Peek-a-Boo Giggles

Enjoy some hearty laughs captured during a little game of Peek-a-Boo we played yesterday after a diaper change. I love that my little Gabster has to process it for a second before deciding if it's funny enough to laugh. She's getting a lot more interactive and so much fun these days!

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Week 2 with Gringo Nate

Monday morning we sent Nathan back home, where I understand he immediately went through the Wendy's drive-thru and ordered a double cheeseburger. (Note to my baby brother: Thanks a lot for not helping my case against the all-Americans-ever-eat-is-fast-food-hamburgers preconception held by most of the Brasilians I encounter! GEEZ!)

We let him rest up and chill a bit more during his second week of vacation in Brasil but made sure to toss in some cultural experiences as well.

Tuesday night Eric and a friend took Nathan out to see a sertaneja band. I stayed home with Gabriela, but I hear they had a good time. And for some reason everyone kept coming up and asking Nathan if he was American. (Was it the cap, the plaid shirt, or the cowboy boots that tipped them off? Or maybe the blue eyes and 6'+ height. Or possibly they just heard him using his extensive [<--insert sarcastic tone here] Portuguese vocabulary.) And then someone asked Eric if he was English. hehehahaho


Thursday night we hosted a Fiesta Mexicana at our apartment. We have been saying for a long time that we were going to make Mexican food some night for our Brasilian friends to try (very few of them have ever had it). So with Nate here, it gave us a good excuse to throw a party. We also invited some of our American and Canadian friends who miss Mexican food as much as we do and ended up with over 30 people here.

Nathan got to see how much work is involved in putting together a simple taco bar in Brasil - 100 flour tortillas from scratch, refried beans that take 2 days to make, having to fry my own chips (I had Nathan bring down a bunch of corn tortillas for me), making my own sour cream, taco seasoning which involves pulling out 9 spice jars, homemade salsa, margaritas that start by juicing 50 limes and 15 oranges . . .

I sort of forgot to warn Nathan about Brasilian's adversion to eating/touching food with their hands though and I'm afraid it may be a while before some of our friends will return to our house now. Being unfamiliar with tacos and the sort, the Brasilians needed a little guidance on what to do with the tortillas and toppings. I looked over at the taco bar at one point and Nathan was trying to instruct one couple on what to do. "First off, you gotta smear some refried beans all o'er it. Whoa, not too much now. A'ight, then throw on a lil' bit a tha meat." Understandably, they were having some difficulties understanding his directions and so he said, "Here ya go, I'll just do it for ya." My brother then proceeded to grab their plate and start tossing on lettuce and shredded cheese . . . with his hands. (I had put out lots of serving pieces because I knew it would throw people off if they had to build a taco using their hands! But Nathan disregarded the flatware and just went the traditional route.) The poor couple looked slightly appalled.

Unfortunately, none of us remembered to take any pictures of the evening's festivities. :(

Friday morning Gabriela, Nate, and I drove down to Rio for the weekend. (Eric flew down after work on Friday night to join us.) We stayed in Leblon, took in a little beach time, walked down the beach in Ipanema and Copacabana, and visited Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf Mountain), Corcovado (The Cristo), Jardim Botânico (Botanical Gardens), and the Copacabana Feira.

View of Pão de Açucar from Parque Nacional de Tijuca

Nathan in front of The Cristo



His kindergarden report card was always slacking in the "Follows directions well" category.

View from Pão de Açucar at sunset

View towards The Cristo from Pão de Açucar


Gabriela's "um, Mom, could you please save me" look. She gave me that one a lot whenever her Uncle Nate had her.

A special hairdo compliments of the Uncle . . . poor kid.

Gringo Nate: Recap of Week 1 in Brasil

We're trying to make sure my baby brother, Nathan, gets a thorough introduction to Brasil during his two weeks here. And he's been a very willing participant so far. Whether it's traveling by overnight bus, trying out new food, or throwing out some Portuguese words, he's happily gone along with all of it. And if you've never heard a South Georgia boy with a rather thick southern accent trying to speak Portuguese . . . well, you've really been missing out. The Brasilians have been most entertained by my brother.

