Mommy Day at School

It was the Friday before Mother's Day. The classroom was all set. The mothers were all there and, in comes daddy!  :-)

Unfortunately mommy wasn't able to attend since she was teaching at that time, but Irini insisted that someone from the family attend, so daddy put on his best female voice and walked in... to a great reception!  Irini was an amazing hostess. She was asked by Ms. Curtis to take daddy over to a table where her name identified the appropriate seat. Daddy was seated nicely there while Irini went over to get a book - a class-made version of a book based on "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see"... but with pictures of all her classmates. She proceeded to read the entire book (all 12 pages) to daddy and then received, of course, a big hug. Then it was snack time. She brought over the fruit and mini quiche for daddy and she too enjoyed a chocolate milk. Then it was song time. Thankfully for us Ms. Curtis has the foresight to recommend that Natalia participate through Skype, so as the class all got seated on their "story mat" Laurence called Natalia on Skype and found her in her class. He set up the computer so she could watch and the songs were sung. Natalia, on the other campus, happily watched (with her class) and, in the end everyone was proud, happy and smiling broadly on all ends of the communication!  The computer was turned off. Daddy got a tour of Irini's artwork (above) and play time ensued, including the cooperative building of the "tallest building in the world". It was pretty big!  The thank yous and goodbyes finished off a wonderful event. 

Irini was awesome, as a student and as a daughter. Love, pride, happiness oozing out of every pore.

Chronicles of a Little Swimmer

Thursday, May 9

Amalia was happy in the water, playing and jumping in and out of the baby pool, but uncomfortable in the big pool. Any attempts to get her into it was of her own volition and required her to sit down, turn around and get into the water, slowly and with purpose.  Once in the water she needed either bratsakia (floaties) or a noodle to float on. Happy but with flotation.

Friday, May10

Daddy was walking home. He was told to get there and change and go straight to the pool. It was a perfect plan after a long and tiring week. He arrived home, put on his bathing suit and went downstairs. Amalia was there, with Irini and their friend Tara. They were all playing in the baby pool but when daddy got there they moved over. They all stood on the edge of the pool, about a foot above the water. Irini was standing on the right, Tara in the middle and little Amalia on the left. With daddy looking on from the middle of the pool Irini dove into the water. She's getting much better at it these days. Tara followed. Then, quite unexpectedly, Amalia flew herself into the pool, head first. Everyone did a double take to see if, in fact, it was Amalia!  When she popped out of the water (she still had her floaties) we were excited and impressed. The requisite "bravo" statements were made and Amalia, within moments, wanted to be thrown up in the air like her sister and Tara. By the end of the foray into the water she was happily flipping around, in, and out.  Once home, daddy pulled out his cell phone. There was a message, sent at around 5:00 pm or so (hours earlier). It was from Natalia. It said "Amalia is swimming on her own!  Come see!"

Saturday, May 11

Now a full week after turning three, Amalia decided that it was time to take off the flotation devices all together. She needed some support, of course, but generally did well gliding in the water and kicking as hard as she could trying to get to daddy's outstretched (but ever retreating) hands. She was awesome!  She blew bubbles in the water and used different swimming techniques in an attempt to find what worked best. She liked having daddy in front of her making signals in the water to tell her when to move her arms and legs with her head under water and her eyes open.  The parents were filled with immense pride and astonishment. How could she go six months (in developmental time) in 24 hours?  Amazing!

