Singapore with Cousins!

We just got back from Singapore. It was the first time we - as an extended family - traveled together and it was a great opportunity to get to know a new place in the company of cross-cultural family members. There were times, of course, when things weren't so easy, like the tears in the car waiting for Singapore customs to allow us into the country. Three hours later we were lost in the city with no other option than to hire a taxi just to drive in front of us and show us how to get to the hotel. There were also the moments of tears (all four children cried at some point during the trip, with the younger ones, of course, putting on most of the show) as we learned to work together, make decisions together and deal with different priorities and changes of plans, of course. :-)

But there were wonderful moments too! The Christmas presents opened at Leanne's house (where we met up with her and her mom but also our friends Jim and Jay and Jay's mother and step father) were a great opportunity for the children to open no less than four presents each, much to the surprise of the unprepared parents. Auntie Leanne sure knows how to pamper the children and the wrapping took probably no more than about six seconds to tear off. There was excitement and great food to boot! Of course one could not be in a hotel room and not enjoy the cuddle time with the children, nor the large screen TV that allowed us cartoon mornings and movie nights.

Other wonderful moments were the one day where we split up. Tia, Avi and TTmouz went to Universal Studios (a gift from us) and had a fantastic time there, returning just before midnight on the 27th. On the same day we decided to head to the Singapore Zoo (where Irini wanted to go all along). The day was perfect and Irini insisted on taking the train and bus instead of the car. Though longer it sure gave us a great idea of the Singaporean transport system. Once there Irini was intent to seeing everything, but avoiding the crocodiles and alligators, because she didn't want them to bite us. Happily we obliged and roamed around the entire zoo (and even took a tram ride for part of it!). Irini decided that the docile and friendly looking tapirs were the highlight of the zoo. Amalia decided that she liked the elephants. The colorful ones that stood happily all over the zoo and the city beyond. There's a picture of one of them above. :-) The girls spent the entire day with a huge grin on their faces until they could no longer stay awake. They slept almost the entire way back and, when they were awake, they giggled and laughed like... well, like little children!

The way back was faster (we got through both Singaporean and Malaysian customs and crossed the bridge in about 10 minutes) though we did get caught in KL Friday night traffic. Thankfully it was only about 15 minutes of desperation time as Amalia continued her pleas to be allowed out of her car seat. Upon arriving, Irini announced "Yeay, we did it!". She was happy to be home and it was obvious. On several occasions she mentioned, "I love my home" and she was beaming from ear to ear. On to the new year...

Oh, wait~Irini's 4th birthday is just a week away! She's already planning how many friends she wants to invite. Okay. So, now where were we? Oh, yes, on to the new year... :-)

Words of Wisdom

Amalia is growing. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that one out. She's eating with a massive appetite. She runs all over the house, neighborhood, city. Her bigger lung capacity is obvious. :-) Oh, and she's starting to say stuff. It started with "this" a while back, then moved on to "no", where is sort of got stuck in second gear for a while, until about a week or two ago, when the linguistic floodgates opened and now them words are coming out faster than we can jot them down. Here's an 'off the top of our head' list of what she can say so far:

1. This
2. No
3. Lala (Tia, TTmouz and Avi's cat)
4. Coco (the other cat, whose name is Paco)
5. Barney
   
6. Mouz (short for TTmouz)
7. Nini (short for Irini)
8. Ka (short for Rebecca)
9. Sco' (short for Scott)
10. Ra (short for Ralph)
11. Go (with conviction)
12. Mine (with even more conviction)
13. Nana (short for banana, of course)
14. Boo (short for book)
15. Woof
16. Baa
17. More
18. Mas (Spanish for "more")
19. Pipi
20. Mama (either for mama or for any other adult in the house, in a picture, etc.)
    
21. Uh Oh
22. Yeay! (arms raised in the air included!)
23. Close

Each day there's another one, and sometimes the stick and others they are forgotten and replaced by other words. More to follow, no doubt.

The development of language has resulted in Laurence's longing for Amalia to stay just the way she is. He loves her right now. She's small enough, fun enough, animated enough, and babbled for minutes on end, with the addition of flailing arms and intonations to make a point. Laurence sits there - sometimes in person and sometimes on the phone - not wanting to hang up or listen the end. From here on things become more understood, though she doesn't seem to have any communication problems at all at the moment. Between pulling out fingers to get us to move where she wants us to, then pointing to what she wants and adding a couple high pitched sounds for effect, she gets her point across just fine. :-)

Take a look at a recent video of her: