The Little Winged One flies south.

The Chelita arrived in Honduras on Sunday, October 19. I could write to you about our return, but this would be pretty tame news compared to the arrival of a third Gringo Eldridge in Las Lomitas. Alida did remarkably well on the flight. Between being wrapped up with Momma and jumping up and down in Dad’s lap, she didn’t hardly notice that we flew thousands of miles and over several sovereign states. Delta was very accommodating and even asked some folks to move from their assigned seat so that we could have an extra seat to lay her out in. Thanks Delta.

Upon arrival in San Pedro, my blood recoiled when I felt the sticky heat through my jacket, but we quickly found the A/C again while we waited in the “Special Cases” line. A.K.A. the line to get your cranky baby through customs. Again, Alida did remarkably well. In her passport, she now has her first stamp in the back. It is nice to have something to accompany the bug-eyed picture in the front. Unfortunately a bag decided to stay in Atlanta, understandably being somewhat hesitant to return to Honduras. Fortunately Delta came through again and convinced it to come down and then drove it out to Bumblesmack where we live to drop it off.  Needless to say we were pretty shocked that they offered and that everything we had brought was still inside the bag. Thanks again Delta. 

The first big moment was going through the doors into the airport. Grandpa Fredy was there waiting and quickly wrapped Alida up in his arms. It seemed exceptionally fitting that he was the one to carry her over the airport threshold into the blinding Honduran heat. She blinked, and he shaded her head. Once we arrived in Las Lomitas, Grandma Argelia echoed the act by quickly taking Alida and welcoming her to her hometown. She then carried Alida across the threshold of our little block home. 

The church of course threw confetti all over us and had our names spelled wrong on a big sign welcoming us back that night. There were balloons and shouts of “Ahmen!” that startled Alida to tears a couple of times. Little brown hands caressed the tiny white legs poking out from the wrap Stacey carried her in. She is continuing to adjust to life here, but by in large seems to be doing fairly well. Below are a few of the items helping us through. 

Honduran Baby Swing; A.K.A. Hammock – Lots of Honduran babies nap in hammocks and apparently ours is no different. She went out like a light the very first time. Works well for Dad too.

Honduran Bumbo Seat: A.K.A. Plastic Chair and Fabric – Now that she’s decided that she either wants to be sitting up or laying down while grunting, we’ve been letting her sit up quite a bit more. She doesn’t seem to mind being tortured like this.

Honduran Scorpion-Proof Crib: A.K.A. Awesome Pac N’ Play with custom mosquito net: The little 11-pound Guava  travel crib we have has been a lifesaver. 11 lbs. Backpack straps. Mosquito net. Perfect.

Honduran Concrete Floor: A.K.A. Honduran Concrete Floor (at least we put soft stuff over it).

Honduran Baby Bath: A.K.A. A plastic paila on the counter. This actually works as well or better than the custom products. If it weren't for her long legs it would be the ideal.

This past week has been full of visitors coming to check in. Most folks seem to be legitimately interested in making sure that she’s adjusting well. I’ve been touched to see their concern. She has been a great vehicle to introduce the importance of handwashing and some other basic hygeine. Diarrhea has been going around right now, so it opens a venue for us to talk about family health. Way to go little girl.  Even though she may be waking up a little more at night that we’d like, she really is doing quite well and has even started to sit on her own for over a minute. She has a lot of adjusting to do but has remained happy, alert, and extremely white. We feel so very blessed to have her here and in good health. Thank you all for your prayers, especially for Stacey and Alida. They are much appreciated.