Debbie's last day

Today, Debbie, Tara and I managed an entire day on foot - which is not a small feet in this city with no smooth - or consistent - sidewalks! We took the stroller we bought on Tuesday for a test drive last night and Tara seemed comfortable, so today, we used it for real. After an early rise (5:30) and a skype call with Grandma and Grandpa (Tara's first skype) we braved the streets and made our way around the central palace area all the way to Mike's Breakfast - the basic meeting place for several of the families each morning. It was quite an exhausting adventure for us to get the stroller, with Tara in it, over minor and major obstructions - I carried her (Debbie carried the stroller) each time we had to cross a major road and it was just exhausting concentrating on the potholes in the sidewalk. But - we made it in one piece and had a nice break at Mike's. Tara had a banana lassi - so now I have found something milk-based that she will drink since thus far she's rejected all my milk attempts. And we hung out with some of the other families for a bit before going up to the school I want to enroll her in. Unfortunately, it was closed and I found out later that it's closed for a 2-week winter break - so I'm going to have to figure something out for the short term or else I'm simply going to have to figure out this full-time mom thing. I have such a high regard for anyone who can do this full-time - it's exhausting - though I see the draw since it's so amazing to watch Tara learn and grow with each new experience!

Then we made our way back through the crazy streets and sidewalks to do a little shopping Thamel, with Tara promptly falling asleep in the stroller. Seems like anything that moves knocks her out (stroller, cars) which isn't a bad thing (think airplane!!!). Then - we were simply done with the crowds and hypervigilance on the traffic, so we went into this pure oasis called Garden of Dreams. It's a garden area - costs about $2/adult to get in, and it's behind walls with lots of fountains, grassy areas, a couple little restaurants, and most of all, peace. It was just what we needed - to have a snack and just relax for a bit in the quiet. Tara and Debbie looked at the fish and we played with the balloons and just enjoyed.

On our way back to the apartment we stopped for tea and Tara had another first - her first ice cream. After a somewhat surprised look because of the cold, she gobbled it up even to the point of almost licking the bowl (we figure we'd leave her grandpa to teach her that trick!). That's Tara and her ice cream bowl in the picture above.

Now we're winding up the day - with sadness that Debbie's leaving us. Not sure how I'm going to survive here without her, she's not only been fantastic with Tara but she's been so helpful, and patient, with me I really could not have asked for a better person to come with me to start this journey. She will be incredibly missed by us both (Tara is curled up on her lap right now watching Tom and Jerry). Note - Debbie's glasses on Tara in the picture above!

Oh - and as an addendum. After Tara played with (and eventually broke) the small flashlight Debbie brought, we got it to work briefly and she tried to blow out the light - just like she had learned the previous night with the candle. Ahhh, my brilliant daughter :)