Nice, quiet day

Hi Everyone,

The lab worker came to our room at 9:30 a.m. to draw Windy's blood. She was great; she actually wanted to watch!! No crying... no flinching. Not Bethany... she was in the other room stressing out for her sister... she does not like needles. The results were back to us by 4:00 p.m. Of course we have no idea what anything means; it's a bunch of medical terms in one column and a couple other columns full of numbers. We're going to give it to the doctor at the US Embassy in Bogota and have him tell us what it all means.

Windy had her third swim lesson tonight and at the end, her instructor told me that she is very intelligent and the best student he has ever had. He couldn't believe the way she followed his instructions and the level of swimming she is at after only three lessons. Even though Bethany knows how to swim, her form isn't the greatest. The two of them are going to have a lesson Thursday morning so he can help smooth out her strokes. She didn't want any lessons this summer, but is very excited about this.

Windy has never been taught any type of table etiquette, but is showing a strong desire to learn. She's finally getting down the proper way to cut her food. We only had to tell her once not to lick her plate, lick her knife, drink from her bowl, or butter both sides of her bread... it really has been quite comical. She's trying hard to break the habit of wiping her hands on her shirt... ketchup on white isn't the best combination! I think when we return home, we'll definitely have to go out shopping... clothes are being ruined very quickly!!

We ran into the couple from NYC at dinner and they had their new baby. Windy recognized her right away from the orphanage. After they finished eating, they came over to chat and Olivia was cranky. Windy began talking to her and she calmed right down, then she began to laugh. The mother, Joanne, was so excited because she had been very cranky all day and had never laughed. I think she liked hearing her native language and it calmed her.

We've been reading "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" before they go to bed; it's a bi-lingual book we bought at Barnes & Noble. Windy reads the Spanish and Bethany reads the English. Tonight she was doing her best at trying the rhyming part in English... not mastered, but not bad. She wants to roll her "r" even with the English words; it's cute.

Thanks Laura for the Colombian dish information. Do you know the actual name of the cookbook? I definitely want to get one, but we'll see how easy the recipes are...

Well I'm getting to bed much earlier tonight. We've got to meet Gloria at 10:00 a.m. to get Windy's photo for her passport and either go to the zoo or up the mountain.

Buenos noches,
Kathy