These Weeks in Kahlilah: 43 to 47 Weeks

It’s been a long time since I last updated you on Kahlilah’s progress, largely due to our 3-week stint in Chile, so here’s what you missed…

Physically, Kahlilah is growing at a steady pace. She had a checkup last week, and she came in at 72 cm (that’s 50th percentile in Venezuela) and almost 18 pounds (that’s around 35-40th percentile). She stayed at the same percentile for length since her last checkup, which was in September, but dropped a little for weight. The doctor said he isn’t concerned about that, since she’s gotten really active since the last checkup and is burning a lot more calories. Speaking of being active, Kahlilah has become a fast crawler and loves repeatedly standing up and sitting down. In fact, she’s developing quite the squatting muscles in her legs. She also loves “cruising” (standing up holding onto something, like the couch, and then “walking” herself along it). The time for baby-proofing our apartment has most certainly come! The doctor also noted that he is really impressed by how social Kahlilah is since, by her age, most babies have developed a strong fear of strangers. Not our little extrovert! Finally, Kahlilah has also had one tooth emerge and another is about to pop. They’re both her bottom teeth. We have been pretty lucky because she really hasn’t been too fussy, drool-y, or sick (I’ve learned incoming teeth can cause cold-like symptoms).

Mentally, Kahlilah is understanding a number of words (e.g. no, mama, papa, water) but still isn’t too vocal herself. Really, the only time she gets vocal is when we’re late in feeding her. Then she starts making very insistent “mmm mmm” sounds. I know my cue now!

Otherwise, the last few weeks saw a number of experiential firsts for Kahlilah like

• Meeting her great-grandmother, great-aunt and many, many “uncles,” “aunts” and “cousins” (I mean uncles, aunts and cousins in the very broadly-inclusive Hispanic sense)
• Being baptized
• Watching a live soccer game
• Riding in a horse-drawn carriage
• Trying new foods willy-nilly, definitely not following Albert’s and my previous approach of giving 1 need food for 4 days before moving onto another (it was an exercise in futility to try to keep family members in Chile from giving her tastes of this and that)
• Successfully drinking from a sippy cup on her own
• Being in a natural hot spring
• Notching off her 3rd and 4th countries: Chile and Peru (as of next week, Kahlilah will be able to notch off her 5th: Trinidad and Tobago, where we’re going to celebrate Carnival)

Tomorrow, February 9, Kahlilah is 11 months old! So we have just one more month to go until we hit the big year mark. So hard to believe.

Snapshots of Chile

As many of you know, we spent most of January in Chile.  We went there to visit Albert’s family, to celebrate Kahlilah’s baptism with them, and to get in a little sightseeing and relaxing for us too.  Funny how three weeks of vacation can seem like too little! 

It feels a daunting a task to try to capture all that happened, so instead here are some “snapshots” of our time there. Hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we enjoyed experiencing them. (FYI–I’ve added some links to photos in this post, so you can see what I’m describing as well.)

