Night Time Routines = Special Moments

Night time routines are a mix of structure and the calmness of the evening. The day ended with the girls giggling their way to the apartment after going out for dinner. They had eaten well and were somewhat model in their behavior, as they have been all week. Mommy had been gone for most of the week on a school trip and the girls had taken turns being sick, and then handed it over to daddy for safe keeping. His weekend wasn't quite as entertaining as theirs, but by Sunday's end he too was about to head out with the gang. 

There was the customary tooth brushing and washing up and the like. At some point daddy became upset about something. Amalia took a look and recognized the facial clues. Her eyes welled up almost instantaneously. Daddy asked what was wrong to which she replied, "you're not smiling". He knew that it was either time to take a breath and deal with frustration, or send his beautiful little girl to bed in tears. He sucked it up, smiled for her, reached over and gave her a hug. She did her thing, taking his head into her arms and hugging as hard as she could, planting a kiss right on the side. Equilibrium was nearly immediately restored. 

A few minutes later it was time to say good night. Mommy gave the girls kisses and wished them sweet dreams, but daddy isn't one to give us cuddles for as long as they are on offer. He pulled two large pillows next to Amalia's bed, which stands just inches off the ground. He lied down next to her and she began to talk of this and that. She will soon be reaching the end of this phase, and daddy knows it. That phase where they just sit and talk to themselves, analysing this, modeling that, processing everything. Sometimes they just count as high as they can. Sometimes they tell stories to themselves. Sometimes they ask questions and answer them. 

Daddy told her to close her eyes and that he would only be there for three more minutes. She immediately replied, "three minutes is alot. One, two, three". Her self-talk continued as daddy thought about his growing girl. She has grown so much. He thought about his next stop, across the room where Irini was already in bed. She's already replaced those verbal chats and transfered her communication internally, to thoughts known only to herself. Her demanour is quieter as well so Laurence wondered if Amalia would be as quiet as Irini in just two short years. "Will this excitable chatter be a thing of the past?" he thought to himself. A single tear trickled down his cheek as he tried desperately to give importance to this very moment before it is lost. His thought was cut short but a pair of hands, reaching over the edge of the bed, pulling his head close, and Amalia giving him a big kiss. "Look. I can give you kisses with my hair" she said as she moved her hair to his face and made kissing sounds. She then hugged his head and whispered in his year "I love you sooooo much daddy". He couldn't help but be overcome with the moment and responded, "και εγω εσενα, αγαπουλα μου" ("and I you, my little love). 

Within another minute or so she was sleeping soundly and, giving her a kiss and raising himself up, daddy took the requisite three steps to the bed on the opposite side of the room. There Irini lay with her eyes open, waiting for his arrival. She spoke not a word, but daddy did. He looked at her, leaned his head over and gave her a series of soft kisses of the forehead. "Σ 'αγαπώ πολύ αγαπη μου. Μην το ξεχναs". Oνειρα γλυκά", She said nothing but took his hand and wrapped her fingers around his left thumb, then turned her body towards her right so that his arm was around her as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. 

Irini had gone through a phase of semi-independence but her recent illness, coupled with her mother's absense, had allowed her to become more cuddly in the past week. Unlike her sister, Irini doesn't usually talk much during bedtime. This time, like many others, no words were necessary anyway.  Daddy lied down by her side and a small tear made its way down his cheek. Very different, but equally as heartwarming.

The girls are growing. A parent is left with flashes of playful memories, beautiful images of the present and dreams for a hopeful future, all wrapped in one, or in this case, two little sleeping beauties. Sweet dreams.

Little Growin's

These posts seem to be getting longer and longer apart, don't they? Largely it's because it's that time of year when stress levels are superceded only by levels of tiredness. Moving seems to take more effort. Minds and bodies seem slooooower than before. Add to that a series of small illnesses that have taken the family by mini-storm (first mommy, then Amalia, then Irini and now daddy) and you've got a few weeks straight of somebody being "off" in the house. But that doesn't mean that things haven't been happening. 

Take, for instance, Irini's first back flip. Much more by accident than calculation she was preparing to raise her legs to the wall behind her for Capoeira class when she flipped around and, being too far from the wall, kept on going. She was delighted later to share this with daddy, who was, of course delighted to hear about it!

Amalia can count to a lot. Irini can spell all the names of the "Frozen" characters. They can both sing practically the entire soundtrack on demand or from spontaneous enthusiasm. Amalia has also begun Capoeira after saying no time and time again, only to sit in the corner and emulate everyone what was in the class anyway. Just recently Amalia also announced that she'd like to start the little league soccer program for teeny weeny kids. What persuaded her?  Irini's old uniform, of course!  She put on those long soccer socks and the baby shin guards and decided this was for her!  

The two girls woke up today and sat and played beautifully for a couple hours. They had some new books, but Irini's book had stickers in it when Amalia's did not. Daddy braced for some sort of resource war, but it never came. At one point Irini was heard saying, "I don't even give these stickers to my buddies, but you're my sister so I'll give some to you". They are growing. 

