Wednesday, 24 January

Today was a HUGE day.  Alberto, Mary and I got up at 6 to take the twins to the American Embassy.  No photos today.  The security was such that we had to check our phones outside of the building.  In addition unlike yesterday when we spent almost the entire outing trying to wake babies up, today we spent most of the time feeding and caring for babies who were not happy to be on the outing.  However, it was a most worthwhile outing!

Jack and Galileo are not officially American citizens.  We don't have the final papers yet, but the process is done and the passports will be ready to pick up soon.  Mary said that the process was quite rigorous.  That they asked a great many questions.  The entire event took almost three hours including driving and traffic.  Even though I mostly fed babies, I was glad to be a part of such an important day!

Tuesday, 23 January: Peruvian Papers

Today was the first month birthday for the twins.  Paola came for dinner and we celebrated.  I am doing the page backwards because the evenings photos are cuter than the day's photos....although I laughed out loud as I did the photos from the day.....you kind of had to be there to see how funny it all was!






Big event today!  We all went to get passport photos for Jack and Galileo and the all-important DNI which is the national document of Peru.  This is the document that everyone in Peru needs for everything...much like we use our driver's licenses.  Mary and I had managed to install the car seats yesterday.  This was the twins first outing with car seats!

After lots of discussion, we decided that we would split up.  Alberto, the twins, and Thea would go in the car and Mary and I would Uber and meet them at the place and get the twins while Alberto parked the car.  I laughed and laughed at all of us.

I took Jack down when Alberto arrived and worked on getting the safety belts on him.  When Mary arrived she reminded me of the strap and button to loosen and tighten the seat belts in the car seat.   I remember that from Katies twins when I though about it  and all went well.  I got both babies strapped into car seats and by the time I finished I was almost wet from perspiration!  It is summer here and no one has air-conditioning.  But the breeze is very cool and only when one is doing any kind of exertion does it feel so hot.















All went perfectly until we found out that the USA requires that the babies have their eyes open.  And we had two babies who were in the middle of nap time as far as they were concerned.  So we began to try to wake these two angels up....




Eventually we gave up and had photos done with eyes closed for the Peruvian papers.....Peru doesn't insist that eyes are open.
















The continuing to sleep was fine while we waited in line to get their Peruvian papers done.  But after that process was finished we all agreed that we had to go back for American passport photos immediately as our appointment is tomorrow at 7:45 at the American Embassy.  So back across the street we went.  And we began to try to wake babies in earnest!

Galileo then woke up on his own and had his photo taken:



And we began torturing Jack so we could go home:






When we finally got him to begin to respond, Alberto sat with Jack in the chair and the photographer began to help:






Jack even managed to cry with his eyes closed.





I don't know how this photographer did it, but Jack opened his eyes for a split second and she got the photo.....everyone was relieved and happy!



So all of that craziness for the following mug shots.  They look like they could be on the wall for
America's most wanted!

Galileo's Peruvian passport photo:


Jack's Peruvian passport photo:



Galileo's USA Passport photo


Jack's USA passport photo



When we got home, Mary decided to take a few photos of the babies ....

Monday, 22 January

It actually rained in Lima this morning.   lluvia
 (the two ll's make the y sound so it sounds like you-ve-ah)

It has cleared up now, but it is foggy.

I took photos this morning of Maria with both babies:

First one is with Galileo:




Then with Jack:



I thought this one was funny....looks like Jack is saying "who are you do you have milk?"

And one more photo from yesterday.  I was reading e-mails at Mary's desk when Sammy Jumped twice and then peered at me:



Mary's neighbor, Vanessa came to call late afternoon and Paolo came, too....and then we added Cheese and crackers and a bit to drink.  When it got late, we chose emergency lasagna for dinner.  And Alberto brought home some Chinese treats.  Nice evening.

Saturday, 20 January

Last night Mary and I both cooked a delivered box for the dinner.  We had received earlier in the week and needed to either use them or throw them out.  Neither of us were the least bit hungry.  But the food was really good.  My recipe was particularly good....not because of the cook....because of the ingredients and recipe.  We ate even though we were not hungry.  It was really good....so lots of left-overs today.

Galileo is a champion nurser.....and Jack actually made a little effort this morning...we are encouraged.

We offer formula or pumped breast milk at the end of the nursing session.  So Jack got an entire bottle of breast milk after his effort....then I offered a little bit more formula.  When I went in to put him down, I saw that Thea had made the bed in the crib (she puts them on their stomachs after some of the day time feedings) using Sarah's VERY pretty blanket:





I haven't yet finished mine, so Galileo is limping along with store bought:



Mary and I weighed the twins this afternoon.  Both babies weighed 3.1 Kilos.  This translates to just over 6 and a half pounds.   You can look at them and know that they are gaining, but it is reassuring to have scientific proof.

Friday, 19 January

Babies are wonderful!  They are beginning to fill out their newborn clothes!  And they are awake a bit more.  But they still aren't doing the crying and demanding that we know is coming as they get older.

Mary and I went to lunch with Paola, Carlos, Carito, and Mario.  WOW!  It was a feast.  I might never eat again.



Carlos (to my left in above photo) had the day off.  He is an exchange officer with the US Air Force.  He will spend two years here.  He is a neighbor in the building where Mary lives.  But the reason for his day of is of interest!  The Pope is visiting Peru this weekend.  Many members of the Peruvian with whom he works were tied up flying the fighter planes that protected the Pope's plane as it flew the Pope to the Jungle where he was visiting some of the Jungle cities today.  I am not clear if it is tomorrow the Pope will be driven through the city.  Carlos had maps of the routes and etc on his phone.  It is very interesting to be here at the same time as the Pope.  They call him Papa.



Since my Spanish is still terrible, I did not have to help with the ordering.  It is a fish/seafood place and the food is absolutely amazing:





I think that the below is octopus:


And I never did get clear what kind of fish we had ordered:



By the time the lobster came, we could hardly eat ....but we managed to eat almost every bite: