Hi Peeps! Jackie here! Last month we had to take a last-minute trip to Ecuador. Hubby Henry had some personal things he needed to see to, so, since he didn’t want to go alone, all four of us tagged along, haha! Yep, We made our second trip to Ecuador… in one year. It’s okay. We were able to save up for a rainy day and this constituted a rainy day. We ended up staying two weeks and in the process made use of our time there by visiting more family and baptizing my little precious.
This was Evangeline’s first trip to Ecuador since being born so you can imagine how happy her other grandparents were when they saw her. And who could blame them? The girl is a saint! She sleeps through the night and only cries if she’s hungry and I’m taking too long to pull my boob out. Breastfeeding rocks!!!!
Waiting to board…
Waiting to take-off!
I brought a breastfeeding cover with me because I was a bit embarrassed pulling my boob out in front of men. Halfway through our stay though, I didn’t even use it anymore. My embarrassment was long gone! My daughter drools a lot and you can see form the picture how wet that towel is. It’s just from drool./ And she drooled over my shoulder because I had to hold her in my arms the ENTIRE time! Daddy forgot the baby carrier and we only had one stroller. My arms were wrecked the next day!
Knocked out on the way to Riobamba!
As soon as we arrived, baby Henry was out cold in his car seat. He barely slept on the airplane ride over. Poor baby. He still didn’t realize where we were. From the capital, Quito, we had to drive 3-4 hours to Riobamba, where Henry’s parents live. That is baby Henry’s favorite place to be. He can play outside all day and all night if he wants since it’s enclosed by a wall and fence.
The first thing we did that first weekend was go to Sucua, where Henry’s mother is from. It’s in the Western part of the country. Read: warm! My parents always go to Ecuador in September so they were visiting when we arrived. My oldest brother and my oldest niece were also there visiting!
So when we went to Sucua we took my family with us. They had never been there. They stayed at a nice hotel/ hosteria type place. On the left, you can see my dad and son playing in the water at the hotel.
On the right is my daughter with her cousin, Jocasta, who is two weeks older than her.
I can tell they are going to be the best of friends!
And there is my son with his little cousins, or as we like to say, his “little gang”! His great-grandmother, Piedad, is on the left and he’s snuggled in with his cousin Nathan and Marcos. A few days after we came back from Sucua, hubby Henry went back with his mother and on his way there he saw this: an avalanche of rocks. This is very common and very dangerous! Thankfully, no one was hurt! I really hate this part of traveling on a mountainside!
Evangeline’s baptism
With my daughter’s godparents
So the following week we held Evangeline’s baptism. We had family from Sucua and Quito travel to Riobamba for the ceremony. It was really lovely and although my little munchkin fell asleep during the ceremony, she was wide awake when they poured water over her… and she did not cry.
Baby Henry cried at his baptism when they poured water over his head, but not my little princess. She is tough cookie for sure.
You probably can’t tell, but after I gave birth to both my kids, I shed hair along my hairline. For baby Henry I didn’t notice until one day we went to the beach and I saw a whole area of small hair along my hair line. For Evangeline I noticed when the hair was gone and it was a lot! In the picture on the left you can see some of the hair loss. Thankfully it is starting to grow back.
I don’t know why this happens, but I hear it’s pretty common. I might go crazy later and cut bangs or something when the hair gets about an inch long. Really long hair with one-inch hairs along the hair line does NOT look good!
Eating cream cheese with crackers!
Evangeline and Jocasta sharing her play pen
Before heading back to the U.S. we went back to Sucua one last time to say good-bye to everyone. It was very bittersweet. In Ecuador my son is surrounded by so many people. He sees his aunts every day and he sees his cousins every weekend. But more than anything, he gets to play outside ALL THE TIME! In the states he doesn’t outside too much. It depends on what the weather is like. Also, we live on the third floor and sometimes I just don’t want to make the journey, especially with little Evangeline.
In Sucua
He loves playing cars. Wherever he goes, he looks for cars to play with!
There’s a beautiful pool in Sucua and every time we go, we take baby Henry. Before taking him, however, he decided he wanted to get in the tub with his cousins and play around, haha! It was so funny to see him and his gang having fun. After they had their fun, we piled everyone up in the back of the truck and with aunt in tow, we went to the pool.
This is baby Henry’s way of hugging, hahaha! Poor Nathan!
Hubby Henry with his best friend/ cousin, Jean Carlos
The pool!
He was really eager to get in!
Ready!
That big stretch of lights is Riobamba at night!
Looking good in shades!
There’s this market-like place in Riobamba called “La Condamine”. People go here to buy groceries among other things. One day we went in search of fish. It was my mother-in-law, Laura’s, birthday and they wanted fish.
Little Henry with his grandmother, Laura, and Daddy
“La Condamine”
Grandma’s birthday!
Then came the day for us to go home. It’s always sad when we leave because everyone in Henry’s family starts crying. This time it wasn’t so bad though because we have a trip planned for late-December. I know what you’re thinking. AGAIN??? Yep, remember, this trip was not planned, the December one is.
Going back home
The last time I used that dreaded nursing cover which my daughter absolutely hated!!
Our Last-Minute Trip to Riobamba, Ecuador! is a post that first appeared on the website: Baby Henry Likes on October 22, 2016.