Aventuras Boricuas

We have been having such an awesome time in Puerto Rico! I admit, I was a bit apprehensive about taking a ten day old baby on a trip out of the country, but the idea of staying home with all four kidlets *without* Carlos was far more frightening. It has worked out so much better than I anticipated!

Amaya is thriving. She is wearing all 6 month clothing, size 2 diapers, and is bigger than a two-month-old here at the hotel! Her cheeks are fully inflated again. :D Amazingly, she is sleeping through the night! The other kids didn't do that for months (or years). I'm getting more sleep than I did before she was born!

I remember sharing with Heather during labor a comment I had heard about giving birth naturally along the lines that birth without meds got the pain out of the way before the baby was there and that birth with meds was less painful during labor, but had a longer and more painful recovery. That has certainly been my experience. I've felt great, even on our very active days. Today I carried Elena up and down the streets of Old San Juan without a second thought. To be sure, she only weighs about ten pounds more than Amaya, but it was still cool.

Our days have been full of fabulous food, interesting excursions, swimming and relaxing. I've feasted on quesitos con guayaba (amazing pastries filled with cream cheese and guava), mallorcas from La Bombonera, mofongo and the incredibly decadent Cuatro Leches cake from Barrachina, all washed down with Puertorrican coffee. We went to the Yunque and the kidlets hiked the rainforest and played in the waterfall. We've explored El Morro, a fortresss from Colonial times, and shopped in the largest mall in the Caribbean. The kids have drunk fresh coconuts from the beach and been all over the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan. They have made friends with the wonderful students who joined us this year and Ariana woke up one morning eager to tell me about "the best dream ever" with all of her new friends. :)

Thankfully, we've never had to deal with the sibling rivalry scenario where the older child is mean to the baby. Still, I could tell that Elena was feeling a little lost the first few days after Amaya was born. She would start crying for no apparent reason. So I held her close and began singing her favorite little baby song from Yo Gabba Gabba, and she just burst into tears and held me as tightly as she could. It was so clear that she needed to still be our baby, too. Having Carlos give her lots of undivided attention (or hold the baby while I do) has been wonderful. She has been in a good mood pretty much the whole trip!

The weather has been about fifteen degrees cooler than home, which is really nice. It has rained nearly every day, but we love rain so that hasn't been a disappointment. We've had enough sunshine to enjoy the beach. :) Another nice surprise is that we get to go to Ponce, an excursion that we hadn't originally planned. We have family there and are excited about getting to see them.

I had expected this trip to be a lot more stressful, but it is very nice to be wrong!