native
Chinese babysitter in Utah was no easy task, but I’ve found someone, and so far
I like her a lot! Yesterday was her
first day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Those are the main things that have been going on here!<o:p></o:p></div>
Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28758143.post-41250191482544453982012-08-08T19:58:00.003-07:002012-08-08T19:58:54.247-07:00Baby Update (and a few other things)<br />
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We’re getting into kind of a routine, sort of.</div>
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Paisley usually takes a morning nap, an early afternoon nap,
and a late afternoon nap <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or </i>an evening
nap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes the naps are broken up
into little pieces, and sometimes they are long naps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most naps are preceded by a very fussy
period, because Paisley is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tired</i>, but
she doesn’t realize it’s up to her to fix it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLHDJJgEpnK1khcziP18Qs7T9KMEqsw5uZ4XTxCYHH9E2M0anXVzznG4T0kJuvz9OZvn0GzGBQUKfMzBl0piy5ue8KMFCejRQZJAVIHjtGQDZMxZWatVpc-EB7-3cNWF78G728/s1600/IMG_2126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLHDJJgEpnK1khcziP18Qs7T9KMEqsw5uZ4XTxCYHH9E2M0anXVzznG4T0kJuvz9OZvn0GzGBQUKfMzBl0piy5ue8KMFCejRQZJAVIHjtGQDZMxZWatVpc-EB7-3cNWF78G728/s320/IMG_2126.jpg" width="240" /></a>In the evenings, for the past few weeks, sometime between
5:30 and 11 pm Paisley becomes VERY SAD, and MAD!!! for at least an hour and a
half or two hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it colic?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Purple crying? A “wonder week” [Plooij
2012]?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I do know is that it is almost
impossible to comfort her, and it’s a rough time for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Wonder Weeks: How to stimulate your baby’s mental development and help him turn
his 10 predictable, great, fussy phases into magical leaps forward</i> has
helped me feel compassion for Paisley when she is fussy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of being irritated with her for being
so needy for so long, I’m usually just sad that she feels so much
distress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feeling that way makes it a
lot easier to be patient with her, and to continue trying to comfort her, even
when it seems like I’m not helping at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sometimes I have set her down, because it seems like she is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i> unhappy that she must not want to be
cuddled right then…but setting her down only makes her shriek and cry more
hysterically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, it seems that she does
want me to keep trying to comfort her, even if it isn’t helping much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If she’s having that hard of a time, the
least I can do is give her some familiar, loving company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Last time, I mentioned that Paisley had started sleeping
badly at night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That got better
again!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We started letting her sleep in
her swing, which seems like something we’re maybe not supposed to do…but when
we tried that she slept in 4 hour chunks again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then this week there have been a few nights where Paisley has slept
6.5-7.5 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of me wonders if
it’s okay for her to sleep that long, but mostly I’m just appreciating the
sleep!</div>
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Paisley is starting to smile more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she vocalizes with us more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I usually have a few “conversations” with her
every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twice I’ve heard her giggle
in her sleep, and once I’ve heard her laugh in her sleep; it made me laugh,
because it was such a surprise to hear it coming from her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She never giggles or laughs when she is
awake, though, so I’m curious: what is she dreaming about that is funny, if
she’s never thought anything was funny when she was awake (not even once)?</div>
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We’re getting to know her better, and we’re figuring out
what she likes and doesn’t like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
Paisley is awake, she only likes her swing for about 2-15 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BUT!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
had a breakthrough about a week ago: Paisley likes to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bounced</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I sit on my
“birth ball” (is it an “exercise ball” again now that the baby is born?) in her
nursery and we bounce while I shush her, and pat her back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That usually works!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[We finally ordered a bouncy seat from Amazon
and it’s coming on Friday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
predicting that she will like it better than her swing.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also likes the MOBY better than the maya
wrap (ring sling).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoXzvFnfY6MT05gKgDf3-G5oSlXm6at1VcdFsyjYRzspgTdNn05lLjfWjAvoXdqpdre_r-RvEtj-ynuNYd-VzFlV2kB9fXSGVBh17Kk8B2LFa4b8hBMESFxMxlP8UEgeRGnaP/s1600/IMG_2151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoXzvFnfY6MT05gKgDf3-G5oSlXm6at1VcdFsyjYRzspgTdNn05lLjfWjAvoXdqpdre_r-RvEtj-ynuNYd-VzFlV2kB9fXSGVBh17Kk8B2LFa4b8hBMESFxMxlP8UEgeRGnaP/s320/IMG_2151.jpg" width="240" /></a>When I read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beyond the
Sling</i>, I heard about EC (“Elimination Communication”) for the first
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then I ordered a book and a
DVD about it, and I decided we’re going to try it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically, it’s infant potty training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea is that babies actually are not
interested in soiling themselves, and that they just get used to diapers, and
then people have to un-train them to soil themselves as toddlers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moms in some African and Asian areas don’t use
diapers at all—they just give the baby opportunities to go to the bathroom, and
the baby learns to wait for those times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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The Western version of infant potty training is kind of
cool—babies end up potty trained really young, and they’ll let you know that
they need to go by crawling to the bathroom, or using sign language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it sounds really interesting, so
we’re going to try it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a tiny
infant potty, and prefold cloth diapers (for starting with).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ordered tiny infant training pants, and a
pattern for them so that I can make more if we like them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I found out today that one of my friends
actually did EC with her youngest child—and they were totally successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huh.)</div>
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Hm, what else?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here
are a few non-baby things:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I got new glasses yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, I didn’t get them, but I picked them and paid for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to live large and go for the thin
polysomething lenses with anti-glare, so I may actually wear them
sometimes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The frames are pretty cool.
They’re different colors if you look at them from different angles.</div>
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Jeff is using all of his time at home to develop his own
program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is very, very, very excited
about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an investment-related
program, and he loves to talk to me about it, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all the time</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also loves
to sit next to me with his computer, and program while he talks to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About programming stuff.</div>
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I’m doing more property management stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lately, I feel like I am in the business of
collections, because I have several tenants that have slipped into a pattern of
paying late every month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really hate
having to confront tenants about late rent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is definitely one of my least favorite parts of the job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In good news, I have a new management
account, and the tenants will be moving into the house this weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I think that’s all for now.</div>Emilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14184438801278958779noreply@blogger.com3