• What a difference LAN makes.  We’re talking about LAN Chile, the airline we took.  First, let us just point out that each seat has its own TV screen from which you can watch movies or TV shows (choose from 40+ recently released or classic movies!), play video games or make your own personal music playlist from the thousands of songs they have. Second, they offer you wine throughout the flight (red or white?). Third, they have amazing customer service.  When we made our plane reservation in Caracas we were told by the travel agency that we couldn’t make a vegetarian request, so when the LAN steward offered the meal (I know, can you believe a full meal is still served?) I asked if by any chance they had something I could eat.  The steward was horrified that we hadn’t been able to make a vegetarian request, apologized and rushed off to see what he could do.  He ended up personally making me a vegetarian sandwich…that is, to tide me over until he could grab me a meal from First Class! Hello ricotta and spinach ravioli with fresh tomato sauce and a scrumptious chocolate layer cake.
• Over the river and through the woods.  During a brief jaunt to the Lakes District, we went to Renaico, the small town where Albert’s father was born. On the trip, Albert met an aunt who had been exiled to Italy during the dictatorship, as well as a great aunt (the oldest living relative on that side of the family) and lots of cousins of varying degrees and removed-ness. We spent a lazy day there chatting, eating, laughing, singing, and eating some more. For me, always the foodie, I enjoyed picking (and immediately devouring) raspberries, strawberries, apricots and cherries from the great aunt’s garden and trying local favorites: fresh-from-the-cow milk with toasted flour and, later in the day, red wine with toasted flour.  Albert enjoyed just-made-that-day farmer’s cheese and a typical Chilean “parrilla”:  an excess of various grilled meats. And, for the highlight of the day, we loaded onto “carretillas” (horse-drawn carriages) and took a leisurely and beautiful ride to the home of yet another batch of cousins, where we sat and relaxed by a stream. On the return carretilla trip, through fields lit by late-evening sun, Albert’s aunt sang Chilean folk songs beside me while Kahlilah “sang” along in her own way.  If this sounds too idyllic to believe…believe.
• Rub’a’dub in da hot tub.  With all the active volcanoes in Chile it’s no wonder that the country is also home to many beautiful hot springs. This trip we went to Termas (hot springs) Geometricas in the Lake District, near the resort town of Pucon.  They were absolutely over-the-top amazing, not just for the natural environment that surrounds them but also for the way that they’ve been developed for use. They’re located in a narrow valley, that’s at least an hour drive up a dirt road from the nearest town, so there were actually rather few people there with us. The valley has steep rock walls with moss, ferns and other Jurassic-park-looking plants growing up them. There are multiple small waterfalls interspersed through the valley, with a large waterfall at the valley’s origin—all of which you can stand under, IF you dare to freeze in the ice-cold water.  As for the springs themselves, the owners have built no less than 17 pools, lined in slate, of varying temperatures. The farther you go up the valley, the hotter the pool. In-between the pools, the owners have built wooden walkways and changing rooms—all painted red and designed with a definite Zen-like feel—and a central lodge where you can warm up in front of a fire or have a drink or bite to eat.  Overall, these termas are by far the most beautiful we’ve ever visited.
• Law and order. Someone Albert met in Venezuela once told him that he preferred Venezuela to Chile because Chile is just TOO orderly, clean and calm.  Well, for us, it’s the opposite.  It was truly striking the orderliness of Chile, and it was a very welcome change. A few examples… We were pulled over by cops because they wanted to make sure the car was okay because we didn’t have the daytime running lights on.  In contrast, we get crazy looks all the time in Venezuela for using daytime lights.  Going through immigration, the immigration official assured us that Chileans welcome foreigners, particularly Americans, and warmly added that he hoped we would enjoy our trip. The contrast is obvious. We happened to be in Chile during the presidential election.  (Side note: If you’re registered to vote in Chile, you’re required to vote or you are fined.) First, they held the election on a Sunday so that fewer people had time conflicts with work. Second, they required all stores to remain closed until at least 2 pm to further support participation.  Third, they stopped all liquor sales on Friday. Finally, everyone dressed up to go vote. It was truly moving to see so many people, from the humblest to the richest, dressed in their finest piling into family cars, buses, horse-drawn carriages, and bicycles to go to vote.  We happened to be in a Mapuche (a dominant indigenous group in Chile) area, and we also saw Mapuche dressed in their full ceremonial garb going to vote. The pride in voting we saw there was in sad contrast to what you often see in the USA.
• Jonesing for java.  We never used to be huge Starbucks (or any higher-end coffee shop) people but somehow the total lack of good-quality coffee in Venezuela has turned us into obsessed fans. In Santiago, we discovered that the US Embassy has no less than 2 Starbucks and 2 Juan Valdez gourmet cafes within blocks of it. (I know, you’re thinking “Juan Valdez”? Isn’t that that crappy coffee that used to have all the commercials in the 80s? Well, what Albert discovered while working in Colombia is that they actually make amazing coffee…they’ve just kept the good stuff in Colombia until recently!) We were so obsessed that we went back to both Starbucks and the Juan Valdez cafe multiple times in the 2 days we had in Santiago.
• Chillaxing.  Albert and I notoriously try to jam too much stuff into our vacations. On our honeymoon in Hawaii, for example, we planned so many outings that we only left ourselves the final morning for relaxing on the beach at our hotel.  This trip was different. We went with hardly any plans. Pretty much our only two goals were to spend time with family and to find a day or two alone for ourselves. We just focused on enjoying the simple pleasures that each day brought to our doorstep…having a leisurely lunch with Albert’s grandmother, hanging out at an aunt’s pool with half the neighborhood’s kids, taking a late-afternoon solo run, piling into the car with cousins to go get ice cream (or cold beer) in town, challenging a friend to a last-minute 10km race with the loser have to a pay for a round of Schops (draft beers) and completos (a Chilean hotdog on steroids), filling in on the local soccer team for a tournament game, or deciding to take a last-minute road trip to explore nearby vineyards or, on another day, a beach town.  It was by far the most relaxed vacation we’ve taken together in a long time, and it was so, so nice. This time, we don’t need a vacation after our vacation!

