Social butterfly, and only 1 year old.

It would seem that our 1-year-old has a busier social scene than we do these days.

You probably think I'm kidding.

I'm not.

This being Brazil, we've hired out the afternoons to a "nanny", a lovely young woman named Livia. This being Brazil, she also cooks our lunch, makes our bed, and would wash our laundry if some of us in the household didn't scurry to do it first, being a bit particular about our laundry (I refer you to a recent post on the proper way to wash a pair of blue jeans.)

We have landed in a lovely neighborhood here in Sao Paulo, full of big tall trees, lots of Brazilian yuppies with little babies and nannies to care for them, cafes and such, dry cleaners everywhere. We had thought we wanted to live in the gritty hip neighborhood across town, but, well, it turns out that yuppielandia is just about right. The bread might cost twice as much, but when you have to order it in a foreign language, it's sort of worth it. Just up the street, there's a little neighborhood square with a playground, where nannies and their flock congregate in the afternoons. Nannies gossip, kids throw sand at each other and have a grand old time. Our kid, being the one without any toys, wanders up to various suspicious little tykes and, without hesitation, helps herself to a sandbucket or two and a shovel.

So today, our nanny made plans with a friend, who happens to be the nanny for a friend of a friend, to go to their spacious apartment down the street for some good old fashioned play time. The kid, about the same age as ours, is reputed to have an astonishing toy collection, and ours, not being the shy type, reportedly was beside herself at the sight of so many wonderful playthings. So much so, it seems, that when we all reunited here at home at the end of the day, Livia turned to us and asked, "So, does she have any toys at home, back in the States?" What, a plastic hanger and a cardboard box don't count? She really did seem to be having fun with my suitcase the other day, I swear.

My job for tomorrow, it seems, is to find the sand bucket store and make a purchase. How do you suppose you say sand bucket in Portuguese, anyway?