We started off his trip last Sunday by taking him to a family cookout at the home of one of our friends and introduced Nate to the carnivorous ways of Brasil. We also got to watch the USA vs Brasil soccer game with them.

Then on Monday night we went to Baby Beef, a churrascaria (Brasilian Steakhouse), where Nathan nearly ate his weight in beef.

On Tuesday we took a trip out to Betim to Vale Verde, an ecological park and cachaça-making facility. He ate a big lunch of steak and fries, sampled the cachaça (both the bottled stuff and some coming straight from the distilling tanks), and met the local wildlife.

He started off feeling okay about having a rather large bird perched on his arm.


Then he got a little nervous as the critter started climbing up his arm.

Then he started his nervous laugh as the bird approached his head.

And then he started laughing uncontrollably which was his subtle way of saying "HELP!!!" as the bird started pecking at his head and trying to pull the button off the top of his cap.

Gabriela, for one, thought the whole thing was pretty funny.

On Wednesday, Gabriela and I along with my friend Megan, took Nathan on the obligatory tour of Ouro Preto. Walking the cobblestone hills and touring the churches and museum, he got to work off some of the food he'd been consuming since his arrival.

We met Eric at Mallongos, a restaurant near where he works, for lunch on Thursday and dined in the company of monkeys.

(Notice two of the monkeys above Nate's head)



He quickly learned what wild monkeys who frequent local dining establishments prefer to eat . . . dessert.

Thursday night, we hopped an overnight bus to Vila Velha in Espírito Santo. Last time Eric and I went, I swore I'd never take another bus on that mountainous road. But the flights were pretty pricey, so we found ourselves on a bus once again. This time though, we decided to upgrade to the leito bus as opposed to the semi-leito we've taken in the past . . . totally worth the extra R$40 (US$20)! The seats are wide and plush and fully recline and you have tons of leg room. (Geez, would someone please explain why my husband and I are such tightwads sometimes and didn't try this earlier?!? Please learn from our mistakes. Fork out the extra cash and get a decent night's rest!)

Anyhow, we arrived in Vila Velha at 6:00 am, checked into our pousada, and were on the beach by 8:00. Nathan quickly developed an appreciation for the service at the beach: refreshing coconut water, ice cold beer, and lots of meat on a stick brought right to you while you sit in the chair next to the umbrella that the helpful folks on the beach brought down and set up for you and all for a total bill of R$17 (US$8.50) per person.

He didn't actually want two coconuts (though it did make for a nice photo op), but when he asked for a "coca", as in Coca-Cola, he received another "coco". Sometimes his southern-accented Portuguese doesn't always work out.

He also developed an appreciation for Brasilian swimwear.

(Although he wouldn't wear the sunga I bought especially for him - his excuses included something about white thighs, scandalousness, and a fear of pictures on the world wide web.)


Besides lying around on the beach eating kabobs of filet mignon, Nathan also partook of some frescobol with Eric.

And some play time with his niece.

We took the train back to BH on Sunday. It was a long ride (14 hours), but we were able to sleep some, eat lunch in the restaurant car, and play some Scrabble and Phase 10 around the desk/workstation, and be entertained by Little Miss Gabriela, so we moved around a lot and the time passed rather quickly. And it was a really pretty trip through the mountains of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais!

QT with Uncle Nate

As I was getting dressed this morning, I left Gabriela to spend a little quality time with her Uncle Nate. I heard lots of Gabriela giggles coming from outside my bedroom door, so I grabbed my camera and went to see what was going on and try to finally get her laugh on video. (I've tried repeatedly for the last few weeks, but she will always stop laughing when the camera is out.) She only gave me a couple chuckles for the camera, but then she finished her video session with quite the little finale!

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The Latest Happenings

We're keeping plenty busy now after our week of rest!

Gabriela has been sort of trying to hold her bottle. Eric's been giving some encouragement. I think she looks waaaay too big holding her own bottle! (And that hair just keeps on growing!)

