The honeymoon is over...and we're still in love!

They've been home for over three weeks now and the new has already worn off for Catalina. This morning she told me that she didn't like Orlando in the United States. Last week she told me she didn't like her new house. She only does it when she's mad...this morning because she was pushing buttons on the DVD player and I asked her to stop. Sometimes when she says these things, or throws herself on the floor in tears because I said "No" in a slightly stern tone, I try to rationalize with her and tell her that I'm sorry. But, other times, I'm just tired and I sarcastically say "That's a shame, sweetie" and go on about my business. Either way, within five minutes, she is telling me she's not sad anymore and that she loves me a lot.

It definitely doesn't bother me for her to say these things - she's told me more than a few times that she doesn't love me - because we really were prepared for it. Honestly, if I, with my love of routine, had been through as much change as she has been through in the past year (home, family, language), I would be in a straightjacket somewhere. Still, she manages, for the most part, to be hysterically funny and heartbreakingly sweet. I figure that I can put up with a few scathing comments now and then during this transition.

She doesn't just save her love/hate for Mama and Papa. She shares the love/hate with Murphy and Doc whenever she gets the chance. I take that back...until yesterday, she love/hate-d Murphy. Now she just loves him. Poor Murphy, I think he liked it better when she was afraid of him. She bosses him around all day long, wherever he goes. And, she wants him to be with her everywhere she goes...getting dressed for the day upstairs, playing in the playroom, going to the bathroom, everywhere. Yesterday morning, she cried because he didn't want to stay with her to watch cartoons. That was actually so sweet that it made me cry, too.

Okay, sorry for the talk, talk, talk. Here are a few pictures to take you through our activities since I last posted.

Papa taught Cati how to kick the soccer ball around. They also hung out on the hammock together. Everytime they saw an airplane they would say, "Hola muchachos y mujeres. Bienvenido a Orlando en los Estados Unidos." (Hello, men and women. Welcome to Orlando in the United States). Cati associates planes with coming to the U.S., so she thought that was a really fun game, welcoming the people to Orlando.















She had a fun playdate with her friend, Cade, after which we went to a cute, little bakery. Here are Mama and Cati enjoying coffee and a cookie, respectively.

On Sunday, we went to church for the first time since the kids came home. Gus did great and made it through almost the entire service, with the help of a nap at the beginning and a bottle somewhere around the middle. Cati was restless and asked to go to the bathroom twice. After that, I took her for a tour of the Sunday classes/nursery. We hung out in what would be her class and colored for a little while. All in all, she was great, but by the end, she was ready to go home. There were so many people that were happy to see them and meet them and I think she got a little overwhelmed.

That evening, we hung out on the hammock again. She loves it and so does Gus, so we have been trying to take advantage of the nice, cool evenings we have had here lately.