Planning For Toys

We are in the final days of our life in Argentina and amongst the going away happy hours, despedidas, and last-conversations with people, the questions always arise, what will you miss and what are you glad to leave behind? The list of things we will miss is long and I'll attempt to tackle it in a future blog post, for now, I'll let you in on something that we are glad to leave behind: The price of toys.

Before we had children, I listened to people talk about the expense of having children here and thought, how bad can it really be? I listened to expats talk about how they had to bring all of their children's supplies from the US and thought that they were exaggerating. Then we had children, and I realized how ridiculous the prices actually are. Enjoy these examples:

Or take this 4-pack of molding dough (aka Play-Doh). The low, low price of AR$479 (US$60). You can buy this pack of 24 larger containers off of Amazon for $16.

Have a new baby, your infant can enjoy this baby play mat for AR$2,790. That's only US$350. For an INFANT.

Pink car, made of all plastic, no electric parts or batteries necessary. The doll is not even close to the size of a real child, even a small one. So, it's a medium sized plastic Fiat for - drumroll - $5,999 pesos. At the national exchange rate, that is US$750. Even at the slightly-illegal-blue-market-rate it's still US$600. I can't image these are flying off the shelves.

So yes, toy prices and child items in general are not one of the things that we will miss about Argentina. And I have joined the ranks of those that say you need to purchase most things you want for your children in the US and smuggle them back in your suitcases - though the airlines are making this more and more difficult with the baggage restrictions. One huge relief with our move is that we know that there is the possibility to purchase items that we need for the kids without taking out a second mortgage on our house - and they'll deliver them to our home for free thanks to Amazon.

The Post Our Son Will Hate

About 12 weeks into my pregnancy with Alex, we found out that we were having a baby boy. We would not have to decide if we wanted ear piercing at birth (a service that we declined with Gretchen), but we were faced with a new, more masculine decision to make...

Jon and I always knew that if we had a boy, we would go the circumcision route. There are a number of reasons that we made this choice - none of which I will bore you with now. This post is not about why or why not to circumcise, it is about how to do it in Buenos Aires if you choose to snip.

We took it for granted that hospitals in the US perform this procedure automatically, because in the majority of the rest of the world circumcision is not a common request. Argentina falls into this category - outside of religious reasons - there isn't a clear cut way of going about booking this procedure. No pun intended.

Asked my pediatrician and my OB for recommendations, and they both recommended Dr. Raul Korman (Recoleta, Azcuenaga 1517 Piso 1C, 4805-1681). He is a local pediatrician that, from what we can gather, performs circumcisions for foreigners on the side. He takes some local insurances, though unfortunately for us, he did not accept ours. I went in for a consultation appointment with Dr. Korman when I was 35 weeks pregnant, just in case our little man arrived early, and was instructed to call him when the baby was born and we would make an appointment for the surgery. The consultation took all of 10 minutes (after he described that he uses the same method used in the US I didn't have a whole lot of follow up questions) and cost $300 pesos. He also explained that there is not a hospital in the city that will allow him to perform the procedure on their property, so we needed to bring our baby to his office as soon as we were comfortable with after his birth - assuming the birth is healthy and recovery is normal.

It was our hope to have the procedure done as soon as possible after birth, so I called Dr. Korman the day we were released from the hospital - and his wife answered the phone. She told me to call his office. I did. His secretary told me that I needed to come in for a consultation, I explained that I already had. She told me that there was no way to make an appointment for the procedure until we brought Alex in for a "review" with the doctor. So I made an appointment later in the week, when Alex was 6 days old. I should have known better. I should have insisted on talking to the doctor. I have lived in Argentina for four years - I really should have learned my lesson by now.

Anyways, we loaded up the car for our first family outing and went to Dr. Korman's office. His secretary took my information, and told me that it would be $300 pesos for a consultation. Woah, woah, I say, I've already done this - paid my consultation fee for this procedure, I'm not doing it again. She sensed my post-birth irrational emotional state and said that she would check with the doctor before charging us. Needless to say, Dr. Korman starts our consultation with "You really should have called first", to which I explained that I had, both to his home and the office. His response was, basically, Oops, sorry about that, let's go ahead and book the procedure. So we booked for the following week, left without being charged, and I was kicking myself for the rest of the night for the wasted trip.