New Videos!

Kahlilah Standing with Support

I realized that it’d been some time since I uploaded any videos, particularly of Kahlilah, to Flickr so I tried to make it up to you today by uploading several. You can check out the one you see embedded here of Kahlilah standing, as well as others of her walking with support, signing for food, and her 1st Christmas morning. I also uploaded a couple non-Kahlilah videos: one of the impressive city-wide fireworks on New Year’s Eve here in Caracas and another funny one of a tapir at a Caracas petting zoo. Enjoy!!!

These Weeks in Kahlilah: 41 and 42 Weeks

Kahlilah’s 1st Present Photo Series: Step 1 – Mouth the Present

The last two weeks saw Kahlilah’s 1st Christmas and New Year’s celebration. For both, we were lucky to spend them with good friends. We went to friends’ homes both Christmas Eve night and Christmas day for dinner, which was a lot of fun for us and for Kahlilah since she loves watching and interacting with others. We did spend Christmas morning just the 3 of us at home, though. As is true for most young children, Kahlilah loved the wrapping better than the presents themselves (see the series of photos on our Flickr page from last week). For New Year’s Eve, we hauled Kahlilah’s crib with us to a friend’s apartment so that we could spend the evening with other adults and with her. Here in Caracas, people set off fireworks like crazy after midnight on New Year’s so it was a miracle that somehow Kahlilah slept through it all! (We took a video of the fireworks, so hopefully we can find a spare minute to upload it to Flickr so you can see the spectacle. It was remarkable…and a bit scary, since people in our building set off fireworks from the roof and a couple exploded right next to our window. In fact, the fireworks are all set off by individuals, not by the city or by professionals, even kids as young as 7 or 8.) We probably had our latest night since Kahlilah was born that night, staying out until 2am. It felt great.

The same night a friend of Albert’s, Jess, arrived with her husband, Luis. So, on January 1, we headed out bright and early to Morrocoy National Park. That’s the same park where we went with Albert’s brother, Sergio, a few months back. There, you hire a boat to take you to islands where you can rent beach chairs and umbrellas, buy fresh fried fish and seafood to eat on the beach (more enjoyable for others than for me, as a vegetarian), and enjoy the sand and sun. Fortunately, most Caraqueños were recovering from the previous evening’s festivities so we made it out of Caracas in record time: arriving at Morrocoy in a little less than 3 hours! We spent 2 days there before heading back. During that time, Kahlilah experienced another “first”: Luis taught her how to clap/play patty-cake. So cute.

The only other “first” to report for this post is not as fun: Kahlilah fell and cut herself for the 1st time. She had a block in her mouth and then fell forward into me, cutting her gum. I was freaked out at first because I couldn’t imagine Kahlilah allowing me to keep her mouth open long enough for me to put pressure on the cut but, luckily, it stopped bleeding (and she stopped crying) within just a couple minutes. Not bad at all for her first injury. Here’s hoping that all the injuries she’s likely to get over the next few months as she explores crawling, climbing, standing and eventually walking are as mild!

