Day 38- On the Downhill Slide

Yesterday morning I had the best wake-up in as long as I can remember. I had asked Annie if she could play a video and play with Alex in the morning so I could get a few extra minutes of rest. I burn the candle at both ends most nights.

At about 7am, I heard my bedroom door open and then close again. So, I kept one ear awake. After about an hour, I feel a cold little nose on my cheek. Annie was waking me up the way I do her most mornings...with tons of little kisses. It was so awesome. She said, "Mommy, I helped the baby go pee-pee, and I got us two slices of cheese for breakfast, but I can't reach anything else and we're hungry." Well, how could I be mad about that?

The day was gloomy, so we spent it at the mall arcade and moon bounces with her buddy's family from next door. After we were back home, Alex found a box that I received a package in. He sat in it and smiled a huge smile and motioned to be pushed. He knows the box game! It's fun to learn about what he likes and what makes him happy. He and Annie went on to play for an hour with the box, pushing eachother around.

We've had our challenges too this weekend. Annie tries to help him and keep him from getting into things he shouldn't. What he hasn't figured out yet, is that Annie speaks. His housemates at the children's home didn't. He usually waits until I am out of site, and then hits Annie, pinches her or pulls her pig tails. Yesterday, he had my cell phone in his hands. Annie told him it wasn't a toy and he shouldn't have it. I heard the conversation and came in the room to take the phone away. He waited until I was out of the room, then hit Annie. I've told her to come tell me immediately about that kind of behavior so that we can work on correcting it. I don't tolerate it and I don't think Annie needs to either. I scolded him and put him in time-out in his bed. He's used to time-out, I saw the Tia's do it at the home. After, he goes over to Annie and hugs her to "apologize". Hopefully, this will get better.

Today I received some relatively good news. Not only do I not have to go to Quito, but I don't have to go to Sta. Isabella to get his birth certificate either. The storms here have been pretty bad lately, and I suspect they're even worse on the mountain roads. I was going to ask my neighbor to watch Annie after school if we weren't home yet, but the rep is concerned that we may delayed due to washed out roads or something. For the same reason, it's not good to take her with us. The rep called the birth registrar office and received permission to just take a Power of Attorney from me to get the certificate. Great! It's about a two hour drive there and a long wait for the certificate, with a two year old. Not to mention, I would be worried about Annie back here without me. I can't help it. This works out better for everyone, probably even the rep. I'm sure it's easier for her not to have us along with the worries.

Lisandra