A Better Day

Today was a better day. It started with a phone call from our family back home. It was great to hear your voices!

We visited with Emma this morning. It went better than yesterday. She was still quite hesitant to play with us, and mainly wanted to be held by Mom and walked around the (very small) room over and over. She gradually let Jim get closer to her, and smiled a little when he starting banging blocks together with her. We regret not packing the hammer toy this time, as she really enjoys making noise with her toys (the toy just made us a little crazy last time since there was no way to turn it off, and it would sound off constantly just from being jostled in the toy bag). Boys: we are going to need your help in keeping the noise level up once we get home to keep Emma entertained - somehow I don’t think this will be a problem. Emma let Mom give her a few airplane rides, which drew a few smiles but not the belly laughs we’re used to. She also seemed bothered by the camera, so again, we didn’t take too many pictures. We’ve posted one picture of a mural painted in a stairwell. It was impressive, although we’re sure it would have been even nicer if it had been painted by Cricket and Grandma Judy, designers of the childrens’ mural in our office. We got to stay during Emma’s lunchtime, and are glad to report she is still the fastest eater we have ever seen.

This evening we enjoyed dinner with our friends the Kilpatricks from the US embassy. They were grateful for the margarita ingredients we brought from the states (yep that’s the margarita drink, not the pizza). We were grateful for some wonderful chicken taco soup, salad and cookies, not to mention the fun conversation that took our minds off court. Once we got back to the apartment, reality set in again. Jim and I both practiced the speech, since we can’t be absolutely sure who will be asked to speak tomorrow. Thanks to all of you for rooting for us. Now it’s time to try and get a little sleep.