Gun shots, spoon feeding and Chiky cookies

It's primitive here, people! I'm not kidding! I switched hotels and wow do I love the Marriott. Unfortunately ---- that is the hotel I switched from. Sigh.... Anyway, I have a free room in the new hotel and it's fairly decent. I have also stayed here before so much I feel as though I lived here once. Still not so fabulous....

It is much better to be a new mommy in your own home, I suppose. I can't wait for the days when I can simply throw a bottle in the top rack of the dishwasher, throw a dirty bib in the washer, feed my baby cereal out of a bowl (!), have hot water fifteen seconds after I turn it on instead of like fifteen minutes, have a working hair dryer, not hear gun shots outside my room...... Yep. You heard me right.

We were in our room and I heard a loud pop. I've heard that a lot here and I assumed it was a chicken bus or something backfiring. Those buses have some serious problems. I'll try to get a shot of one with people hanging out the back doors. Okay - I digress.... anyway - I heard it and it sounded very unrhythmic - you know - like random gunshots! I wasn't sure, but then I went to the balcony and noticed some traffic had stopped. Soon a whooooooole lot of police showed up and then were gone in like 5 minutes. I also saw a guy below (I'm on the 17th floor so have a really good bird's eye view) running into a building with his M-16. I think he was probably a security guard for a business and was checking things out.

Even the security guards at McDonald's carry M-16's. You are highly likely to see a water truck go by carrying bottled water with several security guards with guns. So - who knows - this could have been someone's target practice.

Another little known fact about me: I was raised a country girl. I have shot a gun more than once and we lived in the boooon docks and people used to come to our house to go deer hunting until my dad decided he didn't like it anymore (Go, Dad!) So - I KNOW what a gun sounds like - oh - and I've watched CSI Miami and Criminal Minds a lot (that is for you, Mark) so I feel like an expert in all police and gun matters (again - a joke for Mark.)

I called the front desk and asked what was up. They said they heard the police sirens and were sure everything is okay. I asked if they heard gunshots and they seemed unaffected and said their lobby was full so it was a bit too loud but I could turn on the television and usually 'it will be on there if something happened.' Nice. I am in a safe district, but it is the bar district - which is why I am hearing some super, super, super loud bar music below. It's sort of like I have really rude neighbors. Anyway - back to the lobby. The lobby was full of Avon people! I have never seen so many Avon people in my life - many not wearing make-up. Weird.... Oh -and they all have matching black cases and there were even a couple of men.

So - I'm sure everyone would rather hear about Eli than my bad hotel.... again - highly recommend the Marriott with it's lovely security gates.... and breakfast buffet....sigh.....
Today, I fed Eli with a spoon! His fmom said she hadn't fed him with a spoon, yet because she wanted me to have that honor. So, in the meantime, she was putting his rice cereal in his bottle. Today I thought I'd try the spoon - and I highly suspected that he probably had been fed with one. Lord knows Rosie had - she was eating guacamole and beans already! Anyway - he had NOT been fed with a spoon. He seemed confused over it (as he is the bottle - but that is another story) and didn't get what I was doing. So - we learned together. After all, I have never taught a baby how to eat from a spoon. In the end, I think we did pretty well. But - now he has a tummy ache, I think. Or he just wants me to hold him. He keeps waking up and looking for me. And - well - you KNOW - I'm going to hold him!

View from my balcony. See the volcanoes in the distance? Gorgeous.

Guatemala is a truly gorgeous place - even the city is pretty sometimes. I'm going to Tecpan tomorrow with my attorney so you'll see some more pretty pics.

See this? Can't wait!

More of Guatemala City. Around 4 million people live here.

This is how I had to feed him cereal. I brought a spoon and cereal, but getting a bowl from room service would be waaay to easy! Did I mention the service isn't so great? Oh - I didn't feed all this to him. I just had to keep adding to get the right consistency. Told you this was primitive!

Aunt Stacie warning: You are about to see baby food pictures! Beware! You may choose to abandon this blog! (Note: Stacie gags at all baby food pictures but for some reason can catch cat vomit in her hand without thinking about it! Hmmm....)

He was probably thinking I was doing it all wrong. That's supposed to go in a bottle, lady!

He started really liking it...

Maybe right before bedtime wasn't such a good idea now that I think about it.....

Sleeping not so peacefully tonight. Poor baby.

Want to see the best cookie in the world? Rachel, you have to post a comment to tell people I'm not lying! I forced Rachel to try these and Tortellitas and now I've corrupted her, too. We had those and some Grapette on our way home from Antigua. Rachel introduced me to Grapette. Also delicious. I had some of that today, too!

The best cookie in the world! If anyone ever finds these in the US, please let me know. I will be forever grateful. I've even looked them up on the internet! They have chocolate on the back - like a fudge graham. You can see they've called it, "Chocolate Enrobed." Beautiful.

I've tried all the ones in the U.S. including girl scout cookies (which may explain a lot about that picture from yesterday....) and nothing compares. They are not the same. I'm telling you - these are little bits of heaven.