“God Bless You”

Angela is always the first one awake and showered.  She’s also wise enough to know when she’s tired, and goes to bed.  Dave suggested I help him get Xavier and Lizet ready for the day because when he tried, they grumbled and hid under the covers.  I go in their room five minutes later, and say, “Buenos días,” and Xavier smiles, while Lizet holds out her arms and pulls me to her.  Dave’s response to this is, “that figures.”  It’s a mom thing, I suppose.  Dave made pancakes and eggs for breakfast today.  I told them Papí was making them a special breakfast today and they weren’t disappointed.  The girls pointed at Aunt Jemima on the syrup bottle and said, “Xavier!”  That’s funny because anytime a particular commercial comes on with a monkey advertising a product, Xavier points and says, “Lizet!”  Of course, Lizet usually gets upset, yells at him, and goes to her room pouting.  She returns in a matter of minutes, though.  After breakfast, we watched Spider-Man 3 while Dave went to Plaza de Armas for some quick errands.  During the second half of the movie, Angela laid on top of me on the couch, cuddling.  Then, Lizet joined her by leaning against me.  Our lunch featured leftovers:  tacos, lomo saltado, causa de pollo, salad, and fresh fruit, for dessert.  As I was sweeping around the table, I realized we have our very own “Pig Pen.”  Surrounding Lizet’s chair were bits of rice, potatoes, chips, etc.  She also takes the longest to eat.  After lunch, Xavier and Dave kicked the soccer ball around in the backyard.  I love watching all of Xavier’s tricks like back kicking, using his head, his knees, and so on.  Dave is making meatballs for tomorrow’s spaghetti meal while the children and I are watching television and Xavier is playing one of his electronic games.  I fell asleep for quite awhile due to my lack of sleep last night because of a party in the street and fireworks.  Barking began as well, in addition to the regular honking taxis.  Dave prepared macaroni and cheese, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, and fresh fruit.  They still use mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup on grilled cheese; in fact, Xavier tops the inside with chips and a ketchup smiley face.  Lizet has a fascination with ice cubes.  She collects them in a napkin for later use, and wonders why they get smaller an hour later.  We’ll find her sucking on ice cubes, periodically.  The children have learned a new phrase:  God Bless You.  They are all respectful when someone sneezes by saying, “Salud,” but Lizet is so interested in how things are said in English.  So, she asks me how you say it and I tell her, “God Bless You,” and they all repeated.  Of course, riotous laughter broke out when someone said “God Bless You” for any little thing.  Angela chokes on her drink, Xavier says “God Bless You”.  Xavier drops his sandwich, Lizet says, “God Bless You”.  Lizet coughs, Angela says “God Bless You”.  I suppose this will apply for sneezing, coughing, and passing gas.  Won’t this be a spectacle when we get home?!  Angela and I had a nice chat about how long we’ve been waiting to be their parents, why I was never able to come to Arequipa in the past (teaching, she understood), and how happy she is that I’m her ma.  We played Uno for an hour.  Dave brought up cheese popcorn, which Angela inhaled.  She even sucked the cheese flavor off the kernels, spitting them back in the bowl.  I guess that will have to be on our grocery list when we get home.  Later, Angela and I dished out ice cream for everyone.  Dave is thrilled that his children enjoy science fiction; at least, Xavier and Lizet seem to enjoy it!  They’re watching 2012, and Angela has reluctantly joined them.  They want to watch Marmaduke in English afterwards.  After our evening movie, it’s time for bed.  Dave and I will begin cutting back on television tomorrow; we’re finding they have become a bit obsessed with it.  We’ve let them know tonight and they understand.  We can’t blame them, though.  Television is cool.