Diary: March 27-28

Saturday – Spent the day at Romel and Alejandra’s house on the northern edge of Bogota. Saw Edward, 14 years old now and getting bigger but now real change in his situation. Played some games, ate dinner and had a good time, especially Camila and Manuel. Johan did well but had trouble napping in a place besides his bed.

Sunday – Beautiful day for a long Cyclovia trip. We walked up Calle 116 to Usaquen. We walked through the traditional market, did a little shopping, ate obleas and arroz con leche., saw some little puppies for sale, doggie tricks and jugglers in the plaza. Really cool place. 

Then Mami headed home with the kids, while Papi rented a bike and rode south along the Septima to 70^th street and back, stopping at a church for an outdoor Palm Sunday service. Camila and Gisele spent the night at Abuelitas, and Mami, Papi and Mateo went on a “date”. We went back to Usaquen, to a cool restaurant overlooking the plaza called Tinaja y Tazon. Johan ate at least half of Mami’s bandeja paisa, took a little walk then home to sleep. 

Diary - March 26 - Monserrate

Friday – Big news, we heard that Mami can travel down to Florencia next week for the Sentencia (the signing of the adoption papers making the adoption legal and final). This was a big surprise considering next week is Semana Santa, but the courts in Caqueta are open (the only state in Colombia where the courts are working this week!)

In the afternoon, we went with Sylvia and Jaime to Monserrate, met Mariela. The kids got their pictures taken on “Mateo” the llama, then we rode the cable car to the top. All the stations of the cross were being repainted for Semana Santa. Day was hazy and became increasingly foggy, rained a bit. Postponed visit to La Candelaria.

Diary: March 24-25

Wednesday – big family park day in the morning with the Pfeiffers and Ybacetas, everyone had a big time. Mami took Johan home early for his morning nap, then we had school time. Went back to the pizza playground place for lunch, met Livia and Abuelita. New shoes for Johan’s little feet in the afternoon and then back home. The heat really took it out of us all. Dinner and put kids to bed early, then played Farkle with the Pfeiffers, actually had some semblance of adult time.

Thursday – Johan is still eating well, and increasingly fun and funny. Loves tickling sessions, playing hide and seek with Camila and Gisele, and anything involving cars. His “little devil” side is starting to come out a little, including biting a few times (usually Camila when she tries to stop him from doing something he shouldn’t). But overall as sweet as ever and attaching great. Today we had gymnastics for Johan – he’s showing some improvement in coordination but needs lots of work on strength, enjoyed class a lot. Gisele had swimming class, swam like a fish. Then Camila did gymnastics. Teacher was very impressed with her skills and encouraged us to continue her in classes. 

Diary - March 23

Entegracion day at ICBF, went with whole family and met with social worker. We have been so blessed with a really smooth transition. Johan Mateo is blossoming, and the folks at ICBF noted the difference in his face and countenance. We got our necessary paperwork to continue with the court process down in Florencia, which by all accounts is going smoothly. We might be ready to go by mid-April or even earlier. After that went and had Johan checked for parasites, results negative which is good news, just hope he starts gaining some weight. He seems a little heavier, and eating certainly isn’t a problem. 

Integration day at ICBF Bogota - March 23, 2010

Diary - March 22

Monday – Big day, went with kids, Abuelita, Alvaro, Romel and Alejandra and their kids to Chicaque Park, a nature reserve south of Bogota. Strikingly beautiful, we had a big hike down from the cloud forest, dropped probably 1500 feet along a pretty rough trail, took about 2 hours, tiring especially with the kids. 

Camila and Gisele did great, actually kept pace with Manuel. Papi carried Johan Mateo in the Baby Bjorn, and he was a little trooper and seemed to really enjoy being outdoors. At the bottom we ate lunch in a cool restaurant overlooking a further drop into a valley, then luckily took a jeep back up the mountain to the top. Everyone was exhausted by day’s end.  

Que pasa Cowboy