All this to say, if you plan on circumcising your son, there is only one consultation necessary - don't do what we did.

We went back for a morning appointment when Alex was 13 days old, the procedure was quick and easy (hopefully painless, or at least he will not remember it...), we paid the doctor $4,000 pesos and headed home for the day. We were given a prescription for antibiotic cream and instructions not to bath Alex for 5 days.

Outside of the wasted trip, this was not an overly laborious process. The only complication that I ran into was that no doctor would write me a prescription for the procedure (since it is elective) therefore, our local insurance will not cover it. I am happy to report that Alex is completely healed, and we are pleased with the results. I will spare him the addition of any photographs related to this post, but here is a new shot of our precious little boy just being cute:

The Kindness of Friends

After we had Gretchen, we took a few days to be on our own, and then jumped right back into life. We brought her out to dinner when she was 12 days old, we went to the park when she was a mere 7 days old, and in general, life was pretty much back to normal (with the new inclusion of an infant) almost right away.

Things have been different this time around, and I'm blaming the c-section. Holy recovery time! I had no clue how good I had it the first time around! Between that ad the fact that there are now two little ones to entertain/feed/enjoy all day long (and into the night...) we are taking much longer to get back on our feet.  Needless to say, we are thrilled to be expecting grandparents to start arriving next week.

Luckily, our kids are great. Alex is sleeping and eating like a champ, Gretchen has embraced her role as a big sister - and kept the hilarious and often frustrating role as a 2 year old - virtually without incident. Potty training is still going great and life in general is pretty good. The tough part is having these great, fun little ones, and parents that are tired and recovering. It makes for a few "movie afternoons" and "french toast for dinner" nights. We are also lucky in the sense that Gretchen loves all of those things.

It's times like these that make living far from family hard. We would love to have everyone less than a 12 hour flight away - it's just not in the cards for us at the moment. So, I would like to express my thanks to our friends and local support folks that have helped us (more specifically, me) through these early days as a family of four.

So many offers to help, so many visitors that stay just the right amount of time, it has been heartwarming to have so many people reach out to us!

These beautiful flowers that were delivered (I don't even know how you do that here...) to our door, sent by my friend Miyoung:

The lovely ladies at SACS who brought flowers and the killer chocolates from Vasalissa - my favorite! Every night when I was going to eat just one, I ended up with a row of empty wrappers.

And this basket from our friends Jake and Becky that arrived on the morning after Alex and I left the hospital. How thoughtful is this?! Homemade goodies in their own labeled bags - complete with the recipes for said goodies. She even wrote notes about substitutions and omissions that she made. These treats were gobbled down very quickly, and the Homemade Granola (complete with yogurt that didn't make the picture, I had already eaten it...) is a recipe I have already made 2 times on my own. If you are interested in making the best granola ever, visit the 100 Days of Real Food recipe. Becky even left out the coconut, which I was happy to do without!

We are so happy to have these little reminders that even though we're far from home, people are looking out for us. And when the grandparents do arrive, we will greet them with our best 10-point smiles!

Hokie Twinsies!

Little smiles from our little boy!

Buenos Aires Birth Day: 2013 Edition

When our daughter was born in February, 2011, I posted an update on the pregnancy and birth experience in Buenos Aires. It's time for the same update, 2.5 years later and a very different experience to tell.

The whole pregnancy and birth were still very good experiences, and the two pregnancies were pretty parallel until the birth itself. The biggest difference in the pregnancies is that this time around we had local insurance, as opposed to last time when all of our appointments were paid in cash and then reimbursed through our US insurance as an out-of-network claim. It's hard to find a good doctor that you connect with and trust, so even though my OB didn't accept our local insurance, we stayed with him - Dr. Juan Carlos Proccacini, who works out of Sanitario de la Trinidad, Cervino 4720, Palermo. To maximize our coverage, we still paid in cash at all of the regular pregnancy appointments (and then submitting them for reimbursement in the US) but all additional appointments; the blood work and other analysis, we had done at the Hospital Aleman since it is the closest hospital to us that accepts our local insurance.  This is a great perk of having local insurance, for the vast majority of routine procedures and appointments, all you have to do is flash your little card and no money needs to change hands.

