Today, we have the light stuff and the heavy stuff. I'll start light.
Yesterday was Julia's half year birthday. I smile as I remember that one year I let my birthday pass without mention and some of my friends celebrated my half birthday -- so very sweet. Julia just started understanding birthday - as in, the day you are born -- about two months ago after the last class birthday party of the school year. We have been talking about her half birthday and even though I doubt whether she understood the concept of half, we decided to go for it.
After OT yesterday, we went to Whole Foods and picked out a much too expensive carrot cake (kid has good taste). When we got home, I worked on her alphabet work with her and she earned her last two of ten stickers to get her newest two LPS pets -- two little kittens. Then she took an aveno bath (still with the rash, though better, and lots of bites), as I put finishing touches on her favorite supper food -- bok choi with Udon noodles. We had supper and settled down to a movie, stopped part of the way through and had our cake, complete with candles and singing, and we gave her a present -- the LPS fun house.
She was beside herself with joy. She thanked us many times, including the last thing before she went to sleep and first thing on waking up. Gifts are still an incredible unexpected surprise to her and they make her very happy. "I girl happy!" she tells us.
Julia had a hard time getting to sleep last night and did not really bed down unitl almost 10:30. By that time I had been dozing and waking, and was not ready for bed myself. I stayed up and watched a great tv program about searching for Atlantis and looking for it in Bolivia at a site called Tewanaku, which is the ruins of an ancient Andean civilization. There are over 3000 ancient civilization sites in S. America most of which have not been explored and no one knows much at all about the civilizations. By the time the Europeans came over, these civilizations were long dead and the explorers/invaders had no interest in what the people remembered of them. And so, even the stories about the civilizations disappeared. I can't help but think of our European-American modern civilization without the stories of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. What if . . . what if.
Well, good transition into the heavier stuff.
I have been feeling the tug to do attachment work with Julia. Why? Well, probably because I read too much. No, more likely, I read online and books just enough. I know that Julia's behavior still baffles people who should know kids on the spectrum, and although everyone says tht all kids with autism are different, the bafflement of Julia's teachers and therapists have nudged me on. Coupled with that, I think I have an internal timetable that is dictating something about our two year anniversary as a family of 4. I joined the yahoo group for attachment/china adoptions and have almost finished reading the Connected Child. I was further drawn in by the warning, from an expert, that the intensive autism therapy which is behaviorally based (and for which we are on a long que to be offered) is not good for kids with attachment disorders, so it is important that in the next 18 months or so, I tease out the threads of attachment issues or at least investigate them before we get into the 20-30 hour/week commitment of autism therapy.
So, now I read about attachment and trauma, and can see how Julia's behavior could be described as the result of those experiences. I hope that our new therapist -- family shrink -- is sufficiently expert enough to help me on this journey.
What a puzzle, this child.
Showing posts with label Bolivia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bolivia. Show all posts
17 July 2008
20 August 2007
Monday evening
Julia and I spent the day at home today, alone and inside. I cleaned and played with dinosaurs, Julia played with all her little animals and dinosaurs and the computer and clay. We had breakfast and lunch together and ended the day with a bath. It was a good day.
Julia has been incredible the last two days. She has been loving and ready to give hugs and kisses. She missed me and she is willing to show it. She was a bit angry with me on Sunday, but even that feels like it should. She did not ignore me as she used to do when I came back from Chicago. She behaved that way when David was traveling back and forth to Madison. I brough back a few gifts for her and her favorite was a few more plastic animals -- a llama, a duck billed dino, an ape, and a gazelle. This kid is going to know her animals.
I was feeling a bit off on Sunday and at the beginning of today, but it was the only problem I had related to my trip. A day of queasy stomach is nothing compared to what we've felt during our trips. I feel very lucky.
Julia is working on her words. We have been correction some of her mispronounciations and she is willing to try to correct herself. I think she is really ready for some good ESL training.
Julia has been incredible the last two days. She has been loving and ready to give hugs and kisses. She missed me and she is willing to show it. She was a bit angry with me on Sunday, but even that feels like it should. She did not ignore me as she used to do when I came back from Chicago. She behaved that way when David was traveling back and forth to Madison. I brough back a few gifts for her and her favorite was a few more plastic animals -- a llama, a duck billed dino, an ape, and a gazelle. This kid is going to know her animals.
I was feeling a bit off on Sunday and at the beginning of today, but it was the only problem I had related to my trip. A day of queasy stomach is nothing compared to what we've felt during our trips. I feel very lucky.
Julia is working on her words. We have been correction some of her mispronounciations and she is willing to try to correct herself. I think she is really ready for some good ESL training.
