I might actually pull this off..

I finished three units over the weekend, leaving me with five more (shallow) units to process. At two days per unit that means I should finish everything up next week Friday, leaving me with five days to organize and pack up all the artifacts for storage, get the house in order, and pack our selves up for a short stay in Guayaquil. Holy Toledo, Batman, this might actually happen!


Steve still has swollen tonsils and I haven't been feeling too hot either, but we got our water supply problem resolved, so at least we're clean sick people. I've started discussing with Baby Girl what's going to happen in the next few weeks. I'm not sure that she really gets it, but we are quite fortunate that she is such an easy going kid. She might ask for the "ninos" at daycare, but I think she'll enjoy the adventure, and in the end, just be so happy to spend some time with her Nana that she won't really miss it. There are a few favorites who I'm sure she'll ask for, like Fanny, who is pretty much the only person here that she'd choose to hold her instead of me. We're going to get a cake to have at daycare on her last day, turn it into a little bit of a party and take pictures. I hope she will remember some of her time here, and all the friends she made.

Baby Girl’s Two Yellow Seats

BG has two yellow seats, and she’s been spending a lot of time on both of them recently. The first is her yellow potty, only of those little plastic container affairs that sits on the floor. She’s gotten quite interested in going on the potty lately, but doesn’t quite gather the timing of the whole thing. A few times she’s sat down with her diaper still on and gone to the bathroom. Other times she’ll take her diaper off just after she’s filled it and then sit down. Or, she’ll sit down, and then wander off and pee somewhere before we can get a new diaper on her. The most important thing, I guess, is that she’s showing interest and trying. We bought some stickers for her last week (she picked them out and then handed over the money) and I told her she gets a sticker each time she goes to the bathroom on her potty. That really seemed to set a fire under her. I suppose I could have used these two weeks with her to get her fully trained, but I don’t think it would happen so quickly, or that her daycare would be able to keep it up when she goes back. I’m definitely going to talk to them when I drop her off tomorrow, but I’m not holding my breath. I figure, I’ll really push it in June, when we’re settled in a place of our own.

Her other yellow chair is a plastic kids chair that she uses at her little craft table, and also sits on, facing the wall, for her time outs. It’s this latter sense that I’m talking about here. BG is rapidly approaching 28 months, and her two-ness is starting to kick in. She gets timeouts for the same two reasons, over and over again – throwing things (toys, food, or dishes, generally) and for hitting (she’s in a slapping stage lately). Even during her most trying behavior, I’m able to stay relatively calm, I think in part because I recognize that this is a developmental stage, so we redirect her, or give her timeout, and then we move on. This last week has been particularly hard because I’ve been dedicating a lot of time to the analysis, and not to her. If I’m in her sight, she wants me to hold her, or she wants to help me, or she just wants me, and unfortunately, ceramic analysis is not very toddler friendly. She’s acting up because she wants attention, and she’ll take it anyway she can get it, even if it’s in the form of mommy frowning at her because she’s just grabbed mommy’s camera off the table and tried to throw it off the deck. Daycare will start tomorrow, and I think a lot of the pressure will be let off. She’ll get to play all day with her friends, which she loves, and I’ll get a good 7 or 8 hours of lab work in. Then, when she comes home I’ll feel more able to devote all my attention to her, and give her all the love she deserves. There’s a lot of guilt bound up in the fact that I need full-day childcare in order to make life work, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. And her smiles and laughter as we played peek-a-boo after a particularly hard day tells me it’s all worth it.

Oh...

And just because it's funny as heck...

We've been having thunderstorms the last few days, and after several consecutive peals Baby Girl spontaneously sang out,

"Thun-der" (*bang, bang*), la la la la la la la la" (can you find the tune with those la las?).

We've been listening to songs from Supernatural episodes, and I guess BG took a shine to ACDC. Makes a mother proud...

The Incredible Jumping Bean

Yesterday, Baby Girl jumped properly for the first time ever. Both feet, off the floor, at the same time!!!! She’s still a bit unsteady on the landing, but it’s so cool to see. After she did it the first time, and realized what she had done (and we clapped and cheered like fools), she’s been doing it constantly. So neat seeing these little accomplishments!

You Give Me Fever

As Baby Girl succumbs to yet another illness – this time fever, green snot, and the runs – it’s interesting (and frustrating) to reflect on the way that viruses and sickness is perceived here.