Appointments:

• The appointment schedule for my pregnancy with Alex was the same as with Gretchen until we hit 33 weeks.  Since Gretchen arrived at 36 weeks my doctor wanted to play it safe and start weekly monitors early. This was an ironic twist since Alex waited until almost 40 weeks exactly before deciding to join us.
• I also started weekly non-stress tests (in Spanish, monitoreo) at 33 weeks. Each week I brought the results to my doctor's appointment, and each week he said "I'll see you next week".  Until 39 weeks...
• I decided against the birth classes this time around, I retained enough information from the first time around that I didn't need to take the full on class. I did, however, go to meet with the midwife because 1) She didn't end up attending my birth with Gretchen, her replacement did, she was on vacation and 2) my Spanish is still at a point where, under stress, I wasn't sure she could understand me.  I wanted to make sure she knew my name, my face and the fact that I am not great at articulating myself in a second language.

The Hospital:

• Through our local health insurance, we obtained a "prescription" for birth at 35 weeks from my OB, submitted it to the insurance company, and then received a pre-approval paper to show at check-in. This allows the hospital to anticipate our arrival, and made check-in a 10 minute process as opposed to the seemingly endless process we went through in 2011.
• With this pre-approval, we had a single room - but not the suite we had last time around. This was just fine for us, plenty of space considering that we didn't have the parade of visitors that the rest of the maternity wing seemed to employ. The biggest differences were that we didn't have a choice of daily menu items, no daily newspaper and no mini-bar.
• The check out process was still really slow, but we realized that it was due to my doctor not signing a check out order until after 2:00pm. I was ready to leave around 10:00am, after 3 nights away from home, I was more than ready to get back to my own bed (even if my doctor preferred me to stay for an additional night).  It was fine once I knew what time to expect to leave, but this was not made clear to me.
• There is a new process to register birth in Argentina, each hospital has a central location where the original documents from the birth are sent (the birth certificate) and you can either call or go online to request an appointment. The location for the appointment is dependent on the hospital where you delivered and needs to be started within 45 days of the birth - I will write more about this new process as we work through it.

The Birth:

• I had been having contractions for a number of weeks (perhaps months...) but on Thursday night they were more regular than before. I started keeping track, and sure enough, the contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour, then two. I called the midwife, we agreed to wait another hour to see if they kept progressing. After another hour, we decided to head to the hospital (meeting her there at 12:15am, not the most ideal timing...). 
• Our plan was to have our beloved empleada, Candy, stay with Gretchen for the first night after the birth, she was our first responder. I was not convinced that we were going to check in to the hospital, so we woke Gretchen and brought her to the hospital with us.
• We ended up checking in to the hospital, calling Candy to meet us there and bring Gretchen home, and take solace in knowing that by then end of September 20th, we would have a baby boy!
• I will cut past the dramatic part, but after a number of unsuccessful hours of pushing we were not any closer to having a baby, my doctor made the decision to go ahead with a cesarean birth. Despite what I have heard about Argentine doctors, I do not in any way feel that this was a decision made for convenience, I feel that he was making the best decision for me and my baby. I know that the cesarean birth rate is quite high in Argentina, somewhere around 35% (slightly higher than the US, at 30%), but I feel that it was a necessary measure. I think the most important factor is having a trusting relationship with your doctor, this is the only foundation for feeling secure in their decision-making.
• After a c-section, I was offered to stay in the hospital four nights, though we requested going home after the third night.  Jon spent one night in the hospital, but then we wanted to be sure Gretchen didn't feel left out so I spent the other two nights alone with Alex.  This was a good choice for us, but after 3 nights we were ready to reunite as a family.

