Baby Girl

H days before we left in Oct 2011, worn out from our hectic pre-departure schedule.

She was only 13 months old when we brought her here.  A baby, truly a baby.  Now, a little girl, H is most definitely adapted to the Brazilian lifestyle. 

I like to claim that she is really a Brazilian at heart. 

Rice & beans is her peanut butter.  She prefers it over any other meal.  Our maid make us beans every Friday, and when H hears them hit the pot on Thursday afternoon (they have to soak overnight) she starts asking for them.  I meter them out over the week, freezing some, and that is her side dish, especially for family meals that she doesn't like or are difficult for her to eat.  At restaurants, she is easy to please because rice and beans is always available.

She still has some words she speaks only in Portuguese, others only in English, mixing the languages as it suits her.  Water, for example, is always "agua" to H, and more recently she chooses to use "aqui" for here.  She calls people's canine pets doggies, but when she sees strays running on the street (there are a lot) they are Portuguese "cachorros" to H. She also pluralizes all her adjectives as they do in Portuguese, even when speaking English... "These are mines" or "The birds are blues."

She has not been introduced to any Brazilian/tropical fruit that she doesn't like.  She eats the most of what our maid brings to us.  Here she is enjoying passion fruit.  I simply cut it in half and give her a spoon.  It's sour, and Brazilians would never eat it like that, but she enjoys it.  And every other unusual or new fruit that makes its way to our table, we can count on H to enjoy it.

She thinks you have to kiss everyone to say goodbye, and she rarely says bye-bye anyway.  She switched from bye-bye to tchau-tchau within the first 2 weeks of living here.

She has a skillful pout, but her giggle makes up for it 10 times over. 

She wants to be as big as her sister.  She wants to go to school, jump on the trampoline, wear jewelry, have her toe nails painted, play with Barbies, and so on.  Luckily she's accepted our answers of "When you're bigger..."

I've had all kinds of school plans for her.  Enroll her part time in Brazilian "preschool" the last part of our stay here so she learns more Portuguese, maybe sneak in an extra year of pre-school in the US since she'll be turning 3 right about that time.....but those were all thoughts of a mom at home with 3 little ones for most hours of the day and night.

These days I have different thoughts...these days are precious, they are few.  There is so much to teach her at home, so many cookies to bake together, so many crafts to do, so many books to read.  I'm not so certain anymore that I am ready to give her up, even for a few precious hours a week. 

 

Our baby girl a year ago, in our first few weeks in Brazil.