Apparently, the concept of a virus that spreads from person to person through contact doesn’t exist to these people. Instead, one falls sick because of cambio de clima (weather change) or mal de ojo (sort of an imbalance of the humors, which can be caused intentionally or unintentionally by really negative or positive energy directed at a person; a.k.a. the evil eye. A reasonable description of the phenomenon can be found here).

What this means for us, in a practical sense, is that no one sees any reason to keep their sick kids home from daycare, because illness can’t be passed on. Instead they send them on in so that they can infect all the (temporarily) healthy children that are there. Every day that I drop BG off I cringe at the multitude of green snot faces that greet us at the door.

So it seems that BG gets a week of good health, followed by a week of not-so-good health. Mostly we’ve been lucky and the bad weeks are just the sniffles. Sometimes it’s worse. Being that she is La Gringita, everyone constantly wants to touch her. And if you say “don’t touch, she’s sick” (which I’ve started doing with increasing frequency and diminishing tact, to avoid them passing something on to her and actually making her sick) they stroke her and murmur “poor thing” while suggesting that she’s afflicted by one of the ailments. BUT YOU’RE STILL TOUCHING HER AND MAKING HER SICK!!!!

I just hope that all this sickness means that once we get back home she’ll have an immunity level somewhere in the stratosphere and stay relatively healthy even while those around her succumb to the seasonal ailments that go around every year. Here’s hoping.

Big Girl Bed!

Yes, folks, that's right. Shortly after the 2 year mark, BG has made the transition to a real bed! And not because we're having another and need to free up the crib for that one :P

These six months that we've been in Ecuador (SIX months, can you believe it?!?!) she's been sleeping in a PeaPod Plus. It's worked great for us because it's compact enough to travel with. Like, actually compact. Not compact like they say a Pack-and-Play is but then it still takes up half the boot of your car. We can fold it up and strap it to a backpack and off we go! Also, since it's basically just a personal tent for a baby, it has screening, and thus mosquito netting, built right in. However, since she's been using it continuously for six months, it's begun to develop a bit of a funk. And since it's a whole integrated thing, it's a little hard to clean properly.

With BG getting sick frequently, and coughing often in her sleep, Steve thought maybe the tent wasn't the best sleeping environment for her anymore. Since there's an unused twin bed laying around the house, we decided to move that down next to ours and give the whole "big girl bed" thing a whirl. And let me tell you, I am so lucky to have such a flexible and easy going daughter (this year here would probably not be possible if she wasn't). She moaned a little the first night, but since then has slept as well as she did in her tent. The fact that the mosquito netting is wrapped under the mattress probably helps keep her from getting up for a wander in the middle of the night, which I am definitely cool with! It's so sweet to see her asleep in it, though, since at most she takes up a quarter of the whole space.

Just another sign that our little girl is growing up!

And....we're back!

Wow, I've neglected this blog for far too long! It's been quite a busy month and a half, filled with visits from the in-laws, rubbernecking with politicians, stomach viruses, and dissertation related paranoia.

We met Steve's parents when their flight arrived in Guayaquil on November 1. We came right back out to Dos Mangas to celebrate Dia de los Santos. I wish I had a photograph of the crowds in the bus station who were traveling for the holiday. It was an absolute madhouse, with people stacked back to back. I think I really impressed Dad/Gene by the way I was able to get us right up to the ticket counter.

We spent a lovely day on the 2nd walking through Dos Mangas and stopping at friends houses and getting food foisted upon us. To celebrate the day of the dead, families prepare tons of foods, particularly the favorites of those who have passed, and lay it all out on a table. Then, while the family goes off to visit the grave site, the dead come and "eat" their food. Then the family comes back and people start circulating from house to house, eating up all the goodies. We got to try a few new delicacies that day! We also wandered down to the futbol field (soccer, for most of you) and watched a pretty good game in which Dos Mangas tied 4-4 with the near-by town of Olon.

One of the tables, all laid out.

That was pretty much the end of our adventures while Steve's parents were visiting. Mom/Norma picked up a bug while they were in Miami and then passed it on to Dad and eventually Baby Girl and me (though I definitely got a mild version of it). Mom and Dad spent a lot of time resting and bonding with their granddaughter. It was so great to see how much she loves her Oma and Opa. We even got to celebrate her 2nd birthday together, albeit a few days early.