Conservations are getting longer and more detailed. Amalia can go on a monologue for 5 minutes on what happened in the bus when she was waiting to get off. Irini's front two top teeth are moving, and so are a couple bottom ones (remember that the two middle bottom ones have already changed over). She happily wiggles them all. Daddy asks her to wait until they come off naturally. She smiles. 

That's the kind of stuff going on on this end of the world. Similar to the goings on in Greece and in Colombia and in Sweden and most homes where little children are-a-growin'.  There are fights and shouting. There are hugs and kissing. There are cuddles and hugging. All sorts of things that make life worth living and moments so special. We love it, even when we're sick.

Fun In -n- Out -n- About

There was more to Spring Break than the trip to Bangkok though. Bangkok was such a focal point that it was almost forgotten that there were dealings and doings leading up to it. With the days loooong and free of stress and "to do" lists, the family got to play a bit. Some, of course, was of the "playing house" variety, but others were a bit more exciting. 

One day, for example, was a day to the zoo. Amalia had been asking for it for weeks. In fact, when uncle 'Eko was in town we were supposed to go, but the morning of the big day she woke up to say "I don't want the tiger to bite me" and so we opted for a trip to the aquarium instead. This time around, though, there were no concerns. No worries. No tears. Just a great trip to the zoo with our little friends Kira (a classmate of Amalia's) and Bethany (Kira's sister who is joining the school next year).  The visit was a resounding success, despite little Amalia being bit by a baby goat (ouch) at the petting zoo. There were lots of beautiful animals with lots of different colors, but the highlight was probably the swimming white tiger! The girls (and accompanying parents and an uncle) were delighted, though quite tired at the end of a long morning out. 

So what does one do when they're tired after a long morning out?  Well, some head to the hair salon!  It was the first mother, daughter outing with all of the girls together. Both the girls got spoiled rotten and mommy, as might be expected, was happy as can be while her two little cuties cut their hair and had a manicure and pedicure special to boot!  Daddy, on the other hand, was somewhat less impressed. As he entered the salon up to pick them up, and they were all beaming with that winning smile, one could swear they heard him mumble things about teaching children to be vain, what about being natural, etc, etc. 

Still, the girls looked beautiful (and still do) so no one can fault mommy for giving them the special treat. :-)

There was the park time too. It was inviting and the day was beautiful. We just couldn't resist the temptation of heading over there, running around, sliding and climbing and, of course, playing on those swings too, no? In this clip the girls are wishing their Abuelita Emimamá a Happy Birthday. Quite cute really (and even daddy would agree).  We love you Suegrita Linda and can't wait to spend time with you in the summer!

Spring Breakin' & Conference Presentin'

It was that time of year, and we all needed it. Before heading out you could get the palpable sense that we were all "running on fumes" and the idea of a vacation was a very welcomed option. So, when the final Friday bell did ring at school and the kids returned home, followed later in the day by the adults, it was an "aaaahhhhh" experience. The first few days found us out and about in town. Little things here. A couple things there. Buy this. Do that. Go here. See them. It was the kind of time one likes to have, without time constraints or worries about what time to get to bed. Movie nights were frequent and, of course, included the new feature film (in the house) Frozen, which the girls know inside and out by this point. Thankfully the music is entertaining and catchy and it makes the entire time and time again piece of having children quite bearable. 

By Wednesday it was time to head out of town. We departed the apartment by around 4:00 am and headed to the airport. We checked in and boarded with little hastle (it was mid week after all) and headed on out with a smooth morning flight, to Bangkok. Once there it was the fancy, shmancy Shangri-La Hotel for a conference that daddy was presenting in. That would keep him busy, with meetings here and discussions there and preparing for his workshop/presentation (his first) and all that. The girls stayed in at times, or headed out at others. While daddy ran from session to session the girls were roaming and seeing stuff.  

The only stress was that presentation. Daddy was nervously going over and over it, making sure that it wasn't too long, not too short. He asked mommy is she might pop in and keep track of the time as he presented and, of course, being the quintessential tourist, she showed up with a camera and asked him to pose in front of his opening slide. How embarrassing.  With two minutes left there was just one person in the room, but just as presentation time was about to begin, another 24 people walked in the room and the presentation could go ahead without hitch. Overall it was a good first attempt, but he was happy it was over.

For daddy having the ladies of his life around were a particularly wonderful twist. Normally such conferences would mean a loooooong day followed by time alone sitting in a room looking at a screen (computer or TV) with little else. This time around, though, it was a return to a room with a family of people (Tia and cousins were with us too!) ready to head out to the pool. Daddy would get ready and, together, they'd head down to the beautiful pool by the river. If ever there was a lap of luxury, this was pretty close to it. Days came and went quickly until the vacation/conference was over. 

Our return was as uneventful as the outward bound trip and our arrival home found us happily numb from days sitting by a pool, nibbling of Thai cuisine and (for some of the time) roaming the markets. The rut of reality is so much more bearable when one has such cultural and experiential decadence to live with. How fortunate we are that daddy was presenting, no?