Though it certainly wasn't what we were expecting as we packed up for the hospital late Thursday night, we are so happy to have a healthy little boy join our family. The biggest lesson for me is that no two births are the same, as no two children are the same, and the most important factor is that we did everything possible to provide for a safe birth. At the end of the day, that is all that matters.  

And look at this little peanut! Such a looker! We're loving getting to know our new little guy.

Look at all of that thick, black hair!

Bienvenidos, Alexander Thomas!

We've had a busy week!  Please help us welcome our newest addition, Alexander Thomas!  

8lbs 4oz, 19.6 inches - just look at that face! 

This little bundle was born at 5:52am on September 20, 2013. 

He entered the world in his own style, not taking any cues from his big sister's birth. Such a handsome little guy, we are thrilled to finally meet him!

Such a happy, proud Daddy!

Big sister Gretchen was great, after being awakened in the middle of the night to come with us to the hospital, she slept well, had a fun day at home with Candy and then came to visit her baby brother. Lucky for her, Alex brought with him presents for her - and to sweeten the deal, they were Dora-themed presents!

A mix of nervous and curiosity, she has been great and is already making a fantastic big sister!

Welcome to the newest porteño, a perfect addition to our little family!  We cannot wait to get you home and begin life as a family of four!

And now we get to start the paperwork process to make you official! (More on that to come...)

M&Ms: Potty Training Your Kids Since 1980

Depending on who you ask, children start potty training anytime from 18 months to 3+ years.  We started looking into the "gear" for potty training right around Gretchen's 2nd birthday, and in all honesty, we haven't had much use for any of it until very recently.

Through a few different visitors' trips, we have acquired the Baby Bjorn Potty Chair and the Arm & Hammer Secure Comfort Potty Seat, along with several pairs of kiddy underwear, in Minnie, Dora and Day of the Week theme. We also bulked up on Kirkland's moist flushable wipes to add to our baby shipment, which was a fantastic suggestion by an anonymous source - in case they don't want to advertise their first-hand knowledge of the product. Anyone who has purchased toilet paper in Argentina will know that these wipes are your best friend - paper products here leave a bit to be desired.

Once we started collecting all the gear, we asked for tips from folks that have gone through potty training before - namely our parents. The response was universal: We used M&Ms.  Seriously, everyone we asked has used M&Ms as a reward when their kids went on the "big potty". This should be on some sort of ad campaign for the candy-coated treat, and now we can add our names to the believers - it really works!

During the late July "winter" break of jardin, I was on a mission to have Gretchen potty train before baby brother joins the family. This determination lasted about a day.  She was completely uninterested, and I realized that we were going to spend the majority of the 2-week break sitting on a potty. Jon and I resolved to put potty training on hold until after the baby, though if Gretchen ever asked to sit on the potty, we were happy to oblige.  She asked, maybe 2 times in August and we scrounged up some sort of chocolate treat to give her as a reward. Then September came and one Wednesday night we were in the kitchen making dinner and she said she wanted to sit on the potty.  Success!  She did it again on Thursday and Friday night, but had no interest in going at any other time during the day. Saturday - a week ago today - we had some friends over and Gretchen witnessed her 3 year old buddy say that he needed to use the potty.  She wanted to use the potty too, and she did.  Then she did again.  Then we bought M&Ms.

The deal is, if she goes #1 she gets 2 M&Ms, the payment doubles for #2 - the coveted FOUR M&Ms! As of Monday afternoon she has been in big-girl undies all day, as of Thursday she's been in them at night too.  No accidents yet.  She is PLOWING through the M&Ms.  She talks about them all day.  "I get TWO M&Ms today!" "I need FOUR M&Ms, Daddy!", it's amazing! The M&Ms are the perfect way for her to see direct positive results, and she knows exactly what to expect when we give her a reward. The hardest part of the whole thing is keeping Jon and I from raiding the M&M stash.

I hesitate to say that this is the whole of our potty training experience since it has been so seamless, but Gretchen is doing an amazing job. We are so proud of our girl, sneaking in a last minute big girl step before baby brother arrives! It teaches us that there are many times that we should just follow her lead - and be sure to keep M&Ms on hand.

