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Our third daughter, Raphaela, was born in La Paz on
April 9th 2002 at 9:20 a.m. in Clinica del Sur. With excellent timing, her father managed
to return from Mexico to assist with the birth, and everything went smoothly. She was born 2 weeks early just like her two sisters, but to our surprise she was much smaller. She weighed only 2850 g and measured 48 cm, but was perfectly healthy. Here she is a few hours after birth. |
| Her two big sisters were very happy when the
long-awaited baby finally arrived. Nine months is a long time to wait when you are only a
couple of years old. They are both very helpful and gentle with
the baby. Natasha likes to pick out her clothes and always makes sure that everything
matches. One of the first days she complained that we didn't have any pale yellow socks to
match the baby's yellow outfit. Kamila likes to put creme on the baby's bottom when we
change diapers.
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 When Raphaela was only one week old, her father returned to Mexico to continue his Ph.D. studies. The main purpose of this page is therefore to keep him (and the family in Denmark) posted about the rapid development of Raphaela. |
| When Raphaela was about 3 months old her family
from Denmark came to see her. Below and to the right she is with the proud grandfather.
Raphaela's baptism ceremony was held in Villa Tunari in Chapare, Bolivia. Below she is with the whole family, except her father, who was studying in Buenos Aires at the time.
When Raphaela was 4 months old her pediatrician discovered that she had a mild case of hip displasia, and ordered her to wear a Pavlik harness for 3-4 months to secure that her hips develop right. We all felt sorry for her, but she took it quite well. She wore the harness for 5 months and
when she got it off, she was eager to learn to walk, so she skipped the
crawling face and by the time she turned 1 she was already walking well. |
Her aunt and uncle from Denmark, Helle and Troels, gracefully agreed to take on another Bolivian godchild.
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Here are a few pictures from her 1
year Birthday which we celebrated in Los Pinos with friends and family.
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| While Raphaela could still travel on
infant tickets, we made a trip to Europe so
that she could get to know her grand parents better. Here she is by the
pool side in the David Crockett ranch in Euro Disney.
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Raphaela, Kamila, and Natasha served as bridesmaids, and Osvaldo and I as god parents. |
When Raphaela was 2 years old, we all
went to Tarija to assist at the wedding of Carmen Julia and Robert.
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Raphaela went to an English
pre-school, just like her sisters, to make sure that she learns English as
well as Spanish and French. Here she is dressed up for the annual Halloween party at TopKids. She was so cute, and I couldn't help smiling when she said that she was going to school to scare her friends.
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Raphaela's third Birthday
was celebrated as a quadruple Birthday party together with her father and
her cousins Marquitos and Carlos who all had birthdays within the same
week. Below are some photos from the party.
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Raphaela on the way to school a cold winter morning (May 2005).
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When Raphaela was 4 years old, the whole family went to New Zealand to join her grand father, AC, on the sailboat Roselina for a month. For more pictures from that incredible vacation, click here.
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Christmas of 2007 was held in Denmark together with the whole family. Apart from assisting all the usual Christmas dinners and celebrating my parents' 40 year wedding anniversary, we also went to Hemsedal in Norway, so that the kids could learn to ski.
Skiing conditions were perfect, with lots of new snow falling every night, and our 12-person cabaņa was right on the ski slope, so we really had it all. It is quite a handful to teach three kids to ski. Especially because they had so different skiing styles. The first three days, Raphaela insisted on wearing security lines, so that I could keep the speed under control. Kamila, on the other hand, was completely fearless, and just headed down the mountain like a speeding bullet, appearantly without any preocupations about how to stop at the end of the slope. Natasha, watching what others did, quickly figured out to zig-zag down the mountain completely in control of the skis. The fourth day, when Raphaela decided to drop the security lines, she was skiing perfectly on her own. |