Although the holiday season is technically over, things here are still pretty busy since we leave soon for a trip to Chile. So, I’m going to have to cut this short. Unfortunately, our trip is going to mean no new pictures or posts for awhile…so, until next time, here’s wishing you all a happy new year and decade!

This Week in Kahlilah: 40 Weeks

Well, after the huge advances we had in week 39, week 40 was much mellower. Probably the biggest change for Kahlilah was that she “upgraded” to a bigger play area. Several months ago, we set up a gated area, with foam floor tiles inside, in our office for Kahlilah. The gated area achieved multiple goals: keep the dogs away from Kahlilah’s toys, which they would love to chew up and/or slobber all over; give Kahlilah a “safe” place to practice crawling and standing, where bonking her head wouldn’t require a trip to the ER; and, give us a place where we can put Kahlilah for a minute when we need to answer the door, etc. However, as Kahlilah became more mobile, it quickly became much too small for her. And, the gates were not solid enough—they moved when Kahlilah began to stand up and push on them. So, this week we had embassy carpenters come out and attach the gates to the wall. That way we were able to make the area both bigger and the gates more secure. She seems to like it…and we do too because it’s now big enough for Albert and I to lay down in it to rest as she plays around us and on top of us!

But, as other parents of recently-mobile babies know, Kahlilah is not always content to just stay in her play area. Outside her play area, she’s loving crawling after the dogs, crawling to look at the lights on the Christmas tree, and sitting up to play with plastic containers in some of the low kitchen drawers. I’m terrified that she’s going to face-plant into the marble floor in the living room or topple backwards on the hard tiles of the kitchen…but, I’ve got to let her explore so I just watch her the best I can!

One thing I forgot to mention in the previous “catch-up” post was that we took Kahlilah to a US pediatrician when we were in the States. We are very happy with our Venezuelan pediatrician, but we thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a second opinion on her progress while we were in the States. Also, at Kahlilah’s 6-month checkup in Venezuela, our pediatrician thought she looked pale and asked us to get some blood tests for her. Unfortunately, they don’t do finger-prick blood tests in Venezuela, like they do in the States. So, I spent a half-hour with Kahlilah screaming on my lap as they tried to get a vein to take her blood—they tried both arms and both legs! It was horrible for me as her mom and I’m sure even worse for her. In the end, they weren’t even successful in getting any blood. So, while we were in the States, we wanted to try the blood test again—this time, with the easier finger-prick method. And, it turns out that Kahlilah is anemic due to low iron. As a result, she was put on iron drops two times a day. The drops can cause stomach pain and constipation, but luckily Kahlilah hasn’t had either problem. And, she doesn’t even mind the taste, which was a welcome surprise to me since she hated the taste of the multivitamin drops I had been trying to give her unsuccessfully for months. The doctor says she’ll probably be on the drops for six months, in order to get her up to normal iron levels. I’m wondering how much energy she’s going to have when she’s at full-iron levels, since she’s already an active child!

Well, I guess that’s it for this week. We’re looking forward to spending our first Christmas with Kahlilah this week. We hope you all have a joyous holiday!

These Weeks in Kahlilah: 35 to 39 Weeks

It’s been a long time since I last updated you on Kahlilah, first due to our trip to the US and then due to a cold I picked up on our way home that debilitated me for over a week. But, I can’t think of a better time to get back to our weekly updates because I think Kahlilah probably had her “biggest” week since she was born!