A quick family photo we took before heading out to the Festa Juninha (sort of a fall festival) held by Eric's company on Saturday night. (Check out Little Miss' boots - hehe)

Gabriela was so awesome Saturday. She was in the most playful mood all day long! Then we left at 7:30 for the party and she fell asleep on the way there. She had trouble sleeping at the party, with the live band and everyone wanting to see her and all, but hung out happily in her stroller until falling asleep around 10:00. We left the party at 12:30 that night and then went at 3:00 am to the airport to pick up my baby brother. She was moved around and woke up so many times, but she didn't fuss a bit. We made it back home with my brother at 5:00 am and all finally went to bed. Gabriela woke up at 9:30 Sunday morning, ate, and then I put her back to bed so we could still sleep. She slept until noon, as did the rest of the household. Gotta love a kid that lets Mom and Dad sleep in late on a Sunday morning!!!

Sunday night Uncle Nate got to give her a bottle - but he hasn't taken me up on the offer to change her diaper yet. They've been getting along pretty well (despite the fact that she just booted him out as baby of the immediate family.) They have been picking on each other pretty much non-stop though. This seems to be her favorite expression when Uncle Nathan pesters her:


And really, I can't blame the kid. She hasn't quite mastered rolling her eyes like her Momma can, so this has to do for now when it comes to dealing with Tio Nate. ;)

Nevermind the Bomb in my Bag

Operating on a daily basis in a language that isn't your native tongue comes with plenty of difficulties. Most days I think we do alright, especially Eric who is pretty much completely fluent now. But we still run into new vocabulary just about every single day. For example, after spending two hours in our prenatal class back before Gabriela was born, Eric leaned over to me and whispered, "What the heck is "parto"? She's said it like a million times now!" (Parto = Birth, hence the reason it was used a bit that day.) I leaned back over and whispered to Eric, "You didn't read the material I gave you to introduce you to all the pregnancy/birth vocabulary did you?" Totally busted!

And that is sort of how it has gone with the baby-relevant Portuguese words. I have a lot more free time during the day to read and explore baby-related stuff, and so that is the single area in which I know more than Eric. (His Portuguese totally blows mine away, so I am not at all claiming to be more fluent than him - I just have more "baby" vocabulary.) And so a few weeks ago a Brasilian mommy asked a question about breast pumps and I was excited to pick up some new vocabulary and later that night pass along my new knowledge to Eric. "They use the term bomba elétrica (which literally is electric pump) when referring to the breast pump that I have", I informed Eric.

Now, fast forward to the airport in Natal when we are going through security. I was carrying Gabriela in her car sear along with the diaper bag, and so Eric got stuck hauling the breast pump among other carry-on items. Eric went ahead of me and then I got held up as they wanted the car seat to go through the x-ray machine, so I had to remove the sleeping kiddo from it. Meanwhile, they wanted to go through Eric's things.

I walk up and joined him just as they are looking at/talking about the breast pump (in Portuguese, of course). As he opened up a couple of compartments to show what he could, Eric was explaining that it was a bomba elétrica and that really there wasn't much to show. He told the security agent that the working parts of it were sealed inside the carrying case and there just wasn't much to see from the outside. The agent seemed a bit confused/concerned and finally asked what exactly the contraption was used for. Pointing to my chest (thanks Dear, I think I forgot to thank you for that part), he told her it extracts milk. She seemed okay with the explanation and allowed us to continue on to our gate.

Just as we were settling in to our seat on the plane, I had a revelation. My eyes got big as the light bulb flicked on and then I started giggling. It just occurred to me at that moment that the word bomba has more than one meaning. Yes it can mean pump. But bomba can also mean bomb. And that would probably explain the security folks' concerned looks.

The crazy American was nonchalantly explaining that he had an electric bomb, but that it was all self-contained and he couldn't show them the working parts of it.

And that, my dear friends, is how my husband almost got arrested. Had the situation been reversed and we were Portuguese-speakers going through security in the US when we made the translation error, TSA would probably have detained him rather quickly before he got to the part where he was pointing at my boobs.

And for future reference, I think we'll use the term extrator de leite. Especially in airports.