19 August 2007
Coming Home
Coming home was a 24 hour adventure. Planes from Cochabamba to La Paz to Santa Cruz to Miami to Chicago. Then the shuttle to the parking lot and a drive home. I started on Friday at about noon and pulled into the driveway in Madison Crayon House at 3 on Saturday.
The day had a bit of a tough start. Cheshire had a stomach ache which put her in a pensive mood. Ches, Jason, and I took a bus to downtown Cochabamba to visit her college and say goodbye to her colleagues. The Catholic College of Cochabamba is a pretty school. Two and three story buildings with open air hallways around a very green garden with benches and tables.
Before and after going to the college, we saw a Cochabamba parade of children and the military. It was Flag day and each kindergarden and primary school was out in their uniforms to parade the flag. Very cute to see all of the uniforms. This was a parade to be in more than to watch. Watchers tended to be parents with cameras and younger sibs. The most interesting military display that we saw was a stationwagon with a 10 foot helicopter purched on top. And there were bands! Bolivia should have the best marching bands in the world!! Many, many, many bands. Mostly brass and drums with a sprinkling of clarinets and those walking zilophones. Some of the bands were high school bands and some were old men. The kids sounding a lot better than most of the old man bands.
We went home to a Beysa´s lunch made speical for us. Cheshire said that she likes to cook and her food was lighter than most of the Bolivian food we've have. She made a rice and corn soup which Julia would have loved. It was more tasty than congee but the same idea. Then we had spegitte and potatoes and a meat stew. It was very good and I really enjoyed it.
My plane from Cochabamba to La Paz was more than an hour late but I had a 5 hour layover in La Paz so it was just shorted by a little bit and I got to spend another hour with Ches and Jason. When I got off the plane in La Paz, I was confused as to where I was at the airport because of construction. I needed help with my two bags and I couldn´t see where the AA terminal was. A taxi dispatcher told me it was 5 Bs (about 85 cents) to get to the terminal, and I climbed in a cab thinking that it had to be a very short ride. The cabbie drove me out of the airport and onto the road to go into the city. I tried in my non-existant Spanish to tell him that I wanted to go the the airport terminal for AA but he didn´t understand. I tried to ask about some other airport because the ride was getting very long. He didn´t understand. Finally, I fished out my Lonely Planet book, found the phrase section (which is very sparce) and cobbled together some phrases to find out where we were going. He was taking me to the AA office in the middle of La Paz. I told him no, and to take me to the airport terminal. I made several attempts before he understood, and we wound up going through the center of the city (where we stayed back in 2002) to turn around. I must say that once I cleared up where we were going, I could sit back and enjoy the trip. I had wanted to go back into the city but didn´t want to carry my bags with me. This tour was great. When we got back to the airport (some 50 minutes later), we had to argue about price. Of course, he didn´t want the 5 Bs that I had been quotted, but I was not going to give him the 100 Bs that he wanted. I told him that I would give him 50 Bs, and tried to say that I did not want to go into town. He argued and threw up his hands at me but he finally took the 50 Bs. He was not happy and I wished that I could have apologized to him. Still, I thought it might be close to what he would have charged a Bolivian. And I practiced being a tough broad.
I had two very slight brushes with Bolivian security. In Cochabamba, they made me take my tooth paste and tooth brush out of my carry on because the plastic bag that they were in was too big. In La Paz, I left my new jacket in the internet shop before I went through security and even though I had at least an hour before my flight was to be called, security would not let me go back out. There was no reason but that it was the rule. I argued in my Spanglish until two other travelers befriended me. This too did not seem to make a difference but one of the guards took pity. I think it was because I told them that the jacket was new. They let me go back out but the female guard who was lower on the chain of command was a bit pissed with me when I came back.
Other than these little things, the trip back was eventless which was just perfect.
And one more thing -- Price of Coke Lite. In the little store across from Cheshire's apartment -- 3Bs for 20 oz. In the main part of the airport -- 6 Bs for the same 20 oz. In the waiting room after I went through security -- 10 Bs.
The day had a bit of a tough start. Cheshire had a stomach ache which put her in a pensive mood. Ches, Jason, and I took a bus to downtown Cochabamba to visit her college and say goodbye to her colleagues. The Catholic College of Cochabamba is a pretty school. Two and three story buildings with open air hallways around a very green garden with benches and tables.
Before and after going to the college, we saw a Cochabamba parade of children and the military. It was Flag day and each kindergarden and primary school was out in their uniforms to parade the flag. Very cute to see all of the uniforms. This was a parade to be in more than to watch. Watchers tended to be parents with cameras and younger sibs. The most interesting military display that we saw was a stationwagon with a 10 foot helicopter purched on top. And there were bands! Bolivia should have the best marching bands in the world!! Many, many, many bands. Mostly brass and drums with a sprinkling of clarinets and those walking zilophones. Some of the bands were high school bands and some were old men. The kids sounding a lot better than most of the old man bands.