Ode to Pink Giraffe, Green Ticker

Gretchen has always been a good sleeper.  She goes to bed without complaint, she wakes up happy and alert, she still naps like a champion daily. Jon and I plan on using many of the same resources with baby #2 that we used with Gretchen; the swaddle blanket, the pacifier, bottle feeding before bed, with full awareness that what works for one child is not guaranteed to work for another - but hopeful that we were doing something right.

It got me thinking, I need to commemorate two of the most important constants in our daughter's life, Pink Giraffe and Green Ticker, one of which has already been retired.  

Pink Giraffe is a super soft little blanket with a precious baby giraffe head by the brand Angel Dear. This fantastic little lovey was given to Gretchen by our friends Alex and Carly, and it has become a bedtime staple.  It started out as the way to keep Gretchen's busy hands settled after she grew out of the Miracle Blanket (where her hands were straight-jacketed inside her cocoon), then it grew to be a comfort and to this day she will hold and rub the blanket between her fingers while she sleeps.  I tried to purchase a backup Pink Giraffe during one visit to the US, I purchased the far-inferior Brown Giraffe (the same blanket, but in brown).  He is an emergency-use-only backup for when Pink is in the wash. Gretchen doesn't even give him the time of day otherwise, poor guy.

Green Ticker is a Playtex pacifier, one that I chose at random to register for and now is apparently the most rare pacifier out there.  She has always used a pacifier to settle and sleep, but since she could stand we have limited the pacifier to be used only when she's going to sleep. Though we had a plethora of pacifier colors and varieties, this particular Playtex type - in the color green - has been the only acceptable version for awhile now.  I should mention that in my family growing up we called pacifiers "tickers" (as does most of my extended family) even though I have no idea where the name came from (maybe the ticking sound it makes when in use? I'm stretching for an answer here...). 

We attribute some of her readiness to go to bed at night to her desire to be reunited with these friends. At night, we walk into her room and she asks for "Pink Giraffe, Green Ticker" which melts my heart. Sometimes she'll joke and say "Pink Ticker, Green Giraffe", which provides belly-laughing hilarity. 

A few months ago, Green Ticker acquired a hole, probably due to Gretchen's full set of teeth, and he went into retirement.  This went over surprisingly well with little G, she didn't cry or argue, but moved on to Pink Ticker, Pink Giraffe.  We floated the idea of no ticker, and she was not on board. She will now explain to people "Green Ticker go away because I bite it, it get a hole" and then show how she chomps her teeth together.  

On my second attempt to purchase a back-up Pink, again there were none to be found, I bought a pink horse version of the blanket.  Immediately, Brown Giraffe was pushed into 3rd place and "Casey" (named after my mom's horse that Gretchen fell in love with) is now an additional nighttime staple.  So now, we have a routine, after brushing teeth and getting ready for bed, we get Pink Giraffe, Pink Ticker out of hiding, Gretchen holds onto them during storytime and put Casey in the crib (Pink is still a clear favorite).  When we're ready to say goodnight, inevitably, Pink goes on one side of her body, Casey goes on the other and the three of them are tucked in together.  It's precious.  

Even more heartwarming is when Gretchen saw the blue hippo and green frog blankies that we bought for Baby Brother (we should buy stock in this Angel Dear company...), she immediately recognized that they are for her brother, and put them in his crib - where they wait patiently for his arrival.  

We are now down to 2 backup tickers, and debating whether we just wait for them to all get holes and not replace them or send some to our parents to bring down on their meet-the-baby trips.  At this point, these little guys bring Gretchen so much peace, and equate to such wonderful night's sleep for everyone that it would be hard to say good-bye to our beloved friend, Ticker. Regardless of color.

Sweet dreams!

Waiting For Baby

Tomorrow marks the completion of 36 weeks of pregnancy.  This is an important milestone in the pregnancy because Gretchen was born in week 36, and I have mentally assumed that this is when the real baby-watch begins. Obviously, it is not an exact science, but boy-o-boy would our baby boy be welcome to come at any point after tomorrow.  Really.  Come on down, you're the next contestant on the Price is Right....

