Chloe's PTSD

Joss learned to ride a bike without training wheels! I've pushed her around twice in the past, hoping she'd pick it up, but she seemed too nervous to make a real go of it. And then one day a couple of weeks ago I walked outside and saw her confidently riding a neighbor's bike. Maybe she'll wake up one day and speak Spanish too.



Chloe getting ready to spit out water and Tristan throwing grass at her. Just gotta catch those moments.



Tristan loves his fireman hat and his plastic ax, which he calls a "shooter gun". He often appropriates our neighbor's trike. His fireman outfit was originally a bribe to get him to go #2 in the toilet, but it didn't work and I caved. He knows I'm tired of cleaning big-kid-poop off of his bum everyday and has started apologizing whenever he does his business.



Our attempt at Halloween. Ok, don't judge me. They don't really celebrate it here anyway.



Angela working her magic in the kitchen. She comes every Tuesday -- such a wonderful day.



Our stake center in San Jose. There are only 3 stakes in Costa Rica. The building was packed for stake conference despite the fact that many people had to come from far away and few or them own cars. The stake president, who served for 10 years, was released and another man began his 10-year term.



Logan and I on our way to stake conference. The bus ride is about 1.5 hours each way through twisty mountain roads. Pretty scenary, though.

The kids and I all waited about 4 hours last Monday at a school so we could pre-enroll them for the coming year (school starts in February and gets out in December). Because the other moms waiting were as bored as I was, they took turns holding Logan, the gringo baby. They call him "macho" here, which doesn't mean "manly" like it does in the States. It just means he has light hair. While I listened to Chloe's personal prayers two nights ago, I was shocked to realize she'd included words in French, Spanish, and English. I was so proud. Spiritual AND intelligent. :) Chloe developed a twitch about 2 weeks after we arrived in Costa Rica. She blinks her eyes hard every 10 seconds or so. I took her to the doctor, just to rule out some crazy tropical disease that I may not know about, but she didn't even examine Chloe. Instead she gave me a referral to a pediatric psychiatrist. On the way home I explained to Chloe that she may need to talk with a child psychologist. Next thing I know she's telling Aunt Sari that, to get rid of the blinking, she'll have to go talk to a kid. A CHILD psychologist.

Sari just left after a two week stay. We want her back. Fortunately for us, she likes rice and beans and didn't get too scared when the shower head sparked while she was bathing. So perhaps we'll be seeing her again.