Carina

Something amazing has happened to Carina down here - she seems to be growing up at high speed.  I don't know how it's happening...she eats little more than bread, cheese and jam.  In fact, I wanted to share with you her typical plate when we go out to one of the many buffet restaurants near us:

Bread, plain spaghetti (no green flakes, please), fries, scrambled eggs and maybe a little bit of chicken. I do admire her color consistency.  Thank goodness most restaurants that offer 'a vontade' (fixed price for all you can eat) don't charge for children.  Those of you who knew her well back home will recall that she's never been much of an adventurous eater, so not much has changed.  We try hard to be patient and creative as to how she gets her calories, but there are definitely days when a granola bar is the most nutritious thing she eats.

Nonetheless, she's growing....fast.  Many of the dresses we brought with us in early August now fit like miniskirts.  It's quite possible that she hasn't gained any weight, she's just...stretched out.  She has these crazy long legs now.....take a look at this picture I took during one of our evening walks (yes, she chose this outfit for the walk....and yes, we due tend to get some funny looks - fortunately, Brazilians are pretty indulgent when it comes to children):

And she is fierce.  Brazilians who have seen her in action call her 'brava', which translates as 'mad' but also something closer to strong or wild in spirit.  There's not much that Carina is afraid of.  If John is reluctant to ask a grownup for something or confront another kid on an issue, Carina is often the one to push past him and get the job done.  Without hesitation.

It is difficult to remember that she is only three, so indomitable is her will.  Sometimes I think my job as her mom is to help her somehow learn to focus that will, so that she is struggling to fight against hatred and injustice throughout the world, rather than just go to school without underpants.

Before I had children, I imagined my role would be to guide them daily and instill basic life lessons: you know: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, citizenship...blah blah.   And some days, I feel I'm really accomplishing all that.  Other days, though, I just have to laugh because it's apparent that Carina has the reins and she's running headlong as fast as she can, and it's all the rest of us can do to just keep up with her.   She is who she is and she's pretty well always been that way.

She and John have become very close during our time in Brazil - they are each other's constant playmates.  They don't have individual friends or school time alone here the way they did in Connecticut.  Most of the time they get along pretty well, and when Carina gets in an especially crazy mood John will often sit back and chuckle and say something like, 'that sister of mine sure is kooky'.  She loves to ham it up for him.  Occasionally, though, she crosses the line and he'll shout out the most grave insult of all, 'You're the worstest sister of all; I'm not going to invite you to my birthday party'.  Ouch!

Carina getting a little bit carried away hugging John on the horse (they both have swim caps on their heads...don't ask).

She is also pretty fearless when it comes to bugs and creepy crawlies (remember, she got the cockroach out of the house).  She likes to find these fat caterpillars around here and keep them crawling around for awhile, much to the amazement of our neighbors and others in the street.  I definitely get the impression that in Brazil, little girls are not often encouraged to be comfortable with these things.  In fact, shockingly, it's not uncommon to see really young girls ...like 4 or 5 wearing makeup!  Carina will often try to get John in on the action and, while he likes to observe, he is not much of a toucher and will respond with a polite 'no, thank you', at which point whatever it is back on her shoulder or wherever and walk on.

Besides growing, her looks are changing too, with a little help from her brother.  Sometime in early September, we all went out one Saturday afternoon for haircuts.  Carina was planning to have hers trimmed (first time ever) but once we got there decided she really didn't want to.  We didn't push the issue, though I was hoping she would change her mind and we could go another day.  Several weeks later, while Anthony was in Rio Branco, the kids were playing upstairs and I was cooking dinner when I hear John yell 'Mommy, mommy, great news...I cut Carina's hair'.  I know nearly all parents have a story like this but initially it scared the hell out of me.  Doubly so when he came bounding down the stairs, smiling happily, with two fistfuls literally full of Carina's hair.  My God!   And he did it with those little blunt-edged kid scissors!

So, a very strict talk with John and Carina that included something like this:
John: But you got your hair cut...
Me: Yes, but that was done by professionals who go to school for a long time to study how to cut hair properly so that no one gets hurt.
John:  Yeah, but see, now I don't even have to go to school, because I already cut her hair and no one got hurt.
Me: That's different.
John: Why?
Me: Just don't ever cut anyone's hair again, ok?

Carina cried initially because I was angry with them, but was soon back to hamming it up, and I had to admit (to myself, of course) that it didn't look half bad.

A few days later, she asked to go to the cabaleiro's and have it 'fixed'.  I took her to the little neighborhood spot up the street where all the ladies go to get their curlers set and their toes done (no DVD players in this joint).  She was a huge hit - the whole place pretty well came to a stop to watch Carina as the various grandmother-types fawned over her.  When the haircut was finished, she told me she wanted her nails done and with a great show of indulgence, the technician gave Carina her first-ever manicure, even allowing her to choose different colors for each nail!  You have never seen a three year old sit so still, concentrating...following all the directions...asking what each of the steps was for.  And so proud of the final result.  Hilarious!

The technician refused to take the $10 cost of the manicure...so sweet.

I wanted to share another one of my favorite pictures...this is one of John and Carina's best friends from school.  His name is Neuquen and we just love his mom and dad (Argentine and Mexican) so we've had plenty of playtimes with Neuquen.   He's got a healthy respect for Carina because she won't let him get away with anything.  A short while after this happy shot was taken, Neuquen took a shovel she had been using and wouldn't give it back, so she took a giant leap right onto the sandcastle he was building.  Pretty funny.

Best for last...these two pictures pretty well sum up Carina.  One moment, the sweetest thing you could imagine and the next, well...I know for a fact that she only picks her nose because we tell her not to.