Look, we have your room all ready for you!  Complete with the toys your big sister stuffs into the bassinet attachment to the Pack-and-Play.  And of course, the Planets Mat, best.baby-gift.ever.

We are even ready for that round of golf you will play with Daddy!  These clubs might be a little big, but you'll grow into them...

We have repurposed items from Gretchen's room, made good use of our baby shipment and rearranged the closets so that baby boy has a room all his own.  I like to think that it is serendipitous that the room was already painted blue, a great color that we were happy to match.

We have been prepping Gretchen as best we know how for the long-awaited arrival of "baby brother". At this point, we feel that she genuinely knows that a baby will be joining our family, and she pronounces daily that he "will poop a lot" and "will need a lot of diapers".  We are not as confident that she is ready to share her toys with him, luckily, he won't want them for awhile yet.

It is a strange thing to be going through pregnancy for the second time and having so much left to question. There is still no way of knowing what to expect, and life in on a bit of a countdown clock from now until the little one arrives.  Will it be today? Tomorrow? In three weeks? Quite literally, time will tell.

That's part of the fun, right? The bottom line is that we cannot wait to meet our baby boy, introduce Gretchen to her baby brother and begin life as a family of FOUR!

Baby #2 Shipment

Jon's company will pay for a one-time shipment of goods sent from the US via air, all you need to do is have a baby.  Luckily, we are on our second opportunity for a shipment - though I promise that has nothing very little to do with our decision to have another child.

This is a rare opportunity to bring heavy or oddly shaped items to Argentina, and though many of them are baby related, quite a few things are just items that are inconvenient to get on an airplane.

So, what do buy when you have ~100 square feet to fill? Here is our wish list:

• Kirkland's Baby Wipes
• A new rug for Gretchen's room - her rug is going to the new baby's room
• Photos made into canvas wall art (I went bananas on CanvasOnDemand.com)
• Large quantities of: shampoo, conditioner, face wash, bath wash, lotion, baby bath, deodorant, vitamins.  All items with which we are brand-loyal.
• Medications Mucinex, baby/infant pain relievers, pregnancy vitamins, NyQuil. (In all honesty, we're not that infirm, it's just nice to have the stuff you know when you're feeling crappy)
• Infant Feeding items: breast milk storage bags, nursing pads (like a zillion of them), formula containers
• This amazing contraption by Infantino that allows you to make your own baby squeezy pouches. Gretchen lived on these for months and I have been begging them off of visitors ever since.  No more!  I'm making them on my own, baby!
• The beautiful hummingbird painting that my in-laws gave me for my 30th birthday.  Now, at 32, it hangs proudly in our bedroom.
• An incredible wooden table that Jon's Dad handmade for Gretchen.  It even has her name engraved on it, which she "reads" daily.  
• A gorgeous crystal wine decanter that my parents gave us.  I'm still in shock that it didn't break, and I'm ready to decant wine like a pro in a few months....
• Baby clothes for the first 6 months.  I wish I was joking, but clothes in Argentina are known for their high prices and poor quality so we went bonanza in Carters and Target.  
• Accessories for our newly purchased City Versa stroller.  We're hoping to eliminate the need for a double, because honestly, they just don't fit anywhere in the city (including in our elevator).
• The beanbag chair pictured below.  So fun!

The fact that we had space to fill meant that we also sent things like Craisins, dried mangos, Popchips, pine nuts, handsoap, razorblades, and other comforts of home.  We filled every square inch of that container and would do it again if given the chance.  As long as that chance didn't involve having another baby here, at 32 weeks pregnant, I can't even contemplate that future...

So, for anyone wondering what you miss when living abroad, here is a window into our most-wanted items. For those that have visited us, you already know this because you've probably filled your suitcases with some or many of these items already - and we thank you profusely for that!  You never know how good you have it, with Amazon 2-day delivery and a Target on every corner, until it's not available anymore!