We went home to a Beysa´s lunch made speical for us. Cheshire said that she likes to cook and her food was lighter than most of the Bolivian food we've have. She made a rice and corn soup which Julia would have loved. It was more tasty than congee but the same idea. Then we had spegitte and potatoes and a meat stew. It was very good and I really enjoyed it.
My plane from Cochabamba to La Paz was more than an hour late but I had a 5 hour layover in La Paz so it was just shorted by a little bit and I got to spend another hour with Ches and Jason. When I got off the plane in La Paz, I was confused as to where I was at the airport because of construction. I needed help with my two bags and I couldn´t see where the AA terminal was. A taxi dispatcher told me it was 5 Bs (about 85 cents) to get to the terminal, and I climbed in a cab thinking that it had to be a very short ride. The cabbie drove me out of the airport and onto the road to go into the city. I tried in my non-existant Spanish to tell him that I wanted to go the the airport terminal for AA but he didn´t understand. I tried to ask about some other airport because the ride was getting very long. He didn´t understand. Finally, I fished out my Lonely Planet book, found the phrase section (which is very sparce) and cobbled together some phrases to find out where we were going. He was taking me to the AA office in the middle of La Paz. I told him no, and to take me to the airport terminal. I made several attempts before he understood, and we wound up going through the center of the city (where we stayed back in 2002) to turn around. I must say that once I cleared up where we were going, I could sit back and enjoy the trip. I had wanted to go back into the city but didn´t want to carry my bags with me. This tour was great. When we got back to the airport (some 50 minutes later), we had to argue about price. Of course, he didn´t want the 5 Bs that I had been quotted, but I was not going to give him the 100 Bs that he wanted. I told him that I would give him 50 Bs, and tried to say that I did not want to go into town. He argued and threw up his hands at me but he finally took the 50 Bs. He was not happy and I wished that I could have apologized to him. Still, I thought it might be close to what he would have charged a Bolivian. And I practiced being a tough broad.
I had two very slight brushes with Bolivian security. In Cochabamba, they made me take my tooth paste and tooth brush out of my carry on because the plastic bag that they were in was too big. In La Paz, I left my new jacket in the internet shop before I went through security and even though I had at least an hour before my flight was to be called, security would not let me go back out. There was no reason but that it was the rule. I argued in my Spanglish until two other travelers befriended me. This too did not seem to make a difference but one of the guards took pity. I think it was because I told them that the jacket was new. They let me go back out but the female guard who was lower on the chain of command was a bit pissed with me when I came back.
Other than these little things, the trip back was eventless which was just perfect.
And one more thing -- Price of Coke Lite. In the little store across from Cheshire's apartment -- 3Bs for 20 oz. In the main part of the airport -- 6 Bs for the same 20 oz. In the waiting room after I went through security -- 10 Bs.
Jason and Cheshire
Just a few shots of Cheshire enjoying Cochabamba with Jason.
This is the view to the side of their apartment house. Mountains, mountains, some with snow on top.
Yes, they are pretty cute.
13 August 2007
Monday in La Paz
Yes, South America. This is my solo trip of the summer to visit Cheshire. The flights down last night were fantastic - on time and not too crowded and friendly and easy. This is such an unusual experience on an airline these days. If travel was like this, we`d all be happier.
Cheshire looks great and we fell into our banter. I felt immediately at home in La Paz but that was only because Cheshire could do all the translating.. Oh, how I should learn Spanish. I would like to spend more time here but Spanish is mandatory.
Sweet Bolivian hotel-inn for the night with cold showers and heavy blankets, but more tv channels than we have at home.
I only have a few days here, so I am very glad that I know a little bit about the lay of the land. I might try to go around La Paz myself on Friday during my return. I have a 5 hours layover.
It is hard not having Julia and David with me, but it is also nice to have Cheshire to myself and not worry about a little one´s behavior.
Cheshire looks great and we fell into our banter. I felt immediately at home in La Paz but that was only because Cheshire could do all the translating.. Oh, how I should learn Spanish. I would like to spend more time here but Spanish is mandatory.
Sweet Bolivian hotel-inn for the night with cold showers and heavy blankets, but more tv channels than we have at home.
I only have a few days here, so I am very glad that I know a little bit about the lay of the land. I might try to go around La Paz myself on Friday during my return. I have a 5 hours layover.
It is hard not having Julia and David with me, but it is also nice to have Cheshire to myself and not worry about a little one´s behavior.
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