Weekend in Virginia

As a result of the shutdown of Pittsburgh due to the G-20, Will worked in Harrisburg Wed-Fri and decided it would be a good weekend to go to Virginia, since he was already most of the way there. Vivian and I joined him and we spent a lovely few days with Susan, Dan and the kids (thanks for baby-sitting!); Tee, Janna, and our old poker crew; Grandma, Casey and Ernie; and Justin, Sherry, Baby Dalton and their friends. Here are some photos from the weekend.

Happy Girl

A First Glimpse Of Peru

I still haven't even really started looking at my photos of Peru, but Will has with his, and here are some of his favorite photos for your enjoyment. I'll start tackling my photos hopefully this weekend.

Vivian Unplugged

They say that children that grow up bilingual may be a little late/slow in starting to speak. We've decided that has no impact. It's the pacifier that slows down language use and development.

In Peru, Vivian used her pacifier A LOT. Which is totally ok. New country, new people, lots of trips, sleep schedule is off, food schedule is off ... who can blame her for wanting a bit of comfort and familiarity.

We lost her pacifier on the plane ride from Trujillo back to Lima. Right around take-off, when we were all strapped in our seats, unable to look for it. Oh, the despair! Vivian was inconsolable. Shrieking, crying, trying to climb over the back of the seat to retrieve her pacifier (we figured out later that she had dropped it there when getting a snack). The poor over-tired (no nap that day; her choice, not ours) girl finally fell asleep sobbing about half a (veeeeeery long) hour into the flight. Sam, the hero, found the pacifier after we had landed.

So we decided to limit its use to nap and bed times after returning home. A couple of days into it, it's not going too badly and I have a feeling there will soon come a time where we consider re-introducing it because Vivian CHATTERS. ALL THE TIME. NON-STOP. :)

There are new words we didn't know she knew (heart) and she is finally saying her name (before, she either said "Mommy" or changed the subject altogether). She copies a lot, for example, actually saying "Good night, Daddy" when prompted. It's fabulous.

Punk

Next to the electricity-generating machine at the Electricity Museum in Lima :)

Play Date

I took a ton (over 1000) photos in Peru. We had a fabulous time. But there are too many photos for me to start the daunting task of editing them tonight. So, instead, here are a couple of shots from Vivian's playdate with Jacqueline today.

Off

We are off to the airport in a minute, to start our Peru(vi)vian Adventure. Photos to come when we are back!

Here's one to tide you over in the meantime. Family tradition :)