February Beach Day...

...or, one of the 101 things we will miss most about life in Guyana. It will be funny to see if Norah and Kata ever develop a fear of swimming in lakes back home after thinking THIS kind of water is normal.



Caribbean beach getaway, Guyana-style.



My faves.



Kata smiling her big-girl smile. *Photo credit goes to Jutta. Did you really believe she'd smile like that for me?!?



Wildlife



Silly girls



Kata and Makoto go exploring.

Operation Pacifier Update

Last night, Kata fell asleep on her own and slept...all night long. Today at nap time, I started to rub her back and she basically told me to leave her alone so that she could sleep. Yeesh. All of that energy wasted worrying about this one. Big girl, indeed.

Zero Dark Paci

Today was a big day for us in the Henry household. It was go time. Do or die. Now or never. We had a visit from the Pacifier Fairy. Kata is nearing her third birthday and, for the next six weeks, will be enjoying the only long stretch of stability in her life between now and June as we prepare for our move back to the US. She was ready. Before school, Kata tied up her pacifiers on a ribbon and hung them in her room. While she was away, the Pacifier Fairy took a deep breath and took the pacis away for good (to give them to the babies that need them, if you ask Kata). She replaced the string of pacifiers with a magnificent pink miniature doll house complete with some teeny tiny dolls. Kata was THRILLED when she returned home from school.



She played and played and played with her new toy and was so proud to be a big girl.



Norah was understandably a bit jealous, but not quite willing to put in a call to the Woobie Fairy. So, she meticulously taped the empty doll house box back together and made her own doll house. I was proud of her, too!



Nap time was a bit rough. I'd say there was a 3:1 back-scratch to sleep ratio. Not good. But as of now, it is 8pm, and Miss Big herself seems to be asleep. Check in with me at 3am...

Sunday morning adventure

This morning we woke up, looked at each other, and decided that if we were going to avoid another day of sister fights, we'd have to change everyone's scenery for a bit. So, we pulled out the Guyana guide book and decided on a little day trip: we went about an hour outside of town to the Guyana Heritage Museum. You may think it sounds odd that, after three years here, we had never done this. Keep in mind this is Guyana, so it's not really what you're thinking. It's a quirky guy's collection of really amazing old artifacts (some even pre-Columbian!) that he basically just keeps on shelves in his house. The tour started on his roof-top deck. Quite a view!

'Twas breezy.

The girls did not really appreciate the artifact tour portion of the day...

...but Patrick and I really did. This man has some really amazing stuff! These are 18th century Dutch bottles.

We were served a tasty lunch after our tour. The girls entertained themselves with this little plastic dog while Patrick and I shopped in the "gift shop" (a closet jam packed full of stuff, hundreds of years old, that they didn't want anymore). What a treasure!

Happy Inauguration Day!

So happy to celebrate the second inauguration of President Obama with our girls today!

Not quite as close as we were last time, but as proud as ever!

More Christmas Highlights!

Many of you have already seen the pictures I put on Facebook of our fantastic trip home (couldn't help myself-- we had such a great time!), so I tried to document our trip here on the blog with some different images. Our first stop of the trip was to Bluffton, Indiana. We spent five wonderful days with Baba and Zedal, and even got treated to an early visit from Santa's elves!

Here comes the Barbie Dream House!

Norah posing with the famous Jordan and her dog, Spike. Jordan is Baba and Zedal's next door neighbor, and a minor celebrity in our house.

Norah working really hard on her letter to Santa. All she asked for was a "dress-up princess dress" and a book called "The New Baby." Thank goodness she just wanted the book.

A joyous evening with the next generation of the Nichols clan.

Making Christmas cookies

...and of course there was Christmas Day...all day spent happily playing with all of our new toys!

Auntie E has always loved story time.

Smothering baby Clara with, um, "affection."

On to Chicago where we had a BLAST in the snow!

Absolute joy for a Guyana Girl!

An adorable little Bulls fan in the neighbor's awesome igloo

Aunt Bridget and Norah making fast friends with Swimmy the Turtle at the Nature Museum.

Uncle Louis and the girls navigate the locks.

Snowflakes in the Spotlight!

Last week, I taught my last ballet class in Guyana. To celebrate, Eleanor conspired with me to get the girls some really fabulous sparkly white tutus to compliment their final showpiece...the Snowflake Dance. Here I am welcoming the parents to the show...can you see the nerves in the girls?

Warming up, playing Follow the Leader.

Plies.

Snowflakes pose at the end of the dance.

Snowflakes, post-show, enjoying the swingset.

Sweet Norah let her baby sister have a turn with the fabulous tutu. Pretty great.