But, first, let me tell you about our trip to the US. I was pretty nervous about how Kahlilah would do on the long flights. On the flight from Caracas to Houston, Albert and I lucked out because there happened to be an open seat in our row. So, during the flight, we attached Kahlilah’s flight harness to the middle seat’s seatbelt and she had a grand old time playing on her own. It was also great having both Albert and I there, so that we could alternate playing with her. That flight went really well, despite the fact that we had to get up around 3:30 that morning! When we got to Houston, we had a 6-hour layover. We probably didn’t need THAT much time, but it was still nice to give Kahlilah (and ourselves) a good long break…and an opportunity for Albert and I to pig out on all sorts of American food we’d been craving for the last 8 months (see the photos on our Flickr page—link to the right). On the flight from Houston to Tucson, Albert and I didn’t have as much luck. The flight was full, so there was no luxury of an open seat; we had to have her on our laps the whole time. But, Kahlilah was definitely starting to tire so she did sleep quite a bit. The problem, though, was that she was TOO tired and I wasn’t able to fully wake her on the descent. As a result, she didn’t breastfeed as effectively and thus didn’t adjust her ears to the air pressure changes as well. So, she did cry for a bit on the descent. However, one cry is not that bad for over 18 hours of travel time!

While in Tucson, Kahlilah was able to meet her great-grandmother (Gigi) Hilda, great aunt Bobbie and uncle Don, second cousin John, second cousin Denise and her two daughters. She also saw her grandpapa (my dad) again. It was great just to hang out with family. In particular, Kahlilah enjoyed watching Denise’s daughters: her second cousins once removed (if I got the kinship terminology right) Lily and Macy. Since they are older and much more mobile, I think Kahlilah was inspired to keep trying to crawl. But, in the end, she didn’t actually crawl while we were in Arizona. (Side note: Unfortunately, Albert had to return to Venezuela for work after only a few days in Arizona but he did get in trips to his beloved In-and-Out Burger and Chipotle!)

From Arizona, Kahlilah and I went on to Wisconsin. On the flight there, I have to admit that I gave in and upgraded to first class. The curb-side check-in guy explained that I could either pay for my luggage in coach class or pay a little bit more to upgrade to first class and get my luggage for free, so I opted for the latter! On top of that, there were free seats in the first-class section so the guy sitting next to us moved so that we could have two seats to ourselves. It was unbelievably luxurious! While in Wisconsin, Kahlilah met her great aunt MaryAnn and uncle Rich, who flew in from Washington, and a host of cousins of varying degrees from the Mosey family (my mom’s maternal family). She also met Owen and Paolo, sons of my dear friends Jolene and Terra respectively, and Sofia, Miriam and Eli, children of my other dear friend Jennifer. And, of course, she enjoyed staying with her Nanita (my mom).

The highlight of the trip for me was simply spending time with family and good friends (and eating good food), but for Kahlilah it was probably playing! First, she had all new toys to play with—courtesy of my mom who had collected toys from generous friends for Kahlilah’s visit. Second, she had all new people to play with who had seemingly an unlimited amount of attention and love to give to her. And third, and not to be underestimated, she had CARPET to play on at her Nanita’s house. Here in Venezuela, our entire apartment is either marble or tile floor. We have a small play area for Kahlilah where we put foam floor tiles but, as I’m sure Kahlilah would tell you if she could talk, they’re nothing like vast expanses of carpet! With the softness and additional traction the carpet provided, Kahlilah finally started crawling AND pushing herself to a sitting position. She also experienced her first snow. It was all really exciting to see.

I felt bad that Albert missed those first crawls but not TOO bad because, since we’ve returned to Venezuela, Kahlilah seems to have had break-through after breakthrough! But, before I get to that, let me tell you about the return flight. While in the US, we had some bad luck in terms of illness. Kahlilah picked up a cold (runny nose, cough, low-grade fever), which lasted for about a week. Then my mom picked it up from her, which laid her flat for a couple days! I thought for sure I was going to get it, but I wasn’t getting it and I wasn’t getting it…and I thought I had escaped. No such luck. A couple days before we were set to fly back to Venezuela, I woke up with some cold symptoms. I thought I fought it off when I felt better the next day…but, as I was boarding the plane to fly back, the cold hit full force. I had cold shivers and hot sweats from a fever, immense fatigue, and a runny nose…on top of having to hold and care for Kahlilah for the 18 total hours of travel time. Those first few hours on the plane I was literally in tears because I simply didn’t know how I was going to make it through it all! It got so bad that, at one point, I resorted to inventing and reciting a mantra: “calm, strength, health.” It actually helped. It also helped to think about the blog I was going to write about the experience! I thought I’d entitle it “Dumb and Dumber” for all the poor decisions I made on that return trip: from deciding to do it on my own, without Albert, in the first place to not purchasing an extra seat for Kahlilah to getting my seasonal and H1N1 flu shots the very day I flew out so that my arms were aching and hardly able to carry Kahlilah. It was so bad that I even considered not getting on the flight from Houston to Caracas in order to find a hotel and rest/recover for a day or two. But, I figured in the end it would take me just as long to get my luggage and find a hotel then to just get on the plane and fly back.