4 Days in Natal

After returning from São Paulo on Sunday night, June 7, we left on Monday evening and headed towards Rio de Janiero. We stopped for the night in Juiz de Fora and then early Tuesday morning continued on to Rio. We went to the US Consulate to get Gabriela's Consular Report of Birth Abroad and also apply for her US Passport. Later in the day we visited our friend, DRL, and her precious new baby (exactly 3 weeks younger than Gabriela). That night we met up with one of Eric's college friends, Justin, and his girlfriend, Amanda, who came to Brasil for a couple weeks. Then the five of us hopped a late night plane (Gabriela's first) to Natal.

Natal is in the state of Rio Grande do Norte located on the coast in the northeast of Brasil. Fabulous beaches abound and pretty much all we did there was play in waves and lounge around on the sand.




We stayed in a hotel on Praia de Ponta Negra. The water there was a gorgeous clear blue-green color with great waves.


Our set-up down on the beach wasn't too bad either. A huge umbrella, lounge chairs, and Gabriela's new beach tent we bought just for the occasion. And the guys that were waiting on us hand and foot was rather nice too.



The weather played with us all four days we were there. Each morning we woke up to an overcast/rainy day which left us debating just staying in bed. But we'd drag our butts out of bed and go have breakfast. By the time we finished eating, the clouds rolled away to reveal a bright blue sunny sky!



While most of her time was spent hanging out in her beach tent (and keeping an eye on/talking to the fish and crabs that decorated the sides of it), Gabriela did put on her swimsuit, slather on the Baby SPF 50, and pose for a photo shoot on a couple occasions.



She drew quite the crowd of onlookers whenever she hit the sand!



I think she's ready for Baby Sports Illustrated. ;)


And she even went out into the water and got her toes wet. (Although I think she would have swam off with the fishies if we'd let her. The kid seems to love water!)



Besides spending time on Praia de Ponta Negra where we were staying, we rented a car and drove south to Praia da Pipa one day and north to Praia de Genipabu another day.

Gabriela got hungry on the drive back from Praia da Pipa, so we pulled off to feed her and stumbled upon a really pretty beach. And got to see a rainbow!

We really enjoyed ourselves at Praia de Genipabu. The beach there is really wide and flat, surrounded by huge sand dunes, and had big waves to play in (and get beat up by).

Praia de Genipabu is known for having great dune buggy rides and there was no shortage of people offering them to us. While I would have loved to go on the wild ride if Gabriela wasn't with us, she was. So we thought it would be best to keep our feet on the sand. I thought I had a pretty good excuse (a seven week old baby) to turn down all the offers and figured the guys selling the rides would leave us alone. But no such luck. Every single person who came around tried to convince Eric and me that it would be no problem to take Gabriela along. Of course, since there were four of us adults there wouldn't even be room to buckle in her car seat, but we could just hold her in our lap . . . it was safe they assured us. One guy even added that she would be perfectly safe unbuckled since his buggy had a roof on it. But hard as they tried, no amount of smooth talking was convincing the safety-police-parents. So Gabriela did not get to go on a buggy ride.

We also had to argue on a couple occasions that we needed 5 seats in vehicles (or more specifically seat belts) when we were arranging shuttles to/from the airport, supper, etc. Everyone kept telling us we could just hold the baby or, if we wanted her buckled in, we could hold the car seat in our lap. Nobody we dealt with could understand why we refused to let Gabriela ride in a vehicle without her car seat being strapped in. (I've had the same response from taxi drivers in BH when I make them wait for me to buckle her car seat in before I let them drive off.) Based on my experience and the number of kids I see jumping around in cars here, I would dare say Brasil needs to do a little work still on educating people about the importance of keeping kids safe in vehicles! Almost every adult I see driving is buckled up, but yet their kids aren't . . . strange.

Anyway, we had a fabulous trip to Natal - our first visit to Brasil's northeast. It is really gorgeous and we can't wait to get up that way again!

This is how I found Eric and Gabriela after I came out of the shower on our third day in Natal. I guess all that time on the beach wore them out!