Mexico City, Day 12: Dirt & Seafood
Greta was up for much of last night, wide awake from 11:30pm till 1:30am; Andrew was out to dinner with work people, so Greta and I just read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and did a lot of pacing and rocking. She had two two-hour naps today; we'll see how tonight goes. My new theory is that the Motrin we've been giving her for her teeth has been upsetting her stomach. I didn't give her anything at all today, and I'll stick to Tylenol if we need something in the next couple of days. She is still gnawing desperately on her pacifiers and bottle.
It was a gorgeous day today, sunny but not too hot, and I took the girls to Lincoln Park as usual. I always walk through the sculpture garden "on the way" to the playground, and today I walked with them all the way to the top of the park to this large area filled with dogs that we'd seen yesterday. At first I thought it was a dog run, but I found out today it's a doggie daycare--people leave their dogs here all day while they're at work. It's a pretty incredible spectacle--dogs all lying in a row, their leashes loose beside them, with a few workers giving the dogs turns at playing and taking little jaunts. Of course the girls loved seeing so many dogs in one place. While we looked on from afar, I spotted a woman from our building whom I've chit-chatted with, letting her two-year-old daughter run around among the dogs. I joined her in the dogs' area, but I didn't let the girls out of the stroller--these dogs, most of them large, were in no way tethered or restrained, and it seemed to me to be a great leap of confidence that one of them wouldn't snap or jump or bite.
Next we meandered by some of the large ponds, where a man in rubber overalls was cleaning some of the leaves and muck from the surface. Lucia expressed great envy at his ability to actually be in the water and said she, too, wanted to be "a worker" and clean the pond.
We ended up at the playground, where both girls became completely immersed in filling their bunny buckets with dirt and stones. Of course they chose the filthiest part of the playground for their fun, filling their buckets with handfuls of dirt, and though they were becoming alarmingly dirty, I didn't have the heart to bring their activities to an end. They were so lost in what they were doing that I had a good half hour of just sitting in the sun, looking up at the trees, enjoying the lovely day.
By the time we left, Greta was crying and exhausted and both girls were dirt-encrusted from their foreheads to their feet. People were staring as we walked home. But they had fun.
Andrew came home early today, and we tempted fate once more to go out to dinner. We chose a seafood restaurant called Bellopuerta, and got a table outside. Though Greta had been fussy and Lucia was tilting from high energy to wild stubbornness, both girls rallied and were calm throughout the meal. There's so much to see--musicians on the street; people walking by; traffic; and countless vendors passing by our table, imploring us to buy gum, toys, wooden spatulas, pastries, lighters. Our food was amazing, the best I've had in Mexico so far: ceviche, guacamole, fish tacos (for Andrew), shrimp with garlic (me). The girls shared a cheese quesadilla (by "shared" I mean Greta ate nearly the whole thing while Lucia allowed perhaps two mouse bites past her lips). We both had a margarita. The girls were so peaceful and quiet that we even lingered at the table, enjoying the evening.
Of course, bedtime hasn't been easy. Greta went to sleep immediately, but then was woken up by Lucia, who insists on secretly approaching Greta's crib once we're out of the room to say goodnight. This time, according to her, she "bonked it with her side," rattling it so that Greta woke up. It is now 8:45pm. Lucia just fell asleep. Greta is still awake, hanging out with Andrew in our bedroom. I truly don't know how people survive when their kids share a room on a regular basis. I guess everyone just gets used to it.
Part of the doggie daycare:
Dirt:
Later, at the playground:
Dinner at Bellopuerta:
(Yes, she's playing with a knife, but she was so quiet...)
It was a gorgeous day today, sunny but not too hot, and I took the girls to Lincoln Park as usual. I always walk through the sculpture garden "on the way" to the playground, and today I walked with them all the way to the top of the park to this large area filled with dogs that we'd seen yesterday. At first I thought it was a dog run, but I found out today it's a doggie daycare--people leave their dogs here all day while they're at work. It's a pretty incredible spectacle--dogs all lying in a row, their leashes loose beside them, with a few workers giving the dogs turns at playing and taking little jaunts. Of course the girls loved seeing so many dogs in one place. While we looked on from afar, I spotted a woman from our building whom I've chit-chatted with, letting her two-year-old daughter run around among the dogs. I joined her in the dogs' area, but I didn't let the girls out of the stroller--these dogs, most of them large, were in no way tethered or restrained, and it seemed to me to be a great leap of confidence that one of them wouldn't snap or jump or bite.
Next we meandered by some of the large ponds, where a man in rubber overalls was cleaning some of the leaves and muck from the surface. Lucia expressed great envy at his ability to actually be in the water and said she, too, wanted to be "a worker" and clean the pond.
We ended up at the playground, where both girls became completely immersed in filling their bunny buckets with dirt and stones. Of course they chose the filthiest part of the playground for their fun, filling their buckets with handfuls of dirt, and though they were becoming alarmingly dirty, I didn't have the heart to bring their activities to an end. They were so lost in what they were doing that I had a good half hour of just sitting in the sun, looking up at the trees, enjoying the lovely day.
By the time we left, Greta was crying and exhausted and both girls were dirt-encrusted from their foreheads to their feet. People were staring as we walked home. But they had fun.
Andrew came home early today, and we tempted fate once more to go out to dinner. We chose a seafood restaurant called Bellopuerta, and got a table outside. Though Greta had been fussy and Lucia was tilting from high energy to wild stubbornness, both girls rallied and were calm throughout the meal. There's so much to see--musicians on the street; people walking by; traffic; and countless vendors passing by our table, imploring us to buy gum, toys, wooden spatulas, pastries, lighters. Our food was amazing, the best I've had in Mexico so far: ceviche, guacamole, fish tacos (for Andrew), shrimp with garlic (me). The girls shared a cheese quesadilla (by "shared" I mean Greta ate nearly the whole thing while Lucia allowed perhaps two mouse bites past her lips). We both had a margarita. The girls were so peaceful and quiet that we even lingered at the table, enjoying the evening.
Of course, bedtime hasn't been easy. Greta went to sleep immediately, but then was woken up by Lucia, who insists on secretly approaching Greta's crib once we're out of the room to say goodnight. This time, according to her, she "bonked it with her side," rattling it so that Greta woke up. It is now 8:45pm. Lucia just fell asleep. Greta is still awake, hanging out with Andrew in our bedroom. I truly don't know how people survive when their kids share a room on a regular basis. I guess everyone just gets used to it.
Part of the doggie daycare:
Dirt:
Later, at the playground:
Dinner at Bellopuerta:
(Yes, she's playing with a knife, but she was so quiet...)
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