So, now you must be really wondering when I’ll get to telling you about the “big” developments Kahlilah has had in the week or so that we’ve been back in Venezuela. So here they are…
On the physical side:
•Because she’s now so mobile, we had to lower the height of our Co-Sleeper crib mattress and detach it from our bed for the first time.
•Kahlilah pushed to standing.
•She moved on to “cruising” along her crib rail.
On the communication side:
•She spontaneously started raising her arms in the air to indicate she wants to be picked up.
•She started putting one hand up in the air to say “hi.”
•And, this last Saturday, she did her first American Sign Language sign for food, which we’ve been modeling for her for the past three months. That really blew us away! We hope she’ll start doing the other signs we’ve been doing with her soon too: nurse, water, change diaper, more, and all done.

And, to top all that off, she sat on Santa’s lap for the first time. What a week! For the first time, I really felt like “our little girl is growing up.” She’s moving from being a baby to being a little person!

Well, I think I’ve probably written enough for now. Sorry for the lengthy post, but there was a lot to catch you up on! Hopefully I remembered it all. Finally, I plan to upload some more photos later today or tomorrow, including those of her on Santa’s lap, so keep an eye out for those.

Photos from Trip to US Uploaded

Hi all – I just wanted to write a quick note to let you all know that Kahlilah and I arrived safely back in Venezuela at the end of last week, after having a really nice trip to the US.  I’ve uploaded photos from the trip on our Flickr page (see link to the right), if you care to to take a peek.  Kahlilah has been growing/developing by leaps and bounds lately, and I’m dying to update you on all the “first”…but that post must wait, since Christmas cookies must be baked, Christmas gifts must be prepared and sent, our holiday letter must be written and sent, and holiday parties must be attended.  All the best to you during this crazy (but fun) holiday season!

Army Ball vs Marine Ball

So I’ve been really bad at maintaining this blog while Chela and Kahlilah are on vacation, and I really don’t have that good of an excuse. Besides digitally scanning all my photo negatives from junior high until my first digital camera in 2003, I haven’t been all that productive. But hopefully that’s going to change now. I plan to write the 3 blogs I’ve been meaning to write for some time now.

The first of these will be about our first Marine Ball. I’ve had some experience with military balls during my time with the Army but this one was my first military ball as a civilian. Comparing the two, I can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that any military function is better when you are no longer in the military.

The first thing I noticed was how little work is involved when you’re a guest. I remember my last Army Ball like it was a nightmare. We had just returned from a long deployment. Instead of giving us time to reconnect with our family, we had mandatory uniform inspections almost every day in the blazing heat of El Paso in the middle of summer. Standing at attention in Class As with a black wool baret at 1600 is not my idea of fun. For the Marine Ball, all I had to do was find a tux. This task would have been easier if I had packed the tux I already own (or even my old Class A uniform, though I doubt I still fit in it).

