This is why I came to Ecuador. A perfectly sunny, 75 degree
Saturday afternoon, and we have nothing to do. So we take a walk. The streets
are a little dusty, and the stroller wheels struggle to keep up on the ancient
cobblestone. Abby is sound asleep, covered from the rays that are making me
smile. Logan is doing his best to hold his daddy’s hand, but wants to explore
everything. He is thirsty, and we stumble upon a little corner shop with cold
sodas, wrapped in promotional advertisements for the World Cup. We all take a
seat on a slab of concrete outside the store, and Rob and I look at each other
and know: this is home. On the way home, I jump out of my skin from the bark of
a dog that peeks out from a tiny hole in a gate near someone’s home. All of the
homes here are protected by shards of broken glass, glued to the top of their
gates, and guard dogs. The dog barking is quite incessant, but it comes with
the territory. We run into another dog just before turning the corner to our
street. He is concerned we will steal his rotten banana peel, but soon realizes
we are harmless. Along with the dogs, there are sounds here that Logan never
heard in the suburbs. Car alarms at all hours, roosters with a broken internal
clock, police, ambulance, horns, diesel buses, people on a loudspeaker selling
something…. He spent the first two days asking me what every noise was. Even
though we technically live in a suburb of the capital city, everything about
living here is reminiscent of big city life; including our fabulous apartment.
While we downgraded from a 2100 square foot single family home to a 950 square
foot apartment (on a middle floor), this place feels bigger. It is brand new
construction, open floor plan, and has a view to die for. I am surrounded by
mountains on all sides, and at night, the surrounding city lights beam through
my floor to ceiling windows. I have no clothes dryer, and so we dry our clothes
on a rack in the sun. I have no dishwasher, and so I can no longer ignore dirty
dishes. I spend my days on a never ending task of managing this household, but
what a household it is.
After a
week of being here, I have gotten us all into a little more of a routine. Logan
is one that needs a schedule, and so am I. Here is the schedule I just started
using with him, and it has been great. I got this from a shop on Etsy called
Cucumberlime.
I also created this
menu board for him using Boardmaker software. He is the world’s pickiest eater,
so this way he has control of what he eats each day, without realizing that I
actually controlled the menu options. Tonight, he ate broccoli! You have no
idea how big of a deal that is for me.
This past Saturday we all traveled into
the city of Quito for a kid’s birthday party. Here we discovered that Logan has
a real talent for soccer. Where else would you find an indoor soccer goal than
at a South American’s birthday party? We also have a goal in our apartment’s
green area, and I take Logan out to practice a little each day. While at the
party, Logan got a chance to hit a piñata for the first time.
Although I had just a little altitude sickness in the
beginning, the kids have been fine. Our flight was actually remarkably smooth.
I know once Abby starts walking, it will get a little more difficult, but we
even had strangers tell us how great our kids were on the plane. I chalk it up
to having great kids, but also to obsessively preparing Logan for the flight. I
even made him a picture book, with his picture in it, of each step of the
process to expect. I am so Type A.
Thankful to be back together again, and confident that we
made the right decision, I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.
