Another month and still no end in sight

Can you believe it's been a month since our last check in? And... not much has changed. Shocker. Well, no that's not true. Paraguay has steadily been increasing in COVID19 cases as has the United States. We are still doing what they call "smart quarantining" meaning stay at home and minimize contact with other persons as much as possible. Kiersten and the girls are still basically at home all day every day while Scott goes to work all day every week. No more red team/blue team for him.

Enjoying a little camp fire and s'mores.

Picnic lunch on a lovely day.

Working out with Mommy.

Ice cream sundaes for a Sunday night.

Team work puzzling.

Learning how to play the harmonica.

Early morning cartoons. Only on the weekends.

Relaxing in our new Paraguayan hammock on July Fourth.

Fourth of July fire!

The bright light in this situation is we are hopefully, potentially, maybe going to leave Paraguay in September. Yes? We have a tentative plan but no ticket and no confirmation but just a thought of leaving. We do however have a pack-out date for August 17 so that is what we are driving towards now and organizing our possessions.

Our wonderful nanny, Nanima, continues to come and make life amazing for all of us, mostly the girls (Kiersten included). Mackenzie loves her to bits and says she is her best friend. Finley has been heard calling her, 'ma-ma' which is a real compliment since its taken her months to say anything other than 'da-da'. And Kiersten is able to work on her day trading, clean the house, do laundry and organize children's clothes for our move. We are all very busy.

Having a Sunday lesson outside.

Swinging at the park.

Daddy made Piggie a potty, per Mackenzie's request.

Doing a little 'Entrapment' training one afternoon.

A crunchy leave walk one chilly morning.

Playing on her homemade cardboard guitar.

All the pillows and blankets!

Last weekend we had a play date! An embassy family nearby rented a trampoline for their boys and invited us over. All four adults wore masks the whole time, socially distanced ourselves and remained outside. It was super nice to chat with people in real life and the kids had an absolute blast!

This week we've had to do some readjusting. Nanima texted on Monday saying she had a sore throat and was going immediately to get tested. Luckily, mercifully, she tested negative for COVID but she does have enflamed tonsils so of course Kiersten gave her the week off to rest. It's been a challenging and rewarding week to be at home all day with the kids and Kiersten marvels at all mothers who care for their children without help. Paraguay and expat living has spoiled her.

Oobleck for the win!

Fun with bubbles in the bath.

Burger lunch outside Mackenzie's room.

Being responsible and wearing a mask!

Banana game with Daddy.

Car nap! First one in a LONG time.

Walks with the girls.

The Mackenzie Update:

• School officially ended for her on the first of July. We said good-bye to her teachers and friends and they had a little Zoom party where everyone "shared" a snack together. We have loved her little school and will miss it dearly.
  
• She is getting better and faster at recognizing her letters. She can now spell her name out loud without looking at anything. She frequently spells her name while we are playing at the park.
  
• Still working on the reading. She has read 3 of her beginner books and we are so excited about her progress. What a smart cookie!
• Her favorite games to play are Elsa and Anna or pretend to be a cat. 
  
• Mackenzie recently discovered how freeing it is to be naked. She loves to run around with Finley after bath time completely nude. We allow her this little rebellion but tell her if she wants to play with us she must get dressed but is free to do as she wants until bedtime. It's just ironic that she discovered this during the Winter.
• The girls have now had two successful "sleep overs" in each other's rooms. One in Finley's and one in Mackenzie's. They loved the thrill of something new and being able to play with each other first thing in the morning. We are just prepping for the forth coming hotel stays and eventual room sharing in the future.
  

The Finley Report:

• Finley is now 21 months old!! She is slowly becoming less of a baby and more of a toddler. Oh how we love this little girl of ours.
  
• She can now jump with both feet clearly off the ground. Its a major accomplishment, one she's been working on for weeks and she is immensely proud of herself.
• She can also walk backwards which she does quite often.
• We are still encouraging her to say more words rather than letting her get away with pointing and grunting. Every thing she mimics is still a variation of 'da-da' or her throated grunting sounds but every once in a while she says something that sounds close to the word we are trying to get her to day.
  
• Finley is still in diapers but at least once a day she'll pull up her shirt and indicate she wants to use the toilet. We put her on the seat, she makes a sound with her mouth and then says all done. Hopefully that means potty training will be easy....
• She is getting faster at running! And it's adorable. She lets her jaw flap and makes a bouncing noise as she runs.
  

So like we said, not much has changed. We officially hit our 3 year anniversary living in Paragauy this past weekend (July 19-20) and have loved almost all of our time here. Its been better than we could have imagined and the friends we've made have been incredible. We will love and miss many things and people here but are still very much looking forward to the future and Kuwait. But until then, see you soon!