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| Seeing my Sairalyn after 3 weeks! |
As I'm about to start the fourth semester on Saba, I thought I'd better write a posting. I've had over three weeks off now, and they have flown by. Being able to spend everyday with my girls has been awesome, although I did not anticipate how much energy is needed in order to take care of these two special girls. I have to hand it Julia for doing it so well on her own the last few months. What she does everyday, including making meals for me, I will never be able to express how much I appreciate her. Thanks Hunners!
Sairalyn has grown....and grown. She is a lot chubbier than Cally was, maybe it's because all she does is eat! She is a happy and beautiful. She is developing quickly now. She smiles with her entire body and just tonight she has started to laugh. Sairalyn seems to need more attention than Cally did too. She gets lonely quickly and loves it when her mom, dad or sister talks with her. She really loves being sang to as well...both my girls have to listen to my wuss music. She is really close to sitting (with assistance) and can almost turn from her back to her tummy. She frequently sleeps on her side and loves her soother. She has been our wonderful, surprise gift that we are thankful for everyday.
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| Rob and Sairalyn |
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| Callypso being funny |
Cally has also grown up. She has gotten tall and is pretty skinny. Cally is the most unselfish, caring, understanding, funny character. She does not have any jealousy towards her sister at all. Sairalyn probably gets at least a dozen kisses on the top of her head from Cally everyday. Cally is beginning to pretend play with her stuffed animals. She really likes coloring too (although we had to take the crayons away from her today because she wouldn't stop chewing on them). Her canine teeth are coming in right now and her mouth has been really sore. She also loves her books and pretends to read them aloud. Her favorite movies are Winnie the Pooh and Bobs and Lolo. She is the best sleeper a parent could ask for too. We love her so much and are very proud of our 'big sister'.
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| Lynn and Cally after her bath |
Third semester for me was very tough. I studied so hard that I physically hurt myself. I was physically inactive from the middle of February till after exams and that was a mistake. I developed piriformis syndrome (sciatica) during finals and let me tell you, IT HURTS. The first few days after exams, I could barely move without severe shooting pains running down my left leg. Drugs, stretching and walking were the answer. I stretched so intensely that I aggravated my right knee injury (which progressed further while carrying Callypso so much on St. Maarten) Our furniture doesn't help either, and it still will bug me after sitting for awhile. Anyways, enough about the decline of my physical condition. As I've said, school has been tough, but it's not impossible. I've done well. I'm not getting A's anymore, but I'm pretty close. I'm still near the top of the class in most subjects, although not as high as I was in the first two semesters. I have to give Julia a lot of the credit for allowing me to study as much as I need to. I'm sad to see friends of mine not passing classes and either having to repeat them or having to leave Saba altogether. Saba is a tough school, tougher than most American Med Schools (I'm told). We need to get 75% to pass the class. It's scary sometimes because the instruction can be quite poor and we end up learning everything on our own. Fourth semester will really begin to teach us more clinically relevant information...finally. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to it.
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| Resting after walking down to Well's Bay |
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| Kate and the girls |
We saw a lot of visitors last semester, which we won't see in fourth. Julia's mom, Lynn stayed with us for three weeks in January and February. Both Julia's sister Kate and brother Rob and his girlfriend Lisa came as well. It's neat to have them here and show them how we are living and how it's different than living in Canada. It was special for me to see my family come during this last break. My mom stayed with us for a week and my brother Jon and his family came down at the same time. They really liked Saba, especially the hiking....well, Taryn didn't like it as much. My mom, Peggy, had never been outside of North America before. Everyone liked seeing the girls, especially Grandma. It was fun seeing our nieces Taryn and Nicola too! They got big. After a week on Saba, they treated us to a week of luxurious living on St Maarten. They rented a four bedroom villa (mansion) that had it's own pool and was a two minute walk from the ocean. Wow. We were even lucky enough to shop at an actual grocery store and even ate at McDonalds (gasp). We went to the zoo and the butterfly farm (way more fun than it sounds). The best part was spending time with everyone. Liz and Jon are great and we cannot thank them enough for including us. Cally loves her cousins. She really took to Uncle Jon and Auntie Liz as well. We are really going to miss them, like we miss everyone else. It's hard to think that it'll be another eight months before we may see anyone else.