Gretchen on the Farm

Our recent trip to the US marked our longest stretch between trips back since we moved to Buenos Aires in 2009.  This also was our first trip where we felt the need to entertain Gretchen - beyond just  tagging along with our visits and activities.  Luckily, we have parents that live in toddler-theme-park houses and there are plenty of child-friendly options close to each of the grandparents' houses.

What we quickly found out is that our little city-girl is quite comfortable on the farm. Grammy has a horse named Casey, who lives 5 minutes from Grammy and Papa Mas's house.  The man who runs the barn, Jose, is known for taking in stray animals and making them feel at home on the farm.  This mean's that Casey's barn has a million things to do for a little girl, there are bunnies to feed, roosters to pet, eggs to gather from the hens, and of course, the horses.  While Mommy and Daddy were sneezing their brains out, Gretchen was busy feeding treats to Casey and his friend Moe.

We also saved up lots of leftovers to bring and feed to the chickens in the pen.  Gretchen had a great time throwing the food, especially the rice, and she loved bossing the chickens around.  "Don't go out the door, chicken!" or "Stay in there, chicken!".

Not to leave all of the farming fun in one place, we also visited the farm of a friend of Gran & Poppa's while we were in Lexington.  These friends are pretty remarkable, they raise baby goats, milk the mamas and use that milk to make their own goat cheese.  They grow fruits, vegetables and herbs year round with their homemade greenhouse.  They grow their own wheat, harvest it, then use it to make flour that they bake into pizza in their homemade pizza oven.   So, it was a privilege to be shown around their place - and to be given carte blanche with Gretchen.

She fed the goats.
She sat on a donkey.
She pet a 500 pound pig.

It was a little girl's dream.

She followed these ducks around hoping to pet them.  They were not so keen.

The highlight of the visit was definitely the strawberry picking.  Gretchen loved locating the ruby red ripe ones, picking them and then handing them out to everyone else to eat.  She wasn't shy about trying some for herself, too.

It was a wonderful, sunny day on the farm, and we hope to return during future visits to Lexington - it was an amazing place to visit along with really nice new people to meet.

If that isn't enough, Gran and Poppa's house has a tractor!  Gretchen went on a few rides with Poppa and though it may have given her a little shock at first, this was a clearly memorable experience for her because she still talks about it whenever someone mentions a tractor.  

She looks quite comfortable in the driver's seat, no?  She also enjoyed picking asparagus from Gran & Poppa's garden, walking the dogs and getting the mail.  This little one makes herself right at home pretty much anywhere, be it the downtown streets of Buenos Aires or the country roads of Lexington.

It is pretty great for us as parents to watch Gretchen have these experiences during her limited time with family.  The even better part is that she has a memory like a steel trap and says things like "There's a horse like Casey!" or "I ride the tractor with Poppa!", which warms our hearts.  These pictures and the stories that accompany them have burned their way into her memory because she had a wonderful time surrounded by people who love her.  Trip home = Success!

Un Hermanito para Gretchen

In case you haven't noticed the additional photo album on the righthand side of this blog - the word is out - we're adding another Gill to the mix!

We are now 19 weeks into a second pregnancy in Argentina and so far, things have progressed smoothly and without incident.  Just like with our pregnancy with Gretchen, we had our first 3D ultrasound appointment right at 12 weeks.  Unlike our pregnancy with Gretchen, we were told that this baby is, in fact, a BOY!

We have since had a second 3D ultrasound that confirms the baby's sex, so... we are preparing to be the parents of big sister Gretchen and a-yet-unnamed-little baby brother.  It is, indeed, a very exciting time in our household.

Gretchen seems to be on board with the whole situation, she pats my belly (or smacks, depending on her energy level) and says "baby", though she has also been very attached to her mama these last few months.  She is a great helper, reinforced by her favorite phrase lately: "I help!"  We're crossing our fingers that this phase continues through to when the baby arrives.

Of course, being that she is such a sweetheart, we're excited about making her a big sister.

Doesn't she just scream adorableness? These raised eyebrows and earnest face just make my heart melt!

We can't wait for our family to grow - and for all of those reading in Argentina, we'll keep you posted on how the processes have changed over the last 2 years.  As with most things in this country, the birth and paperwork process is sure to have changed dramatically!