Yes, that's right folks, my Baby Girl is now 2 years old! I may have to start referring to her as Big Girl, but BG will still work. The tantrums have also started, but so has all the extra fun!

On the 14th, Dos Mangas inaugurated a new Interpretation Center for the tourists who come for the hikes to the waterfall, etc. I put together a little display about the archaeological project and they hung that up there too. The Center was sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, and the Minister of Tourism herself, Veronica Sion, came for the inauguration. She didn't know that there was any archaeology in the area, and was really excited about integrating it into the other tourism offerings. To the community's benefit she pledge her support for building a museum to house and display the artifacts once the excavations are over. It was really cool to meet her, get to talk a little bit, be mentioned in a speech by a big-wig, get interviewed a few times, and get lecture requests. We'll see what all comes with it, and I'm still looking for her speech on You Tube, but it was a really exciting day!

Me and Veronica Sion at the inauguration.

About a week after BG got over her illness (which required breathing treatments and antibiotics) she started vomiting, to the point where she'd even puke up sips of water. I also came down with perpetual nausea (I think I would have felt better if I'd just puked) and Steve had to deal with all kinds of digestive issues. Back to the doctor for more meds, and now everyone's better again, though BG is still puking on bus rides, which may mean she suffers from motion sickness (and let me tell you, a freaked out toddler puking on a bus is no fun at all, particularly when you can't get her to aim in the bag and she'd sitting on your lap).

Work at the site is drawing rapidly to a close, and I'm really not feeling confident about what I've been able to excavate. The much-desired house is still elusive, and I don't see us being able to find and excavation one completely in the next week. All I need is one (two would be better), just one, to be able to compare it to other sites! Instead of a house we've found two more burials this week. How many dead people are there?!?!!? I suppose I'll just keep plugging along, and hopefully it will all work out.

Things to look forward to: a Christmas visit by Steve's cousin Kathy and her husband David, and a trip to Cuenca for the Christmas Eve parade. And, mostly likely in time for my birthday, the long awaited visit by my parents!

And, I promise I'll update more frequently!

Overdue Update

Things have been pretty crazy down here lately, and we've spent a lot more time getting to know the staff at the hospital at Manglaralto than I'm really happy with.

Last week I went in because of a high fever and body aches, and people in the village were concerned about Dengue. The doctor who did the exam on Thursday gave an initial diagnosis of Dengue, but wanted me to come back on Friday when the lab was open. Taylor was with me and spoke with the doctor about the stomach problems she was having and was given some rehydration drink mix and sent home. We came back on Friday morning for my blood draw (I will say, that was one of the best blood draws I've ever had), but had to wait until the afternoon for the results, so since Baby Girl had been suffering from a cough and an on-and-off fever for about a week, we brought her in to be seen too. Generally good news all around, I don't have Dengue (just a virus) and Baby Girl's lungs were clear. They gave us an antibiotic for her since her throat was irritated and swollen, and some paracetemol for the fever.

On Wednesday Taylor went back to the hospital by herself because of continuing stomach issues. The doctor that time wanted to do an HIV test, because of course a young, single gringa staying anywhere near Montanita must be doing drugs and having unprotected sex. Didn't even want a fecal culture done.

On Thursday Taylor started getting a rash around her hairline, and by Friday morning it was covering her entire body. We went in to the hospital, saw yet a different doctor, who gave her a cortisone injection and told her to start taking her Cipro for the stomach problems and keep taking Benadryl for the rash. She's doing much better overall, but yesterday her lip started to swell randomly, which makes us wonder if she's having a reaction to the Cipro.

Around this time Baby Girl's illness really started going into high gear. Her fever was basically constant and she became really lethargic and didn't want to eat or drink anything, so we started giving her the antibiotic and the parecetemol. Basically she was just sleeping all day and definitely not being herself. Last night this came to a head when we realized she only had one wet diaper the entire day and that even with the paracetemol her underarm temperature was 38.7 (101.7). So we wandered the village looking for someone with a car who wasn't at the epic 5 hour comuna meeting and could take us to the Emergency room at the hospital.