For the actual event: First, the luxury hotel in Caracas where the Marine Ball is held is miles ahead of El Paso’s Lancers Club. Second, the Ambassador is a much better public speaker than my old Brigade Commander in the Army. My old Brigade Commander gave by far the longest, most rabbling, incoherent speech I have heard in my life. I cannot describe with justice how bad that speech was. It lasted over one hour and I cannot recall anything memorable about that speech. The Ambassador’s speech on the other hand was concise and well delivered. Next, the actual ceremony was much shorter in the Marine Ball. I think the entire ceremony from start to end lasted less than an hour. The Army ball took forever (no thanks to the BDE Commander). Most of my table snuck out to the bathroom never to return at the Armby ball. An hour after they left for the bathroom, I got a text message telling us to join them at a local bar. Unfortunately, at the Armby ball, I was also awarded a medal and had to stick it out. And finally, people truly enjoyed themselves at the Marine Ball as opposed to the Army Ball where it was “mandatory” fun time. Both balls had pretty bad music and food, but everybody tried to stay at the Marine Ball for as long as possible.

Maybe I’m not being fair to the Army Balls I’ve attended? Maybe I’m viewing the Marine Ball with rose-colored lenses since this was the first time Chela and I had a night out without our daughter? I don’t know. But the only thing I’m certain is that my former Brigade Commander gave the worst speech known to man.

Only 15months apart, but it felt so much longer

Away We Go

I just wanted to let friends and family know that Kahlilah and I will be leaving for the US this week–it’ll be her first time.  We’re going to be in the states for 3 weeks.  Starbucks pumpkin spice latte, Chipotle burrito, In-and-Out Burger fries, mom’s mashed potatoes…oh, sorry, lost my train of thought there.  During that time, I’m probably not going to be updating the blog or uploading photos…so, you’ll have to wait until early December to get your photo fix of Kahlilah.  But, in the meantime, Albert will still be here and he has hinted that he might get back on the blog wagon and write a couple posts about the recent Marine Corps Ball and about a 10K he recently ran.  So, look for those.  And, in the meantime, let me say Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This Week in Kahlilah: 34 Weeks

The big event for Kahlilah (and her parents) this week was her first night with a babysitter. Until now, the only time Albert and I have snuck away is when my mom watched her for a couple hours so that we could go to dinner one time and to a movie another—just a couple hours at most. This Friday, though, Albert and I had the Marine Corps Ball, which is considered the biggest social event of the year for the embassy. We really wanted to go, so we decided to finally leave Kahlilah with a non-family member. We chose Luz, our househelper, who comes to our apartment twice a week to help with cleaning and ironing. She is actually just a couple years younger than my mom, has a college-age son back in Colombia, and—most importantly—just loves Kahlilah. I’ve had her watch Kahlilah for a half-hour at a time in the past, while I’ve run quick to the embassy, walked the dogs, or did a quick stop at the grocery store or pharmacy. This time, though, we knew it’d be for a good 4-5 hours and it would be right when Kahlilah would be going to sleep. When my mom watched her the last time she was here, it was also during Kahlilah’s bedtime and Kahlilah pitched a fit when she realized she wouldn’t be able to breastfeed to sleep. So, I was pretty worried that would happen again. In particular, I couldn’t imagine a non-family member being patient enough to deal with a baby wailing for that long. As a result, I kept my expectations low for the evening…anticipating that we’d likely get a call from Luz a couple hours into the Ball asking us to come home.

We left around 6:30 and, sure enough, we got a call around 8 or 8:30 from Luz. As we expected, Kahlilah was wailing and wouldn’t stop. We had made it through the cocktail hour and opening speeches. Dinner was just about to start. So, we shrugged, said goodbye to our tablemates, and caught a cab. It had been fun while it lasted! But, then, 2 blocks into the cab ride, we got another call from Luz saying that Kahlilah had finally cried herself to sleep! So, we did a U turn and went back to the hotel—we were excited, since this might just be our chance to have an entire evening out together. We made it through dinner, dessert and dancing! We finally got another call from Luz, saying that Kahlilah had woken up crying, around midnight. By that time, we felt we’d definitely been able to enjoy the entire event, so we were content to go home. When we got there, Kahlilah was awake but happy. And Luz, much to my surprise, was okay too—I thought she’d never want to watch Kahlilah again with all the crying she had to deal with, but she said that it was good for Kahlilah to get used to other people caring for her. So, we might actually try this going-out thing again!