Sunday, May 12

Amalia insisted on going to the pool again. Her new-found confidence is obvious. Once there, and as daddy was still getting ready, she threw herself into the water, forcing daddy to abandon his "take your time" approach and jump in after her. She was oblivious to the concern. She had more imporant things to do. As TTmouz and three friends flew into the pool time and time again, Amalia decided to emulate them. She ran into the water and swam as far as she could before taking daddy's hand and pulling her head out of the water for a breath. At one moment she came up coughing. Daddy was concerned. She coughed and coughed, then did one final forward thrust of her head as she coughed up the last of the water. She looked right up and sprang to the end of the deck to run back into the water. Clearly water no longer scares our little girl. She also wanted to try swimming with her mouth above water while breathing. She managed about a meter and a half of above water swimming. Her run and swim practice allowed her to make it almost across the width of the pool (5 meters or so?). By the end of the day she was tired, but oh so happy with her new-found skills. We are soooooo proud and happy with this little, amazing girl!  Bravo Amalia!  We love you!

A Flippin' Good Time

After the party, when the majority of people had departed, the cousins dawned their bathing suits and did some serious splashing around. The adults - mommy, daddy, Scott, Rebecca and Tia - sat around a table chatting away. It must have been an hour and a half or so, including that hard rain, but it passed so effortlessly that it brought with it a sense of "ahhh". But what brought even more "ahhh" (with just a tad of adrenaline thrown in) was Irini's spontaneous decision to try out back flips from the side of the pool. The initial concern subsided quickly as we realized how good she was. Before long she and TTmouz and Avi were doing flips together. Here's a little snippet of one of them flips, courtesy of Rebecca.

It Takes a Village

Of course, to have a birthday, especially when you're three, you need help. Not only Mommy and Daddy, but in this case the entire neighborhood of friends, colleagues and peers. Amalia's party was what it was because we were able to borrow a number of tables, chairs, plates, cups, etc., etc., from so many others. And how simply wonderful to have them all to share Amalia's day?!?  A party can only be a party if you have friends to share it with and this time around was no exception. From Argentinians to Portuguese to Brits to Indians, from 2 year-olds to 67 year-olds the place was swarming with friendly faces and banter. How wonderful to know that we can count on them, and they can count on us, to be there in the difficult times, but also in the good times too!  Hats off to everyone for being with and around us, for all the support and, better still, for finding the time and energy to come and share Amalia's day! THANK YOU :)

Amalia Turns 3!

It was the perfect day. After almost a complete day of raining the day before, Amalia's day dawned bright and beautiflul. By 7:00 am Mommy was working hard on making final preparations for the cake, the decorations, etc. By 8:00 am Daddy was already out and about picking things up from school (folding tables and two ice coolers) and friends (tables, chairs, ice, etc.). By 10:00 am the set up was almost in place. By 10:30 am, when visitors started arriving, the place was close to ready (we are Greek Colombian after all!). All the while Amalia happily played with her sister and helped Daddy move things downstairs to the poolside area. The cans here. The juice cartons there. The tables here. The chairs just so. And so, when the party was underway it seemed almost too natural. 

The theme, as per Amalia's request, was Orange Chocolate. Tables were set up for painting (water color, finger painting, stamping) and the children roamed around and jumped into the water, got out and played on the playground equipment, munched on the goodies ready by the side. It was as smooth as smooth can get and the children were happy as can be. Several parents asked if we had put anything in the food, because there seemed to be a rather "under control" feel to the event, giving us time to think and chat. Needless to say, such opportunities don't go unnoticed as parents shifted their eyes from one side to the next, waiting for the explosion. No explosions. 

But there was singing!  Unlike Irini, Amalia happily received the birthday songs, both in English and in Spanish, and happily helped cut the cake up (chocolate cake with orange M&Ms, of course!). By 1:00 pm or so the majority of people had departed, but Scott and Rebecca came by and we sat around and chatted for over an hour while the children (Amalia, Irini, Avi and TTmouz) played away in the pool!  It even rained - pretty hard at times - only to add to the fun!  

Later, as the afternoon progressed into evening, both Amalia and Irini went to their cousin's apartment, and spent the afternoon with them. The naps were late. The wake-ups later still. Dinner was a good two hours after bed time is supposed to be. Sleep didn't come until nearly 11:00 pm.  It was a perfect day. :-)

Happy birthday beautiful Amalia. We love you completely!