Bed Head Baby!

We waited so long for Gretchen to have enough hair to style and play with - not realizing that it came with the added benefit of seeing her fantastic bed head each day.

I'm sure she will soon tire of me waking her up with a camera in her face, lucky for me she is always quick with a smile...

She has somewhere between wavy and curly hair - so after a good night's sleep, it goes in all kinds of amazing directions.

And in the incredibly rare occasion when she keeps her colitas (pigtails) in through her nap, they also create great photo opportunities.

Gretchen is so happy when she wakes up and is happy to smile for the camera as long as she's able to see the picture afterward.

These are the kinds of details that I want to be sure to remember.  Getting Gretchen up for the day - or from a nap - is one of the best times of the day.  She's so happy and playful, AND you get to see amazing hair.

Gretchen Turns Two!

Wow.  That happened!  I cannot believe that our beautiful little girl is actually TWO YEARS OLD! An amazing milestone for so many reasons, most notably due to the fact that she is has officially crossed into little-girlhood.

I cannot believe the changes that one year brings.  From our precious baby that I feared would fall off of this chair during the photo:

To this delightful, independent, fun, heart-capturing little girl.  She wore this crown with such pride, and she posed for so many beautiful photos on her birthday that I had a bard time choosing just one to include.

Nothing stopped Gretchen in her tracks like a lit candle. She practiced for weeks with everything from toys to sticks, so when she was presented with a lit candle on the tray in front of her, she was still as a statue. This may have been her longest silent streak all week long.

We celebrated Gretchen's birthday over the course of numerous days.  This was her actual birthday, where just mom, dad, Grammy who came in to visit for just this occasion, and Gretchen enjoyed pizza dinner and a cupcake.  This also may be a picture of Gretchen's last pre-bed cupcake ever, since after she devoured it, it took her over 2.5 hours to fall asleep.  Mom and Dad were not too keen.

A few days later, we held Gretchen's birthday party, where we had lots of friends big and small help us celebrate.  There was even a surprise guest - Minnie Mouse!  The room was unsure of how to handle Minnie's appearance, with 50% of the kids thrilled to see her and the other 50% terrified.  Gretchen was thrilled to see her until Minnie got close, then she was scared.  Minnie is quite large in person, so we got close enough to enjoy blowing out the candles and honking her nose and then we were ready for Minnie to say farewell.

By the end, she was a master of birthdays; blowing out candles, singing happy birthday and being "very careful, it's really hot!".  Good thing too, check out these extremely safe-looking candles of fire that are so popular here in Argentina.  Everyone that visits from the US wants them, but they are a fire-waiting-to-happen for sure.

Thank you to everyone who came to wish Gretchen a happy birthday, especially my mom (Grammy) who made the whole week special by being Gretchen's playmate from morning until night.

Warming up to Minnie

I was glad to have a great recommendation for an animadores company, DivertiCumple, who came an brought games, face painting, a puppet show, music and Minnie Mouse.  We also were able to find helium balloons and get them delivered to the house by DDivino.  It's funny what small accomplishments bring such pride when you're working in a different language.

Gretchen just doesn't trust her this close up...

Even though each mile marker, especially those as significant as a birthday, tug at my heartstrings, each day with our little girl is full of fun and surprises.  She is incredibly verbal and says exactly what is on her mind; "Daddy, I watch a couple of videos?", "Cuidado los dedos! (careful for your fingers!)", "No stroller today momma, I walk" and her personal favorite "I help!".  We are constantly impressed by her Spanish proficiency, being able to tell us words in both languages and already knowing which language is which. She is friendly, social, funny and easy going with a love for routines (big surprise with Jon and I as parents) and an incredible memory.  She loves Sapo Pepe, her play kitchen, brushing her teeth, reading books, watching videos, socks and her dad.  She dislikes pigtails, dirty hands, the majority of her shoes,  and eating food without some sort of dipping sauce.

Turning two is a big step, and though I fear she is growing up too fast, each day is better than the last.  Happy Birthday Gretchen, we hope this coming year is as amazing as the last!