Just before we left I gave her a dose of Motrin, so by the time we got there her fever was starting to come down and she was a little more alert (as alert as she could be at 11 at night). There was a different doctor there that time, who said Baby Girl didn't need an antibiotic, as the red throat was just from the nasal drainage. And as far as the fever goes, we learned two things: 1) the last doctor we saw gave us the incorrect dosage for the Tylenol they gave us, so she was only getting a quarter of the dose she should have been, so no wonder it wasn't working, and 2) never give anyone anything other than Tylenol when they have a fever because of the incidence of Dengue Fever in the area. Other medicines can cause complications like internal bleeding and nasty things.

The doctor was concerned about her lack of eating and drinking, but not concerned enough to want to do an IV just then. She sent us home with some rehydration stuff and told us to make her drink for 4 hours, and if at the end of that she didn't pee, then to bring her back. Well, we tried, but there's only so much you can stick down a baby's throat when she's already upset and sad and tired. So we did our best but then everyone passed out.

Today she's doing much better. The correct dose of Tylenol is actually keeping the fever down and she's been eating and drinking an ok amount today. We've had several wet diapers, so I'm feeling much happier today than yesterday, even if Baby Girl isn't back to her old self yet.

In other news, we have internet! We went to Libertad yesterday to the Porta store to buy the equipment, and are doing a pay-as-you-go thing, so that we can have internet access in the house when we need it. I'm sure the grandparents will appreciate being able to do video Skype with Baby Girl too!

Baby Girl playing with the broom on the porch, one of her favorite pasttimes.

Baby Girl got pig tails for the first time last week! Her hair is finally getting long enough to do stuff with, but Taylor says she looks like she has a mullet because it's still so short in the front. She also started at Ecuadorian day care last week, which solves one of our concerns. It seems like it will be a good situation once she's healthy enough to go back (and to those who are concerned, she was sick first).

We also solved our other stress issue by firing our cook who was really over charging us. We're back to eating at the restaurant in town for the time being, but we have a few leads for someone who can cook for us. We've also been without a refrigerator since about our third day here, which makes it really hard to fend for ourselves, but it's looking like it should be fixed and back in the house by the end of this week, just in time for Taylor to go back home . Now if we can just get rid of the flies that seem to have invaded the house and fix the voltage problems that are plaguing us, we'll be all set!

Peapod Part 2

I am now a firm believer in the wonders of the Peapod. We went ahead and upgraded to the Peapod Plus, which is longer, taller, and unfortunately heavier (though at 6.5 it's really not too bad for our intented use). Baby Girl loves it! We opened it up and she crawled right in! She's spent the last few naps and nights sleeping in it, and I think it's a huge success. For a toddler, the Peapod Plus is definitely the way to go!

In other news, this time next week we'll be waking up in Guayaquil. We're still frantically packing up the apartment to put our things into storage, and haven't even started to pack what we're actually going to take to Ecuador. Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Kiddie Accomodations

Since Baby Girl just turned 18 months and is not yet bed ready, we were confronted with a bit of a problem when it comes to a sleep solution for her in Ecuador. Fitting a pack-and-play in with all our other gear into just four pieces of luggage really didn't seem feasible, and while friends in Ecuador graciously offered to have a crib ready for us, we'd still be without a portable sleep option. We plan to do weekend trips to other sites and to visit friends, and if the three of us had to share a bed then none of us would get any sleep. Finally, with the bug situation mosquito netting is a must, and I'm not certain that Baby Girl would be able to resist thrusting it aside.

The solution? The PeaPod, by Kidco. It's basically a kid tent, so the mosquito netting is integrated into the structure of the "crib". There's a self inflating mattress that zips into the bottom, so Baby Girl will be up off the floor and nicely padded. At 4.5 pounds it's not a super light weight option, but certainly light enough to strap to a backpack for the short bouts of walking that we might need to do to get to villages. It also folds down to a 14" circle that aids in the portablility. All in all it seems like an ideal solution, so we got one and set it up in the living room for Baby Girl's approval.

The verdict? Tepid at best. We have now learned that Baby Girl is not a fan of enclosed spaces. At 47" it's long enough for her to sleep comfortably (I even wedged myself into it), but it's not quite high enough for her to sit easily upright, and I think she really dislikes being scrunched up against the roof of the tent, but who could blame her. We'll leave it set up in the living room, full of toys, so that she can get accustomed to it, and hopefully she'll soon recognize it as her new sleeping space (which may be helped by the fact that we're moving her crib into storage this weekend). I still have hope for the PeaPod, but only time will tell.